Hundreds of public comments press MPS board to deliver full COLA July 1 as layoffs loom

Dozens of Milwaukee residents, teachers and union leaders used the committee’s public hearing to demand the board approve a full 2.63% cost-of-living adjustment for employees on July 1 and to press the administration to reverse proposed layoffs and reductions in school-based leadership.

Kristen Payne, speaking for MPS Parents for a Fair Budget, said her group accepts that the district faces fiscal constraints but objected to the district’s restructuring that reduces assistant principals while creating centralized instructional roles: "Assistant principals are embedded operational leaders inside our schools…centralized instructional support roles are not embedded in the same way," she said.

Multiple speakers criticized a phased approach to the COLA and accused the administration of prioritizing outside contractors over staff. "There is around $300 million in contracts to companies that are outside of our schools profiting from them. This money should be put back towards our great educators in MPS," said teacher Kyle Tierney. Several speakers asked the board to redirect contract dollars to staff pay and to restore paraprofessional and CHAs hours.

Teachers from alternative schools described program-by-program impacts. Christine Scott, a school nurse, warned that removing an assistant principal would destabilize the team that reduced school violence: "We fought to get the assistant principal into our school… you're going to see an increase of police presence in our school," she said. Devin Schultz, a Transition High School teacher, said his site faced a reduction from eight teachers to four and argued that third-Friday snapshot counts do not reflect the revolving enrollment and service needs of alternative programs.

Speakers also directly criticized the superintendent’s candor. Sarah Guttner told the board "Brenda lied to this community," a claim she twice repeated; the meeting transcript shows that public commentators made accusations and expressed anger but administrators noted that labor bargaining details could not be addressed publicly because of active WERC proceedings.

Union and labor leaders urged the board for faster action. Andrew Wenheim of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council used the meeting to press for an immediate July 1 COLA: "You have the chance to put a band-aid on the wound… grant a full 2.63% COLA on July 1st." The public record from the hearing does not contain any formal board commitment to change the proposed COLA schedule; board members and administration noted they would continue discussions and that the board’s vote on the budget is pending.

The hearing included widespread calls for more transparent staffing metrics, documented evidence on how alternative schools’ staffing was determined, and follow-up sessions that administration pledged to hold before the board’s vote.