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Union urges Milwaukee Public Schools to find $2 million in contracts to fund July wage increase
Summary
Union negotiators told Milwaukee Public Schools they are $2 million apart from the district’s offer and urged MPS to identify savings in discretionary contracts rather than cut hours for paraprofessionals and other frontline workers; district officials said some contracts are legally required and cited a $46 million structural deficit and $5 million identified savings so far.
Union negotiators pressed Milwaukee Public Schools at a bargaining session to meet their proposal for a 2.62% cost-of-living adjustment on July 1, saying the district can find the roughly $2 million needed by reviewing discretionary contracts rather than cutting frontline staff hours.
“We’re $2 million apart,” said Amy, a union negotiator, who told district officials the gap could be closed by scrutinizing hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts the district holds. The union listed several contracts it believes merit review and said it would follow up with a written list by email.
The union put particular emphasis on preserving hours for paraprofessionals, children’s health assistants and other student-facing employees. “You don’t cut workers who support students first,” Amy said, arguing that cuts to hours for those positions would undercut the district’s stated equity goals.
The district defended its offer and the sequencing of proposals, saying three options remain on the table and that the amended “option two” would deliver a 2.63% base increase effective July 1 for a set of frontline hourly roles (educational assistants, paraprofessionals, safety assistants, parent coordinators, bookkeepers, building service helpers, food-service assistants, kitchen manager trainees, children’s health assistants, school nursing associates and scanner monitors). Other groups — including classroom teachers, school nurses, counselors, social workers and interpreters — would receive the raise on Jan. 1.
District counsel and staff said some contracts are non-discretionary — transportation was cited as about $102 million — and that federal reimbursements offset some contract costs. The district also referenced a recent financial audit that it said identified a $46 million structural deficit and said its initial contract review has uncovered about $5 million in potential savings to date.
The union questioned several of the district’s cost assumptions, asking for the detailed math behind a benefits-cost figure the district uses (described by bargaining as 53% of payroll). District staff said the 53% is a cumulative rate that includes pension, health care, worker’s compensation, unemployment and other ancillary benefits and offered to provide the full breakdown.
The parties recessed to caucus during the meeting and, on reconvening, agreed to continue exchanging documentation. The session moved into a 30-minute meet-and-confer to allow the parties additional time to review the materials and to prepare any written counterproposals.
