MPS: Tax to the Max

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

After acting to protect their travel budget and to keep their right to receive $150 a year in car allowance and $3 for each time they go somewhere in the city on official business, Milwaukee School Board members approved a budget for this year that will raise the amount to be collected in property taxes for schools by 14.6%.

The approval came on a 6 to 3 vote at 1:46 a.m. Friday, seven minutes after the board voted down an otherwise-identical proposal that would have taken away the car allowance and tightened up travel spending.

The mini-drama over the board member's travel budget came at the same meeting the board approved a much tighter set of rules for out-of-town trips for members, a reaction to Journal Sentinel stories about travel by board member Charlene Hardin, including a trip to a conference she reportedly did not actually attend.

The budget vote means Milwaukee Public Schools is returning to spending the maximum amount allowed by state law, a practice that had been followed in every recent year except for a year ago, when the tax levy increase was held to 9% although state law permitted an increase of more than 16%.

Due to provisions in the state school funding formula, holding down spending cost MPS more than $5 million in state aid this year, which was one of the arguments for returning to spending at the maximum level.

Obviously, protecting their $150 car allowance and their travel budget and their $3 reimbursement for travel within the city were high priorities for the School Board.

Members are willing to pick the pockets of taxpayers but they weren't willing to give up their perks.

What kind of state school funding formula penalizes a district in state aid when it attempts to hold down costs?

Runaway spending is built into the system.

The board was urged by scores of people at public hearings in the spring and at a public hearing Tuesday night to spend to the state cap because the cuts that would be made otherwise would harm education.

There was little advocacy at the public hearings for holding down taxes.

What patriotic Americans!

Milwaukeeans are following Joe Biden's call to be patriotic and pay more in taxes. It's the right thing to do. That's Barack Obama's America -- spread that wealth around.

To make a point at the 7 hour meeting that ended early Friday, Peter Blewett, the board president, proposed that the tax levy increase be held to 4% this year.

Superintendent William Andrekopoulos said that would mean "extreme lay-offs" almost immediately and other drastic steps. "You would significantly destruct, disrupt the quality of life in our school system," Andrekopoulos said. "It really would be virtually impossible."

That sound like fear mongering by Andrekopoulos.

Can the "quality of life in our school system get worse?"

With the incredibly high truancy rate, who would notice "extreme lay-offs" anyway?

Board member Tim Petersons proposed an amendment to the budget proposal that would have reduced travel budgets for the board and Andrekopoulos a total of $32,100 and used the money to fund field trips for students.

Petersons said that although the amount was small, compared to the $1.2 billion budget as a whole, "I think we need to make a statement" that as much money as possible is being spent on students and not the board or administrators.

Initially, the board backed Petersons' amendment on a 7 to 2 vote.

But when it came time to approve the budget as a whole, including Peterson's change, the vote was 6 to 3 against.

And when Petersons' idea was dropped, the vote was 6 to 3 in favor.

Well, that's an embarrassing little bit of information.

Voting in favor were Blewett, Michael Bonds, Terry Falk, Charlene Hardin, Jennifer Morales and Petersons. Voting against were Danny Goldberg, Jeff Spence and Bruce Thompson. The three members who changed their vote from no to yes between the two ballots were Bonds, Hardin and Blewett.

Even with the more stringent rules enacted on travel, Hardin wouldn't budge on accepting reductions in the travel budget for the board.

What a racket!

Bottom line: The taxpayers will pay more to offer an education that's rejected by far too many MPS students.