MPS Spends More, Succeeds Less

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee Public Schools spends significantly more per student than comparable systems around the United States, but, by one measure, has some of the weakest academic results, according to a new analysis by the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

In line with other research in recent years, the private, non-profit research organization based in Madison found that the cost of benefits in MPS was especially high - higher than any of the other 15 districts analyzed.

The practices in MPS of paying large amounts for health care for retirees and for supplemental pensions to encourage early retirement, as well as the high price MPS pays for health coverage of everyone in its system were listed as factors in the high costs of running the system.

The analysis by the Madison-based private, non-profit organization, which is also known as WISTAX, did not make recommendations, but concluded with several questions. Among them:

..."A larger share of Milwaukee's payroll costs go to fringe benefits than any comparable urban district. Its post-retirement liability is about $2.4 billion. Can MPS survive financially without rethinking compensation policies?"

The analysis was released just ahead of what is likely to be a parade of major developments and studies that may re-shape the future of MPS.

A private consultant's report on MPS operations sought by Gov. Jim Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is expected to be released in several weeks, and Doyle has said he will factor conclusions in that report into proposals he will make to the Legislature about changing the way the district is run.

...Among the WISTAX conclusions:

• MPS spent $8,702 per student in 2005-06 in compensation for employees, third highest among the 16 districts examined. Only Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis were higher.

• Total spending in MPS was $11,277 per student in 2005-06, also the third highest in the study. The amount spent on instructional costs, $6,825, was the highest among the 16 districts, while the amount spent on central administration costs was the third highest.

• Spending on benefits was $3,195 per student, more than $500 above the second highest school system. Only four of the other districts spent more than $2,000 per student for benefits, including retirement costs and health costs. The MPS benefit costs were 90% above the average of the other 15 districts....

• As the study noted, performance on test scores cannot be directly compared from state to state. So the study used a comparison based on the gap between scores in an urban district and overall scores in that state. The conclusion was that MPS trailed the averages in Wisconsin by one of the largest amounts for any of the comparable situations.

Questions:

Will Jim Doyle have the spine to make proposals that are likely to tick off the teachers' union?

Is the party over for MPS?

Will taxpayers continue to be screwed?

Answers:

No

No

Yes

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The Wisconsin Taxpayer Alliance report: Milwaukee Schools in National Context