MILWAUKEE – The seniors of Milwaukee Public Schools’ Class of 2013 have earned more than $17.7 million in scholarships, the district announced Friday at an event honoring MPS’ “Senior Scholars.”

The total – $17,791,814 as of May 31 – is expected to grow but already tops the June total for the class of 2012.

Hundreds of MPS seniors won scholarships to attend colleges and universities across the country, including Alverno College; Carroll University; Columbia University; DePaul University; Howard University; Illinois Wesleyan; Marquette University; Milwaukee School of Engineering; Mount Mary College; Stanford University; the United States Military Academy (West Point), the University of Chicago; the University of Pittsburgh; the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Milwaukee and other campuses; Valparaiso University and Yale University.

“This incredible total – $17.7 million – is reflective of the hard work of our students, their families, their teachers, their counselors, their school leaders and staff throughout the district,” MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton said. “This is a number we expect to grow as we continue to build college and career readiness efforts throughout the district.”

MPS has already seen the percentage of its students going onto college within a year and a half of graduation grow by eight percentage points over the last five years – and its graduation rate grow by 14 percentage points since the class of 2000.

The district’s college and career readiness efforts include:

- Comprehensive Literacy and Math/Science plans that align with the Common Core State Standards to prepare students to succeed after graduation

- Securing a GEAR UP grant worth $30 million to bolster college and career readiness

- Growing the number of students taking college-level Advanced Placement courses

- Planning for the expansion of International Baccalaureate offerings

- Opening two College Access Centers to demystify the process of applying to college and get students thinking about higher education

- Strengthening high school options

- Bringing the College Board’s SpringBoard pre-AP program into five schools

Milwaukee Public Schools is Wisconsin’s largest school district, serving more than 78,000 students in more than 160 schools across the city. MPS is home to the Milwaukee region’s two best high schools according to the Washington Post and three of state’s 25 best high schools according to U.S. News and World Report. In the past year, Milwaukee Public Schools posted a growing graduation rate 14 points higher than the rate for 2000. More MPS news is available at http://mpsmke.com/news.

MILWAUKEE – Education Action Group Foundation, Inc., a Michigan-based pro-voucher group that Wisconsin school districts say has distorted the truth in its reports about public school spending, is continuing its efforts, now focusing on Milwaukee.

Given questions raised about EAG’s past work, taxpayers should be cautious about the group’s reporting.

“We are sharing our concerns about EAG’s reports because we want to encourage the community to be aware there have been issues regarding the accuracy and fairness of the group’s data interpretation,” MPS spokesman Tony Tagliavia said. “Taxpayers have every right to know how tax dollars are being spent. They also deserve to have the information interpreted fairly.”

Milwaukee Public Schools is committed to transparency. The district won a 2013 “A+” rating from Sunshine Review, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to government transparency. The district’s website includes the current school year budget, proposed 2013-14 budget and a spending tracker that allows anyone to examine the district’s spending.

That commitment to transparency includes being responsive to Open Records requests like the one made by EAG. EAG claims the district provided the group with some data from the “wrong year” but district records show EAG acknowledged it was receiving data from Fiscal Year 2011.

EAG appears to be targeting communities where vouchers exist or have been proposed.

In Green Bay, school leaders report EAG chose not to include legitimate explanations for spending, apparently because “the explanations did not fit their pre-judged narrative that the district was irresponsibly spending taxpayer dollars.  Instead, they chose to ignore the truth, thereby supporting their political agenda.”

In Kenosha, EAG admits it “assumed” that that a payment to a facility was “a huge restaurant tab” when in fact it was the cost of using the facility as an alternative learning center.

In Milwaukee, ironically, the pro-voucher group singled out as questionable payments the district is legally mandated to make to voucher schools.

In other districts around Wisconsin, EAG has simply reported dollar totals without any context, even when school districts have supplied information, apparently hoping that highlighting select expenditures will convince readers that the spending is irresponsible. MPS serves close to 80,000 students in more than 160 schools utilizing more than 10,000 full- and part-time employees. Expenses such as training for staff, meetings for parents, Internet service for schools and cell phones for employees who travel from school to school or those who need to be reached after hours reflect the district’s size, which places it among the largest K-12 school systems in the U.S.

The group has also targeted travel spending in other districts – and in Milwaukee, some of the trips singled out for clarification include training for a stronger teacher evaluation system, the Advanced Placement program and the International Baccalaureate program. MPS has grown the rate of students taking AP’s college-level courses and the International Baccalaureate program is in place at schools including MPS’ Rufus King and Ronald Reagan, the two high schools listed by the Washington Post as best in the Milwaukee region.

Other items that prompted questions from EAG included a student field trip to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, arts programming for students, a student-reimbursed prom hosted at the Tripoli Shrine Center, background checks for potential new hires and Milwaukee Police Department school resource officers (SROs).

MILWAUKEE – The 2013-14 Milwaukee Public Schools budget approved Tuesday night continues to invest in classrooms and will bring 45 additional art, music and physical education teacher and librarian positions into MPS schools.

Art will see the biggest boost between 2012-13 and the upcoming 2013-14 school year under the plan, growing by about 25 full-time teaching positions. Most K-5 and K-8 schools across the district will see funding for art, music and physical education teachers double.

The move, which builds upon an art/music/physical education boost put in place for the current 2012-13 school year, is consistent with what students deserve and what parents list as their priorities. Parents have ranked more art/music/physical education specialist teachers as a top priority in the district’s budget survey for two straight years.

Overall spending in the budget passed by the Milwaukee Board of School Directors – including school operations, grant funds, building expenses and Milwaukee Recreation – is now set to fall 2% to $1,170,867,945 in 2013-14 from $1,194,450,752 in 2012-13.

The proposed budget also continues implementation of the rigorous Common Core State Standards, which set clear expectations for what students learn in each content area and grade level, through the district’s comprehensive literacy and math/science plans.

“I’m proud to say we’ve made the largest possible investment in our children,” MPS Superintendent Gregory Thornton said. “We are continuing to improve the standard of care in schools across our district.“

Other highlights of the budget proposal include:

-      Implementing the College Board’s SpringBoard pre-AP program in five schools
-      Planned expansion of the academically successful International Baccalaureate program
-      Creation of an additional arts-focused elementary school option on the northwest side
-      Redesign of Bay View Middle and High School to develop a high-achieving academic program
-      Approval of four new charter schools, bringing the total number of non-instrumentality charter            schools to 16

The budget also builds upon efforts already underway, including:

-      Continued effort to give academically-successful schools room to grow
-      Expansion of programming at District Parent Resource Centers
-      Additional Response to Intervention efforts to provide support for students struggling academically
-      Revamped Gifted and Talented programs
-      Expansion of Learning Journeys, MPS’ exclusive beyond-the-classroom learning experiences, to more grade levels

The district hoped to further enhance the standard of care and further reduce class size. But the state’s initial biennial budget proposal, which was the basis for the MPS budget, holds per-student spending for schools flat and would likely reduce the reimbursement rate for students with disabilities. That challenges the district’s ability to achieve its goals at the level MPS desires and our children deserve. MPS will continue to advocate on behalf of the children the district serves and is committed to finding ways to reduce class size, as this is a key element in improving student performance.

Milwaukee Public Schools is Wisconsin’s largest school district, serving more than 78,000 students in more than 160 schools across the city. MPS is home to the Milwaukee region’s two best high schools according to the Washington Post and three of state’s 25 best high schools according to U.S. News and World Report. In the past year, Milwaukee Public Schools posted a growing graduation rate 14 points higher than the rate for 2000. More MPS news is available at http://mpsmke.com/news.

MILWAUKEE – More MPS schools are being honored for successfully reinforcing positive behavior to improve school climate and reduce classroom disruption.

Seventy-eight MPS schools were just named Schools of Distinction or Schools of Merit, up from 50 the prior school year, by the Wisconsin PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) Network.  PBIS is a successful approach used around the country to improve school climate through the teaching, reinforcement, and support of positive behaviors.

Those 78 Milwaukee Public Schools winners represent about one-third of the 233 winners statewide.

“It is always exciting to see the hard work of school and district personnel recognized by the Wisconsin PBIS Network . It truly is a team effort,” said Dr. John Hill, MPS Student Services Coordinator-Program Specialist. “The fact that the number of schools recognized grew from 50 last year to 78 this year shows that MPS is committed to implementing and sustaining PBIS with fidelity to support all students.”

“Schools of Merit” are honored for successfully implementing PBIS including training staff, teaching students about the program and regularly meeting to examine data and evaluate the program’s success. “Schools of Distinction” are recognized for taking the effort further still – for successfully implementing PBIS for two or more years and actively engaging parents as part of the program, among other criteria.

MPS’ 41 Schools of Merit for 2012-13 are Audubon Technology and Communication Center Middle School, Audubon Technology and Communication Center High School, William George Bruce Elementary School, Clarke Street School, Community High School, Anna F. Doerfler Community School, Eighty-First Street School, Engleburg Elementary School, Fifty-Third Street School, Garland School, Alexander Hamilton High School, Hampton Elementary School, Hawley Environmental School, Hayes Bilingual School, O.W. Holmes School, Humboldt Park School, Keefe Avenue School, Byron Kilbourn Elementary School, Richard Kluge School, Maple Tree Elementary School, Maryland Avenue Montessori School, Ralph H. Metcalfe School, Morgandale School, North Division High School, Parkview Elementary School, Pierce Elementary School, James W. Riley Elementary School, River Trail School, Roosevelt Creative Arts Middle School, South Division High School, Southeastern Education Center, Gilbert Stuart Elementary School, Henry David Thoreau School, Transformation Learning Community, Transition High School, Victory School for the Gifted and Talented / Italian Immersion, Escuela Vieau, Harold S. Vincent High School, Washington High School of Information Technology, Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning and Westside Academy.

MPS’ 37 Schools of Distinction for 2012-13 are: ALBA School, Academy of Accelerated Learning, Allen-Field Elementary School, Lloyd Barbee Montessori School, Lynde and Harry Bradley Trade and Technology School, William Cullen Bryant Elementary School, Luther Burbank School, A.E. Burdick School, Clement Avenue School, James Fennimore Cooper School, Jeremiah Curtin Leadership Academy, Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary School, Fairview Charter School, Forest Home Avenue Elementary School, Frederick J. Gaenslen School, U.S. Grant School, Greenfield Bilingual School, Hartford University School, Lincoln Avenue Elementary School, H.W. Longfellow School, Lowell Elementary School, Manitoba School, Milwaukee French Immersion School, Milwaukee High School of the Arts, Milwaukee School of Languages, Milwaukee Spanish Immersion School, Alexander Mitchell Integrated Arts School, Ninety-Fifth Street School, Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School , Riverside University High School, Rogers Street Academy, Siefert Elementary School, Thurston Woods Campus, Trowbridge School of Discovery and Technology, Wedgewood Park International School, Walt Whitman Elementary School and Clement J. Zablocki Elementary School.

Milwaukee Public Schools is Wisconsin’s largest school district, serving more than 78,000 students in more than 160 schools across the city. MPS is home to the Milwaukee region’s two best high schools according to the Washington Post and three of state’s 25 best high schools according to U.S. News and World Report. In the past year, Milwaukee Public Schools posted a growing graduation rate 14 points higher than the rate for 2000. More MPS news is available at http://mpsmke.com/news.

In addition to the second-place team (pictured here), four seventh graders also placed in the top 10 in the individual competition. Congratulations to all for representing Burdick and Milwaukee Public Schools!

The Milwaukee Public Schools Comprehensive Math/Science Plan, first implemented in 2011-12, is aligned to the rigorous Common Core State Standards.

The Common Core State Standards eliminate the gap between what students have learned and mastered at high school graduation and what they must know to begin technical college/university and careers.

The 2013 Chill on the Hill music series premiered in Bay View’s Humboldt Park this week with performances by drum lines from Milwaukee Parkside School for the Arts and Bay View Middle and High School. At the end of the high school performance, all three drum lines took to the stage for a rollicking rendition for the crowd of more than 500.

The Bay View High School drum line is among the top four high school drum lines in the district and the Bay View Middle School drum line finished second in the district middle school competition last year. Parkside (formed by the merger of Tippecanoe School for the Arts and Humanities and Dover Street School in the former Fritsche building) is an example of MPS’ commitment to art, music and physical education (AMP) programming that began with the 2012-13 MPS budget.

The 2013-14 budget proposal would double the allocation most MPS elementary schools receive to cover the cost of art, music and physical education teachers. Bay View Middle and High School currently offers chorus, band and orchestra and Parkside supplements music programming through community partnerships with Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Milwaukee Children’s Choir.

See more photos from Chill on the Hill.

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Public Schools students finished in the national top 12, national top 30 and national top 85 in their respective events over the Memorial Day weekend at the National Catholic Forensic League tournament in Philadelphia.

Jhamalia Williams-Perry, a student at Milwaukee Public Schools’ Bradley Trade and Technology High School, finished in the national top 12 at this year’s National Catholic Forensic League tournament

Jhamalia Williams-Perry, a student at MPS’ Harry and Lynde Bradley Technology and Trade School, made it into the national top 12 for Dramatic Interpretation out of 240 entrants who were the best students at regional competitions around the country. Williams-Perry was both the city and state champion in the event this year and won 10 1st, 2nd and 3rd place trophies during the season. In addition, Bradley Tech coach Ernest Chomicki was awarded the distinction of First Diamond Coach this year by another national speech and debate organization: the National Forensic League. The award is given based upon the achievement of a coach’s students.

James Elias and Elias Payne, students at MPS ‘ Rufus King International School, finished 30th in the nation in Policy Debate. The Rufus King policy debate team, operated in partnership with the Milwaukee Debate League, swept the southern Wisconsin qualifying tournament for another national speech and debate tournament: the National Forensic League competition held in June. King coach Stephanie King also earned the National Forensic League’s First Diamond award this year.

Ian Walls, a 10th-grade student at MPS’ Milwaukee High School of the Arts, finished in the top 85 among 233 nationally-qualifying contestants in Oral Interpretation of poetry and prose. He was the top performer in his category from the Milwaukee region and in the top six among Wisconsin entrants. Walls was this year’s city champion in Solo Humorous Acting and took 1st place at a tournament in Westosha. MHSA/Harold S. Vincent High School coach David Powell joined his colleagues in being named an NFL First Diamond Coach this year.

And students from MPS’ Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School qualified for the NCFL tournament for the first time! Reagan has a promising young team – all seven students who qualified are freshmen and sophomores.

After their success at the National Catholic Forensic League tournament, many of the same students will head to Birmingham, Ala., later this month for the NFL (National Forensic League) contest. Stay tuned!

Milwaukee Public Schools is Wisconsin’s largest school district, serving more than 78,000 students in more than 160 schools across the city. MPS is home to the Milwaukee region’s two best high schools according to the Washington Post and three of state’s 25 best high schools according to U.S. News and World Report. In the past year, Milwaukee Public Schools posted a growing graduation rate 14 points higher than the rate for 2000. More MPS news is available at http://mpsmke.com/news.

Post-secondary education destinations for the top students include: Alverno College; Cardinal Stritch University; Columbia University; Concordia University Wisconsin; Dartmouth College; Georgetown University; Howard University; Illinois Wesleyan University; Marquette University; Milwaukee Area Technical College; Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design; Mount Mary College; Ripon College; Stanford University; Tennessee State University; the University of Chicago; University of Wisconsin schools including Madison, Milwaukee, Platteville, Stevens Point and Whitewater; Valparaiso University; and Vassar College.

Photos appear below.