(The Center Square) – At least one Wisconsin lawmaker says Milwaukee Public Schools continue to show why the legislature needs a new look at the district’s finances.
Sen. Eris Wimberger, R-Oconto, said MPS missing another deadline shows there’s something broken in Milwaukee.
“It has been over a year since this mess with MPS began, and despite Gov. [Tony] Evers spending $2.5 million on two separate private audits, the district’s financial situation is no better today than it was last year,’ Wimberger said. “Gov. Evers, Superintendent [Jill] Underly, and MPS officials continue to ensure that this situation lacks the transparency that Milwaukee taxpayers deserve and expect.”
MPS was supposed to have the financial report for the 2023-2024 school year to Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction by the end of May.
That didn’t happen.
Because that didn’t happen, DPI announced it will withhold money from MPS. How much isn’t known, but MPS’ failure to turn-in its 2022-2023 report cost the district $16.6 million.
“For us to have a true understanding of how this situation got so dire, we must look at how state regulators at DPI neglected their duties, and the news [this week] reaffirms that suspicion,” Wimberger added.
Wimberger is one of the heads of the legislature’s Joint Audit Committee. That committee last year ordered an audit “to evaluate the processes that DPI has in place to review submitted financial data and audit findings from school districts.”
“The audit approved last session by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee is being performed by highly capable public servants who are accountable to the taxpayers, and I look forward to seeing the results,’ Wimberger said in a statement.
There’s no word when the legislative audit will be complete.
