MILWAUKEE — The $252 million Milwaukee Public Schools referendum has passed with 100% of votes accounted for as of 11:10 p.m. CST on Spring Election Night following a closely contested race. The final count was 41,586 votes in favor to 39,866 votes opposed to passing the referendum — only a 2.2% difference.
The referendum includes a property tax increase estimated at $216 for homes valued at $100,000. This comes after leaders of Milwaukee Public Schools said they’re facing a $200M deficit for next school year, which could ultimately result in budget cuts negatively impacting Wisconsin’s largest public school system.
Business leaders from organizations across the area including the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and the Greater Milwaukee Committee opposed the referendum, claiming the district failed to provide ample evidence of where this money would be allocated.
MPS Superintendent Dr. Keith Posley told Wisconsin’s Afternoon News on March 14th that “we want to maintain services that we have started since 2020 from the first referendum. We were able to add art, music, physical education, library media specialists, smaller class sizes [and] counselors.”
He also warned that schools might’ve been forced to cut 13% from departments across the board while slashing administrative office positions by 26% if the referendum failed. Milwaukee’s voters decided that wasn’t worth the risk.
After the vote was finalized late on Tuesday night, Superintendent Posley offered the following comments:
“This is a huge victory for the children of Milwaukee. MPS is grateful to the city’s voters for supporting our continued efforts to help students succeed in school and in life.”
MPS leaders will address the public late on Wednesday morning.