Milwaukee Public Schools delivered layoff notices to 201 employees on March 24, as part of Superintendent Brenda Cassellius’ sweeping plan to cut roughly 260 positions and stabilize a district hemorrhaging money.
The Milwaukee School Board approved the reduction plan on March 9. Many of the targeted positions were already vacant, and a small number of affected employees opted to retire — leaving 201 workers facing the end of their jobs after this school year. Those employees will have the opportunity to apply for other open positions in the district when a new hiring cycle begins April 1.
Cassellius projects the cuts will save MPS approximately $30 million — money the district desperately needs to pay down its $46 million deficit, reduce class sizes, and address findings from an upcoming audit of its special education services.
Who’s Getting Cut
The layoffs hit hardest among school-level administrators. The reductions include 59 assistant principals and nine deans — positions union leaders had pleaded with officials to spare. Juan Baez, president of the Administrators and Supervisors Council and principal of the Milwaukee School of Languages, warned that deans and assistant principals are typically first responders to safety incidents and conflicts in schools.
Cassellius pushed back, arguing that reducing class sizes would address the root causes of student behavioral issues. “As you engage students around instruction, and good instruction, students then are less likely to engage in behaviors that are off task,” she said.
The cuts also include 62 “implementers” — licensed teachers who have served in varied support roles across schools — along with district administrative staff and curriculum specialists. Additionally, 26 staff members from equity and inclusion teams will be consolidated into a single new office, representing significant reductions across the Black and Latino Male Achievement, Gender and Identity Inclusion, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and Restorative Practices programs.
No Safety Net This Time
Unlike Cassellius’ cuts last year — which were structured as “reassignments” that temporarily protected employees’ salaries — these layoffs carry no such protections. Cassellius acknowledged the difference in a letter to staff: “We will work to connect our colleagues to classroom roles wherever possible, other roles in the district and, if needed, we will connect them to other employment opportunities.”
The financial crisis at MPS reflects years of fiscal mismanagement compounded by the expiration of federal pandemic relief funds that had previously propped up many of the now-eliminated positions.
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