More than a year after ending its decade-long affiliation with the Milwaukee Education Partnership, Milwaukee Public Schools is still trying to recoup money from the organization for work it never performed. 

MPS sent an invoice to Milwaukee Education Partnership on Dec. 19, 2023, for $64,170. The district sent four follow-up invoices to the organization before turning the matter over to Kohn Law Firm in May 2024, according to records obtained by WPR. 

The school district is still awaiting payment from the now-defunct organization, which was led by Gerard Randall, a top Wisconsin GOP official who helped secure the Republican National Convention for Milwaukee.

Randall did not respond to requests for comment from WPR. 

School board member Missy Zombor said the money Randall owes to MPS could be used to serve students. 

“That’s potentially an educator in front of a student,” Zombor said. “I mean, $64,000 is not a small amount of money, so not being able to recoup those funds impacts students directly.” 

MPS ended its relationship with Randall after reporting by WPR in collaboration with Wisconsin Watch brought the questionable history of his nonprofit to light.

During its relationship with MPS, Milwaukee Education Partnership received nearly $1.3 million in no-bid district contracts, promising to improve student achievement in the district. 

In 2022, the partnership received $64,170. That money was for the group’s Milwaukee Connects program, which aims to “enhance the pipeline of graduates from Milwaukee to Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” according to the contract.

The contract required the partnership to provide 10 graduating MPS students with semester-long paid internships to include professional mentoring, housing and transportation between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023.

In an email exchange last year with WPR,  Randall said “a cohort is being developed for the semester beginning January 2024.”

He would not answer further questions.

The students were never provided mentoring or internships, but Randall did receive the payment, according to documents obtained by WPR. 

Milwaukee Education Partnership was also listing several high-profile officials in tax filings as board officers without their knowledge. 

They included Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly, former Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley, former Milwaukee Area Technical College President Vicki Martin and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone.

Despite the controversy, Randall  continues to serve on a variety of high-profile boards, including the Wisconsin GOP, UW-Madison’s Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership and Visit Milwaukee. 

After being elected to the MPS board in 2023, Zombor began examining various MPS no-bid contracts. When she visited the Milwaukee Education Partnership website, she found it featured years-old financial reports and listed names of people no longer associated with the group.

Zombor began asking questions, which ultimately led to Posley suspending the district’s relationship with Milwaukee Education Partnership in November 2023.

Zombor says she would like MPS to explore its options for awarding contracts.

“It feels like this contract was potentially for a fictitious nonprofit,” Zombor said.  “We have to trust that when vendors or partners come to MPS that they’re being honest about the services they provide. But I think we have to continue to enhance the accountability of the procurement process so that we can safeguard public money.”

This story was originally published by WPR.

Milwaukee Public Schools still trying to recoup money from GOP official’s defunct nonprofit is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Preliminary results show many Wisconsin school districts successfully made the case to voters Tuesday that schools were in need of additional tax support.

Voters in 137 school districts were asked to approve increased funding for schools. A preliminary analysis by the Wisconsin Policy Forum found 107 referendum questions passed, while 30 failed.

Ari Brown, a researcher with the Policy Forum, said the outcome is better than expected, but shows that overtime school district have gotten better at choosing when to put referendums on the ballot and how to word the questions.

“In general, a school district is going to try to avoid going to referendum unless it knows with a pretty high degree of certainty that it has a good chance of succeeding,” Brown said. “That said the passage rate is still lower than in all presidential and midterm election years since 2014.”

State Superintendent Jill Underly said she believes voters realized the value of public education and understood schools need sustainable funding to operate. 

“Our state legislature has severely underfunded public schools for well over a decade, and it has led to a record number of districts going to referendum to try and fix severe financial constraints on their own,” Underly said in a statement. “Too many communities were forced to vote Tuesday whether to increase property taxes just so their local schools can pay staff, heat and cool their buildings, and provide a quality education.”

School districts are funded by a mix of taxpayer dollars, state and federal aid.

The 2023-25 state budget included an annual funding increase for public schools of $325 per student to the state-imposed limit on revenues districts can receive in school aids and local property taxes combined. 

While this provides some relief, school districts say it didn’t catch them up from a freeze in state revenue caps in the previous two-year budget, or the declining enrollment many public school districts are experiencing.

Wisconsin ended its 2024 fiscal year in June with a $4.6 billion state budget surplus. The state’s “rainy day” fund hit a record-high of $1.9 billion.

“We must reinvest in our public schools and the future of our kids,” Underly said. “The upcoming biennial budget provides yet another opportunity for the legislature to uphold its responsibility to appropriately fund public schools, and to stop forcing Wisconsin communities to make impossible choices.”

Madison Metropolitan School District passes two referendums, deficit remains

Voters in Madison approved two referendums totaling more than $600 million. 

The first, for $100 million, will help the school district cover its operating costs. The second, for $507 million, will renovate and replace aging buildings.

In a statement, Superintendent Joe Gothard and school board president Nichelle Nichols said the “yes” votes mean the district will be able to attract quality staff and expand programs including 4K and early literacy, multilingual education and career exploration in middle school. 

“We are excited that 10 of our schools will be transformed with the ‘yes’ vote for district facilities,” the statement said. 

Still, Gothard said the district is continuing to operate with a structural deficit. 

“Our revenues are not keeping up with our costs,” the statement said. “We, along with other public school districts throughout the state, continue to be grossly underfunded by the state. Our team will come together and engage with the community to determine how to move forward and plan for the future.”

Other school districts to pass referendums include Green Bay, Wauwatosa, West Allis, Cudahy, Franklin, Glendale-River Hills, Eau Claire and Superior. 

The Green Bay Area Public School District’s $183 million referendum will pay to enhance safety and security at secondary schools and address deferred maintenance projects at several elementary schools.

“I am overwhelmed by the support of our community for the students and staff in the Green Bay Area Public School District,” Interim Superintendent Vicki Bayer said in a statement.

This story was originally published by WPR.

Voters approve tax increases for many Wisconsin school districts is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.