Ed reformer: MPS can’t afford to wait to close school buildings

(The Center Square) – One of Milwaukee’s most prominent education reformers says it is good to hear Milwaukee Public Schools’ new superintendent talk about closing school buildings, but he says she needs to do more than talk.

Colleston Morgan Jr., the executive director at Milwaukee’s City Forward Collective, said MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius told the Journal Sentinel she may be open to a plan that could close some under-utilized schools but not before 2027 at the earliest.

“MPS faces a $100M+ budget gap. Rightsizing 5-6 schools, 2-3 years from now simply isn’t enough,” Morgan wrote on social media Tuesday.

Milwaukee Public Schools have lost more than 35,000 students since 2006. In all, Milwaukee is seeing more than 11,000 fewer students at all schools in the same nearly two decades.

“MPS enrollment declines stretch back to at least 2006,” he added. “And, to be clear – for at least the last decade, this hasn’t been about exits to public charters &a...