MPS board members recall; group forms to make the push

Push for MPS board member recalls

A group of parents, activists and taxpayers want to do a clean house with the Milwaukee Public Schools' Board of Directors as the district navigates its financial mess.

MILWAUKEE - A group of parents, activists and taxpayers want to do a clean house with the Milwaukee Public Schools' Board of Directors as the district navigates its financial mess.

The newly-formed group said on Wednesday, June 12, it has had enough with what it calls deceit and deception from the board, which knew about its financial reporting woes while asking the public for more money.

Tamika Johnson said a newly-formed collaborative is preparing paperwork to recall half the district's Board of Directors, including President Marva Herndon, Vice President Jilly Gokalgandhi, director Erika Siemsen and director Missy Zombor.

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Johnson said these four in particular have deceived the public and that superintendent Keith Posley's resignation was not enough.

"We all stand in solidarity saying ‘enough is enough,’" Johnson said. "They asked us to dig deeper into our pockets for a school district and a board of elected leaders that have been irresponsibly managing our funding."

She’s referencing the $252 million referendum voters approved in April, which the board advocated for while not saying anything about the school district being several months late on reporting data to the state.

The Department of Public Instruction is now withholding more than $16 million from the district until it fixes issues with its understaffed and inexperienced finance office.

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17:47:00 EB "To continue to pour water into a bucket with a hole in it made no sense to me. There was no transparency. There was no accountability when it came to these board members that we are calling on."

And that is why the group is urging the board votes "no" on the $1.47 billion budget at a special meeting on Thursday, June 13. Organizers say they hope to submit all recall paperwork to the Milwaukee Election Commission on Thursday morning.

They also say they don't have specific candidates to run for office should the recall petitions succeed.

Attempt to recall MPS board members press conference

A Recall MPS School Board Recall Collaborative, made up of Milwaukee community members, initiated recall efforts against specific elected MPS school board members on Wednesday, June 12.