{"id":157350,"date":"2026-05-06T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milwaukeenns.org\/?p=157350"},"modified":"2026-05-06T16:51:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T21:51:48","slug":"union-leaders-say-mps-plan-to-reduce-class-sizes-is-unrealistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milwaukeenns.org\/2026\/05\/06\/union-leaders-say-mps-plan-to-reduce-class-sizes-is-unrealistic\/","title":{"rendered":"Union leaders say MPS plan to reduce class sizes is unrealistic","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Milwaukee Public Schools plans to add more teaching positions in an attempt to reduce class sizes. Some say the district has much more it needs to do to achieve that goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Superintendent Brenda Cassellius announced on Tuesday<\/a> that the district is budgeting to hire 150 teachers, 138 paraprofessionals and five psychologists for next school year.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius wants to shrink class sizes across the district. (Photo by Jonathan Aguilar \/ Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service \/ CatchLight Local)
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The new positions come after Cassellius announced a reduction in about 260 non-classroom positions<\/a> in the district in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among those cuts, which would happen before the next school year, were 53 assistant principal positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union reaction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Milwaukee Teachers\u2019 Education Association Executive Director Amy Mizialko said everybody would like smaller class sizes, but the goal may not be rooted in reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The district doesn’t have enough teachers or the structures to make smaller class sizes a reality, she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to retain the workers we have, and to supplement that as much as we can with recruitment,\u201d Mizialko said. \u201cBoth retention and recruitment are made far more difficult by the completely avoidable damage Cassellius is doing to the district.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union is currently bargaining with Milwaukee Public Schools for all represented employees to receive a 2.63% cost of living raise in July. The district is offering the wage increase<\/a> to all employees by January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milwaukee Teachers\u2019 Education Association President Ingrid Walker-Henry said the union is pushing for the July increase to ensure classrooms are fully staffed and so the union and school district can \u201cwork together on priorities like increasing student enrollment and addressing the district\u2019s high staff vacancy rate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casselius has publicly defended her moves as necessary to address the budget deficit while prioritizing teachers. She also said that many of the individuals who are losing their jobs can be rehired into classrooms.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colleston Morgan is executive director of City Forward Collective, an organization that advocates against educational inequality and for increased access to school choice. He said the district should consolidate schools so staffing better matches where students actually are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morgan said the problem is an inefficient allocation of staff between schools, not just too few positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey’re got teachers in buildings, in some cases with seven or eight kids in their classroom, but then in some of their more in demand schools, they probably are over capacity,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cI think MPS probably does have some space to optimize, and it does seem like the specific decisions being made make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guidelines for classroom sizes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A teacher at the Greenfield School provides classroom instruction to students. (NNS file photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

MPS is rolling out new guidelines for how large class sizes should be in each grade as part of the 2026-2027 budget planning process.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The district uses these guidelines to decide where to place new teachers, said Stephen Davis, MPS media relations manager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guidelines will look different at bilingual and Montessori schools, said      Tony Tagliavia, chief communications officer at MPS. Teachers at these schools asked for additional paraprofessionals to manage class sizes in those unique programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n