{"id":9639,"date":"2024-03-21T20:21:55","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T21:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=9639"},"modified":"2024-03-21T22:03:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T22:03:59","slug":"mps-enrollment-often-overstated-has-plummeted-42-since-peak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=9639","title":{"rendered":"MPS enrollment, often overstated, has plummeted 42% since peak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This post originally appeared at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.badgerinstitute.org\/mps-enrollment-often-overstated-has-plummeted-42-since-peak\/\">https:\/\/www.badgerinstitute.org\/mps-enrollment-often-overstated-has-plummeted-42-since-peak\/<\/a><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>District asking voters to approve another $252 million annually<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Enrollment in schools run by Milwaukee Public Schools district is now down to 59,200 \u2014 a dramatic and larger decline than is often acknowledged in a district that is asking its voters for $252 million more a year in funding in an April 2 referendum.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a 42% drop, one of more than 42,000 students, since the peak in 1997-98, when the district had 101,300 students enrolled.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-wp-interactive class=\"alignright size-large is-resized wp-lightbox-container\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"658\" data-wp-effect=\"effects.core.image.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-init=\"effects.core.image.initOriginImage\" src=\"https:\/\/e74sq7k37a8.exactdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/MPS-enrollment-vs-members-1997-2022-1.jpg?strip=all&amp;lossy=1&amp;fit=440%2C658&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"Graph of Milwaukee enrollment vs members 1997-2022\" class=\"wp-image-51016\" style=\"width:440px;height:auto\" \/><button class=\"lightbox-trigger\" type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Enlarge image: Graph of Milwaukee enrollment vs members 1997-2022\"><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Click to expand<\/figcaption><div data-wp-body=\"\" class=\"wp-lightbox-overlay zoom\" data-wp-effect=\"effects.core.image.initLightbox\">\n                <button type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Close\" class=\"close-button\"><\/p>\n<p>                <\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"lightbox-image-container\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\" alt=\"Graph of Milwaukee enrollment vs members 1997-2022\" class=\"wp-image-51016\" style=\"width:440px;height:auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Click to expand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"lightbox-image-container\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized enlarged-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\" alt=\"Graph of Milwaukee enrollment vs members 1997-2022\" class=\"wp-image-51016\" style=\"width:440px;height:auto\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Click to expand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"scrim\" style=\"background-color: #fff\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Supporters of the district often allude to a different, higher, \u201cmembership\u201d figure in the district: 68,000 \u2013 down from a peak of about 105,000 \u201cmembers\u201d in 1997-98.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Membership figures can be misleading, though, because they include students in charter schools that are authorized by MPS but not controlled by it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The district\u2019s decline in enrollment has come as both the number of children in Milwaukee has fallen \u2014 by about 8% from 1997\u2019s 151,000 to 2022\u2019s 139,000 \u2014 and as other schooling options have blossomed in the city.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 1997-98, about 1,500 Milwaukee students took their state aid to one of 23 private schools under Wisconsin\u2019s parental choice program, while in 2022-23, about 29,000 Milwaukee students were using the program to attend 129 private schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Public charter school enrollment has also expanded since the 1990s \u2014 a key fact when differentiating between \u201cenrollment\u201d and so-called \u201cmembership.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Charter schools in Wisconsin can be authorized by school districts, and can be either \u201cinstrumentality\u201d schools, staffed by a district\u2019s employees and with students that count as district students, or \u201cnon-instrumentality\u201d schools staffed and run by outside organizations. Some charter schools, called \u201cindependent,\u201d are authorized by other governments, universities or the state, and are entirely separate from school districts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>MPS authorizes 19 charter schools this year, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/dpi.wi.gov\/parental-education-options\/charter-schools\/current\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">state figures<\/a>, of which 11 are staffed by the district, enrolling about 1,900 students. The eight charters authorized by MPS but run and staffed by outside organizations enroll about 7,600 students this year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But all of these students are included by the DPI when it calculates the district\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/dpi.wi.gov\/sfs\/statistical\/longitudinal-data\/membership\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">membership<\/a>,\u201d the figure it uses in calculating state aid, revenue limits, and per-pupil spending. The membership figure also includes some other students, such as those using public school open enrollment to attend a district other than the one they live in. MPS last year on net lost about 3,200 students to other districts through that program.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s unclear how the use of membership figures rather than enrollment figures might throw off the key calculation of per-pupil funding.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>According to the DPI\u2019s most recent figures, for the 2021-22 school year, MPS spent $18,035 per \u201cmember\u201d in \u201ctotal education cost\u201d \u2014 that is, spending on education, transporting children, and maintaining its facilities \u2014 up from an inflation-adjusted $10,663 in 1999, the earliest year for which comparable figures are readily available from the DPI.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>DPI finance staff were unavailable for comment this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>MPS is one of about 100 districts in Wisconsin this year to ask voters to approve an increase in its revenue limit, the cap on how much money the district can collect between property taxes and state aid.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The additional money, leading to a $367 increase in taxes on a median-priced $170,000 home, is needed, the district says, because state aid hasn\u2019t kept up with its needs. Critics have faulted the district for failing to plan for its falling enrollment \u2014 leaving many of its school buildings dramatically underused \u2014 and for not explaining how it would use additional money to improve teaching performance.<\/p>\n<p><em>Patrick McIlheran is the Director of Policy at the Badger Institute. 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