(The Center Square) – Milwaukee voters would rather consolidate schools in the district than see a future referendum for additional property taxes, according to a new poll.
The voters, across parties and demographics, also preferred the state opt in to a $1,700-per-person school choice federal tax credit that Gov. Tony Evers has said that he will reject.
Embold Research asked 535 likely Milwaukee voters in 2026 the questions between Oct. 6-10 on behalf of City Forward Collective and CFC Action Fund.
“We at City Forward Collective have been on the record for some time that right-sizing is inevitable, it’s necessary and it’s part of the reason that we opposed the 2024 referendum,” CFC Executive Director Colleston Morgan Jr. told The Center Square. “We said the district didn’t have a financial plan or an academic plan.”
Morgan said that “affordability” showed up as a large concern for voters in the poll.
Milwaukee schools will receive $105 million more in state aid this year than last despite having 1,700 less students all while property taxes went up nearly 30% last year, Morgan said. Milwaukee public schools saw a total enrollment drop of nearly 30,000 students (32.8%) between 2006 and 2024.
Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius has said that the school will need to close “more than five” schools in the coming years. The district is currently working on that consolidation plan.
Milwaukee passed a $252 million referendum in April 2024 and it was later revealed that Milwaukee Public Schools had not filed the paperwork with the Department of Public Instruction. The district missed the deadlines by eight months and had $42 million withheld.
Legislators are currently discussing a bill that would require districts to file the required paperwork before being eligible for a referendum.
The poll first asked voters if they supported consolidating schools in the district, with 58% for and 27% against. After hearing the pro and con arguments on the topic, voters then were 68% in favor and 22% against consolidation.
They were then asked if they would prefer consolidation or a funding measure in a future referendum and 57% favored consolidation over another referendum.
“This question of MPS living within its means absolutely matters for taxpayers in Milwaukee, families in Milwaukee, for the broader community in Milwaukee,” Morgan said. “But it’s also a question of statewide concern. I think you’ve seen a number of state legislators and now you start to hear some districts talk about this sort of cumulative impact. Milwaukee is obviously the sort of 600-pound gorilla in the conversation.”
