Milwaukee Board of School Directors decides on budget for next school year

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Board of School Directors has decided on its budget for the next school year.

The board unanimously passed the 2018-19 budget tonight which was a major victory for Interim Superintendent Keith Posley.

“Our young people need every opportunity they can possibly have in order to be successful and I personally feel that the classroom is the most important place,” Posley said. “We put money out there for young people to have an opportunity.”

The $1.2 billion dollar budget eliminates positions from central administration, not from schools and classrooms.

We asked how many positions would be cut and were told those numbers would be shared with us at a later time.

This was an important vote for the Milwaukee Public School District as its been projected the budget gap could be $30 million.

Posley replaced former Superintendent Darienne Driver.

Driver had different ideas on where cuts would be made, namely in the classrooms.

Leaders with the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association are happy tonight, but Vice President Amy Mizialko says the fight is not over.

They're turning their sights to Madison.

“We need more dollars to fund public schools across Wisconsin and we definitely need more dollars to make sure that students living in poverty have enough to support them and give them a fair shot at learning,” Mizialko said.

Independent analysts at the ‘Wisconsin Policy Forum’ feel the district still faces financial challenges in the long term.

Posley said tonight he will start working to address those right away.