MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) Superintendent Brenda Cassellius announced in a letter to district staff that 181 academics office roles would be impacted by reorganization efforts. 

In the letter, Cassellius said she will implement “changes to how staff in [MPS] academics office are deployed throughout the district.”

Cassellius explained that MPS Chief of Academics Jennifer Mims-Howell will place 40 employees who are currently working in the MPS central office into classrooms throughout the district. Those 40 employees are certified teachers.

“To do this with equity and transparency, a total of 181 positions in our academics office will be ‘excessed,’” Cassellius said.

She said staff who will be impacted by this reorganization were notified Wednesday. She said roughly 140 of those 181 positions will be “immediately reposted.” Current staff — which includes academic coaches and literacy specialists — will be able to apply for those jobs.

“… Academic outcomes for our students are not where they should be.” Cassellius said in the letter. “We must have the courage to make changes that will benefit our students urgently. It is also true that where we are today is by no means a reflection of the talented educators and staff who work in MPS — in fact, it is quite the opposite. I believe our challenges are rooted in broken systems and structures, not people.”

The reorganization efforts are rooted, she said, in cultivating new systems and structures that she believes both students and schools will benefit from.

This decision, she said, comes as MPS estimates it will have about 80 or more open teaching positions by the beginning of the 2025-26 school year. Cassellius cited a nationwide teacher shortage as one of the driving factors behind those vacancies. She said there would also be a “normal” amount of retirements and staff departures as well.

Cassellius also explained Gov. Tony Evers’ office issued an operational and academic audit of MPS. She said the changes being made with the academic team are a “direct response to items highlighted in that audit.”

“Our students deserve highly effective teachers at the head of their classrooms and this change can make that possible for more of them. I also believe that this will give us the opportunity to address how our central office academic support is structured and how it can most effectively lead to change in our schools. And yes, this will also provide us with cost-savings that can be used to invest back in our schools — not our central office,Cassellius said. “This will include additional support and resources for embedded teacher professional development and school-level instructional leadership.” 

Read the full letter to staff below, provided and confirmed to Spectrum News 1 by an MPS official: