Milwaukee Public Schools Innovation and Improvement Advisory Council

Vision for Success

To achieve success, we must ensure a school system where:

• We provide high-performing, safe environments for all students
• We get our students into schools for sufficient lengths of time
• We make sure students arrive ready to learn.

These goals are all consistent with the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) district’s Strategic Plan, the Corrective Action Plan from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and various other plans that have been put forward through thoughtful collective efforts in the community and nationally. These plans endorse many of the same strategies for achieving the shared goal of better financial management and increased student achievement.

Unfortunately, we are far from achieving the desired success – graduation rates lag significantly behind the statewide average, fewer than 40% of kids achieve proficiency in reading and less than 30% achieve proficiency in math. We need strong leadership and a system that not only endorses these goals, but is accountable for achieving them and doing so as expeditiously as possible. We can no longer accept excuses for not succeeding and our children cannot afford to wait for incremental change.

The council will:

1. Hold the district accountable for implementing strategies identified to ensure progress toward improved academic outcomes and to identify where new or more aggressive strategies may be necessary.
2. Work with the district to improve the current fiscal situation to better enable the district to achieve instructional improvements and control the tax burden.
3. Identify options for improving accountability and transparency that will support the next Superintendent to lead the district toward success.

Committee Designation

The Chair will designate committees necessary to advance the work of the council. The Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools will identify a liaison within the MPS administration to work with each committee.

Each committee will be assigned a specific charge and will report back regularly to the Council. Summaries of the work of each committee will be compiled at least quarterly for the Council members to track overall progress, with the first report to be completed in September, prior to final passage of the MPS 2009-2010 budget.