Press Release: Gov. Evers to Proceed with Hiring MPS Auditors with Support of Board of School Directors, Local Community Leaders

State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 06/10/2024 01:30 PM CDT
Office of Governor Tony Evers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 10, 2024
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov 
 
Gov. Evers to Proceed with Hiring MPS Auditors with Support of Board of School Directors, Local Community Leaders
Evers Administration to begin process of identifying outside, independent auditors with experience auditing educational and classroom settings to conduct audits  
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today announced he will proceed with plans to direct resources to support two additional audits of Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) after the MPS School Board of Directors and local community leaders, among others, expressed public support for both efforts. The governor on Friday announced he would commit to directing the necessary resources for the state to hire outside, independent auditors with the appropriate education sector expertise and experience auditing educational and classroom settings to conduct two additional audits of MPS beyond the ongoing financial audit required for annual state reporting. More information on the governor’s Friday announcement is available here.

After the governor’s offer received support from the MPS School Board of Directors, local community leaders and groups, and area legislators, Gov. Evers announced today the Evers Administration will begin the process of identifying auditors with necessary expertise and experience conducting audits in classroom and educational settings to conduct two audits of MPS: an operational audit of the district’s operations, processes, and procedures, as well as an audit of instructional policies and methodologies, which may include, for example, classroom learning environments and professional development policies and practices to support educators, among other areas. The Evers Administration will begin soliciting request for services in the coming days.

Gov. Evers released the following statement:

“MPS and the greater Milwaukee community must both be supportive of any efforts aimed at getting the district back on the right track if those efforts are going to be successful. Having received broad statements of support for my proposal to conduct two additional audits of MPS, I’m directing my administration to proceed with hiring outside, independent auditors who have the necessary education sector experience to conduct these audits thoughtfully and effectively.

“By going two steps further than the ongoing financial audit of MPS, we have two goals in hiring these outside, independent auditors, including auditing MPS’ operations and programs and auditing the instruction of our kids and support for educators in classrooms across the district.

“Importantly, not all auditors’ qualifications and expertise are the same—it is exceedingly important to me that the independent auditors responsible for conducting these audits have meaningful background and experience in school and classroom settings and auditing school districts and instruction, which is critical if we are going to identify problems in order to inform future conversations about solutions.

“I’m grateful the district and local community leaders are supportive of this effort, and I look forward to proceeding with these audits in support of MPS, our kids, families, and educators, and the greater Milwaukee community.”
 
An online version of this release is available here.
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