Andrekopoulos blasts Evers' move

Superintendent William Andrekopoulos lashed out at State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers over Evers' unexpected decision to withhold up to $175 million in Title I funds from MPS.

Evers notified the district of his decision Thursday. In a sharply worded response to the move, Andrekopoulos said that Evers had assured twice him during a phone conversation that the Department of Public Instruction did not intend to withhold the funds at this time, "only that you had the authority to do so in the future. The notice you sent at 12:28 p.m., less than ten minutes after we concluded our telephone conference, clearly indicates that you have made the decision to reduce to zero all administrative funds and defer all programmatic funds the district would otherwise receive. Since the notice and the conversation vary so dramatically, I cannot help but wonder what has occurred here."

The notice clearly states that Evers will withhold the funds, but provides an avenue for appeal and also allows Evers to make a "final decision" if MPS does not appeal.

Andrekopoulos said in his letter that "you do not specifically say why you have made the decision, nor do you state what it is that Milwaukee Public Schools should be doing differently to comply with its DIFI (District Identified for Improvement) plan. As I am sure you can imagine, this news is particularly devastating given the current financial landscape of MPS as well as serving to deflate the enormous effort MPS has been undertaking to comply with the DIFI goals you have laid out for us."

He continued: "It has been and continues to be the district's position that MPS is complying with the goals set forth by the Department of Public Instruction. This notice is a significant detraction from all of the good work we have been and continue to do to support the needs of the students and families of the Milwaukee Public School District. We have forwarded this notice to our counsel to assist the district with filing for a hearing on this action as listed in your notice; however this letter is not a request for hearing. It is unfortunate that you have decided to take such an extraordinary action given the amount of progress we had been making working with your staff over the past several months."

Evers' notice of his decision is here.

Andrekopoulos' letter is here.