Following news of a financial crisis in Milwaukee Public Schools, a legislative committee has mandated a state audit of Wisconsin's education department.
The co-chairs of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee said MPS' financial issues that came to light this spring necessitate a deeper review of the Department of Public Instruction itself. The review by the Legislative Audit Bureau will probe for answers about how DPI monitors K-12 school finances.
"Clearly (the Department of Public Instruction) decided not to treat the infection it knew about at (Milwaukee Public Schools), and let it fester until it was too late," State Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Green Bay and co-chair of the audit committee, said Thursday.
Though the audit was approved Thursday, not all members of the legislative committee were in support of it. Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Somers, said he voted no because the audit was a "fishing expedition" that didn't take the taxpayers into consideration.
"I believe in local control and local responsibility," Wirch said. "A lot of people have lost their jobs over what happened in Milwaukee. We already have an audit that's going to be happening."
Details about what drove the financial crisis in Milwaukee are still murky. But what's clear is the district was months late in submitting required financial information to the state, driving its superintendent and two other administrators to vacate their positions.
Gov. Tony Evers has already called for audits of the district. Evers previously said the reviews will be the first of their kind in 15 years. They will focus on Milwaukee schools' financial management and classroom-related practices.
“The folks selected to conduct the independent, outside audits of MPS bring expertise and specific experience in classrooms, schools, and helping support school districts facing significant challenges, which is critical if we’re going to identify issues and have meaningful conversations in the future about solutions," Evers said in a statement after selecting MGT of America Consulting to conduct the operational audit.
Wimberger, however, was critical of Evers' decision to use private auditors. He said doing so will help the governor "avoid scrutiny" of a department he led for years.
Taking questions from lawmakers on Thursday, Deputy State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom McCarthy stressed that K-12 districts in Wisconsin are late filing financial data every year, and the reasons why are vast.
It's too early to answer detailed questions about what happened in Milwaukee, he said. But it's clear the district lacked the "competency and capacity" to address issues with incomplete finance data.
"As we navigated that, and figured out how to hold them accountable for that — there's not a guidebook that says, 'The state's largest district is deliquent in this amount of finance data," McCarthy said. "We've never broached a situation like this."
In a statement to the Journal Sentinel, a spokesperson for DPI said the department looks forward to cooperating with the audit.
"We also look forward to the Legislature examining with an open mind needed changes to statute to support local school districts meet the tremendous administrative burden of state and federal reporting and requirements, including potentially changes in timing of required reports," the statement said. "Our local schools are doing a tremendous job educating kids, and we need to help them in every way we can."
Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Racine and co-chair of the audit committee, on Thursday said the audit is basic: it's focused on process and procedure. But it's still important, given DPI oversees 421 school districts across Wisconsin.
"There's a significant amount of risk with the amount of money that we devote to K-12 education," Wittke said. "We need to understand what happens... so we don't keep hearing other school districts come forward with problems."
Cleo Krejci covers higher education, vocational training and retraining as a Report For America corps member based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at CKrejci@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @_CleoKrejci . For more information about Report for America, visit jsonline.com/rfa .
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: After Milwaukee Public Schools' financial crisis, lawmakers order audit on state education department
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