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In less than six weeks, voters will decide whether Milwaukee Public Schools gets another $252 million through a property tax increase. In a one-on-one interview, CBS 58 asked MPS Superintendent Keith Posley how the district will use that money, and how those dollars will improve student performance in a district that currently lags behind many of its big-city peers.

Milwaukee residents, especially Black and Hispanic families like mine, are once again demanding real change and more high-quality school choices. Why do so many Milwaukee leaders treat voices like ours with passive indifference – if not active disdain?

For over 30 years, school choice has been an integral part of Milwaukee’s educational landscape. As a city, we’ve embraced the idea that children thrive in different learning environments and that families should have the power to choose the best educational fit for their children. This philosophy has led to many choices, from traditional public schools to public charter schools and private schools participating in voucher programs.

When you spend every day working to help Milwaukee students achieve success, you are bound to learn a lesson or two yourself along the way. When it comes to parent choice, we have learned the following:

The state Department of Public Instruction in October is expected to release scores from last school year on the Forward Exam, a statewide standardized test gauging whether Wisconsin schoolchildren are meeting benchmarks in literacy and math.

But a recent overhaul of the exam by the department could complicate routine efforts by state policymakers, school district leaders, parents and others who rely on the scores to measure success over time.

At age 60, William Johnson has watched his north central Milwaukee neighborhood change through the decades, from the consequences of lost manufacturing jobs to a rising number of vacant, boarded-up houses.

Milwaukee Public Schools recently released a list of 13 schools that could potentially close or merge, all of which are concentrated across four ZIP codes in Milwaukee’s northcentral region. It’s where Johnson went to school as a kid and where he still finds a tight-knit community.