DPI Blocks Milwaukee’s Literacy Push, CFC Sends Letter of Support for the Milwaukee Reading Coalition in Response

Milwaukee ranks in the 1st percentile nationally in reading for years, according to new national data.

Last year, the city’s schools, philanthropies, and civic leaders united behind the Milwaukee Reading Coalition, a citywide effort to train every K3-5 teacher in the Science of Reading, with real accountability for outcomes. CFC is a member. Leaders worked with DPI to try and access Act 20 dollars targeted for the Science of Reading.

This week, Mayor Johnson, Dr. Howard Fuller, and the Presidents of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Herb Kohl Philanthropies called out DPI’s refusal to fund the coalition:

• DPI reversed course: Superintendent Underly’s office declared DPI lacks the authority to support the Milwaukee Reading Coalition, directly contradicting guidance DPI provided throughout the prior year.
• Public dollars matter: Philanthropic partners invested because this model combines public dollars with private accountability. Without a state commitment, private funders cannot hold long-term.
• The bureaucracy is the obstacle: As the local leaders wrote, “the bureaucratic apparatus meant to implement that shared goal is instead standing in its way.”

CFC sent its own letter to Superintendent Underly: “The Milwaukee Reading Coalition spent a year doing everything right — building an unprecedentedly broad, citywide coalition, securing funding, standing up infrastructure — only to be met with shifting guidance and bureaucratic delay.” 

CFC and the Coalition are pressing DPI to re-engage and deploy existing literacy dollars now. Milwaukee’s kids have waited long enough. Read the letter of support below.

Reading Coalition Support Letter