City Forward Collective’s latest polling data confirms what many of us have sensed in community conversations across Milwaukee: voters are hungry for bold leadership focused on outcomes for all Milwaukee’s students, and are responding well to the candor and honesty that new MPS Superintendent Brenda Cassellius has brought to her role.
As we have consistently done throughout the past few years (July 2024, February 2025), we regularly take the pulse of Milwaukee voters to understand what they want and expect from our education system.
This fall’s survey of 535 Milwaukee residents delivered some clear messages:
Milwaukee’s publicly-funded school sectors continue to receive similar levels of support - though we found a notable uptick in net favorable perceptions of public charter schools.
In a political environment where telling uncomfortable truths usually gets punished, Superintendent Cassellius’ candor about MPS’s deep challenges is resonating.
The School Board still has work to do to repair broken trust—and faces broad public support for state intervention if it doesn’t resolve MPS’s fiscal challenges.
And when it comes to more tax increases? Voters have once again made their position clear: in the midst of an affordability crisis, they want bold action on rightsizing, not another referendum.
Support for Public Charters & School Choice Options Remains Strong
While most of this edition of our poll’s major findings relate to Milwaukee Public Schools, I want to start by highlighting two broader, citywide results:
On support for school options: We found similar levels of support across all three school sectors, with 35-38% of voters viewing each favorably. However, the key difference emerged in levels of opposition. While MPS and private voucher schools face significant pockets of opposition that drag down their net favorability to -1 and +1 respectively, public charter schools encounter less resistance, resulting in a healthier +9 net favorable rating. Charter schools maintained positive ratings across all demographics except White and college-educated respondents.
On the federal school choice tax credit: We found strong public support for the $1700 per person tax credit, with 68% of respondents backing Wisconsin opting in to the proposal. Support was broad-based, with majorities across every demographic group, including 72% of likely Democratic primary voters and 78% of voters who had not yet decided on a candidate to support.
On MPS, Cassellius’ Candor Is Resonating
Superintendent Cassellius enjoys an overall +8 net favorability rating despite—or perhaps because of—her unflinching assessments of MPS’s academic failures and financial dysfunction. This builds on our consistent findings throughout 2024 showing Milwaukee voters’ desire for honest leadership and accountability.
When was the last time you saw a superintendent maintain public support while openly acknowledging that academic outcomes are unacceptable, that the district needs to tighten its budget, and that painful school closures are coming?
Compare this to the typical playbook, where superintendents soft-pedal problems, blame external factors, and defer difficult decisions. Cassellius is doing the opposite – and so far, residents appear to welcome the break from past practices. She deserves continued support as she works to address the deep-seated decay in the district and tackle longstanding challenges that previous administrations have ignored (detailed in the comprehensive audit done at the request of Governor Evers).
In an era of spin and euphemism, straight talk is proving to be smart politics.
The School Board’s Trust Deficit
While Cassellius earns marks for her leadership, the Milwaukee School Board sits at a dismal -17 net favorability (17/34). This isn’t just a popularity problem; it’s a governance crisis. The School Board’s myriad of failings, including the inability to provide effective financial stewardship and worst in the nation academic outcomes, have consequences beyond hurt feelings. Our polling shows that if the Board doesn’t resolve MPS’s structural budget issues, a majority of voters—including Democrats—support the creation of a state financial oversight body.
The Board’s credibility gap matters because tough choices require political capital. When only 32% of residents trust you to make decisions about their children’s education—compared to 58% who trust Governor Evers and 49% who trust Mayor Johnson—you lack the standing to lead transformational change. The Board needs to recognize this reality and either radically change course or risk having change imposed from Madison.
Ready for Tough Choices, Not Tax Hikes
The clearest message from our polling is that Milwaukee voters are done writing blank checks. Support for another MPS property tax referendum sits at just 46%, with only 20% saying they’d definitely vote yes. For context, the rule of thumb is that successful referendums typically start with 60% or more support, to account for inevitable erosion during the campaign.
The message from voters is unmistakable: in a moment where affordability tops the list of their concerns, they’ve done more than their fair share to address MPS’ finances. MPS has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. With nearly $1.5 billion in total funding and 41 cents of every local property tax dollar – the largest share of any local government unit – the district has ample resources. What it lacks is the will to make difficult decisions about rightsizing and restructuring.
Time to Stop Kicking the Can & Embrace The New Reality
What makes this moment different is that the usual coalition of status quo defenders is losing its grip on public opinion. When affordability and crime top voters’ concerns, when the School Board’s favorability matches that of Republican legislators, and when two-thirds of voters support school closures even after hearing opposition arguments, the political calculus has fundamentally shifted.
Superintendent Cassellius seems to understand this new reality. Her willingness to cite NAEP data showing Milwaukee’s academic catastrophe, to acknowledge the district’s nine-figure deferred maintenance crisis that the Board allowed to fester for over a decade, and to push for necessary consolidations shows she’s reading the room correctly. The key question is whether the School Board will take inspiration from Cassellius’ bold leadership or if it will continue to play politics while our schools deteriorate and student achievement remains stagnant.
The poll findings underscore a broader truth: Milwaukee voters want leaders focused on ensuring our city’s students have access to excellent schools.. They’re not interested in continuing the seemingly endless political battles over school choice options, and they’re ready to see through repeats of interest group scare tactics that have hijacked past opportunities for change. They’re pragmatic about solutions, whether that means supporting a superintendent willing to make hard choices, backing high-performing charter schools, or embracing federal policies that expand educational opportunity.