Milwaukee Public Schools

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is the largest school district in Wisconsin. As of 2007, it had an enrollment of 87,360 students, and as of 2006 employed 6,100 full-time and substitute teachers in 223 schools. The Milwaukee Public Schools system is the 33rd largest in the United States by enrollment. A publicly elected school board, the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, provides direction and oversight, with a superintendent heading the organization's administration. The district owns WYMS-FM (88.9), which airs an eclectic selection of music and is programmed by a local non-profit group via an LMA.

Milwaukee Public Schools previously operated as magnet schools, with individualized specialty areas for interests in academics, or the arts. Currently, Rufus King International School, Golda Meir School, Riverside University High School, Milwaukee School of Languages, Milwaukee High School of the Arts, Samuel Morse Middle School for the Gifted and Talented, The Alliance School and Lynde & Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School are some of the magnet schools in Milwaukee. The district has a budget of $1 billion, a drop out-rate in the top five of America, and some of the worst reading comprehension scores in the nation.

School District officials note declining funding as a catalyst to problems in the district. However, local journalists have cited school officials as lacking in motivation to improve the system.

In 1990, Milwaukee became the first community in the United States to adopt a school voucher program. The program enables students to receive public funding to study at parochial and other private schools free of cost. The 2006-2007 school year will mark the first time that more than $100 million will be paid in vouchers, as 26% of Milwaukee students will receive public funding to attend schools outside the MPS system. If the voucher program alone were considered a school district, it would mark the sixth-largest district in Wisconsin.

Under Wisconsin state law, the Milwaukee school board is one of several entities that can authorize charter schools in the city. Other authorities that can authorize charter schools are the Milwaukee City Council, the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and the Milwaukee Area Technical College Board. The first charter school in Milwaukee was the Highland Community School, a Montessori elementary school authorized by Milwaukee Public Schools in 1996.

In 2012, Rufus King International School – High School Campus was ranked the 130th best public high school in the nation, making it the top performing school in the state of Wisconsin. Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School was ranked second in Wisconsin, while Milwaukee School of Languages was ranked seventh.