City Forward Collective Analysis Shows North Side Education Crisis Drives Wisconsin’s Worst-in-Nation Racial Achievement Gaps
Milwaukee, WI — Twenty-two of Wisconsin’s 50 lowest-performing schools are concentrated on Milwaukee’s North Side, according to a comprehensive new analysis released today by City Forward Collective (CFC). The report, Milwaukee’s North Side Education Crisis: A Generation of Failure Demands Action, reveals that only 18% of North Side students — among the nearly 55,000 enrolled — attend schools meeting City Forward Collective’s definition of high quality, making the area ground zero for Wisconsin’s largest-in-the-nation Black-White academic achievement gaps.
“This data should be a wake-up call for every leader from Milwaukee to Madison,” said Colleston Morgan Jr., Executive Director of City Forward Collective. “We are talking about tens of thousands of children — the majority of them Black — who are being let down by the systems that are supposed to serve them. The North Side has incredible students, dedicated families, and schools that prove what’s possible when we get this right. What it doesn’t have is the political leadership this crisis demands. That has to change.”
Dr. Howard Fuller, former Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent, said the findings demand urgent action: “For decades, we have failed to ensure that our children on the North Side of Milwaukee get the quality education they need and deserve. The data contained in this document is DEVASTATING! The question is, when will we muster the political will to change this unacceptable reality for our children? It’s time to quit making excuses and living in denial. We MUST act NOW!”
The crisis falls hardest on Black students. Milwaukee schools serve 57% of all Black students in Wisconsin, and of the 30,000 Black students statewide lacking access to a high-quality school, six in ten attend school on Milwaukee’s North Side. Nearly half of all North Side students (45%) attend schools that failed to meet expectations on the state’s most recent Report Card. For high school students, only 14% attend schools meeting CFC’s definition of high quality — all concentrated at just three institutions, where only 3% of students are Black.
The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows these gaps are growing, driven by declines in Black student proficiency in Milwaukee that are now the lowest in the country. Meanwhile, enrollment has declined by more than 4,500 students since 2019-20, with MPS losing more than 4,000 students while operating approximately 25 more schools than needed — draining resources from classrooms to maintain half-empty buildings.
The report calls on every elected leader and candidate for office — from the Governor’s race and state legislature to the Mayor’s office and MPS School Board — to answer a direct question: What concrete steps will you take to improve school performance and student outcomes on Milwaukee’s North Side?
The report also proposes three solutions: rightsizing MPS operations by consolidating underenrolled schools while guaranteeing affected students priority access to higher-performing schools of their choice; real accountability for persistently underperforming schools regardless of sector, with consequences including closure, leadership change, or conversion to successful operators; and removing governance barriers that have consistently allowed adult politics to override student achievement.
Download the Full Report: Milwaukee’s North Side Education Crisis: A Generation of Failure Demands Action
