Mayor’s Office Refuses Responsibility in Stunning Statement
Milwaukee, WI - Lead-Safe Schools (LSS) MKE, Get the Lead Out (GTLO) Coalition, and Metcalfe Park Community Bridges (MPCB) believe that strong leaders take responsibility for their actions, show initiative in coming up with solutions, and meet the needs of their communities. The recent statement by the Mayor’s Office that “any accusation that the city has dropped the ball in school maintenance is completely without merit” is a stunning display of impotent leadership.
As LSS and MPCB have noted previously, Mayor Johnson’s relative silence on the MPS lead crisis and focus on funding deeply unpopular policies that promote environmental hazards due to absentee landlords, leave the community questioning his priorities.
We encourage the Mayor to take a look at what he CAN do to help the public schools in which his constituents learn and work, instead of focusing on what he CANNOT do. There are many places he could start. Health departments in other states conduct twice yearly inspections of schools to be certain that the buildings are safe and clean for occupants. From the beginning of this crisis, Lead-Safe Schools MKE has suggested that the Milwaukee Health Department institute a similar school inspection program.
Additionally, the funding that the city provides to charter schools for yearly lead-in-water testing shows that the political will is present to protect some children and families. Why such lead-in-water testing is not offered to MPS schools at the City’s expense is baffling.
Surely, there are avenues that the mayor can take to ensure community safety in the buildings where our children learn and play and where our amazing teachers work. Perhaps the City could use the $200 million in additional revenue from sales tax to fix the lead contamination in these school buildings. After all, the Mayor’s Office indicated, “Yes, under the law, the city 'owns' the school buildings.”
Lead-Safe Schools MKE, Get the Lead Out Coalition, and Metcalfe Park Community Bridges continue to demand that Mayor Johnson step up to become the leader that this city deserves during a public health crisis instead of pointing fingers at who else is to blame.
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