Teachers are eyeing Monday, May 14th for a 'Sick Out' as a budget battle intensifies between the Milwaukee Public School District and the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, a source tells WTMJ Radio.
Petitions were being circulated at MPS schools on Wednesday, according to the source. Substitute teachers are also being told to be unavailable next Monday.
More: Milwaukee teachers strike possible
The union is responding."MTEA has not called for a "sick out" next week," MTEA president Kim Schroeder said in a statement. "MTEA continues to call on every public education worker in MPS to search their conscience and consider how far they are willing to go to guarantee a fair budget for our students and educators. We will meet with school leaders from across the city this week to discuss next steps. We remain hopeful that MPS administration and the school board can reach common ground on this budget to do what is right for our students and educators, but we are prepared to fight to win the budget we all deserve.”
Last week, MTEA Vice President Amy Mizialko asked members to pledge to search your conscience and consider how far each of you is willing to go to guarantee a just budget for students and educators," she said in a published video.
When asked on whether there could possibly be a strike or work action at MPS, Marquette Law School Senior Fellow in Law and Public Policy Alan Borsuk gave WTMJ's John Mercure a clear "yes" last week.
"It doesn't specifically say strike and job action, but it's certainly the implication. This is definitely an escalation of the tension in an already-very tense and difficult situation."
