The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

The student news site of Marquette University

Marquette Wire

MPS gets $30 million grant to help at-risk students, schools

Wisconsin is gearing up to better prepare students, parents and teachers for high school graduation and higher education, thanks to a recently obtained $30 million grant.

Milwaukee Public Schools, Wisconsin’s largest school district, is one of nine districts in the nation to be awarded a $14.8 million grant from the federal Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, also known as GEAR UP. The Department of Education program seeks to help at-risk students prepare for college and receive support to achieve in post-secondary education. A local match of funding brought the grant to $30 million.

The grant will be divided into annual payments to MPS of $2,212,000 spread over seven years, according to the U.S. Department of Education report.

Caroline Williams, curriculum specialist at MPS, said the length of the grant will benefit the district in the long run.

“I love that it is a seven-year grant,” Williams said. “It really gives us the opportunity to grow longitudinally.”

Williams said the grant will be used to improve high school graduation rates and college readiness, with efforts beginning in sixth and seventh-grade classrooms.

“It will cover every aspect that will help students prepare,” Williams said. “The money will fund mentoring services, academics such as improved student skills and teacher curriculums and also financial literacy for students and parents.”

MPS will begin the initiative in seven high-needs schools, including John Burroughs Middle School, Roosevelt Creative Arts Middle School and Bay View Middle and High Schools, according to the district news release.

In the third year of the initiative, six more schools are to be added: Audubon Technology & Communication Center High School, Lynde & Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School, Milwaukee High School of the Arts, James Madison Academic Campus, Alexander Hamilton High School and Harold S. Vincent High School. These schools represent both the highest need schools and strongest middle to high school feeder patterns in the MPS district, the same news release said.

The grant awarded to MPS is one of two offered by the GEAR UP Program, said Patrick Gasper, communications officer at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

“The GEAR UP program has two funding streams: partnership grants and state grants,” Gasper said. “A partnership grant was awarded to MPS by the federal government via their direct application.”

The nationwide application process took place in July of this year and attracted nearly 300 applications, said Bonnie Dockry, education program coordinator at the DPI and Wisconsin Educational Opportunity Program.

“The competition was highly competitive, and out of all the applications, only 19 states and 47 partnerships received funding,” Dockry said.

The “partnership” aspect of the grant refers to the required local matching of funds.

The matching funds for MPS were secured by 18 partners in the Milwaukee community and higher education sector, including The College Board, the Educational Opportunities Program at Marquette and MPS itself, according to the district news release.

MPS is not the only GEAR UP recipient in Wisconsin. The DPI/WEOP applied for a state grant, and will be awarded $5,000,000 each year for six years.

The plan for the grant is similar to that of MPS, but extends throughout the state. It will help provide programming and services to low-income, disadvantaged sixth through 12th graders in targeted state school districts, including those in the Milwaukee area, Dockry said, who also acted as the project director for the state grant.

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