Monday, April 28, 2025
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Monday, April 28, 2025

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Milwaukee Public Schools Accused of Paying Teachers to Work on Union Business

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“Most MPS employees are entitled to at least 10 days per fiscal year of paid union leave.”  -WILL

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) has filed a notice of claim with Milwaukee Public Schools alleging that its “policy of paying MPS public employees to work on private union business” violates the Wisconsin Constitution and has cost taxpayers thousands of dollars.

“As a result of MPS’s union leave policy, MPS spends taxpayer money to subsidize the speech and activities of labor unions,” wrote WILL, which is asking MPS to suspend the policy. Read the WILL letter in full here.

During the 2017, 2018, and 2019 school years, “MPS spent thousands of dollars paying employees for hundreds of hours working on behalf of labor unions for the labor unions’ private purposes. We understand that MPS has authorized union leave for the 2020–2021 school year and continues to spend money on this policy,” claimed WILL.

Here’s the policy:

Will milwaukee public schools

According to WILL, employees “are not obligated” to account for MPS how their time is used, and MPS doesn’t audit the labor union leave time. In addition, the unions direct and control the activities of the union members using the leave, WILL wrote.

WILL represents a Milwaukee resident in the claim; Dan Sebring is a former Milwaukee County Supervisor who has served in local leadership positions in the Republican Party.

WRN reached out to Sebring for comment, he told us, “It’s no secret that I’ve had more than my share of tax difficulties. It is those difficulties that have made me acutely aware of just exactly where my tax money goes. A great deal of it is an outrage. This is but one.”

We contacted the communications office for MPS seeking comment and will add it into the story if it’s received.

This policy, called “union leave,” amounts to “compelled speech in violation of the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech,” WILL wrote in the notice of claim.

“This policy is also a violation of the public-purpose doctrine of the Wisconsin Constitution because MPS is paying its employees to work exclusively for private entities–unions–without any legitimate public purpose.”

According to the WILL letter, under MPS’s current union leave policy,most MPS employees are entitled to at least 10 days per fiscal year of paid union leave.

“Any MPS employee using union leave is working solely as a ‘representative’ of a labor union for the purpose of participating in ‘union-related activities,'” wrote WILL.

“Under MPS’s union leave policy, MPS employees are entitled to use union leave to work on any union activities. The MPS labor unions involved engage in a variety of political activities including advancing the direct interests of the public employee unions, as well as electoral activity, lobbying to influence public policy, and making political donations,” explained WILL.

The Wisconsin Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech, and this right “includes both the right to speak freely and the right to refrain from speaking at all,” WILL’s claim states.

“The government may not compel a person to speak or adopt an opinion not his own.”

Quoting Thomas Jefferson, the Supreme Court has agreed that “to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhor[s] is sinful and tyrannical,” wrote WILL.

“Public sector labor unions, such as MPS’s labor unions, are not viewpoint neutral, and instead, their activities express views on ‘important political issues.’”

“MPS’s union leave policy amounts to unconstitutional compelled speech. When an MPS employee uses taxpayer-funded union leave, that employee is working for the union, providing support to the union, and expressing support for and directly conducting the unions’ political and ideological activities,” WILL wrote, but MPS “is funded, in large part, by taxes paid by state and local taxpayers.”

Sebring “disagrees with labor union speech and advocacy on, among other things, endorsing of candidates for office, election canvassing in support of favored candidates, lobbying the state legislature, filing of grievances, collective bargaining, representing employees at grievance and complaint hearings, and attending union meetings, training, and conferences,” wrote WILL. “Mr. Sebring is being forcedto subsidize the speech of a private organization with which he disagrees.”

 

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Reversing Biden administration policies that halted offshore leasing, prompting lawsuits and restricting oil and natural gas development, the Trump administration is expanding offshore capabilities.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to hold the administration’s first offshore lease sales in the Gulf of America, with the first proposed notice of sale slated for June.

“By continuing to expand offshore capabilities, the United States ensures affordable energy for consumers, strengthens domestic industry and reinforces its role as an energy superpower,” the Interior Department says. “Opening the Outer Continental Shelf is central to this strategy as it unleashes domestic energy potential that had been blocked under the previous administration,” and is expected to generate tens of thousands of high-paying jobs throughout the industry.

The BOEM also released a new analysis stating that a significant increase of estimated oil and natural gas reserves exists in the Gulf of America Outer Continental Shelf. BOEM’s updated assessment evaluated more than 140 oil and natural gas fields, identifying 18 new discoveries, and analyzed more than 37,000 reservoirs across 1,336 fields in the Gulf.

It says there’s an “additional 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2021, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This includes 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – a 22.6% increase in remaining recoverable reserves.”

“This new data confirms what we’ve known all along – America is sitting on a treasure trove of energy, and under President Trump’s leadership, we’re unlocking it,” Burgum said. “The Gulf of America is a powerhouse, and by streamlining permitting and expanding access, we’re not just powering our economy – we’re strengthening our national security and putting thousands of Americans back to work.”

The comprehensive review added 4.39 billion barrels of oil equivalent in original reserves, BOEM found. “After subtracting production of 3.09 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2020–2021, the net increase reflects continued opportunity and momentum in offshore development,” it says.

“The Gulf of America is delivering 14% of the nation’s oil,” BOEM Gulf of America Regional Director Dr. James Kendall said. “These updated estimates reaffirm the Gulf’s vital role in ensuring a reliable, affordable domestic energy supply.”

The BOEM oversees nearly 3.2 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, with roughly 160 million acres located in the Gulf.

“Energy dominance is a pillar of U.S. economic strength and global leadership,” the Interior Department argues. “By expanding offshore capabilities, the United States ensures affordable energy for consumers, creates high-paying jobs, and reduces dependence on foreign adversaries. … Expanded leasing is projected to create tens of thousands of jobs across exploration, production, logistics and supply chains — revitalizing coastal economies and fueling American innovation.”

Shell Offshore Inc., a subsidiary of Shell plc, also announced it is beginning production at Dover, a second subsea tieback connecting new wells to existing infrastructure of its Appomattox production hub in the Gulf of America. Dover’s estimated peak production is 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, it says.

Shell is the leading deep-water operator in the Gulf of America; Dover was discovered under the first Trump administration in 2018.

It’s located in Mississippi Canyon, roughly 170 miles offshore southeast of New Orleans.

Shell estimates that Dover will “contain 44.5 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resources, adding stable, secure energy resources.”

Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas activities have generated billions of dollars in revenue from lease sales, rental fees and royalties to the federal government and states, helping to fund infrastructure, education and public services and wildlife conservation. They also help strengthen U.S. energy independence, national security and global stability, by reducing reliance on foreign producers, the Trump administration argues.

Offshore production in the Gulf of America accounts for the third greatest volume in the country, of nearly 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, according to Energy Information Agency data from January. The greatest volume is produced in the Permian Basin in west Texas, which leads the U.S. in oil and natural gas production, The Center Square reported.

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