Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday night, May 24, Alex Brower, the president of Substitute Teachers’ Union for Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), ended his 21-day hunger strike with a victory. Brower was fasting to win health care benefits for full-time substitute teachers. Before now, subs received their hourly pay and nothing more; previously granted benefits for subs were stolen by Scott Walker in 2011. Through his fast, Brower says he was “simply embodying the suffering that full-time subs endure every day they are forced to work without basic benefits.”

Milwaukee, WI – Late on the night of May 19, Wisconsin legislators made a surprise move to overhaul the state’s public school system. State Senator Alberta Darling introduced the “K-12 Omnibus Plan” during the final hours of a budget drafting meeting. While the overhaul attacks public education broadly across the state, it narrows the attack to Milwaukee. The plan is a aimed at the Milwaukee Public Schools system, the Milwaukee teachers union and the working class community that relies on Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).