Gerard Randall is the executive director and sole employee of the nonprofit Milwaukee Education Partnership, created to boost student outcomes and teacher retention.
I had quite a bit to say about Gerard
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/joKNTnYhBQ6EqLvz/?mibextid=dD9HTC
Randall,serves on a variety of boards of Milwaukee nonprofits, is also first vice chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin and secretary of the host committee for the 2024 Republican National Convention, which will be held in Milwaukee.
Before I continue, the Republican Party of Wisconsin is full of awesome men and women that operate in accordance with the rules. What rules did Gerard break ?
Let’s look at his history:
Randall was involved in further controversy in 2000, when a state audit found the agency he was running, Private Industry Council of Milwaukee County, failed to do financial monitoring, according to the Journal Sentinel article. The job was taken from him and transferred to city control.
Randall also serves on the boards of the Milwaukee Public Museum, VISIT Milwaukee, Wisconsin Arts Board, Ascension Wisconsin Foundation and the Employ Milwaukee Youth Council, according to his online bio.
Read what some of the UrbanMilwaukee readers wrote, the people are speaking:
- rubiomon@gmail.com says:
November 10, 2023 at 8:42 am
Something really stinks here! This hustler’s ride needs to end- and those responsible for this scam held accountable.. - Mingus says:
November 10, 2023 at 8:49 am
“School reform and improvement” is a very lucrative industry in Wisconsin where billions have been spent choice and charter schools and bringing in the latest “miracle curriculum” de jour with minimal oversize and accountability. Most often these reform “initiatives” are promoted by Republicans with conservative entities finding ways to get their cut of the billions of dollars spent. Mr. Randall’s reimbursement is chump change to the charter and choice school administrators, churches with choice schools, and persons administering the “miracle curriculums”. With conservative “school reform” entering its fourth decade, nothing has changed in terms of school improvement while these programs continue at great cost with little accountability.
- Duane says:
November 10, 2023 at 9:20 am
Kudos to Missy Zombor for taking her job seriously. The vague language she pointed out in these contracts is pretty telling, i.e. “Supporting MPS efforts to enhance the quality of teaching and - learning.” Sounds like a con job to me.
Having remembered Randall on the PBS public affairs show “Interchange”. He and Kevin Fischer proudly parroted all the conservative talking points on Interchange over the years. I found it weird that he essentially had “no comment” to make when asked about this subject. - gerrybroderick says:
November 10, 2023 at 5:02 pm
Missy Zombor’s dilegense in discovering and questioning this contract is exactly the quality of commitment her supports in the past school board election knew she would deliver. I’m proud to be one of them.
Some Milwaukee Board of School Directors members are questioning whether a local nonprofit that has received nearly $1.3 million in no-bid district contracts over the past decade is delivering on its promises to improve student achievement.
Several high-profile officials say the nonprofit has listed them in tax filings as board officers without their knowledge. They include Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly, MPS Superintendent Keith Posley, MATC President Vicki Martin and UWM Chancellor Mark Mone.
Gerard usually works by himself, but now he is really by himself.
People want opinions, mine doesn’t matter, I think its obvious that something happened.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports MPS has spent $1.29 million on the partnership since 2012, records show. Its most recent no-bid contracts, signed in 2021 and 2022, totaled $139,170.
District guidelines allow officials to waive competitive bidding for contracts under $5,000, contracts that provide a “one-of-a-kind” service or those needed for continuity that also demonstrate “quantifiable or qualitative savings.”
The partnership received $75,000 to “enhance the quality of teaching and learning in Milwaukee Public Schools,” one contract states. Last year the partnership received a second contract, this one for $64,170. That money was for the group’s Milwaukee Connects program, which aims to “enhance the pipeline of graduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to Milwaukee,” according to the contract.
The contract required the partnership to provide 10 graduating MPS students with semester-long paid internships to include professional mentoring, housing and transportation between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023.
At the end of the day the kids are affected, they don’t get their needs met and Milwaukee still leads in some of the worst public schools in the state.
