Policing Milwaukee Public Schools: State Pressure, Legislative Battles, and the Fight Over School Resource Officers

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Data, Accountability, and Political Contexts in Education Finance

Abstract

In 2020, Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) ended its contract with the Milwaukee Police Department, removing school resource officers (SROs) after sustained community advocacy. Three years later, Wisconsin legislators passed Act 12, forcing SROs back into MPS high schools—an act that raised urgent questions about local control, racial equity, and democratic governance. This study employs Critical Discourse Analysis of legislative texts, interviews, and media coverage, framed by Levitsky and Ziblatt’s How Democracies Die, to explore how state intervention reframed safety and authority. Findings highlight how state-mandated policing policies undermine community decision-making, disproportionately impact Black and Brown students, and signal democratic backsliding. This work advances scholarship on school policing and the political stakes of education governance.

Author

• Gabbi Gruver, University of Wisconsin - Madison