MILWAUKEE — After a fun summer break, Lena Robinson and her son, Zaki, are ready for the start of second grade.

What You Need To Know

  • Tuesday, Sept. 6 marked the first day of school for Milwaukee Public Schools on the traditional calendar

  • Gov. Tony Evers, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly and other state and local officials welcomed students at the Academy of Accelerated Learning

  • Evers announced at $2 billion budget proposal to help fund a variety of fields for schools in Wisconsin

"I’m super excited," Lena said. "He’s been needing some teacher time since he had a lot of mommy time and daddy time over the summer. So, we’re really excited to get him back in class and with his friends.”

As a second grader, a majority of Zaki's time in school has been disrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so Zaki said he is excited to have a little more of a "normal" year.

“I hope that everything goes smoothly this year and that we have no more changes and disruptions and we can just get into the flow of the natural school year," Zaki said. 

Students got to walk the red carpet to start the new school year at the Academy of Accelerated Learning. They were welcomed back to class by Gov. Tony Evers, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Jill Underly and other state and local officials. 

Milwaukee Superintendent Dr. Keith Posley said that shows just how many people it takes to raise and teach a child. 

“It takes a village to raise and educate a child. The examples of the village was here this morning, and we’re all going to need to circle and support our students throughout the year, our families, our teachers, to make sure everyone is successful and have a productive academic school year," Posley said. 

During the visit, Evers toured the school and stopped into a fourth grade classroom for a few minutes. 

He also announced $2 billion in funding to focus on literacy, mental health services, school lunches and staffing shortages with hopes to keep class sizes small. 

That proposal would would tap into the state’s $5 billion surplus, if approved by the legislature. 

Before the school year started, Milwaukee Public Schools were short more than 200 teachers. 

The district would not comment on staffing issues Tuesday, but Evers said he wants to change the law when it comes to hiring retired teachers, calling it a "no brainer."

“We have to make this happen," Evers said. "We have a shortage of teachers. There is a pipeline, but the pipeline isn’t particularly robust, and we have teachers who are willing to comeback and work hard and fill spots that already exist.”

Despite the challenges schools face, Lena said she and her son are striving for a specific goal this year: 100% attendance.