City Forward Collective

09/04/2026

Diesel is up nearly $2 a gallon in a year, and with about 90% of U.S. school buses running on it, districts that bus students, Milwaukee's among them, face a budget squeeze, NPR reports via WUWM

With the war in Iran driving up fuel prices, diesel is now nearly $5.60 a gallon, affecting school districts at the start of the year.

09/04/2026

Teachers at Milwaukee's Lincoln Avenue School, damaged by a fire, are receiving donated supplies from the community as the school year begins. Milwaukee Public Schools

While teachers were getting their classrooms at Pulaski High School ready on Tuesday, they were called together for a surprise gifting of the supplies and words of support and thanks from district and city leaders.

09/04/2026

We were proud to feature Michael Nguyen, the Executive Director of Teach For America Milwaukee, on Forward Together for Kids radio show on The Truth. We couldn't foster the growth of great schools without supporting outstanding teachers in collaboration with Teach for America.

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

Firsthand experience with school choice makes parents more likely to support it, Kevin Mahnken highlights in The 74 echoing the late-deciding Wisconsin voters who broke toward Crowley

Charters and school vouchers could create their own constituency, a recent study argues. But partisanship plays a role as well.

09/03/2026

We are grateful for the partnership and support of CFC board member Kameelah Shaheed-Diallo and the City Fund team!

In her latest piece, Kameelah spotlights what it really takes to build lasting change in public education: local leaders who know their communities, earn real trust, & stay in the fight long enough to see it through.

We're honored that City Fund believes in CFC and in Colleston Morgan Jr.'s leadership as we push for funding equity and accountability across ALL of Milwaukee's publicly funded schools. Together, we've helped secure roughly $400 million in new funding for Milwaukee's kids.

Read the full piece at the link below and learn why betting on local leaders is always the right investment.

🔗 https://city-fund.org/the-bet-we-keep-making-on-local-leaders/

See how local leaders in Milwaukee, Rochester, and Kansas City are building lasting change in public education, one community at a time.

09/03/2026

Every state should opt into the new federal School Choice Tax Credit, Michael Petrilli argues, since the money could fund tutoring, field trips, and clubs across public and private schools alike. The next governor will decide.

Also, Democrats debate whether school choice can sway swing voters (and which way), New York botches its Portrait of a Graduate, and Freddie misreads the charter school research.

09/02/2026

After Meta's $17.1 billion settlement with 47 states, including Wisconsin, advocates want the payout spent on real-life supports for kids, from parks and sports to mentorship, Elizabeth Gaines argues in The 74

Gaines: The conversation about social media and young people has been largely about what to take away. It’s time to talk about what to give kids.

09/02/2026

Students who used AI scored higher on homework but 20% lower on exams, according to The Economist. Homework results once predicted exam performance, and now the strongest homework scorers often fare worse on tests.

New data show the peril and promise of the technology

09/02/2026

Middle schoolers rarely used Khan Academy's AI tutor when given the chance, and the math gains came from practice rather than the chatbot. Matt Barnum details in Chalkbeat the barrier is motivation, not access.

The latest AI tutoring research points to a stubbornly human problem — getting students to engage. “Access was nearly universal but engagement was thin,” a new study found.