As Milwaukee Public Schools seeks to fill hundreds of staff vacancies ahead of the school year, district leaders are promising on-the-spot job offers to educators affected by proposed cuts at Chicago Public Schools.
MPS is aiming to present offers to about 200 teachers and 150 paraprofessionals, also known as classroom aides, the district said in a news release. MPS officials are scheduled to host a two-day recruitment fair July 29 and 30 at Hotel Zachary in Chicago, where they will conduct on-site interviews with applicants and make “immediate” job offers to qualified candidates.
The event comes after Chicago Public Schools released a proposed budget in July that calls for eliminating 760 teaching positions, 801 teacher aide positions and 162 central office and citywide positions to help close a $732 million deficit.
Dominick Maniscalco, MPS chief human resources officer, said the proposed cuts provide an opportunity for MPS to bring Chicago teachers to Milwaukee, where the school system has similar demographics and needs.
“We feel we could really make a connection with a lot of those teachers and find them a home here in Milwaukee,” Maniscalco said. “If you’re a licensed Illinois teacher, we can offer you a tentative job offer on the spot.”
MPS’ hiring effort is part of Superintendent Brenda Cassellius’ plan to reduce class sizes. This spring, the district cut about 260 non-classroom positions from its 2026-27 budget to help close a $46 million gap, saying the move would help fund the full-time equivalent of more than 150 new teacher and 150 paraprofessional positions.
However, some staff and union members worried those roles would go unfilled, citing the district’s historic struggles to fill staff vacancies. Over a month into the 2025-26 school year, more than 80 teaching jobs were still open. District officials began offering $1,000 bonuses to retired teachers willing to return to work full time or in part-time job shares.
Maniscalco said the district has 111 teacher vacancies and about 100 paraprofessional vacancies as of July 27. Still, he said MPS plans to make about 200 teacher offers and 150 paraprofessional offers because some employees may leave the district or accept other offers before the school year begins. To help fill positions, he said, MPS tripled its number of career fairs this year and recently expedited its hiring process from 10 weeks to three or four weeks.
“We have not stopped ramping up efforts to get educators to MPS,” Maniscalco said.
The district is looking to fill roles across all grade levels and subject areas. The average salary of an MPS teacher is $90,000, according to the district.
Kayla Huynh covers K-12 education, teachers and solutions for the Journal Sentinel. Contact: khuynh@gannett.com. Follow her on X: @_kaylahuynh.
Kayla Huynh’s reporting is supported by Herb Kohl Philanthropies and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: MPS seeks laid-off Chicago Public Schools staff to fill vacancies
Reporting by Kayla Huynh, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Kayla Huynh, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
