The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee is considering approving its 14th privately-run charter school, to be opened in 2016-17. The school, Stellar Collegiate, will be run by Teach for America alum Melissa McGonegle, who was originally sent to Milwaukee by the Rocketship charter chain to open Rocketship's first school in Milwaukee.

UWM charter schools do not have to answer to parents or to Milwaukee's elected school board. They serve a significantly reduced population of students with special needs and English Language Learners, and are not required to hire teachers who are licensed in the subjects they teach. Privately-run charter schools drain funding and opportunities from the students who depend on public schools every day, while refusing to serve all students. Milwaukee's biggest public university should be supporting public school students and fostering the growth and success of MPS - not undermining it.