Krug ends congressional race

In a press release, state representative Shirley Krug announced she was ending her campaign for U.S. Congress. Most important accomplishment listed: "My Milwaukee Neighborhood Schools Initiative created over 11,000 new classroom seats for the Milwaukee Public Schools without raising property taxes or state spending."

Although the NSI is still a work in progress, it has already led to a substantial increase in classrooms in overcrowded Milwaukee neighborhoods, to a series of interesting partnerships between MPS and community organizations, and to an increase in specialty programs such as Montessori.

Krug's skill in getting this measure into the state's budget bill and the challenges she faced have been underreported. First, she was Democratic minority leader of the assembly at the time; typically, only the majority party leadership has much influence on the state budget. Many in the Milwaukee delegation--including her fellow congressional candidates Tim Carpenter and Gwen Moore--seemed hostile towards the notion of neighborhood schools and itching for an excuse to shoot it down. The proposal was also widely resented by many outstate legislators who regarded it as too generous to Milwaukee. Despite these odds, she was able to maneuver this proposal into the governor's budget, and, along with Antonio Riley, through the legislative process.