Bice: State Rep. Myers exited school job after numerous complaints from families

At least state Rep. LaKeshia Myers is no longer double-dipping.

The third-term Milwaukee Democrat had come under fire for working full time both as a member of the state Assembly and as dean of students at Whitman Middle School.

But now Myers, who is running for an open Senate seat, is no longer employed by the Wauwatosa School District under unclear circumstances, meaning the district won't say if Myers, 39, was fired or quit earlier this year.

What is clear is that her departure came shortly after the school district suspended her for a variety of reasons, according to more than 800 pages of heavily redacted documents released under the open records law.

"The purpose of this letter is to inform you that the Wauwatosa School District is conducting an investigation into complaints from multiple families regarding allegations that you have failed to follow district practices regarding disciplinary investigations and have engaged in unprofessional conduct," Sarah Zelazoski, chief of talent for Wauwatosa schools, wrote Myers on Dec. 19, 2023.

"Effective immediately, you are being placed on administrative leave pending completion of the investigation."

One tipster said Myers had picked up the moniker "Dr. Doolittle" around campus.

The records do not indicate what happened after her suspension notice.

But Myers put out a statement on Monday that she resigned on her own.

In July 2, she will square off against fellow Milwaukee Democrat, Rep. Dora Drake, in a primary for the right to fill a Senate seat that was vacated by Lena Taylor earlier this year when Gov. Tony Evers appointed her to the Milwaukee County bench.

Myers, who earns $57,408 a year to serve in the state Legislature, was named to the dean of students post in Wauwatosa in 2022, a job that paid $75,482 annually. With the two positions, Myers was making more than $132,000 per year in taxpayer-funded income.

Others lawmakers have second jobs, but only a few work two government-paid positions.

Records suggest problems in Wauwatosa began right away for Myers, a former teacher and assistant principal.

Shortly after hiring Myers, the school district was informed that her wages needed to be garnished for outstanding debt to Concordia University of $1,606.

In April 2023, the state Department of Revenue informed the Wauwatosa school system that it needed to begin withholding 15% of Myers' paycheck because she owed $3,349 in back taxes. The state removed its hold on her wages later that year after she paid off the debt.

Those were issues outside the office.

Wauwatosa schools put Myers on a performance plan

On Sept. 8, 2023, Myers — who likes to tout her education credentials — was put on a Performance Improvement Plan by school officials just a year into her job.

"As a result of observations which have identified your performance as below expectations, the following PIP has been developed to support necessary improvement during the 2023-2024 school year," said a notice sent to Myers.

Followup documents show that Myers was coming up short in two areas: professionalism and communication/collaboration.

Under the terms of the deal, she was to provide documentation of any medical appointments that required her to leave the office; arrive at meetings on time and stay until the end of these sessions; refrain from doing personal business during the work day; and alert officials when she had to leave the school building.

(State records show that she had registered a new business called Panache Edutainment Travel shortly before being put on the plan. She also owns a farm, a consulting firm and a bingo services provider.)

In late October, Tosa school officials drafted a revised improvement plan for Myers. This one noted her need to "maintain positive professional behavior," perform duties on time and respond promptly to student, parent and community concerns. This one was to run to Jan. 26.

Instead, Myers was notified in mid-December 2023 that she was being placed on paid administrative leave. The letter said she would be informed of the specific allegations when she sat down with district officials for an interview.

"Failure to comply with the directives provided in this letter in this letter will be considered insubordination and will be grounds for discipline up to and including termination of employment," Zelazoski wrote on Dec. 19.

The records do not make clear how the dispute was resolved.

On Jan. 5, Zelazoski declined to say if Myers had been dismissed from her job or resigned on her own, but she did acknowledge one thing: "Dr. Myers is no longer employed with the Wauwatosa School District."

Everything else had to come through a records request, which still didn't tell the whole story even after a nearly four-month wait for the information.

The records did show that Myers referred to herself and was referred to as "Dr. Myers" in nearly all correspondence.

LinkedIn refers to law degree from Cooley Law School, but school says she didn't graduate

According to her LinkedIn page, she has two doctorates — a J.D. from Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, and a doctorate in education from Argosy University.

Myers did put in her time and completed a dissertation for the Ed.D, but you will have to look long and hard to find Argosy University. The for-profit chain of 22 career schools closed its doors in 2019 after the U.S. Education Department cut off federal student loan and grant funds upon learning Argosy used $13 million owed to students to cover payroll and other expenses.

As for the law degree, Myers says she was awarded one after attending Cooley from 2019 to 2022, according to LinkedIn. Interestingly, she said the degree was "in progress" in her application to Wauwatosa two years ago.

The law school helped clear up the situation. Cooley has been dubbed the worst law school in the country by several media outlets with lowest bar passage rate among American Bar Association-accredited schools. Western Michigan University broke ties to the law school last year.

"Lakeshia N. Myers did attend with Thomas M. Cooley Law School but did not graduate," wrote Jessica Delaforce, coordinator for student records, in an email.

In her statement, Myers said she paused her legal studies in 2021. She said the fact that I was writing about her meant that she had "arrived."

"Dan 'Messy Boots' Bice has written about me in his column," she noted. "Such a sad waste of talent and time."

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rep. Myers exited school job after numerous complaints from families