MILWAUKEE – Here’s how worrisome the situation has become in some Milwaukee public schools:

“The number of students who are proficient in reading or math in each of the 55 schools that might be tabbed for the Opportunity program is very low — 10 or fewer in many of the schools.”

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Alan Borsuk, an education writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, included that startling fact in a recent column, when discussing the concerns of a Republican state lawmaker who helped create the Opportunity Schools Partnership Program.

How key players choose to implement that program could determine whether the Milwaukee Public Schools district (MPS) will continue to exist on a long-term basis, according to Borsuk.

As Borsuk explains the situation, “A year ago, Republican legislators … created a law that requires the Milwaukee County executive to name a commissioner of education with the authority to designate ‘low-performing’ MPS schools to be operated by others, such as independent charter school operators.

“County Executive Chris Abele named Demond Means, the Mequon-Thiensville school superintendent, as commissioner. Both Abele and Means have gone to lengths to say they are trying to come up with a plan that adheres to the law but doesn’t harm MPS by taking schools away from the system.”

Yet some board members reportedly remain highly skeptical of a compromise plan being pushed by Abele and Means, which would keep the schools in the MPS system, and still allow the district to receive state funding for those schools, while licensing an outside entity to monitor efforts to improve instruction.

MPS board Director Terry Falk called the plan “a shotgun marriage,” according to a recent story published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The newspaper quoted him as telling Means “It’s almost impossible for us to walk down the aisle with you and say ‘I do.’”

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Many MPS supporters, including leaders from the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (the teachers union), have openly called the Opportunity Schools program a hostile “takeover” attempt by the state.

Amy Mizialko, vice president of the MTEA, said the compromise plan would “disrupt the lives of children and their families in communities that are already stressed and marginalized,” the newspaper reported.

While taking no hard position on the issue, Borsuk warns that if the compromise plan is rejected, future plans could involve an actual, full-scale “takeover” – the removal of some struggling schools from the MPS district altogether.

That could be a recipe for doom for the school district.

As Borsuk wrote, “…Decisions to be made in the next few weeks could play a central part in answering questions such as whether there will be a Milwaukee Public Schools system, as we know it, several years from now.

“If the board says yes — I wouldn’t wager a prediction on what it will do — Means said he is confident MPS and the Opportunity system can work together to get better results. If the board says no, the law calls for things to go forward, with schools being removed from MPS.

MPS, in its currently fragile financial position, may not be able to withstand the state-mandated removal of some schools from the district, according to Borsuk’s column.

“Overall, MPS enrollment has declined substantially, which increases money problems,” Borsuk wrote. “Even with some relief from the Act 10 state law of 2011, the system is still carrying large obligations to current and future retirees. Fewer students — and potentially fewer schools — will tighten the overall squeeze, perhaps to the breaking point.

“Kim Schroeder, president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, said that if schools were pulled out of MPS, ‘MPS is at stake because we know MPS will collapse.’”

With its long record of academic failure and financial mismanagement, some would say that the collapse of MPS would be a good thing for taxpayers, students and their families.

That remains open to debate. But one thing seems clear: As long as reform-minded Republicans are in charge in Madison, reform efforts are likely to go forward, for the benefit of underserved students.

MPS officials can decide for themselves if they are going to be on board, or miss the train when it pulls out of the station.