The materials are arranged mainly as Bills maintained them, with some changes made to bring subjects together to bring a stronger chronological order. In the 1976 decision in Amos et al. v. Board of School Directors of the City of Milwaukee, federal judge John Reynolds stated that the segregation of Milwaukee public schools existed because of the intent and actions of the school board, and ordered the board to create a plan for desegration. Materials related to the AMOS DECISION and REACTION are grouped in the following subseries: Milwaukee Public Schools, Organizations and Writings; some of the latter predate the decision. THE METROPOLITAN INTEGRATION RESEARCH CENTER was founded in 1978 to educate the public regarding the “causes for racial isolation particularly in housing and schools in the metropolitan Milwaukee area, and conducting research into the possible means for countering the effects of racial isolation in the metropolitan Milwaukee area.”
CHAPTER 220 was a state law, enacted in 1975 and ended in 2015, that enabled students in Milwaukee to be bused to other districts in a voluntary school integration program. The MPS LAWSUIT AGAINST SUBURBS AND and SETTLEMENT series also follows as a direct result of the Amos decisions.
The MPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS series is primarily from Bills' time as board member and president of board and is arranged primarily in chronological fashion. She was elected in 1985 and chose not to run in for re-election in 1997. It contains the following subseries: Correspondence and remarks; Superintendents; Budgets; Facilities; Strategic Planning; and School Choice and Charter Schools, which reaches beyond Bills' time on the board. Materials on Redistricting can also be found in the BOARD OF DIRECTORS series.
The collection also includes photographs and videos in the VISUAL MATERIALS series as well as AUDIO RECORDINGS.
