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Wisconsin’s school voucher expansion costs districts millions
The public can now find out how much each school district in Wisconsin will have to levy in property taxes to make up for the cost of paying for private school vouchers. But you’ll need to put on your reading glasses and brush up on Excel to hunt down the numbers. Data released this week […]
Supreme Court will take case on limiting governor’s veto power
On Wednesday the Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed to take a case brought by the right-leaning Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) seeking to undo several of Gov. Tony Evers’ partial vetoes of the state budget. “Gov. Evers used his partial veto to create new laws out of whole cloth,” said Rick Esenberg of WILL. […]
Abele won’t run again for county exec
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele announced on Wednesday that he will not run for re-election. “I have approached public service just as I have approached every venture I take on – giving it my all every day, all day, leaving everything on the field. But I also believe public service is about passing the torch […]
Senate committee takes aim at governor’s partial veto powers
At a public hearing on Tuesday, members of a state Senate committee on government oversight heard testimony on a proposed joint resolution that would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment “prohibiting the governor from using the partial veto to increase state expenditures.” Committee Chairman Sen. David Craig (R-Big Bend), who sponsored the resolution, argued […]
Two Dems jump into 7th Congressional District race
Wausau School Board President Tricia Zunker announced on Monday that she is running in the 7th Congressional District special election for the seat vacated by Republican Sean Duffy, who resigned last month. “I have become increasingly frustrated watching what is happening in Washington, because Wisconsin isn’t getting a fair deal,” Zunker told supporters who gathered […]
ICE raids and a battle over Arcadia’s school bus route
Arcadia, a small town in western Wisconsin, near the Minnesota border, has seen a huge influx of immigrants from Latin America in recent years. Some 40% of the town’s 3,000 residents are Latino, according to the Census. In surrounding Trempealeau County, where immigrants make up the bulk of the workforce on local dairy farms, the […]
Little debate on Senate resolution supporting F-35
A resolution supporting a U.S. Air Force plan to bring F-35 fighter jets to Truax Field in Madison passed on a voice vote without any audible “nay” votes from the Senate floor on Tuesday. An amendment offered by Sen. Fred Risser (D-Madison) and Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-West Point) that would have added a request to […]
Ron Johnson’s star turn
On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, the highest ranking Republican official in Wisconsin, appeared on Meet the Press advancing conspiracy theories, attacking the media and avoiding questions with a barrage of nonsense so thick it propelled host Chuck Todd to yell back in exasperation. “Sen. Johnson, please! Can you please answer the question that I […]
Rare bipartisan unity on 4-year-old kindergarten
In a rare display of bipartisan agreement, the Senate and Assembly education committees held a joint meeting on Thursday, Oct 3, to take up a series of bills including an expansion of 4-year-old kindergarten that has the support of a lot of people who rarely find common ground, from School Choice Wisconsin to the Milwaukee […]
Two-thirds of Wisconsin counties support redistricting reform
On Sept. 17, Sheboygan County became the 48th of Wisconsin’s 72 counties to endorse the idea of creating a nonpartisan process for re-drawing the state’s voting maps. The resolution “affirming the right of all Wisconsin citizens to fair and equal representation” and “requesting the adoption of a nonpartisan process for the preparation of legislative and […]
Rural schools advocate is wary of vouchers
Kim Kaukl, a retired school principal who lives in the little town of Plain, Wis, about seven miles north of Spring Green, is the executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance. In his frequent trips to Madison, Kaukl talks to state legislators about the plight of rural school districts across the state that are […]
The strange politics of impeachment
For too long the Democrats have fretted about how it might look to swing voters if they move to impeach President Donald Trump. Will it turn off suburban women or rural white men? Will playing the victim help Trump win another election by energizing his base? Maybe so. But at some point members of Congress […]