Education
‘Students learn here’: Richland Center residents make plea to save campus
The Pippin Conference Center at Melvill Hall on UW-Richland’s campus was packed to the brim Thursday evening as community members, current and former faculty and students made their emotion-filled case to keep in-person instruction on the campus. Late last year, UW System President Jay Rothman announced that UW-Richland, now the smallest of the system’s two-year […]
Teachers would get $60K minimum salary under bill in Congress making grants to states
WASHINGTON – A panel of policymakers and educators, including author Dave Eggers and former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to promote the American Teacher Act. The bill, if passed, would authorize the federal government to create four-year grants for states to enact and enforce minimum school teacher […]
Waukesha County Exec becomes new Lake Country Classical Academy authorizer
Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow signed a letter of intent on Tuesday to authorize Lake Country Classical Academy, the Oconomowoc charter school affiliated with Hillsdale College that was formerly authorized by the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University (LCOOU) in northern Wisconsin. Farrow formerly served as the state chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin and […]
Richland County considers suing UW System to save UW-Richland campus
Community members and local leaders are weighing their legal options after the University of Wisconsin System’s decision to end in-person classes on the UW-Richland Center campus last year. UW-Platteville, the four-year university that operates the campus, has proposed that Richland focus on online education while the county considers suing the System for violating its contract. […]
Child care providers, parents campaign for new budget infusion
The year 2023 has just begun, but Wisconsin operators of licensed child care programs and the parents who depend on child care so they can go to work are looking ahead nervously to 2024. Since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s child care systems have been teetering as providers work to keep children safe, […]
New federal student loan repayment plan aimed at low-income borrowers
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Education unveiled a proposal Tuesday that would overhaul a federal student loan income-driven repayment plan, and, if implemented, could help millions of low-income borrowers. However, it’s unclear how the agency would be able to finance the program. Many student debt relief advocates also criticized the proposal for leaving out […]
Conservative UW-Madison center holds symposium for school board members
WISCONSIN DELLS — School board members, dressed in business casual and carrying black folders, stuck out amongst the bathing suit clad families at the Great Wolf Lodge during a recent December weekend. While children streamed past, running towards the water slides, the school board representatives from across Wisconsin and other midwestern states walked past a […]
Child tax credit expansion left out of congressional omnibus package
WASHINGTON — Any last hopes of resurrecting the expanded child tax credit as part of Congress’ massive spending package were dashed early Tuesday when the 4,155-page bill was released without a mention of the tax benefit. The temporary expanded child tax credit, part of a COVID-19 relief deal in 2021, allowed more low-income families, including […]
Committee advances Native American education bills
Wisconsin’s State-Tribal Relations special committee unanimously voted to advance a bill that would update a 1989 law that requires primary and secondary public schools to teach students about the history, culture and treaty rights of Wisconsin’s Native Americans Tuesday. The committee will recommend the bill, along with four others that were unanimously advanced, for consideration […]
Community leaders compare decision to kill UW Richland to medieval blood-letting
Sitting squarely within the senate district of one of the most powerful legislators in Madison wasn’t enough to save UW-Platteville Richland, which University of Wisconsin System President Jay Rothman announced last month would be closing to in-person classes next fall. Rothman said that low enrollment and financial pressures made keeping the system’s smallest campus open […]
Stability or disruption for Wisconsin schools?
Parent-teacher conferences just ended — a process akin to speed-dating, during which my husband and I met with our high school sophomore’s teachers in a flurry of quick, 10-minute Zoom sessions. As frenetic as the process was, it was reassuring to talk to the grownups who are teaching our daughter and to hear what she’s […]
State’s school libraries to reap record payout from public lands investments
Wisconsin public school libraries will share in $52 million next year from the state’s Common School Fund, paid for with investments by the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, who leaves office at the end of this year, and State Superintendent Jill Underly announced the record payout to the fund for […]