Education
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 […]
What you don’t know about the UW System’s new charter schools should worry you
The UW System’s Office of Educational Opportunity (OEO), created by the Wisconsin Legislature in 2015, is well on its way to overseeing more K-12 schools than the superintendents of most of Wisconsin’s 423 school districts. Currently, the OEO, the UW System’s charter school authorizer, lists 10 independent charter schools it has authorized on its website. […]
Six GOP-led states win national injunction against Biden student debt relief plan
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Monday issued a nationwide injunction indefinitely blocking the Biden administration’s student debt relief program in response to a challenge by six GOP-led states. The unanimous ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis came after the six states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and […]
UW System relaunches controversial free speech student survey
The University of Wisconsin System sent a survey to students on Monday looking for their feelings about the state of free speech on the system’s campuses across the state. The survey had previously been planned for May, but objections from chancellors, including by UW-Whitewater Chancellor James Henderson, who criticized the survey when he resigned from […]
Biden student debt relief plan thrown out by Texas judge; new applications halted
WASHINGTON — Late Thursday a federal judge in Texas struck down the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan, ruling that the program is unlawful, in a blow to 16 million student debt borrowers already approved for relief. The U.S. Department of Education now is no longer accepting applications for the program, according to the student […]
Why is the UW System working with the controversial Hillsdale charter school network?
Controversy surrounding Hillsdale charter schools led the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University in Wisconsin to threaten to sever ties last month with Lake Country Classical Academy — Wisconsin’s first Hillsdale-affiliated charter school. The tribe cited “inflammatory, derogatory, and racist comments captured by hidden camera” by the president of Hillsdale College, Larry Arnn. Arnn’s comments, which […]
Pronoun policies, culture wars and partisan school boards in Wisconsin
When a school board in Lake Country, Wisconsin approved a policy banning the display of LGBTQ Pride flags and the use of preferred pronouns, it found itself on the leading edge of a series of similar policies enacted in school districts elsewhere in the state and across the country. On July 26, 2022, Kettle Moraine […]
Wisconsin school districts to receive over $25 million for electric school buses
Wisconsin will receive a total of $25.8 million in federal funds to purchase 72 new electric school buses across 19 school districts, according to an announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency. The investment is a part of the agency’s Clean School Bus program, which focuses on replacing existing school buses with zero- and low-emission buses. […]
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University to sever relationship with Hillsdale charter school
The Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University (LCOOU) Authorizing Board says it will end its affiliation with an Oconomowoc charter school affiliated with Hillsdale College unless the school renounces reported racist and derogatory comments made by Hillsdale’s president, Larry Arnn. The tribal university notified leaders of Lake Country Classical Academy (LCCA) that unless the charter school […]
Beware skewed numbers on school funding
The Badger Institute, a conservative Wisconsin think tank, touts its “instrumental” role in “successes ranging from implementation of school choice to the passage of right-to-work legislation to the repeal of prevailing wage and overly onerous occupational licensure laws.” Last week it came out with a new report, “Mandate for Madison: Policy Recommendations for a More […]
Biden student debt forgiveness plan on temporary hold after appeals court ruling
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from carrying out its student loan forgiveness plan, until the court makes a determination on a request for an injunction brought by six Republican-led states, according to multiple media reports. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave the Biden administration until […]