Education
Aside from big spike in Madison, UW schools face their own outbreaks, inconsistent data
Two weeks into the semester at the 13 UW System schools, the plans for safely welcoming students back to campus seem to be falling apart as infections spread. Before classes started, UW System President Tommy Thompson touted testing plans as the reason UW would succeed in bringing students back where other universities across the country […]
Dane County Exec asks UW to send underclassmen home for semester
After a massive spike in COVID-19 cases in Dane County, largely attributed to UW-Madison students returning to campus, County Executive Joe Parisi asked in an open letter for university officials to send underclassmen living in the dorms home for the semester. Dane County has seen its highest daily infection rate of the pandemic since students […]
Jill Biden’s back-to-school supermom chat in Green Bay
As students across Wisconsin began the school year online, Jill Biden held a town hall meeting with two Green Bay mothers and Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski to discuss the challenge of meeting children’s educational needs during the pandemic. During the virtual campaign stop for her husband, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Jill Biden talked […]
Students say campus restrictions are ‘loosey-goosey’ as they wait for COVID-19 shoe to drop
After one week of classes and before the long — and typically boozy — Labor Day weekend, the University of Wisconsin-Madison had already mandated that 420 fraternity and sorority members from nine organizations enter quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus. After the long weekend, UW-Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank restricted all student movement. […]
How to make virtual instruction work
Dawn Nordine has been the executive director of Wisconsin Virtual School for the last 18 years. If there is one person who has the most hands-on experience in virtual education in Wisconsin, it is probably Nordine. Wisconsin Virtual School (WVS) is a public-school program of the Cooperative Educational Service Agency in Tomahawk which in turn […]
Supreme Court asked to throw out the order that closed Dane County schools
The same law firm that recently asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to overturn Gov. Tony Evers’ statewide mask order has filed an emergency petition seeking to end the Dane County order that will keep children in grades 3-12 at home to start school online this fall. The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) asked […]
Thompson says he’s a ‘visionary’ who can solve UW System’s problems
UW System interim president Tommy Thompson said he believes campuses can reopen safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic and that he can wrangle the Republican-led Legislature into supporting his budget proposal. Thompson spoke Friday at a Milwaukee Press Club virtual newsmaker event, With students set to return to campus soon, and universities across the country shutting […]
‘Let’s just feed our kids’: Advocates press to extend federal aid for school meals
WASHINGTON — School nutrition leaders are calling on the federal government to extend a summer meals program to support hungry kids as schools reopen this fall. “One of our primary needs at this point is to try to maintain the summer food service,” Larry Wade Sr., director of school nutrition services for Chesapeake Public Schools, […]
School districts rethink reopening classrooms this fall
Many Wisconsin school districts planned to reopen this fall with a traditional schedule. Now some of those districts are rethinking that decision. Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District received an “F” on its school opening plans from the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) Region 7, as the Wisconsin Examiner reported. On August 13, the Oak […]
School vouchers, Black Lives Matter and democracy
When a Milwaukee voucher school recently posted its opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement’s support of LGBTQ rights, the ensuing controversy lifted the curtain — albeit ever-so-slightly— on a long-standing problem. Under Wisconsin’s voucher programs, billions of taxpayer dollars have been funneled into private schools that do not have to abide by basic antidiscrimination […]
Will teachers go back?
“F” is the grade given to the Oak Creek – Franklin school district for their plans to reopen school this fall. This district received the worst grade given by Region 7 of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) which represents educators in southeastern Wisconsin. Other school systems receiving a failing grade were Cudahy, Franklin, Greendale, […]
Teacher anxiety soars as districts grapple with back-to-school decisions
Teachers were feeling stressed out even before the pandemic began, and their anxieties have exploded as lawmakers and school leaders debate whether to launch in-person classes this fall. U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa) is hoping that her push to highlight teacher mental health in a House measure will prod Congress to do more to help […]