Republican-ordered audits released Friday found that Wisconsin state agencies and the Universities of Wisconsin have failed to track the millions of dollars they spent on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, making it difficult to fully assess the initiatives.

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Wisconsin school districts won't comply with a directive from the Trump administration to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs until the districts have more information.

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The Trump administration has terminated six UW-Madison student visas and seven alumni visa employment extensions, the university announced Monday.

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Nearly a quarter of Wisconsin fourth graders lack basic math knowledge. The National Council on Teacher Quality says that's because only one in eight colleges are adequately spending enough time preparing future teachers to teach fundamental math topics.

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Voters approved about 55 percent of the 89 referendums across the state, leaving 45 percent of districts now scrambling to figure out what’s next. 

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The Trump administration is giving public K-12 schools 10 days to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs or be at risk of losing federal funding. 

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State Superintendent Jill Underly was reelected Tuesday, beating educational consultant Brittany Kinser to continue leading Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction. 

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The state Department of Public Instruction sets the direction of public education in Wisconsin. Here’s what the agency and the state superintendent do.

The post Voters will decide the next state superintendent April 1. What does the Department of Public Instruction do? appeared first on WPR.

More than a year after ending its decade-long affiliation with the Milwaukee Education Partnership, Milwaukee Public Schools is still trying to recoup money from the organization for work it never performed. 

MPS sent an invoice to Milwaukee Education Partnership on Dec. 19, 2023, for $64,170. The district sent four follow-up invoices to the organization before turning the matter over to Kohn Law Firm in May 2024, according to records obtained by WPR. 

The school district is still awaiting payment from the now-defunct organization, which was led by Gerard Randall, a top Wisconsin GOP official who helped secure the Republican National Convention for Milwaukee.

Randall did not respond to requests for comment from WPR. 

School board member Missy Zombor said the money Randall owes to MPS could be used to serve students. 

“That’s potentially an educator in front of a student,” Zombor said. “I mean, $64,000 is not a small amount of money, so not being able to recoup those funds impacts students directly.” 

MPS ended its relationship with Randall after reporting by WPR in collaboration with Wisconsin Watch brought the questionable history of his nonprofit to light.

During its relationship with MPS, Milwaukee Education Partnership received nearly $1.3 million in no-bid district contracts, promising to improve student achievement in the district. 

In 2022, the partnership received $64,170. That money was for the group’s Milwaukee Connects program, which aims to “enhance the pipeline of graduates from Milwaukee to Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” according to the contract.

The contract required the partnership to provide 10 graduating MPS students with semester-long paid internships to include professional mentoring, housing and transportation between Oct. 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2023.

In an email exchange last year with WPR,  Randall said “a cohort is being developed for the semester beginning January 2024.”

He would not answer further questions.

The students were never provided mentoring or internships, but Randall did receive the payment, according to documents obtained by WPR. 

Milwaukee Education Partnership was also listing several high-profile officials in tax filings as board officers without their knowledge. 

They included Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly, former Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley, former Milwaukee Area Technical College President Vicki Martin and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone.

Despite the controversy, Randall  continues to serve on a variety of high-profile boards, including the Wisconsin GOP, UW-Madison’s Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership and Visit Milwaukee. 

After being elected to the MPS board in 2023, Zombor began examining various MPS no-bid contracts. When she visited the Milwaukee Education Partnership website, she found it featured years-old financial reports and listed names of people no longer associated with the group.

Zombor began asking questions, which ultimately led to Posley suspending the district’s relationship with Milwaukee Education Partnership in November 2023.

Zombor says she would like MPS to explore its options for awarding contracts.

“It feels like this contract was potentially for a fictitious nonprofit,” Zombor said.  “We have to trust that when vendors or partners come to MPS that they’re being honest about the services they provide. But I think we have to continue to enhance the accountability of the procurement process so that we can safeguard public money.”

This story was originally published by WPR.

Milwaukee Public Schools still trying to recoup money from GOP official’s defunct nonprofit is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.