Wisconsin Watch, a nonprofit newsroom that uses journalism to make the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected, seeks an audience and social media producer to help develop and execute our strategy for “meeting people where they are” – ensuring that our journalism serves audiences who are less engaged with legacy news formats.
The producer will manage the development, design and distribution of multimedia journalism through social media channels and will play a key role in shaping how our newsrooms think about, understand and meet the needs of diverse audiences across Wisconsin. The right candidate will be a strong communicator and a curious, critical observer of the changing media landscape. The producer will be excited by the challenges of “interpreting” news and information into different formats and take an organized and methodical approach to testing assumptions and developing insights.
The producer will collaborate with editorial and business colleagues in Milwaukee, Madison and northeast Wisconsin and must live within commuting distance of one or more of these areas.
Job duties
The audience and social media producer will:
Contribute to our audience growth by developing and executing platform-specific content strategies to reach people who are less engaged with legacy news formats.
Work with the editors of Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service to fully integrate social media into the editorial planning process.
Collaborate with editors, reporters and community ambassadors to plan and execute social media outreach and distribution as part of wider audience development strategies for specific beats and projects.
Collaborate with beat reporters to “interpret” long-form articles and investigations for lower literacy audiences and collaborate with visual journalists to develop original and repackaged reporting for social media audiences and platforms.
Collect, monitor and analyze data from a variety of sources to develop insights about the relevance, resonance and impact of our journalism, and communicate these insights to journalists and editors to help keep editorial priorities aligned with audience needs.
Be curious about how information-seeking behaviors are evolving alongside a constantly changing media landscape – and be ready to bring observations and insights to discussions about our wider editorial and business strategies.
Required qualifications: The ideal candidate will bring a public service mindset and a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisan journalism ethics, including a commitment to abide by Wisconsin Watch’s ethics policies.
More specifically, we’re looking for a multimedia producer who:
Has experience building audiences on social media platforms.
Has excellent communication skills and a keen eye for tone and detail.
Has visual and design skills (e.g., Canva, Flourish and app-based video editors).
Understands how to use data to develop a news product or service.
Can confidently prioritize and manage multiple projects and deadlines.
We know that there will be great candidates who might not check all these boxes or who hold important skills we haven’t listed. Don’t hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people with disabilities.
Salary and benefits: The salary range is $45,000 – $55,000 depending on experience.
Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, and higher compensation may be available for someone with advanced skills and/or experience. Wisconsin Watch offers competitive benefits, including generous vacation (five weeks), a retirement fund contribution, paid sick days, paid family and caregiver leave, subsidized medical and dental premiums, vision coverage, and more.
Deadline: For best consideration, apply by June 27.
To apply: Please submit a PDF of your resume and answer some brief questions in this application form.
How do you use social media and how has that changed over the past several years?
What does your daily news diet look like and how has that changed over time?
Please provide 2-3 examples of news organizations, independent journalists or influencers who you think are successfully leveraging social media or other non-traditional formats or channels to deliver news and information. Briefly describe why you chose these examples.
If you’d like to chat about the job before applying, contact Cecilia Dobbs, director of audience development, at cdobbs@wisconsinwatch.org.
Wisconsin Watch is dedicated to improving our newsroom by better reflecting the people we cover. We are committed to diversity and building an inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and ages. We are an equal-opportunity employer and prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind. All employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, or any other status protected under applicable law.
About Wisconsin Watch and Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Founded in 2009, Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit news organization dedicated to producing nonpartisan journalism that makes the communities of Wisconsin strong, informed and connected. We believe that access to local representative news is critical to a healthy democracy and to finding solutions to the most pressing problems of everyday life. Under the Wisconsin Watch umbrella, we have three independent news divisions: a statewide investigative newsroom, a regional collaboration in northeast Wisconsin called the NEW News Lab and the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service (NNS). All three divisions maintain their unique reporting areas and together are positioned to grow and serve our communities with greater efficiency and impact.
NNS was founded in 2011 as a mission-driven newsroom that reports on and celebrates Milwaukee’s central city neighborhoods, specifically the city’s Black and Latinx communities. Through NNS’ reporting, website, e-newsletters and News414 texting service, we cover the ordinary people who do extraordinary things, connect readers with resources and serve as a watchdog for our audience. NNS, formerly a part of Marquette University, and Wisconsin Watch have a long history of collaboration. In 2024, NNS moved its administrative home and merged under the Wisconsin Watch umbrella. Together, Wisconsin Watch’s statewide team and NNS’ reporters collaborate to produce statewide investigative stories while highlighting issues impacting communities in Milwaukee.
Snowflakes fell last February as bundled-up women walked into a downtown Green Bay coffee shop. Inside, Third Space Green Bay was celebrating its one-year anniversary as a group that creates a gathering space for local queer, Black and Indigenous residents and other people of color.
Soft rhythm and blues — from SZA to Solange — filled the room as the group’s three co-founders led a Sunday morning clothes-mending and craft event that promised “healing through creativity.”
In launching Third Space, Jasmine Gordon, Ivy McGee and Sarah Titus aim to help people with a range of backgrounds feel at home in a city that’s 70% white and in a state where less than 4% of people identify as LGBTQ+.
The women met at St. Norbert College, a Catholic liberal arts institution in De Pere, just outside of Green Bay. McGee grew up in De Pere, and Titus, a native Minnesotan, moved to Green Bay in 2008. They had worked together for years as librarians at the college when Gordon, a St. Norbert alum, became the library’s community engagement coordinator in 2021. Seeing a gap to fill on campus, the women rolled out library programming that engaged LGBTQ+ students and people of color.
Mulva Library is seen through a gateway Dec. 16, 2024, at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis. Before founding the nonprofit Third Space, founders Jasmine Gordon, Ivy McGee and Sarah Titus worked for St. Norbert College together at Mulva Library.
Events like “The Transperience,” an art installation in partnership with the Bay Area Council on Gender Diversity and the Trans Artist Collaborative, and a farmers market featuring more than 40 Black-owned businesses prompted feedback from residents who said they had never felt so seen, loved or cared for.
“We would have people come up to us afterwards expressing, ‘Oh my gosh, I never knew I needed this,’” Titus said.
But St. Norbert’s climate of inclusion changed over the years, the women said. In fall 2024, for instance, the college changed its gender policy, aligning with Catholic church guidelines recognizing only two genders: male and female. While leaders said the college remained committed to supporting people of diverse backgrounds, many students and staff said the change sent a different message.
At the same time, Gordon, McGee and Titus envisioned a larger, independent project to promote inclusion across Green Bay — beyond the confines of campus.
“We saw an opportunity and a responsibility to separate ourselves from the institution and develop something that felt more aligned with our core values, and that was including folks from all different walks of life regardless of who they love or what color their skin is or how they identify,” McGee said.
A young girl picks out craft materials alongside co-founder Jasmine Gordon, right, during a Third Space Green Bay event at The Nightly Buzz in Green Bay, Wis.
Tote bags, T-shirts and stickers are for sale alongside a donation box during a Third Space Green Bay event at The Nightly Buzz on Feb. 16, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis.
Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term “third space” in 1989, with home being someone’s “first place” and work as a “second place.” Third spaces are where people publicly gather informally, such as coffee shops, restaurants, coworking spaces and libraries. Third Space Green Bay seeks to create places for people to “just be,” its founders said.
Its programs are free and “open and welcoming to folks that are on the margins,” McGee said.
Third Space isn’t the only local group serving LGBTQ+ populations. The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s Pride Center provides resources and holds events. But Third Space is rare in that it also intentionally serves Black and Indigenous residents, alongside other people of color.
“When we were thinking of how we wanted this organization to exist, we were really thinking about it as a coalition,” Titus said, adding that the group is “building and intertwining” multiple communities that are often marginalized locally.
Third Space, which filed to become a nonprofit in April 2024, has hosted more than 10 hours of community programming and raised more than $11,000 in grants and $6,700 in donations.
Earlier this year, Third Space hosted an International Women’s Day pop-up shop that included a poetry writing workshop and a live performance from a local poet.
McGee said joining other women in that space made her feel her organization was “absolutely on the right track” and helped her imagine what it could do with a permanent location.
Paige Berg, left, a Third Space Green Bay board member and trauma-informed art therapist, laughs with Essence Wilks, center, and Taiyana Plummer, whose hands are shown, during a Third Space event at The Nightly Buzz on Feb. 16, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. Third Space hosted the free hands-on crafts workshop at the bar during its off hours. “Seeing this makes me so happy,” Plummer said. “I’ve been looking for community.”
The trio of founders said they are building the scaffolding for Third Space’s future. Until they secure a permanent location in downtown Green Bay, they’ll continue borrowing spaces from like-minded people in the community.
At the February anniversary event, Essence Wilks, a Milwaukee native who recently moved to Green Bay, and Taiyana Plummer, a Green Bay native, learned about Third Space after walking into the coffee shop in search of matcha tea. Plummer said she and Wilks had just been discussing a shortage of inclusive gathering spaces in Green Bay.
“Growing up here, especially when I was younger, it was harder to find people similar to me or spaces where I felt welcomed or heard and seen,” Plummer said. “So seeing this was very nice and made me feel very comfortable and just really excited for what’s moving forward with Third Space.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Wisconsin’s budget committee voted unanimously Thursday to increase the bonding authority of the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program and the Clean Water Fund Program by $732 million, which could provide increased assistance to Wisconsin communities for wastewater treatment infrastructure projects.
The vote was the only unanimous decision at the Joint Finance Committee meeting, approved just after Republican lawmakers halted budget negotiations with Gov. Tony Evers Wednesday evening.
The Clean Water Fund Program provides subsidized loans for local governments to plan, design, construct and replace waste or drinking water projects. Demand for the clean water fund program exceeded available funds by almost $90 million in 2025, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
Before the vote, JFC co-chair Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, addressed the need for water treatment infrastructure across Wisconsin.
“I look at some of the unfunded projects around the state, and I’ve got several in my district, so this is going to be very good for a lot of our local communities when it comes to clean water,” Marklein said.
In a Thursday statement, conservation organizations, including the Wisconsin Conservation Voters, celebrated the JFC’s unanimous decision.
“Every Wisconsinite deserves equitable access to safe, affordable drinking water,” said Peter Burress, government affairs manager. “Increasing the revenue bonding authority of the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program and the Clean Water Fund Program is a smart, substantive way to make progress on this goal.”
Catch up on previous bite-sized reports on the state budget here.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Police agencies across the country have different requirements for surveilling officers on the job. While eight states require police to wear body cameras, all but one of them since the 2020 murder of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, Wisconsin leaves the decision up to individual agencies.
Most agencies in the state use either body cameras or dashboard cameras, according to a 2021 survey conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Of the 436 agencies surveyed, 88% said they used one or the other, and 48% said they used both.
To request the body-worn or dash camera footage from a police shooting in Wisconsin, you must submit what’s known as a “public records request” to the police agency involved in the shooting. Bodycam footage must be maintained for at least 120 days after being recorded and, for serious incidents, until an investigation or case is resolved.
This can be done with a web search for the agency’s name and “public records” or “records request.” Many agencies have a page with a phone number, email and/or mailing address alongside a form to fill out. General open records letter templates and advice are available at websites such as the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.
When filling out the form or submitting the written request for a police shooting video, it’s important to be as detailed as possible about the information you are looking to receive. Ask for body-worn camera and/or dash camera audio-video recordings, and write a detailed summary of the shooting in question. Relevant information can include the date, location and time of the shooting, the people involved and any other case knowledge you have.
How quickly an agency fulfills your request depends on whether your record is “simple” or “complex,” or where it is chronologically in the police agency’s record requests log, depending on the records custodian. At many agencies, the more precise you are with your request, the more likely it is to be categorized as “simple” and completed quickly. Wisconsin law only requires that agencies provide or deny records “as soon as practicable and without delay,” but for simple requests the attorney general has suggested it should be no more than 10 days.
Under a 2024 Wisconsin law, police agencies are allowed to require payment before providing video to cover the cost of redacting, pixelating and/or editing it for privacy. Individual requesters must attest that they do not plan to use the footage for financial gain, or face a flat $10,000 fine.
In at least one case, a police agency has threatened to fine a reporter for sharing requested footage with a news publication though ultimately apologized and never went through with it. WFIC President Bill Lueders said he has never heard of a police agency actually levying fines against requesters.
“If push comes to shove, I think (the issue) would probably end up in the courts and maybe (the law) would be struck down. But push has not come to shove,” Lueders said.
Finally, though anyone can request police bodycam footage under the public records law, the state allows police agencies to deny the request if they demonstrate how “harm done to the public interest by disclosure outweighs the right of access to public records.”
Should this occur with your request, you may go to court and ask for the record’s release. Wisconsin law stipulates that you may also request the attorney general or district attorney of the county where the record took place to go to court on your behalf, but Lueders said he could “probably count on one hand” the amount of times this has been done in the past 20 years.
Wisconsin Watch readers have submitted questions to our statehouse team, and we’ll answer them in our series, Ask Wisconsin Watch. Have a question about state government? Ask it here.
Republican President Donald Trump may have won Wisconsin in November, but Badger State Democrats see a pathway to winning a “trifecta” in state government in 2026.
How they get there will be at the heart of the party’s state convention this upcoming weekend in the Wisconsin Dells.
Winning a trifecta means holding onto the governor’s seat, whether or not Gov. Tony Evers seeks a third term — and winning majorities in the state Assembly and Senate, both of which Republicans have controlled since 2011. Democrats flipped 14 seats in November after the Supreme Court tossed out Republican-tilted legislative maps, and 2026 is shaping up to be an even more favorable year for the party out of power in Washington.
A key step will be choosing a successor to Ben Wikler, who is stepping down after six years as the state party chair. Under Wikler, the party raised $63 million in 2024 — more than any state party, Democratic or Republican, in the country. In April, it helped Dane County Judge Susan Crawford cement a liberal majority on the state Supreme Court race until at least 2028.
The three candidates vying for the two-year term as chair are Devin Remiker, Joe Zepecki and William Garcia.
Remiker served as the party’s executive director under Wikler and has his endorsement. Zepecki is a communications veteran with extensive election campaign experience and big-name endorsements of his own. Garcia is a dark-horse candidate — but with the party using ranked-choice voting for the first time to choose a chair, there’s a new election dynamic. In ranked-choice voting, the votes for the last place candidate are distributed to those voters’ second choice until a candidate gets a majority of the total vote.
Reaching out to Democrats around the state, not just in population centers, and shoring up the party’s reputation are common priorities of the candidates.
“I think fundraising is a really important task,” state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, said about the next chair. “But we are a grassroots party and the reality is, money doesn’t mean much if you’re not on the ground in every community.”
The insider
Remiker, 32, now a senior adviser to the state party, lives in the Reedsburg area, about an hour northwest of Madison. He said the state party needs more focus on rural areas and voters of color, in part to repair its image.
“I think that we have fallen short, and not just the state party, but also the national Democratic Party and how people perceive us,” Remiker said. “I think we have a lot of trust building to do, and that is going to be a major focus of mine, is showing up, not to ask people to vote for us, but just to ask them to keep an open mind and rebuild those relationships of trust that have been damaged.”
At a WisPolitics event last week, Wikler said he’s been making phone calls on behalf of Remiker and described him as the architect of Crawford’s successful Supreme Court strategy of turning the race into a referendum on billionaire and Trump efficiency czar Elon Musk, who heavily backed her conservative opponent.
Remiker described more engagement at events such as festivals and farmers markets, even away from election campaign season, as the way to maintain the momentum from the Supreme Court election.
“People take for granted that if we just show up and start talking about issues, issues that the vast majority of voters agree with us on,” that Democratic candidates will win votes, Remiker said. “But if they don’t trust the messenger, if they think that they can’t trust the Democratic Party to actually deliver or actually focus on these issues, we’re not actually able to break through.”
Remiker also has endorsements from former state Democratic Party chairs Martha Laning, Martha Love and Jeff Neubauer; U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee; state Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein and state Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer.
The communicator
Zepecki, 43, lives in the Milwaukee suburb of Shorewood and runs his own communications firm. His election campaign experience includes serving as communications director for Mary Burke’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign and Barack Obama’s 2012 Wisconsin presidential campaign.
Zepecki said he wants to “fine-tune” party mobilization and get-out-the-vote efforts.
“I think over the last six years, the approach has become a little too top-down, a little too one-size-fits-all,” he said. “We need to have a system that is flexible enough for local leaders to have a voice in the strategy because they’re the ones doing the work at the local level.”
Zepecki also said the party needs to improve communication to increase trust.
“This is not unique to Wisconsin. The Democratic Party nationally has a brand problem. Our communications and messaging are not landing,” Zepecki said.
“We have to try stuff, we have to innovate,” he added. “It might not all work, but shame on us if we don’t try and we don’t listen to the voters who are telling us they don’t believe us and they’re not hearing enough from us. That’s on us, not on the voters.”
Zepecki’s endorsements include former state party chair Linda Honold; the party chairs in Milwaukee, Racine, Waukesha, Marathon and Rock counties; and Tina Pohlman, who is co-chair along with Garcia in La Crosse County.
The dark horse
Garcia, 52, of La Crosse is a Western Technical College instructor. He is party chair for the 3rd Congressional District in western Wisconsin.
Garcia said he’s running because the county parties have been “left behind,” lacking enough resources from the state party on things such as party members, voters and communications.
“Because at the end of the day, commercials are really important, social media is really important, but it’s really the one-on-one in-person contacts that emanate from the county parties that persuade and flip voters,” he said.
Garcia, who lacks big-name endorsements, said his position as a county party leader positions him well in the election.
The state party “does so much really well, this is the blind spot right now, and that’s why I think I’m the best choice to fix it, because I’m the one that’s kind of lived in that blind spot for years,” he said.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Reading Time: 7minutesClick here to read highlights from the story
Health care systems including SSM Health, Aurora Health, UW Health and, most recently, Ascension have removed from their websites language related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).
The changes have come in the months since President Donald Trump has signed executive orders abolishing federal DEI programs.
UW Health publicly announced changes such as the removal of anti-racism modules titled “Being a leader in anti-racism” and “anti-racism funding” and replacement with modules called “Being a social impact leader” and “Community giving.”
Multiple Wisconsin health care systems have removed diversity, equity and inclusion language or resources from their websites in the wake of President Donald Trump’s federal ban on funding for DEI programming.
The systems include SSM Health, Aurora Health, UW Health and, most recently, Ascension. Froedtert ThedaCare Health has maintained its DEI webpage, though it removed a link to its equal employment opportunity policy in recent months.
Aurora Health, Ascension, Froedtert and SSM Health made the changes quietly, without directly alerting the public. UW Health, however, released an op-ed in Madison 365 April 8 explaining the changes.
“As we enter the next phase of this important work, we are further aligning with our organizational mission under the name of Social Impact and Belonging,” the op-ed said. “This reflects both the evolved nature of the work and our desire that these mission-focused priorities endure despite the current tumultuous political environment.”
The changes occurred in the weeks after President Donald Trump’s executive order abolishing DEI programs from all federally funded institutions and programs.
The executive order, issued Jan. 20, states the “Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military.”
In response to attacks on DEI programs by the federal government, some organizations have pushed back, arguing Trump’s actions are a threat to a multiracial democracy. Some institutions are also suing the federal government for its actions, such as threatening to withhold federal grants and funding.
Harvard University has filed a lawsuit, citing First Amendment principles to protect “academic freedom” and “private actors’ speech.”
But while some federally funded institutions are pushing back, others are not.
Different approaches to DEI purge
In the past couple of months, SSM Health removed the word “diversity” from its website, including changing a page titled “Our Commitment to Diversity” to “Our Commitment to Healthy Culture.”
SSM has hospitals located throughout Wisconsin including Ripon, Fond du Lac, Waupun, Baraboo, Janesville, Madison and Monroe.
In changing the webpage, SSM Health also removed an entire section regarding its commitment to fostering a diverse workplace and health care center, including a section that read, “SSM Health makes it a point to work with diverse organizations broadening our reach into the communities we serve to support and promote a more inclusive society.”
At left is the SSM Health website, as seen on March 4, 2025. The title of the page reads: “Our Commitment to Diversity.” At right is the SSM Health website, as seen on April 1, 2025. The title of the page reads: “Our Commitment to Healthy Culture.” Use the slider to scroll between images.
SSM Health also notably replaced the section discussing diversity with comment on SSM Health’s mission as a Catholic ministry. On the updated page, the system discusses its commitment to follow in the footsteps of its founders to ensure “all people have access to the high-quality, compassionate care they need.”
In removing the word “diversity,” SSM replaced the statement “At SSM Health, diversity is an integral part of who we are and a reflection of our mission and values” with “At SSM Health, inclusion is an integral part of who we are and a reflection of our Mission, Vision and Values.”
”Today, our belief that every person was created in the image of God with inherent dignity and value calls us to foster a healthy culture, inviting each person to be the best version of themselves,” SSM Health communications consultant Shari Wrezinski said when asked for comment.
Wrezinski said the organization’s mission has remained the same, and its communications, policies, programs and practices reflect the organization’s mission.
“This has not and will not change,” Wrezinski said. “As such, our website and other communications materials are continually updated as we strive to clearly convey our commitment to a welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and respected.”
Despite removing the section on diversity, SSM Health has maintained its equal opportunity section.
Froedtert did the opposite, by maintaining its webpages on diversity, equity and inclusion, but removing its equal opportunity policy document from the pages.
At left is the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin “Diversity and Inclusion” webpage, as seen on March 18, 2025. It shows a link to its “Equal Employment Opportunity” page. At right is Froedtert’s “Diversity and Inclusion” webpage, as seen on March 25, 2025. It is missing the previously included link to its “Equal Employment Opportunity” page. Red circles added by Wisconsin Watch for emphasis.
The equal opportunity document, which can still be found online but was removed from the DEI website, specifically outlines Froedtert’s commitment and policy to maintain equitable and nondiscriminatory recruitment, hiring and human resources practices.
The document outlines two policies specifically: “FH is committed to its affirmative action policies and practices in employment programs to achieve a balanced workforce” and “FH will provide equal opportunity to all individuals, regardless of their race, creed, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, military and veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or any other characteristics protected by state or federal law.”
Froedtert did not respond to requests for comment.
The Froedtert system serves patients primarily in the Milwaukee area. Froedtert recently merged with ThedaCare, serving Wisconsin residents in the Fox Valley and Green Bay. In 2020, the system reported receiving tens of millions in federal funding through the CARES Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While removing a link to an equal opportunity document may be a simple change, the Rev. Marilyn Miller, a partner in Leading for Racial Equity LLC, said every small change pushes society further back in achieving full access and equity.
“So it might be a small tweak now, but what does that open the door to later? So, yeah, it’s impactful because any change that’s stepping back from full equity is a problem,” Miller said. “There’s populations that don’t feel any security anymore.”
Aurora Health Care also has removed DEI language in the past couple of months since the executive order.
In 2018, Aurora merged with Advocate Health, a system with more than 26 hospitals throughout the Midwest. Advocate Aurora Health later merged with Atrium Health in 2022, creating the third largest nonprofit in the nation.
Earlier this year, Aurora removed an entire page on diversity, equity and inclusion. The page now redirects to Advocate’s page titled “Access & Opportunity.”
That change cut statements such as: “Our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy is anchored by our purpose to help people live well and to deliver safe, consistent, and equitable health outcomes and experiences for the patients and communities we serve.”
A spokesperson for Aurora Health Care said the organization will continue to “deliver compassionate, high-quality, consistent care for all those we serve.”
“As our newly combined purpose and commitments state, we lift everyone up by ensuring access and opportunity for all,” the spokesperson said. “To provide our patients and communities clear and consistent information that explains our programs, policies and services, we are making various changes to our websites.”
Ascension, one of the largest nonprofit hospital systems in the nation, took down the entire page on diversity, equity and inclusion. The health care system currently operates at over 165 locations in Milwaukee, Racine, Appleton and Fox Valley. The system still has modules on “Identifying & Addressing Barriers to Health” and “Ensuring Health Equity.” Ascension did not respond to a request for a comment.
Making a statement
UW Health removed its page on diversity, equity and inclusion, replacing it with a page titled “social impact and belonging.” In doing so, UW Health removed “anti-racism” from its entire website. It used to be one of the main themes.
UW Health removed the anti-racism modules titled “Being a leader in anti-racism” and “anti-racism funding,” and now in their place are modules called “Being a social impact leader” and “Community giving.”
At left, the UW Health website as seen on Feb. 11, 2025. The site reads “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” which was later changed to “Social Impact and Belonging.” At right, the UW Health website as seen on April 15, 2025. The site reads “Social Impact and Belonging,” which was changed from “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”
Chief Social Impact Officer Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and CEO Alan Kaplan addressed the changes in a video, stating social impact and belonging align with their mission, values and strategies as a health care organization.
“At UW Health, social impact refers to the effects health care policies, practices and interventions have on the well-being of individuals and communities, improving health outcomes, access to care and quality of life,” Bidar-Sielaff said. “Belonging is the understanding that you are valued and respected for who you are as an individual.”
The UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, which has faculty who also work for and provide clinical care at UW Health, reported receiving $315 million in federal research funding last year. That total is 37% of all grant funding awarded to UW-Madison. UW Health received roughly $5.1 million in federal grants.
Despite claims by health care centers that missions remain the same, advocacy groups in Wisconsin are raising concerns regarding the impact these changes could have on communities in Wisconsin.
Chris Allen, president and CEO of Diverse & Resilient — an advocacy group focused on health inequities for LGBTQ+ people in Wisconsin — said these quiet language shifts are significant.
“They send a message that commitments to addressing disparities may be weakening, even if that’s not the stated intention,” Allen said.
William Parke Sutherland, government affairs director at Kids Forward, a statewide policy center that advocates for low-income and minority families, said many health care partners feel pressured to preserve funding sources.
In Wisconsin, maternal mortality rates are 2.5 times higher for Black women than white women. Maternal morbidities — or serious birth complications — were the highest among Black women and people enrolled in BadgerCare, the state’s largest Medicaid program. From 2020 to 2022 there were 7.8 stillbirth deaths per 1,000 births among Black babies, compared with 4.5 among white babies.
Disparities in maternal and infant mortality rates could be attributed to stress caused by poverty, lack of access to quality care, or systemic racism, according to health care researchers. If a mother is stressed over a long period of time, that can cause elevated levels of stress hormones, which could increase premature births or low birth weights for infants.
For Black women, midwives have been found to reduce the disparities they otherwise may experience during pregnancy, reducing the risk of maternal mortality or morbidity. Access to midwives is currently covered by Medicaid, so losing federal funding could harm these services.
Regardless of language, “Wisconsin’s racial disparities in health access and outcomes aren’t going away on their own,” Sutherland said in an email.
Removing language that acknowledges DEI efforts will not reduce the health care disparities felt by Wisconsin residents, Sutherland said. Federal funding cuts could also hurt rural families in Wisconsin, specifically those who rely on Medicaid for their health care needs.
“We cannot begin to address these challenges if we’re not willing to acknowledge them,” Sutherland said. “A colorblind approach has not helped in the past.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct a reference to how much federal funding UW Health receives.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Nonpartisan analysts estimate that President Donald Trump’s megabill would add at least $2 trillion to the national debt over 10 years.
The Congressional Budget Office’s preliminary estimate says the tax-and-spending bill now in Congress will add $2.3 trillion.
Other estimates are higher: Tax Foundation: $2.56 trillion; University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton Budget Model: $2.79 trillion; Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: $3.1 trillion, including interest payments.
Some estimates under $2 trillion account for projected economic growth, while other estimates over $5 trillion note some provisions in the bill are temporary and will likely be extended.
The debt, which is the accumulation of annual spending that exceeds revenues, is $36 trillion.
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., claimed the bill would add trillions.
Among other things, the bill would make 2017 individual income tax cuts permanent, add work requirements for Medicaid and food assistance, and add funding for defense and more deportations.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
The Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS), the agency responsible for licensing about 200 credentials, including in health care, business and the trades, would face a 31% staff cut starting Oct. 1 under the budget Republicans advanced in committee last week.
The reduction would mean longer wait times for licenses and worse call center customer service, DSPS Communications Director John Beard said.
During Thursday’s Joint Finance Committee meeting, Republicans rejected the agency’s proposal to add 14 full-time call center positions and 10 licensing positions for DSPS to replace the temporary positions funded through federal stimulus set to expire this fall.
DSPS warned lawmakers that without the additional staff, licensing wait times could double from about eight to 16 days and answer rates at the call center could fall below 40%, reaching pre-pandemic lows. In 2018 only a little over half of the calls were answered.
Gov. Tony Evers granted DSPS federal stimulus funding in 2023. At the time, licensees were stuck waiting months at a time to receive their licenses. After DSPS used the stimulus to hire additional, temporary staff, they saw those wait times decline sharply, now averaging about 2-5 days to review application materials.
The agency’s recommendations highlighted the impact additional staff members would have on the agency, including maintaining high answer rates for the agency’s call center and minimizing wait times for licensees.
If the agency were to fall back into a similar backlogging crisis from 2023, DSPS warns it could lead to drastic reductions in licenses issued to Wisconsin workers.
“That’s a staffing shortage in our clinics, in our hospitals, and it’s a problem for us individuals who are depending on these individuals to be licensed as quickly as possible and move onto the floor,” Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, said during the budget committee meeting.
The day before the meeting, the Wisconsin Medical Society and health care providers and institutions sent letters to lawmakers, urging them to vote in favor of the agency’s budget proposal, which Evers included in his budget recommendation.
“If the DSPS request is not approved, we fear a return to increased license processing times, longer call center hold times, and less responsiveness overall,” Wisconsin Medical Society Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer Mark Grapentine wrote. “These types of delays in the past resulted in applicants choosing to practice in other states due to languishing frustrations.”
DSPS said more efficient licensing created $54 million in additional wages for Wisconsin workers in 2023, compared with a projected $2 million annual cost to create the permanent positions.
Wisconsin Watch previously reported on an alcohol and drug counselor from Minnesota who waited 16 months before being told she had to take additional courses through University of Wisconsin-Superior to be eligible.
The DSPS legislative liaison at the time boiled it down to inadequate staffing, reducing the efficiency of the agency.
The Republican-controlled committee approved only five limited term positions for the agency. The JFC co-chairs said in a press release Thursday the committee voted to fund important government services, while limiting spending.
“We provided funding for DSPS call center staff who work to help credential holders and the public navigate licensure platforms. This investment ensures the department can operate effectively and provide these critical services to professionals,” Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, and Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, said.
Republican lawmakers have previously rejected Evers’ recommendations to add staffing to the agency, even though the funding comes from department licensing fees — not taxpayer dollars. As a result, the agency’s surplus of unspent licensing fees increased from $4.4 million to $47 million, all while its services deteriorated.
In 2021, the committee approved two of the 13 positions Evers recommended. In 2023, the committee granted 18 of the 80 positions Evers requested.
Evers used federal stimulus funding for temporary positions, including adding additional project positions. But the funding for those temporary positions will run out this year.
Beard said by Oct. 1 the call center staff will go from 28 to 11 positions and total staff will go from 58 to 40.
Republicans also voted to transfer $5 million in program revenue — the money collected from the fees paid when applying for, obtaining and maintaining a license — to the general fund, which is expected to have a $4.2 billion surplus at the end of the month.
At the end of the last fiscal year, the DSPS surplus was around $39 million, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
Despite having the huge surplus of program revenue — including money accumulated from fees applied to permit and license applications — DSPS can’t use those funds to hire more staff without JFC approval.
“Licensees pay fees so that they can be appropriately regulated, and what we are doing is starving that system and making it harder for every single one of us to access needed professional services,” Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, said in support of adding 24 permanent positions using program revenue.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
The percentage of Wisconsin schoolchildren not receiving state-mandated vaccinations because of their parents’ personal beliefs is four times higher than it was a generation ago.
That rise in personal conviction waivers has driven a decrease in all immunizations among Wisconsin children ahead of new measles outbreaks hitting the U.S. that are linked to three deaths.
Wisconsin’s measles vaccination rate among kindergartners was the third-lowest in the nation in the 2023-24 school year, behind Idaho and Alaska. (Montana didn’t report data.)
Here’s a look at how we got here.
Vaccine laws in all 50 states
Immunizations are so common that all 50 states have laws requiring them for schoolchildren. Wisconsin was among the first, in 1882.
In the 1950s, the child mortality rate was 4.35%, largely due to childhood diseases. That rate dropped to 0.77% by 2022, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau.
“Vaccines have brought about one of the largest improvements in public health in human history, making diseases that once caused widespread illness and many deaths, such as measles, mumps, and rubella, rare in the United States,” the agency reported.
For the 2024-25 school year, Wisconsin required seven immunizations (18 doses) for children to enter school. That included shots for measles (MMR), polio and hepatitis B. COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are not included.
Overall, the vast majority of Wisconsin students, 89.2%, met the minimum immunization requirements in the 2023–24 school year, according to the state’s latest annual report.
That’s essentially unchanged from the previous two school years.
But it’s down more than three percentage points from 92.3% in 2017-18.
For highly communicable diseases such as measles, a threshold above 95% is needed to protect most people through “herd immunity.”
More parents refusing to get kids vaccinated
Wisconsin had been a nationalleader in childhood immunizations.
But increasingly, Wisconsin parents are opting out:
For all childhood immunizations, vaccination rates statewide were lower in almost every quarter from 2020 through 2024, in comparison with the average rate in the three years before COVID-19.
Wisconsin was one of the states with the largest drops in the measles vaccination rate for kindergartners between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years, and no county had an MMR vaccination rate above 85%, The Economist reported.
By a different measure, the measles vaccination rate for 2-year-olds in 2024 was as low as 44% in Vernon County and under 70% in 14 other counties.
On exemptions, Wisconsin differs from most states
All states have exemptions that allow parents not to have their children vaccinated. Medical and religious reasons are the most common.
In Wisconsin, there’s also a third waiver.
Wisconsin regulations say the Wisconsin Department of Health Services shall provide a waiver for health reasons if a physician certifies that an immunization “is or may be harmful to the health of a student”; or, if the parent of a minor student, or an adult student, submits a signed statement that “declares an objection to immunization on religious or personal conviction grounds.”
That philosophical exemption, based on personal beliefs, exists only in 15states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.
“The bottom line is: If you don’t want your child vaccinated, you don’t have to,” said Kia Kjensrud, interim director of Immunize Wisconsin, which supports vaccination organizations.
In 2023-24, 6.1% of Wisconsin students used a waiver.
That includes 5.2% who had a personal conviction waiver — a rate more than four times higher than the 1.2% in 1997-98.
Waiver use has increased because the number of required vaccines and the legal protections given to vaccine manufacturers have “fueled skepticism about vaccine safety and testing rigor,” Wisconsin United for Freedom said in an email. The De Pere-based group works to protect “rights to medical freedom” and promotes vaccine skepticism.
Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, one of the lawmakers who introducedlegislation in 2023 to repeal the personal conviction waiver, said she believes some parents have genuine convictions against vaccinations. But “many of the folks who are choosing this exemption are doing it because of misinformation” claiming that vaccines are dangerous, she said.
Groups that registered to lobby in favor of Subeck’s bill included associations of physicians, nurses and local health departments. Wisconsin Family Action, which works to advance Judeo-Christian values, opposed it. The bill did not pass.
Kjensrud also blamed Wisconsin’s declining immunization rates on misinformation. But she said that rather than legislation, her group wants to improve “messaging the safety, efficacy and lifesaving importance of vaccines, and increasing vaccination rates however we can.”
Bipartisan support for personal exemption
Wisconsin’s modern student immunization law was passed in 1975 with only the medical and religious waivers. In 1980, the Legislature added the personal conviction waiver.
The waiver was included in a broader amendment proposed by 10 Democratic members and 11 Republican members of the Assembly.
The lead sponsor was the late Richard Flintrop, who represented Oshkosh and was known as a child welfare advocate. He also was a former staff member to maverick Democratic U.S. Sen. William Proxmire.
Wisconsin United For Freedom said the recent measles outbreaks “raise valid concerns,” but that “the focus should be on balanced public health strategies that prioritize sanitation, nutrition, and informed choice alongside vaccination, rather than relying solely on mandates.”
Wisconsin Watch wants to hear your perspective on vaccinations. Do you have questions about measles, its vaccine or how to keep your family safe? Or do you have perspectives to share about prevention efforts in your community?
If so, fill out this brief form. Your submissions will shape the direction of our reporting and will not be shared publicly.
A common idea in recent years among the information-hungry public is “doing your own research.” People have lost trust in traditional news sources, so they scour the dark, fact-lacking corners of the internet to find out what’s really going on.
I call this the bucket brigade approach to information gathering. It can work, but it doesn’t make much sense in other areas of modern life.
For the most part, people don’t make their own shoes, they don’t build their own cars, and when their house is on fire, they don’t rouse the neighborhood to form a line to the nearest watering hole.
At Wisconsin Watch, our driving purpose is to provide a small brigade of nonpartisan, fact-focused journalists to research topics on behalf of our readers — with transparency surrounding where we find information. One way you can take full advantage of that free service is to submit questions via Ask Wisconsin Watch.
Reading Time: 9minutesClick here to read highlights from the story
Southwest Wisconsin Technical College was named the top community college in the nation after revamping its curriculum and counseling to better position students for higher-earning careers.
The college cut majors that often led to low-paying jobs and added training for industry certifications that garner premium pay. It also raised pay for some of its own workers, then urged local employers to increase wages.
Southwest Tech alums five years after graduation earn $14,000 more a year than other newly hired workers in their area.
Eight years ago, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College faced a crisis. An accreditation agency had placed the Grant County community college on probation for shortcomings in using evidence to advance student learning.
Without improvements the college risked losing its accreditation, which would have affected the roughly 3,700 students near the Iowa border training for careers as mechanics, midwives, farmers and more. Without Southwest Tech, many would have to travel farther, pay more or forfeit their plans.
The news jolted the college into action.
“We had some issues that we had to address,” Holly Clendenen, chief student services officer, recalled. “That really brought the campus together to find the best way to improve our assessment work and ensure students were learning.”
The efforts paid off and then some. Last month, Clendenen walked across a Washington, D.C., stage to accept an award in a competition former President Barack Obama once called “the Oscars of great community colleges.”
Organized every two years by the nonprofit Aspen Institute, the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence recognizes schools setting an example in their field. It awards a total of $1 million to the top handful of institutions and publicizes their best practices for serving students.
Southwest Tech took home the top prize: $700,000 for revamping its curriculum and counseling to better position students for higher-earning careers after graduation. It cut majors that often led to low-paying jobs and added training for industry certifications that garner premium pay. To practice what they preached, campus leaders raised pay for some of the college’s own workers, then urged other local employers to do the same.
Southwest Tech alums five years after graduation now earn $14,000 more a year than other newly hired workers in their area, the Aspen Institute found.
Community colleges educate about two in five U.S. college students. But they don’t always set up those students for family-supporting careers, said Joshua Wyner, who oversees the Aspen Prize.
Community colleges have been underperforming for years, Wyner said. “If we are going to enable economic mobility and achieve the talent that we need for the economy, for democracy, etc., community colleges, frankly, just have to do better.”
On that front, Wyner said, Southwest Tech stood out. “This commitment to making sure every program leads to a living-wage job, and to actually confront programs that lead to low-wage work, is really unusual.”
Precision agronomy yields higher wages
Jamin Crapp, 19, already knew plenty about farming when he enrolled in Southwest Tech’s agribusiness management program last fall. Growing up on his family’s farm just outside of nearby Lancaster, he learned to tend dairy and beef cattle and use basic equipment.
But when he got a job at a farm in Rockville, he encountered a tractor he didn’t know how to drive. The newer model, which steers itself using GPS, was just one example of the kind of “precision farming” tools farmers are increasingly using to boost efficiency.
Crapp was in luck. Southwest Tech had begun shifting to precision agriculture as part of its broader effort to set up graduates for higher wages.
Two years ago, college leaders categorized academic programs by graduates’ average earnings: Programs leading to hourly wages of $16.50 or less were considered low-wage. Programs yielding at least $25 an hour were designated high-wage. A medium-wage category covered those in between.
Then the college set out to raise pay in every low-wage program.
First, college officials turned to local employers. “We met with all of our partners to find out: Why aren’t these students making more money?” college spokesperson Katie Glass said.
Southwest Wisconsin Technical College agriculture instructor Christina Winch, second from left, talks with agribusiness management student Jamin Crapp as the students plant soybeans.
Agronomy was one low-wage program at the time. Local agriculture businesses, it turned out, needed workers who could fly drones or apply pesticides — training Southwest Tech didn’t offer.
“If our graduates could do those things, they could pay them more, because they could reorganize their business somehow,” Glass said.
So the college added that training.
Southwest Tech agronomy graduates can now raise their starting hourly pay by up to $2 with drone and pesticide certification, the college said.
This fall the agronomy program will be completely reshaped and renamed precision agronomy, focusing on using technology to measure and analyze data to inform farming decisions. The college spent $1.3 million to purchase 85 acres of farmland to provide space for students to maneuver drones and gather the data they need.
‘Oh, that’s how you run that’
Agriculture instructor Andrew Dal Santo, who will lead the new program, likens the agronomy overhaul to switching from an analog clock to digital.
On a sunny May afternoon, he led agribusiness management students as they filled compartments of an industrial planter with one soybean variety after another. The students took turns driving a tractor that recorded data throughout the drive. Students would later take those data back to the classroom.
“We can read everything from how many seeds per inch to how much pressure we’re putting into the ground, so the seed’s at the right depth,” Dal Santo said. “Instead of coming out here for five hours and collecting all that data, it’s right at your hands.”
Soybean seeds sit in a planter at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College.
Jamin Crapp, a Southwest Wisconsin Technical College agribusiness management student, takes his turn driving a tractor as his class plants soybeans. Though he’s spent his life on his family’s farm, it wasn’t until he came to college that he learned to drive a tractor like this one, which uses GPS to steer itself.
One of the busy students was Crapp, who learned to operate an auto-steer tractor in another of Dal Santo’s classes — a lesson he brought to his job in Rockville.
“The next time I went to that farm, I said, ‘Oh, that’s how you run that,’” Crapp said.
He’s still weighing post-graduation plans, but he expects his new knowledge of precision techniques will help whether he’s running his own farm or writing loans for other farmers.
“With my degree, I believe I can do almost anything,” Crapp said.
Southwest Wisconsin Technical College agribusiness management student Jamin Crapp checks the planter he and his classmates use to plant soybeans.
Changes to the agronomy program have already elevated it to the medium-wage category, Glass said. Six other previously low-wage programs made the same jump, while two more moved from medium-wage to high-wage.
The college also added a new radiography program, training students to use medical imaging equipment like X-rays and CT scanners. That profession promises a median wage of around $38 an hour nationally, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The overhaul at Southwest Tech drew criticism from some business leaders, including a few members of its advisory boards, Glass said.
“They built a business model off of paying our graduates lower wages, and we asked them to step down from our advisory board,” she added. “That’s not the direction that we’re going.”
Creative solutions to grow child care wages
Some programs weren’t worth saving, campus leaders found. Culinary arts and culinary management — programs considered successful by other measures — got the ax when the college couldn’t find ways to raise graduates’ wages.
“If our graduates don’t make family-sustaining wages, we’re not going to offer the program anymore,” Glass said. “Our degrees have to have value.”
But some low-wage majors proved too important to cut, such as pathways for certified nursing assistants and child care workers.
Grace Kite, center, serves snacks at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College’s child care center on May 7, 2025, in Fennimore, Wis. She is one of two early childhood education students earning $19 an hour in a role the college created to raise wages for students and graduates. Kite works alongside Paula Timmerman, who taught her when she was two.
“Child care is so essential to our area that we can’t entertain the idea of not having the program anymore,” Glass said. “We have to find all the other avenues for what we can do to raise wages.”
Elementary school teachers, also high in demand, earn more than child care teachers. To set Southwest Tech graduates on a higher-earning path, the college revised the early childhood education curriculum to ease transfers to teacher training programs at Wisconsin’s four-year colleges. Faculty began talking “early and often” about that option, said Renae Blaschke, an early childhood education instructor.
To improve immediate job prospects, the college began offering substitute teacher training, along with in-demand nonviolent crisis intervention training.
Lab assistant Paula Timmerman applies sunscreen to students at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College’s child care center.
The school also helped students qualify for the Wisconsin Early Childhood Association’s TEACH scholarship, which supports Wisconsin students studying early childhood education. To be eligible, students must work at least 25 hours a week in a child care job. Southwest Tech students regularly perform such work to gain required field experience, but they struggle to find jobs that meet the scholarship requirements.
To help, the college created two substitute teacher jobs paying $19 an hour at its on-campus child care center. To set an example for other area child care providers, the college raised full-time staff salaries at the center to $40,000 a year, and it urged other local providers to raise wages too. According to the Aspen Institute, the center is now the region’s highest-paying child care provider.
Second-year early childhood education student Autum Butler, 20, who has worked at the on-campus center since 2023, is now a substitute in a toddler room. At Blaschke’s recommendation, she applied for a TEACH scholarship, which covered 90% of her school tuition this year and provided additional stipends for certain materials and technology.
Butler hopes to continue working with toddlers after graduation and possibly open her own day care.
Leaders vow to keep improving
Southwest Tech’s recognition comes during a tumultuous time for Wisconsin community colleges, several of which have recently closed amid declining enrollment.
Nationwide, college enrollment is down since the COVID-19 pandemic, with many students questioning whether the benefits of a degree are worth the growing cost. Community colleges with the biggest drops during the pandemic experienced bigger jumps than other types of colleges this year, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Southwest Tech isn’t the only Wisconsin community college earning kudos. The Aspen Institute, which analyzes data on about 1,100 U.S. community colleges, included seven others from Wisconsin on a list of 150 top institutions invited to apply for an Aspen Prize.
One of those schools — Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay — joined Southwest Tech as one of 10 finalists for the top prize, with judges citing dual enrollment opportunities for high schoolers and engagement with local employers to help more students learn on the job.
Southwest Tech prevailed after judges visited each finalist’s campus and compared data on how many of the students go on to transfer to four-year colleges or earn bachelor’s degrees — along with post-graduation earnings.
More than half of the college’s full-time students graduate within three years, far above the 35% national average. The school wants to raise that rate to 70%.
Other colleges could learn plenty from Southwest Tech, Aspen Institute judges said. Rural students often struggle to gain relevant work experience during school due to limited jobs and internships in smaller communities. But Southwest Tech leaders filled the gap by creating relevant work opportunities on campus.
Building trades students at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College pose for a photo outside the student housing duplex they built with instructor Andy Reynolds. Rural students often struggle to gain relevant work experience during school due to limited jobs and internships in smaller communities. Southwest Tech leaders fill that gap by creating relevant work opportunities on campus in Fennimore, Wis.
Construction students now build student housing. A recent class completed an eight-bedroom duplex in just two semesters. Across campus, graphic design students create brochures and billboards advertising the college.
Staff provide hands-on support outside of the classroom, including directing students to child care, mental health and food pantry services. They also help students draw up budgets that incorporate their income, financial aid, rent and school costs.
“It’s a very sophisticated way of thinking about supporting students,” Wyner of the Aspen Institute said. “Other colleges often have lots of services that they offer, but it’s not tied to a particular sense of what students’ budgets are.”
Southwest Tech even won high marks for how it assesses student learning — the very worry of accreditors eight years ago. The college, which has since returned to good standing, now continually evaluates whether students are learning what instructors intended. When they don’t, faculty must create course improvement plans that everyone in the college can see, something Wyner calls “radical accountability.”
Parker Reese, an agricultural power and equipment technician program student at Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, walks behind the planter as agribusiness management students plant soybeans on May 7, 2025.
Looking back, Clendenen said the bad 2016 accreditation review was instrumental in bringing the college where it is today — rolling “a snowball that started us on this continuous improvement path.”
“This prize is not the finish line,” Clendenen told the Aspen Prize crowd. “It’s also fuel for the road ahead. We accept this honor not just as recognition of our past success, but as a challenge to keep growing, innovating, leading and serving our community.”
In the latest assessment, Mississippi’s fourth grade public school students scored higher than Wisconsin’s in reading proficiency, though the ratings “were not significantly different.”
The National Assessment of Educational Progress ratings, issued every two years, are administered by the U.S. Education Department.
In 2022, 33% of Wisconsin fourth graders rated “at or above proficient” in reading, vs. 31% in Mississippi.
In 2024, Wisconsin dropped to 31%; Mississippi rose to 32%.
NAEP said the states’ scores were “not significantly different.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents most of northern Wisconsin, claimed May 17 at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention Wisconsin had “fallen behind” Mississippi in reading. His office cited 2024 fourth grade scores.
Mississippi’s fourth grade scores surged in the past decade.
Among eighth graders, Wisconsin outperformed Mississippi in 2024 (31%-23%) and 2022 (32%-22%).
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is weighing a dispute between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-controlled Legislature over releasing $50 million in literacy funding.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
National Assessment of Educational Progress: About NAEP
Most Americans would not face a tax increase near 65% if President Donald Trump’s tax cut extension does not become law.
The bill would extend income tax cuts set to expire Dec. 31. It would offset some costs with Medicaid and food stamp cuts.
The Tax Foundation estimates that if the cuts expire, 62% of taxpayers would see a tax increase in 2026. The average taxpayer’s increase would be 19.4% ($2,955).
House Republicans estimated 22%, a figure cited by the White House.
GOP U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who represents western Wisconsin, claimed May 17 at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention that “the vast majority of Americans” would see a 65% increase.
His office did not respond to requests for information.
Tax Policy Center expert Howard Gleckman said “there is no income group that would get anything like a 65% tax hike.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison economist Andrew Reschovsky also said the 65% claim is far from accurate.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Reading Time: 3minutesClick here to read highlights from the story
People cannot send money to Wisconsin prisoners directly. They can instead transfer funds through a company called Access Corrections.
The private company’s website, app, phone and in-person delivery systems are no longer working across the state.
Access Corrections is part of the conglomerate that also runs the prison’s phone system, which has failed in recent months.
Editor’s note, May 27, 2025: The Access Corrections website was back online on May 26. Multiple people told WPR and Wisconsin Watch they could transfer funds to Wisconsin prisoners following the restoration.
The online system Wisconsin prisoners rely on to receive money from loved ones recently crashed, leaving them unable to pay for items like extra food and hygiene products.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections contracts a private company, Access Corrections, to allow people outside of prison to transfer funds to those inside. Those transfers occur through the company’s app, website, phone system, mail and in-person options. But multiple people told WPR and Wisconsin Watch they could not make deposits beginning this week.
A screenshot of the Access Corrections website is shown on May 22, 2025. The Wisconsin Department of Corrections contracts with the private vendor to allow people to send money to prisoners, but the system is not working.
The Access Corrections website and app display nothing more than a white screen and the message: “Sorry, the service you’re looking for is currently unavailable.”
Those who dial an Access Corrections phone number hear a recorded message saying the company can’t take deposits online or over the phone and that it is working to resolve the issue.
In-person deposits at locations throughout Wisconsin are also unavailable, according to an affiliate’s website. It is unclear whether physical mail deposits still work.
A Department of Corrections spokesperson said she was working on a response, which did not arrive by this story’s deadline.
The Keefe Group did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Robin Guenterberg typically sends his daughter at Taycheedah Correctional Institution $300 a month, with Access Corrections collecting a fee.
His daughter, who he requested not be publicly named, uses most of that money to buy items from the prison’s commissary. She has a chronic health condition and relies on commissary chicken and tuna packets to supplement regularly provided meals, Guenterberg said.
The daughter has lost more than 20 pounds since entering prison late last year, Guenterberg said, adding that he and his wife purchase vending machine items during visits and make additional deposits to help their daughter maintain a healthy weight.
If Access Corrections fails to quickly restart deposits, she may lack funds to place a commissary order for next week, Guenterberg said.
Sarah Liebzeit successfully added funds to her incarcerated son’s account late Monday night. But issues with his prison-provided electronic tablet have prevented him from spending it at Stanley Correctional Institution, she said.
“This is now another issue because the tablets have been just horrible,” Liebzeit said.
Some incarcerated people work low-wage jobs inside their prison. Their pay falls short of covering phone calls, extra food, hygiene products and medical co-pays without outside deposits, multiple family members told WPR and Wisconsin Watch.
Nicole Johnson said her incarcerated boyfriend earns $20 every two weeks at his Dodge Correctional Institution job. Wisconsin’s typical copay charge of $7.50 per face-to-face medical visit is among the highest in the country — more than half of his weekly earnings.
Johnson said she tries to add $50 to her boyfriend’s account twice a month so he can purchase rice and beans to supplement regularly provided meals.
“It’s just how I take care of him right now,” she said.
The Access Corrections crash, she added, “makes me sad because I don’t want him to be hungry all freaking week.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
As of May 21, all Milwaukee County teens who are the responsibility of the county and held in Wisconsin’s youth prisons were Black or Hispanic.
There were 28 teens (96.4% Black) under “non-serious juvenile offender” court orders.
That includes teens age 17 and under sentenced to the state-run Lincoln Hills or Copper Lake schools – where costs approach $500,000 per year per youth – or the Mendota mental health facility.
Milwaukee County official Kelly Pethke said the county pays for non-serious juvenile offenders; the state pays for juveniles who are sentenced for more serious felonies. Pethke said in early May there were 35 Milwaukee County teens under serious orders, but she didn’t have a racial breakdown.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections said May 22 it tracks racial data by region. Nine of 66 youths (13.6%) in the southeast region were white.
Researcher Monique Liston cited the racial disparity in a social media post.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Last week, our newsroom was intrigued by data in this Economist article showing that Wisconsin stands out nationally when it comes to its low vaccination rates for measles. It prompted a discussion about the many reasons for vaccine hesitancy and the complex challenges of maintaining trust in public health.
One thing is clear: Measles is a very infectious disease, and it’s spreading nationwide.
Officials in 2025 have tracked almost as many measles outbreaks (defined as three or more related cases) as they did in all of 2024. Three deaths this year have been linked to measles. They included two unvaccinated school-aged children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.
The outbreaks come as vaccination rates decline nationwide, particularly in Wisconsin. The measles, mumps and rubella vaccine rate for Wisconsin kindergartners has plunged since 2019. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic, no county in Wisconsin had more than a 90% vaccination rate, which is traditionally associated with “herd immunity.”
Wisconsin, The Economist article noted, “is among the most permissive states for vaccine exceptions in schools, allowing opt-out for personal-conviction reasons (along with medical and religious exemptions, which most states have); parents only have to submit a written note.”
Still, Wisconsin has yet to see a measles outbreak this year. As we consider how to report on this issue, let us know what you think.
Do you have questions about measles, its vaccine or how to keep your family safe? Or do you have perspectives to share about prevention efforts in your community?
If so, fill out this brief form. Your submissions will shape the direction of our reporting and will not be shared publicly.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Transgender people – those who have a gender identity that differs from the sex assigned to them at birth – are not considered by medical authorities to have mental illness simply because they are transgender.
In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association revised its mental disorders manual and no longer listed being transgender as a mental disorder.
“Gender identity disorder” was eliminated and replaced with “gender dysphoria.”
Gender dysphoria is a diagnosis for the distress experienced by some whose gender identity conflicts with their sex assigned at birth.
Numerous medical groups, including the World Health Organization, have stated that being trans is not a mental disorder.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., suggested May 17 at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention that being trans is a mental illness. She said “women shouldn’t be forced to share” facilities such as bathrooms “with mentally ill men.”
Her campaign spokesperson did not provide information to support Mace’s reference to mental illness.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Studies have found some evidence of liberal leanings among journalists, but not radical viewpoints.
Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab said everyone has a different idea about what constitutes news.
Media Biasrates most media in a range of “strong left, skews left, middle, skews right or strong right.”
Of the remainder, media rated “hyper-partisan right” or “most extreme right” outnumber those rated “hyper-partisan left” or “most extreme left.”
AllSides, which rates online U.S. political content, rates most media as “lean left,” “center” or “lean right.”
A 2022 Syracuse University survey said 52% of 1,600 U.S. journalists identified themselves as independent, 36% Democrat, 3% Republican.
A 2020 study by researchers from three U.S. universities concluded that “a dominant majority of journalists identify as liberals/Democrats,” but exhibit “no bias against conservatives” in what they cover.
The office of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., didn’t provide evidence to back his May 9 claim that “most” American news media are “radical leftists.”
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
ROTHSCHILD — Far from the liberal capital, Republicans gathered over the weekend to assess the state of a party in full control of the federal government, but showing signs of continued collapse in Wisconsin.
There were plenty of middle-aged white guys, one towing “Trump” the service dog and one in a Carhartt polo talking about conspiracist Alex Jones. Among the handful of African American attendees was a man sporting a “Black Guns Matter” T-shirt. An Appleton 25-year-old in a suit and tie talked up the need for more young people in leadership. A Dane County woman shared her thoughts on clamping down on illegal immigration and onshoring manufacturing jobs, as another attendee walked past in an American flag dress.
What many of these rank-and-file Republicans shared, as they gathered for the Wisconsin Republican Party’s annual convention, was applause for the sheer speed of President Donald Trump’s actions in office — and a desire for more moves to the right in the 2026 elections.
In purple Wisconsin, that film has played out before, and it didn’t go so well for Republicans. After Trump’s first election in 2016, the party lost control of the governor’s office and the state Supreme Court. April’s Supreme Court victory for Dane County Judge Susan Crawford means liberals will control the court through at least 2028 and could reshape the state’s congressional maps to help Democrats retake Congress in the midterms.
While there was some talk of blaming GOP state chair Brian Schimming for the poor April showing, none of that materialized in Rothschild. Instead, the party talked up the November victory and how to double down on the same Trumpian rhetoric heading into 2026.
Here’s how several of the 500 convention attendees at the Central Wisconsin Convention & Expo Center near Wausau assessed the first four months of Trump’s second term and what they want to see from GOP leaders going forward.
How state Republicans view Trump 2.0
Delegates were animated in their praise of Trump for keeping his campaign promises.
“It gets better every day,” said Rock County delegate Michael Mattus, accompanied by his Belgian service dog. “I’m happy every day. Wake up and thinking, what’s he gonna do today?”
Adams County GOP chair Pete Church, who was elected chair of the state party’s county chairs at the convention, said he only wishes the U.S. House and Senate picked up the pace.
“It would be great if we could get Congress to actually put some of these things into law,” he said. “None of us really wants to see a government run by executive order, but that’s where we’re at.”
Delegates lauded Trump’s visit last week to the Middle East and his crackdown on illegal immigration.
“I have uncles, I have aunts that came over here illegally. I don’t associate with them,” said Martin Ruiz Gomez, 39, a one-time Milwaukee-based MMA fighter attending his first state GOP convention. “It’s not nothing against them, but they’re not doing things right.”
The delegates even backed Trump initiatives that have less public support, such as tariffs. The on-again, off-again measures are viewed by some as making international trade fair and encouraging companies to create manufacturing jobs in the U.S., but recent polling has found more than 60% of Americans oppose them and worry they will raise prices. Rising prices was an issue that fueled Trump’s victory in November.
“Well, I was a little nervous about the tariffs when my (retirement savings account) went (down), but he’s doing what he set out to do,” said Calumet County delegate Linda Hoerth.
Portage County delegate Michael Zaremba agreed, saying the tariffs will eventually return more manufacturing jobs to the U.S.
“Just like with a pregnancy, you have to grow it, and then you have to experience the pain,” said Milwaukee County delegate Cindy Werner, who ran for the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor in 2022. “But then there’s joy that comes after that.”
Delegates happy with Trump’s performance were mild with any criticism.
“Trump hasn’t always been a big supporter of the Second Amendment. I mean, he is, but he also isn’t super firm on that,” said 25-year-old Reive Pullen, a gun-rights supporter from Outagamie County.
Dane County delegate Tya Lichte could have done without Trump’s talk of taking control of Greenland or making Canada the 51st state.
“I understand he always likes to lead big and then heel back,” she said.
What more they want from GOP leaders
Soon, attention will turn to 2026 and the election for governor. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers hasn’t said whether he’ll seek a third term. His 2018 win over Republican Gov. Scott Walker marked the end of eight years of GOP rule in Wisconsin and came as Democrats flipped 41 seats to take back control of the U.S. House.
Hoerth, a board member of the Calumet County GOP, wants the next governor to “get rid of all this DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion)” and push for a state referendum on at what stage of pregnancy abortion should be legal in Wisconsin.
Hoerth likes the background of military veteran and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, the only announced Republican candidate for governor, based on Schoemann’s recent visit with her and other Calumet County Republicans.
“He got the entire group wound up looking at their phones, checking some different websites that he was telling us about,” she said. “It was great.”
Another Republican mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate, northern Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, sounded like one. He used much of his convention speech to criticize Evers, but not to make any big announcements.
Wisconsin Congressman Tom Tiffany addresses the audience in his speech during the Republican Party of Wisconsin state convention on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at the Central Wisconsin Convention & Expo Center in Rothschild, Wis. “Isn’t it great inflation is going down here in the United States of America and jobs are going up?” Tiffany said as he held up an egg carton and the audience applauded. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Lichte, of Dane County, said she wants the next governor to follow Trump’s lead on reshoring jobs and to try to make Milwaukee a technology hub.
Milwaukee County GOP chair Hilario Deleon said reducing crime, taxes and the size of state government are top priorities.
Rock County’s Mattus, who called abortion “pro-murder,” said he became more active because “this world (is) becoming more communist and I’m not for that.”
In the name of election integrity, Portage County’s Zaremba wants Republicans to get rid of the state Elections Commission and return to hand-counting paper ballots.
Some delegates expressed hope that their party can mend fences with nonprofits such as Turning Point USA in their efforts to elect Republicans. During the recent Supreme Court race there were disputes about how to campaign that went public and exposed rifts among conservatives.
“It’s all right that we don’t always agree, but when we’re taking those arguments to social media for the whole world to see, that’s where I don’t like it,” said Church, the new head of the county chairs. “The only way it can be fixed is through cooperation.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers is pushing a fix to a 2022 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision that hampered the public’s ability to obtain attorney fees in certain public records lawsuits against public officials — but the top Assembly Republican remains noncommittal about the bill.
The case, Friends of Frame Park v. City of Waukesha, involved a public records dispute between the city and a citizen group. Waukesha was working to bring a semi-professional baseball team to town. A group of concerned residents, Friends of Frame Park, submitted a public records request to the city seeking copies of any agreements the city had reached with the team’s owners or the semi-professional league.
The city partially denied the request and refused to produce a copy of a draft contract. Friends of Frame Park hired an attorney and sued. A day after the lawsuit was filed, and before the local circuit court took action, the city produced a copy of the draft contract.
The case eventually worked its way to the state Supreme Court, which determined that Friends of Frame Park was not entitled to attorney fees because it technically had not prevailed in court — the group received the record without action from the circuit court.
The ruling “actually incentivizes public officials to illegally withhold records because it forces requestors to incur legal costs that may never be recovered,” said Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, during a public hearing about the bill.
Max Lenz, an attorney representing the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, said the state Supreme Court ruling incentivizes public officials to “effectively dare the public to sue.”
“The Supreme Court’s ruling in Friends of Frame Park flipped the public records law presumption of openness on its head,” he said.
The legislation, spearheaded by state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, would supersede the high court’s ruling and allow a requestor to obtain attorney fees if a judge determines that the filing of a lawsuit “was a substantial factor contributing to that voluntary or unilateral release” of records, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau.
The bill has garnered support from an unusual coalition of organizations. Seven groups, some of which frequently lobby, have registered in support of the bill, including the liberal ACLU of Wisconsin and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
A similar version of the bill was approved by the state Senate last session but did not receive a vote in the Assembly. The legislation was approved by the state Senate last week.
The legislation’s path forward remains unclear. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told reporters recently that “our caucus has never talked about it.”
“It’s certainly something we could discuss, but we don’t have a position on it at this time,” Vos added.
Are you interested in learning more about public records? Here’s a primer on what types of records should be accessible to you — and how to request them.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Login
