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With an education background, Appleton parent and education advocate James Bacon knows what his kids’ teachers face.

He has two sons in elementary school. They’re thriving, largely because of their teachers, he said. But, should he need to advocate for more support, he worries about the additional strain that could place on the already overburdened teachers and systems.

Bacon’s concern has driven his advocacy work. When the Appleton School District voted to go to an operational referendum for $15 million in the spring 2026 election to balance its budget and add student supports, Bacon helped organize a group of volunteers to get the word out. Many in the group were parents who had to rearrange busy schedules, he said.

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In the weeks leading up to the election, the group’s Facebook page posted multiple times a day. They set up presentations, printed yard signs and connected with residents, urging them to vote and to invite a friend along.

While he was talking to voters, Bacon said two concerns stood out to him. On one side, people were worried about increasing the strain on their own pocketbooks through property taxes, especially in Grand Chute, where homeowners just had their property reassessed. On the other, some thought the district wasn’t asking for enough help for their students; some supported going as high as $17 million instead.

Ultimately, the referendum in Appleton was successful, passing with about two-thirds of the vote from over 26,000 people. But across the state, more than a third of all school referendums failed during the same election, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The conflict between higher property taxes and increased school funding has been over three decades in the making, according to researchers, administrators and advocates. Any potential solution may mean rethinking a school funding situation that has been in place for that long.

The November elections for state Assembly and Senate will influence who is part of that solution, as the new Legislature will begin work on the next biennial state budget in January.

How does Wisconsin fund its public schools?

Wisconsin has 421 public school districts, each with taxing authority. Districts receive money from four sources: state aid, property taxes, federal aid and other local non-property tax revenues (such as fees and interest earnings).

The state-provided aid generally falls into two buckets:

• Equalization aid, distributed through a formula based on a district’s equalized property value per pupil.
• Categorical aid, meant to partially fund programs like special education and student transportation services.

Wisconsin school districts are capped when it comes to the total funding they can spend, called the revenue limit. It is the amount districts can collect from equalization aid and property taxes. Categorical aid and federal funding don’t count against the limit. The revenue limit for each district is calculated using a school district’s total enrollment and the revenues it collected in previous years.

The state Department of Public Instruction calculates the total revenue limit using a formula, but revenue limits are often expressed as a per-pupil dollar amount.

The revenue limits have been in place since the 1993-94 school year. Until the 2008-09 school year, districts’ revenue limits were indexed to inflation. From that time until the 2023-24 state budget, changes to revenue limits had to be approved year over year by the state Legislature. In six of those school years, districts received no increase at all, and in 2011-12, the revenue limits actually decreased by an average of $554 per student. Gov. Tony Evers’ partial veto of the 2023-25 biennial budget set revenue limits’ annual increase to $325 per student per year.

However, even with that increase, Wisconsin school funding hasn’t kept pace with inflation overall and has fallen relative to other states.

Wisconsin Policy Forum reported that Wisconsin’s per-pupil funding per student in 2003 was 11th in the nation. In 2023, it was 26th.

Wisconsin’s approach to school funding differs from many other states, said Sara Shaw, a researcher from the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Illinois, for example, uses “evidence-based funding,” where the state aims to fund its districts at an “adequacy target.” That level is determined by the estimated cost to educate students and the local resources on hand.

Many other states, like Minnesota, use a weighted system; each enrolled student is funded at a basic per-pupil amount, but the state increases funding based on the number of students who might need additional support, like English language learners, students in smaller school districts and students who qualify for free and reduced lunch.

Wisconsin’s equalization aid formula, Shaw said, isn’t based on need but local property wealth. While local property values and student need can align, she said that’s not always the case. She gave vacation and tourism communities as an example: While local property values in those communities might be high, residents’ socioeconomic status might be lower. In the Sturgeon Bay School District, for example, property taxes will support over 60% of its general fund in 2025-26, partly due to rising property values. But nearly half of the district’s students were considered economically disadvantaged in the 2025-26 school year, according to data from DPI.

How do school districts manage their budgets?

For the first quarter of the fiscal year, from July 1 to Oct. 15, school administrators and financial professionals are working off of an estimate for how many students they’ll have.

Holly Burr, finance director for Appleton’s public schools, said that budgeting is “an ongoing project,” but that twice a year her department examines every single class and building in the district to see where staff are most needed. The department does this in the winter and summer in order to set staffing levels for the beginning of the next school year.

It’s “kind of backwards from how you think of budgeting,” she said, because the district must hire staff before it knows the exact amount of funding it’ll have for the school year. Districts count their students on the third Friday of every September, and their revenue limit information is released in the middle of October. Budgets are typically set by the end of October.

Districts also look for ways to increase revenue and decrease costs. For example, enrollment in summer school increases student counts for the revenue limit. If a district finds ways to attract more students through open enrollment than it loses, that increases the head count as well.

For lowering costs, Burr said the Appleton School District bids annually for property and liability insurance and tries to keep employee health care costs down without burdening staff. Three years ago, the district moved to self-funded health insurance and is part of an in-house clinic co-op with another district and the city of Appleton, Burr said.

District spending bound by student needs and the law

Student needs are one of the main drivers of school budget decisions.

For the 2026-27 school year, Burr said the district hired more counselors, psychologists and social workers with the money from the referendum because it saw students needed more mental health support after the COVID-19 pandemic. It also added three positions to assist with about 1,500 English language learners, one of which doubles as a social worker.

School budgets are also bound by mandates from the state and federal government — and help covering the costs of those mandates is limited. Special education students are entitled to a free and appropriate public education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires schools and districts to help English language learners overcome language barriers in their education.

Giving these students support usually means hiring more staff, like paraprofessionals, physical and occupational therapists, interventionists and interpreters. But districts get limited help paying back the extra costs.

During the 2025-26 school year, the state reimbursed 35% of the money used for special education, despite 42% being promised in the 2023-25 state budget. According to DPI, the reimbursement is paid from a fixed pot of money determined by the Legislature; if more claims come in, then the rate drops.

In 58 districts that qualified for aid for English language learners, the state reimbursed only about 8% of the costs in 2024-25.

Any money that the state doesn’t reimburse for those costs must be taken from districts’ general fund. In the 2025-26 school year:

• Milwaukee Public Schools transferred about $163.6 million from its operating budget to its special education fund.
• Madison schools transferred $61.9 million.
• Green Bay schools transferred $32.4 million.
• Appleton schools transferred $28.7 million.

And while overall student population declines, the number of students needing special education services has been increasing.

The student population declines are largely driven by an overall decline in the birth rate. However, more families are also choosing other educational options for their students, like homeschooling or using one of Wisconsin’s voucher programs, which pay qualified students’ private school tuition using state funds.

School districts turning to operational referendums to balance budgets

As Burr looked ahead to the task of balancing Appleton’s budget for 2026-27, she said the cost of employee health insurance has been increasing by double-digit percentages every year. For the 2026-27 school year, she also anticipates increased student transportation costs partly because of the rising cost of diesel.  

Due to budgetary pressures, school districts are increasingly turning to their main mechanism to increase their budget: asking their communities to increase their taxing authority by going to referendum.

School districts typically go to either capital or operational referendum:

• Capital referendums are meant to address building needs in a district.
• Operational referendums are meant to help districts balance their budgets.

In Little Chute, the school district is opting for both in the November election.

The capital referendum would authorize the district to collect more money for building maintenance and repairs, including fixing the roof, which would extend its warranty for 20 years. Its operational referendum is meant to supplement the district’s technology budget, which would allow it to keep offering one-to-one devices for most students and provide cybersecurity upgrades.

District Superintendent Heidi Schmidt said that while Little Chute has saved money where it could, these costs are beyond the district’s ability to pay within its revenue limits.

With only about 1,600 students enrolled, the Little Chute district is the smallest in the Fox Cities. Schmidt said she wants to ensure her students have the same opportunities as students in bigger districts.

At the same time, the cost of that technology keeps rising, which is part of the reason Little Chute is going to an operational referendum for the third time since 2007.

Besides the stakes of going to referendum, the process also takes time and work from school district leaders. Schmidt said a top priority for her was showing the community that the district is using taxpayer money wisely. She’s leading three information sessions in October and expects to spend up to 10 hours before Election Day getting information out to the public.

Burr said going to referendum is a last resort for most districts looking to balance budgets, and districts typically will consider referendums when they believe further budget cuts will impact student learning.

“It is a significant amount of work,” Burr said. “Nobody likes to go to their taxpayers and say, ‘We can’t live on the money that the state is giving us.’”

Schools face consequences for budget shortfalls

In schools, a lack of funding can mean closing school buildings, laying off staff, increasing class sizes, shutting down programs and even dissolving the school district altogether.

Several northeastern Wisconsin districts will go to their communities to balance their budgets this fall:

• Seymour schools are going to referendum in November to maintain their programs and facilities.
• Green Bay has closed seven schools in the past five years and will go to an operational referendum this fall.
• Gillett school leaders warned a failed operational referendum in November could lead to stopping courses not required by the state, like tech ed, band and choir.

Other districts have had to deal with the consequences of failed referendums throughout 2026:

• Fond du Lac has had to lay off teachers and library media specialists.
• Southern Door County has laid off staff, cut programs and changed its employee health plan.
• After a failed spring referendum, the Hustisford School District is taking steps to dissolve, with the final decision in the hands of the DPI’s boundary appeals board as of July 20.

More schools are going to referendum as fewer voters indicate they want to support them. According to a Marquette University Law School poll from February, a record number of voters, 60% to 40%, said that lowering property taxes was more important than increasing funding K-12 for education. At the same time, the Wisconsin Policy Forum also found that 2025’s 94 referendum questions were the most in an odd-numbered year since 2007 and that almost 40% of these questions were “retries” — where voters rejected a referendum question, and a district goes back to the voters to try to pass the measure again.  

Shaw said that while school referendums were originally meant as a way for communities to exercise local control, it seems to be contributing to funding gaps between districts. According to another report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the gap in per-pupil funding between the top 90% and the bottom 10% of districts has grown in the past 20 years from 24.6% in 2005 to 37.6% in 2025.

Efforts made to explore potential funding solutions

The Legislature has examined school funding before, and in 2017, the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding began examining ways to adjust school funding in Wisconsin.

The commission, which included lawmakers, district administrators and other stakeholders, published its report in 2019, along with 20 policy recommendations. Among other potential actions, it recommended:

• Increasing per-pupil aid and matching those increases to inflation.
• Gradually increasing special education reimbursement to 60%.
• Changing how English language learners and students from lower-income households are counted for the revenue limit.
• Adding support to low-enrolling rural districts.
• Providing additional funding for Head Start and school-based mental health services.

In May, Evers and a group of Republican lawmakers tried using the budget surplus to give schools more than $617 million by increasing the special education reimbursement and general school aid. While the plan had broad support from voters, it failed when Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany and Democratic lawmakers opposed it.

A group of superintendents from the top five school districts in Wisconsin, as well as the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, expressed disappointment the deal failed in separate statements. However, the Wisconsin Public Education Network said that the deal didn’t do enough because the general school aid would have fallen under revenue limits — meaning it would have delivered property tax relief but not actually given districts any extra funding.

‘This is not sustainable, point blank’

Meanwhile, groups of education professionals and advocates believe the current state of Wisconsin school funding is inequitable enough to violate the state Constitution — and they’ve taken the state Assembly to court to force a solution.

The lawsuit was filed in April by Law Forward and the Wisconsin Education Association Council. The plaintiffs are the Wisconsin Public Education Network; the Wisconsin PTA; the Necedah, Adams-Friendship, Beloit, Green Bay and Eau Claire school districts; and other education associations and individuals. They are asking the court to rule the current school funding formula unconstitutional.

“We’ve exhausted every opportunity that democracy affords us in this work, and it seems to fall on deaf ears,” said Heather DuBois Bourenane, a Sun Prairie-based parent and director of Wisconsin Public Education Network. “If our lawmakers aren’t going to do their job, it’s time for the courts to hold them accountable for doing it.”

The group’s position is that the state needs to “align its spending priorities with the priority needs of our children,” DuBois Bourenane said

She called the current funding system “antiquated and deeply broken” and “picking winners and losers” among students.

“We have a school funding system that’s based more on property tax relief than it is on meeting the needs of kids,” she added, saying that Wisconsin has fallen short with students with disabilities, English language learners and students from lower-income households.

In response to the initial suit in April, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a statement, “This complaint is another meritless attempt by liberal activists to defund the state’s highly successful school-voucher program and interfere with the Legislature’s authority to fund public schools. We will vigorously defend against this suit and are confident that the courts will soundly reject it.”

Lawsuits related to school funding have had mixed success in court across the country. In 2000, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the state’s funding formula was constitutional, but left the door open for the current case to be brought.

As the lawsuit plays out, Shaw sees the next election as an opportunity for voters and their representatives to consider their priorities — and to envision “what equitable planning and adequate funding looks like” for their schools.

But until a solution is found, school administrators’ warnings have become increasingly dire. Burr said school districts across Wisconsin find “their backs against the wall.”

“This is not sustainable, point blank,” she said.

Kevin Dittman, Kayla Huynh, Nadia Scharf, and Alec Johnson contributed to this report.

Rebecca Loroff is a K-12 education reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. Contact her at rloroff@usatodayco.com. 

This story was produced as part of the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) News Lab, a consortium of five news outlets.

Wisconsin schools face funding squeeze as voters pick Legislature 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.

The U.S. Department of Education’s suspension this year of a comprehensive monitoring process puts billions of K-12 dollars at heightened risk of undetected waste, fraud and abuse, according to a new report by the nonpartisan U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The congressional watchdog’s report also raised concerns about the reliability of federal absenteeism data, noting that absenteeism rates were reported above 100% in some schools.

Officials from the Department of Education told GAO the department suspended its consolidated monitoring of Elementary and Secondary Education Act requirements while it develops a new approach. But as of August, the department had not provided a timeline for resuming the reviews or details on an alternative for making sure states comply with federal requirements.

The change heightens the risk for Title 1 funding, which is about two-thirds of the nearly $27 billion in total Elementary and Secondary Education Act funding in 2025, the report said.  Under Title 1, states receive grants and use the money to support schools and districts with high concentrations of students from low-income families.

States receiving Title I funding are required to develop statewide accountability systems, and all states had to report certain chronic absenteeism data. The Education Department defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% or more of school days. Consolidated monitoring was fully implemented in 2019 but the Education Department suspended the process this year. 

“As a result of suspending consolidated monitoring, Education will not be able to systematically assess whether states are complying with ESEA requirements and following their approved state plans,” the report said.

On chronic absenteeism, half the states remain unmonitored for reporting requirements that apply to all states, the report said.

The Education Department directs states to report the number of chronically absent students over a school year, but to report total enrollment based on a single date. “Calculating rates using mismatched timeframes has resulted in unreliable and implausible chronic absenteeism rates (e.g., rates over 100 percent),” the GAO said.

That was especially true in low-performing schools and for those housing career and technical education programs, the report said.

“Absent quality chronic absenteeism data, this nationwide data source cannot be used to reliably track trends or evaluate the effectiveness of accountability efforts and interventions to address chronic absenteeism,” it concluded.

Chronic absenteeism, which has been linked with declining academic performance, has remained elevated following the COVID-19 pandemic. At least one-quarter of K-12 students were estimated to be chronically absent in recent years, the report noted. 

But discrepancies in absentee rates, GAO found, were notable in low-performing schools where enrollment fluctuates more often and in shared-time schools, where students split their day between schools, often for career and technical education or other specialized programs.

More than 30% of shared-time schools had “implausible” chronic absenteeism rates, compared with under 2% of other schools. Among schools designated for Comprehensive Support and Improvement, a federal category for low-performing schools, nearly 13% had implausible rates over 100%, compared with about 2% of schools not in that category.

In Pennsylvania, GAO found 98% of shared-time schools there had implausible chronic absenteeism rates. By contrast, Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina and Rhode Island had no shared-time schools with implausible rates in GAO’s analysis.

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached at rsequeira@stateline.org. 

Project Title: Green Lunchroom Challenge Sectors: K-12 schools (primary original sector targeted), Higher Education, Institutions (any with on-site food service) Location: Illinois (primary focus); United States (Beyond IL) Services: Implementation Assistance, Fostering Sustainable Behavior, Stakeholder Engagement, Waste Characterization Background: According to a 2012 report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, food production represented 10 percent […]

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Wisconsin State Superintendent Jill Underly called for the state to overhaul the school funding formula in her sixth State of Education address Thursday, saying that the state “simply cannot afford to wait any longer.” 

Underly delivered the address less than six weeks before the November election, when Wisconsin voters will decide who she will be working with in the governor’s office and in the state Legislature on the next state budget. She will need their support to get the funding for the budget proposals she has begun to formulate.

The Department of Public Instruction so far has only submitted the first part of its budget request, which covered funding for libraries, support for children who are deaf and blind, public libraries, cybersecurity, technology modernization and the investigation of alleged educator misconduct. The agency said last week that it would release the second part of its request, for “categorical aid programs and other critical supports” for Wisconsin’s public schools, in November. The election is scheduled for Nov. 3. 

“The formula used for funding our schools, for years, has failed our children, schools and entire communities,” Underly said during her address. “The reasons are varied and complex, but you don’t need to be familiar with every detail of the funding formula to know that it’s simply not working. The evidence is all around us.” 

More than 75 school referendum requests carrying a total cost of $1.5 billion will go before voters in November. It’s just the latest round in a now-familiar ritual as school districts across the state  seek approval to raise property taxes to make up for a shrinking pool of  state aid. School districts that can’t pass a referendum have had to cut costs including by eliminating programs, staff and in some cases closing or consolidating schools. Districts on a streak of failed referendum requests have faced dissolution. 

Underly noted that the classrooms of the Hustisford School District “sat empty” on the first day of school this year. The district started the dissolution process after its referendum failed in April.

“Every kid felt the impact,” Underly said. “Kindergarteners, who should have been walking through the doors of the school their family chose when they made this beautiful community home, instead traveled to a neighboring town. Meanwhile, seniors who spent the past 12 years as Hustisford Falcons started their last year of school in an unfamiliar building,” Underly continued. “This is what happens when we turn our back on our schools. And when schools close, the impact doesn’t stop with students. It ripples through entire communities.”

Underly said the state funding formula “places value on the wrong things,” including enrollment, district spending and property value, instead of on student needs. 

“It fails to ask the most essential question: How much does it actually cost to educate the students who live in a district so that they have an equal opportunity to succeed? A student’s opportunity for success should not depend on their zip code,” she said. 

School funding will depend on who’s in office. Republican candidate Tom Tiffany and Democratic candidate David Crowley are running to be governor and control of the state Senate and Assembly are up for grabs. 

Some lawmakers have argued that rather than increase funding for schools the state needs to explore more school consolidation given declining enrollment. Asked about when school closure is the appropriate answer to declining enrollment, Underly told reporters she thinks “it deserves some study and conversation to figure out what’s best for kids.”

Underly pointed to the 2019 bipartisan Blue Ribbon Commission while speaking to reporters. The commission, which was created by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and then-Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald in 2017, developed a report offering ideas to address school funding issues, as a guiding document for what the state should be doing. She said that the reports showed that there are kids who need additional support including those in poverty and who have special needs. She said money also needs to be invested in career and technical education, mental health supports and speech and language pathology.

“All these things have been in my past budget requests, and that’s what we will be able to expect in the next one, too,” Underly said. The agency’s 2024 state budget request totaled over  $4 billion. 

Urgent, but possibly not very fast

While Underly delivered her message with urgency, the timeline for changes could look vastly different depending on who wins in November.

Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton), who could become the Senate Majority leader depending on the results of the November elections, has said Democrats will increase school funding in the next state budget, but changing the state’s school funding formula could be a “multi-year” process. 

“We’re also looking at a long-term goal of seeing what other states are doing and how they are funding their public schools, but that’s going to take probably a multi-year task to try to figure that all out and talking to our friends in Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois,” Hesselbein said. 

Crowley has been supportive of increasing school funding, including moving the state toward reimbursing districts for 90% of the cost of special education, instead of the current rate of 38% , but he has also suggested throughout his campaign for governor that there may need to be another Blue Ribbon Commission to study tax issues including school and local government funding. The last Blue Ribbon Commission on school funding took two years to complete. 

Tiffany has said he wants some increases to school funding, but also promises to freeze property taxes if elected. He hasn’t provided clarity on how much he would invest or how he would balance the two issues. Tiffany has focused on issues of accountability and ensuring “high standards” as opposed to school funding when discussing education issues.

Underly has had a strained relationship with Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee, who have declined to invite her to testify in front of the committee, and it’s unclear whether a working relationship between her and Tiffany would be an improvement. Tiffany recently described the state superintendent’s position as a constitutional office as a “problem” at a Moms For Liberty Town Hall in Richfield. He said he would use the state budget, which determines the state’s spending for a two-year period, to try to steer the superintendent  to make the decisions he wants her to make.

Underly said responding to the comments that independence is positive.  

“When you think about my office, my office is nonpartisan. It’s independent. It is not at the whim of any governor and I think that actually strengthens public education,” Underly said. “I think his comments stand on their own.”

In her speech, Underly called for people to look at the candidates’ records on school issues, not their talking points, when making their decisions at the ballot box this November. 

“We have people running for office who have spent a decade or more in government, in positions to make school funding decisions — or who have left state government for another level and now want to return — whose records include repeatedly voting against investments in Wisconsin’s children,” Underly said, apparently referring to Tiffany, who as a state lawmaker served on the budget committee before he was elected to Congress. “Past actions are the best evidence we have of what someone will do when given power again. Wisconsin does not need more people who tell us they support children while their votes tell a different story. We need people in positions of decision-making power who are pro-public school, pro-child and pro-Wisconsin.” 

Kate Murrain, a realtor and mother of two Middleton-Cross Plains School District students, said she has a couple of questions before she makes her mind up whether to vote for the district’s $118.5 million referendum request. 

Murrain told the Wisconsin Examiner that she wants to see a side-by-side comparison of budgets, one of if the referendum passes and one if it fails. Her questions reflect the competing concerns that surfaced in a recent public discussion of rising property taxes and the school district’s troubles meeting rising costs. 

“At this point, without any information and being as educated as I need to be I would vote no,” Murrain said, adding she noticed that the meeting was attended by a relatively small group of neighbors who appeared to be pro-referendum. “I was surprised. I expected to walk into 100 people having questions to get better educated. I’m just shocked that this is the turnout.”

Murrain was one of about 20 who gathered in the performing arts center of Middleton High School on Sept. 17 to listen to district leaders explain the request and take questions. The district is holding at least four of these sessions open to the public leading up to the Nov. 3 election.

Middleton’s request is part of a wave of more than 70 school district referendum requests this fall seeking $1.6 billion in support from property taxpayers. Under Wisconsin’s school funding system, there is a cap on how much school districts can bring in through a combination of state aid and property taxes. To exceed the caps, Wisconsin school districts have to go to voters for approval. 

Among the requests 17 are for one-time building costs, eight are recurring, to provide permanent support for operating costs, and the remaining are non-recurring, slated to help with operating costs but for a set number of years.

By the end of the year, the total number of referendum requests appearing on spring and fall ballots will total more than 150. Eight of the school districts asking voters for more money in November are trying for the second time this year after a spring request failed. 

In April, 75 referendum requests went before voters. According to the Wisconsin Policy Forum, 46 of those passed — a 61.3% approval rate. The Policy Forum found that a similar result in November would represent “a substantial decrease from the 70.1% approval rate in 2024” and the “lowest approval rate of any even-numbered year since 2010, when voters approved 52.7% of referenda.”

The Middleton-Cross Plains School District request is the second largest referendum ask  on ballots in November behind Green Bay Area School District, which is seeking $158 million over four years and is currently a party in a lawsuit suing the state over the school funding formula.

Middleton is considered “property rich,” meaning it gets less state aid than other school districts and relies more heavily on property taxes for its budget. According to school leaders, about 80% of the district budget comes from property taxes. The other 20% comes from state aid. 

The request would be split to provide $24.9 million in year one of the referendum. That amount would continue the funding the district is currently receiving through a 2022 nonrecurring referendum. The next three years the funding would rise by about 3% each year to account for inflation, so $27.9 million in year two, $31.1 million in year three and $34.6 million in year four.

Bob Hesselbein, the school board president, told the Examiner that the district considered about six different referendum scenarios.

“Like a lot of districts within Wisconsin since 2010, we have been forced to find operational funding with our own community because the state each year is giving us in real dollars less in buying power,” Hesselbein said. “We recognize with the economics going on now in the country, we didn’t want to ask for more because everyone’s hurting.”

The district conducted surveys while working to develop the question. In one survey of about 1,800 community members, 66% said that they would probably or definitely vote for a 2026 referendum. Those who opposed the referendum cited property-tax fatigue, spending reductions and a preference for state level solutions. 

Hesselbein said the district hasn’t had a “No Vote” committee form. In other districts, “No Vote” and “Yes Vote” committees will form and can come into contention with one another as residents concerned about rising property taxes are pitted against those who want their schools to be able to meet costs.

One attendee at the recent meeting in Middleton asked for clarification on the actual cost to individual taxpayers of the referendum and said he was worried about how the additional taxes would affect seniors on a fixed income.

An explanatory page provided by the district shows that property taxpayers could expect to pay no additional money in the first year, $21 in the second, $40 in the third and $59 in the fourth. However, the numbers are pegged to $100,000 of property. The district said it provided the information in the form it did so individuals could do the math easily depending on the cost of the house. 

“Who has a $100,000 house in Middleton?” the attendee said. “I’d rather see the average house in there, so people can get a feel as to what you’re looking at.” 

The average cost of a house is $500,000 in Middleton, meaning in the second year of the budget an average homeowner could expect to pay an additional $105 in property taxes in the second year of the referendum.

“You’re going to be squeezing me,” the attendee said. “You want to keep everything status quo. There’s room to cut.” 

If the referendum fails the district will have to cut its budget by about 20%. 

Whether the referendum passes or not, the district plans to cut $5 million from its budget, though conversations are just beginning on where those cuts will come from. 

“We’re going to probably find ourselves cutting some of the enhancements to education, not the meat of what we do here,” Hesselbein told the Examiner, adding that it likely wouldn’t mean layoffs, but retirements may mean conversations about dividing work among current employees instead of a new hire. 

The same retiree who spoke up about the cost of the referendum asked why the district wasn’t turning to state lawmakers. 

“I called Sen. [Dianne] Hesselbein’s office last year, and asked, what have you done to get more money?” he said. “I got the typical political run around.”

Gov. Tony Evers and Republican lawmakers tried to pass a deal earlier this year that would have tapped the state surplus to give schools some additional funding and send rebate checks to property taxpayers. The bill failed in the Senate, where most Democrats opposed it, saying it didn’t do enough to help schools or spend money responsibly, along with a couple of Republicans, who opposed the spending. 

Since then, progress on school funding changes have been stalled as most politicians have turned their attention to the upcoming elections. 

Bob Hesselbein, who is married to the Democratic leader of the Senate, said he had some inside information for the disgruntled taxpayer at the Middleton meeting.

“I happen to know Sen. Hesselbein pretty well,” he said, drawing a few chuckles in the room. 

“You can yell and swear all you want,” he added. “In Dane County, we have very pro-education representation in both our Assembly and our Senate. Unfortunately, they’re a minority within the state of Wisconsin, and until the rest of the cities, Wisconsin, come to that realization that their public schools are being damaged, we can’t expect anything different from our local politicians, because that’s the constitutional laws of our state.”

Sen. Hesselbein has said that Democrats will pass legislation to fund public schools in January. 

“We are going to be fully there for our public schools, especially when it comes to special education reimbursement,” Sen. Dianne Hesselbein said at a press conference last week. “One thing that school administrators are telling us all across the state — principals as well — that they want to see something they can count on and they want to rely on it.” 

Sen. Hesselbein said that her caucus has started having conversations over the summer about what needs to happen, including putting more money into special education and general aid. She said Democrats are also looking at other states to understand how the school funding formula could be changed.

“We’re also looking at a long-term goal of seeing what other states are doing and how they are funding their public schools, but that’s going to take probably a multi-year task to try to figure that all out and talking to our friends in Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois,” Hesselbein said. 

Meanwhile, school districts continue to rely on taxpayers to help them meet costs. 

Jim Coursey, treasurer of the Middleton school board, explained the stakes to Murrain. 

“If we were to lose that 20% of the budget, there will be no question that classrooms will be impacted, that’s too much,” Coursey said. “That’s going to lead to larger class sizes because it’s going to lead to a reduction in the number of staff that we’re going to be able to have supporting. It’s going to lead to elimination of programs.” 

Murrain, who said she values the education her children are receiving, remained unconvinced.

“I don’t know, it’s tough… I would need to see exactly where those funds are being allocated,” she said.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Milwaukee Public Schools district still expels Black students in higher numbers than any other group. 

The findings come after the U.S. Department of Education announced last month it will investigate whether Milwaukee Public Schools uses race as a factor in expulsions.

MPS expelled 38 students in 2025-26, according to newly released district expulsion data. Of those students, 30 were Black. Black students made up 48% of the district and 79% of expulsions last school year.

No white students, who represent 8.5% of the district’s student population, were expelled. Five Hispanic and three Asian students were expelled last school year.

In 2018, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights detailed findings from an earlier investigation into whether the district was disproportionately disciplining Black students. 

Using data from the 2011-12 school year, the office found Black students made up 56% of MPS enrollment but 84.7% of its expulsions, including more than 100 incidents over two years where Black students were expelled while white students were only suspended for similar infractions. 

MPS entered an agreement with the department to address the disparity in 2018.

MPS has received little information about what prompted the current investigation, according to the district. In a statement, the Department of Education said education leaders in Milwaukee “derided facially neutral school policies as reflecting systemic ‘whiteness,’ seemingly encouraging school officials to consider race in disciplinary practices.”  

Kevin O’Connor, media relations manager for MPS, said the Department of Education has since requested MPS submit the district’s student enrollment and discipline data, student code of conduct, policies that “address discrimination based on race,” and staff training relating to race, discrimination and Title VI for the last two years, among other materials.

The Department of Education has declined to comment further on the issue, citing the open investigation.

Despite disparities, expulsions have declined

During the 2010-11 school year, 415 MPS students were expelled. That number dropped to 116 in the 2016-17 school year before spiking again in 2018-19 to nearly 200. The number declined to a record low 23 in 2024-25 before increasing to 38 last school year.

O’Connor said the district has managed to significantly reduce its expulsions in the last 10 years as a result of initiatives including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, Social Academic Instructional Group curriculum, peer mediations and other restorative practices.

“Our principals and school administrators build relationships with students and work closely with them,” O’Connor wrote in an email to NNS. “They are intentional about putting plans in place to proactively mitigate behavior that may impede a student’s ability to have a quality educational experience.”

O’Connor said the district provides alternative educational services for expelled students. Some options include online learning, moving to another school or, for students with disabilities, being placed based on their Individualized Education Plan, known as an IEP.

Why students were expelled

Thirteen students were expelled for bringing weapons including firearms, BB guns and pepper spray, but over half the expulsions are grouped together in a general “other” category. Matthew Boswell, senior director of the district’s Department of Student Services, said in the board meeting that this mostly covers things like “substantial battery to staff.”

Monthly reports from the independent hearing officers who handle the district’s expulsions paint a more detailed picture behind the “other” category. 

A third of all expulsions represented an “endangerment of physical safety and mental well-being,” but other offenses in the general category included theft, inappropriate use of electronic communication devices and arson.

Race can’t be a factor in discipline, Department of Education says

The Department of Education has stated it is not interested in what disparities are revealed in the numbers. Rather, it wants to see policies that are “facially neutral” or do not explicitly reference race.

The department’s new guidance argues that”facially neutral” discipline policies do not violate federal law even if they produce racial disparities, as long as they’re applied evenhandedly. 

“Mere statistical disparities generally cannot show discriminatory intent or disparate treatment,” the guidance stated.

Angela Harris, an MPS teacher and chair of the Black Educators Caucus MKE, said it would be ridiculous for a child’s race to determine a consequence, but “if we’re seeing that there is a disparity that exists between how consequences are administered, that is absolutely something that we should be looking at.”

Harris said the district’s practice of examining trends of racial disparities and looking for potential biases in discipline decision-making is completely different from using race to decide how a child is disciplined.

“If the concern is that MPS is using race to determine an individual child’s punishment, then the Department of Education should be able to provide us what policy or practice is being referenced or that they found that is explicit in doing that,” she said.

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Meredith Melland contributed to this report.

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Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

Amid federal probe, Black students remain disproportionately expelled at Milwaukee Public Schools 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.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

In 1998, the Madison School Board adopted an important academic goal: “that all students complete the 3rd grade able to read at or beyond grade level.”

Flash forward 28 years to a July 29 Rotary Club event. Madison Superintendent Joe Gothard highlighted recent improvements in literacy in district schools. But he pointed out that proficiency rates still hovered around just 40% at the elementary, middle and high schools he listed.

“We should not be sitting in a place where we can say 60% of our students are not proficient at their grade level in reading,” Rebecca Kundert, the district’s senior executive director of curriculum and instruction, said in follow-up remarks.

As Wisconsin embarks on another major effort to improve reading, the history of previous initiatives shows why sustained attention matters.

“It’s complicated,” one retired teacher said at the Rotary talk. Many factors add complexity, including readiness to learn, distractions, leadership turnover, attention spans and civic malaise.

Nearly three decades have passed without Madison reaching that goal, even as the district spends substantial money. It has a total budget equivalent to about $26,000 per enrolled student — far above average. 

But Wisconsin doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Other states have significantly improved their reading proficiency.

What should Madison and other school districts learn from other states?

1. Stick with it

In 2011, Wisconsin lawmakers approved one of Massachusetts’ teacher-content-knowledge requirements for early literacy. Beginning in 2014, the law required applicants for a broad assortment of teaching licenses to pass the Foundations of Reading test, just like Massachusetts educators, before they could teach early learners.

But the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) allowed many who failed to keep teaching on temporary licenses. First-time pass rates were often in the mid-60% range.

Consider the message this sends to teachers, schools of education, administrators, students and parents.

2. Commit real effort

Former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale and his wife, Sally, donated $100 million in 2000 to improve early literacy in Mississippi, which ranked 49th nationally in fourth grade reading.

Wisconsin ranked above average at that time.

The funds helped retrain teachers, update curriculum and teacher preparation, and provide classroom coaches. Mississippi also passed SB 2347 in 2013, requiring “intensive intervention for any K-3 student with a reading deficiency, notice to parents, and no promotion past third grade for children whose deficiency is not remedied, subject to good-cause exemptions.”

In 2019, Alan Borsuk, writing in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, noted that Mississippi “was the only state where fourth grade reading scores improved.” He cited a “strong requirement that teachers be well-trained in reading instruction,” similar to what Massachusetts previously implemented.

National Assessment of Educational Progress results in 2024 showed Mississippi fourth graders at 219, outscoring the national average for the first time. Wisconsin, at 215, was statistically indistinguishable from the national average of 214.

The New York Times published a district-by-district test-score lookup in May 2026. Columnist Nicholas Kristof reported that “a Black fourth-grader in Mississippi is now two and a half times as likely to test proficient in reading as a Black fourth-grader in California.”

Comedian Bill Maher carried the comparison to his show. 

“Mississippi is kicking our ass in education and for way less money.” he said. 

3. Use an honest scorecard

Wisconsin has shown weak academic transparency and changed the goalposts when convenient.

In 2003, for instance, 80% of Wisconsin fourth graders scored proficient or advanced on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination (WKCE) in reading, but just 33% scored at the proficient or advanced level on the NAEP.

In 2008, DPI officials went so far as to state: “Schools should not rely on only WKCE data to gauge progress of individual students or to determine effectiveness of programs or curriculum.”

Wisconsin has a fresh opportunity to get it right

In 2023, the Wisconsin Legislature passed and Gov. Tony Evers signed Act 20, modeled on Mississippi reforms, after he vetoed the two previous attempts to address Wisconsin’s literacy disaster.

Act 20 shifted reading instruction from 4K through third grade toward phonics and the science of reading, bans the “three-cueing” method beginning in the 2024-25 school year and requires universal early-literacy screening, reporting of results to parents and personal reading plans for struggling readers.

Wisconsin Act 20 requires school boards to have adopted a written policy specifying criteria for promotion from third to fourth grade by July 1, 2025. Then, beginning Sept. 1, 2027, a school board may not promote a third grader to fourth grade unless the student satisfies the criteria in that district’s policy. 

The law also created an Office of Literacy at DPI, authorized up to 64 literacy coaches and created a Council on Early Literacy Curricula to vet curricula for a program that reimburses schools for part of the cost of approved materials. The $50 million earmark for literacy initiatives in the Joint Finance Committee’s supplemental appropriation became the subject of litigation involving DPI, the Legislature and Evers.

Citizens, parents, teachers, politicians and administrators now have an unprecedented view of 4K-through-third-grade literacy skills through Act 20’s early-literacy screener requirement. The screener is administered three times annually in kindergarten through third grade and twice to students in 4K.

Nearly 97,414 4K-through-third-grade students, or 37%, scored below the 25th percentile in a national comparison group during the 2024-25 school year. Madison lagged the state, with 3,888 students, or 43.7%, scoring below the 25th percentile.

What can you do?

Understand your school district’s total spending, staffing and student enrollment. Review early-literacy screener data and ask elected officials what they are doing about it. Track changes over time.

Packers President Dominic Olejniczak hired Vince Lombardi after the team’s disastrous 1-10-1 season in 1958, its 11th consecutive season without a winning record. 

Lombardi won a title in 1961, his third year, and again in 1962, 1965, 1966 and 1967.

We can do much better, quickly.

Jim Zellmer is part of the team that created Fast Lane Literacy by SEDSO, a research-based early literacy box designed to accelerate foundational reading skills for nearly anyone attempting to learn to read.

Guest opinion: Wisconsin has tried to improve reading for decades. Will this time be different? 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.

The country’s two largest school districts — New York City and Los Angeles — banned most student use of artificial intelligence in classrooms for this school year as anxiety over AI’s effect on learning intensifies.

The Los Angeles Unified School District announced last week that it is barring student use of generative AI on school-issued devices for the current school year. Generative AI creates new text, images or other content following a user’s instructions. During the school year, a committee will produce recommendations for use of the technology in future years.

New York City Public Schools last week announced a similar but less broad approach. The district put in place a one-year moratorium on generative AI for children from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. 

High school students will have to complete 45-minute AI literacy modules twice a year. Some career-focused AI use will be allowed and some high schools will be permitted to test AI pilot programs.

The restrictions, which New York officials said will affect 600,000 students, will allow time to study the technology’s impacts. 

“The tech industry wants us to believe that A.I.-powered early education is not only inevitable, but necessary,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a news release. “We do not see it that way.” 

Chicago officials may follow suit. About half the candidates running for the Chicago Board of Education this November have signed a pledge calling for a three-year moratorium on generative AI use in the public school classrooms.

Smaller school districts around the country have taken similar steps. Districts in Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Texas and Washington have blocked or limited tools such as ChatGPT, while some allow approved platforms under teacher supervision.

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached at rsequeira@stateline.org.

Cuts to the nation’s largest food assistance program will likely spill over into schools, causing students to lose access to free breakfast and lunch.

More than 1 million American children have lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, following a recent federal law. Now, as schools gear up for a new term, a portion of those children could be at risk of losing free meals — viewed as crucial supports for both childhood hunger and classroom learning.  

But the changes in cafeterias could affect even families who have never participated in the federal food stamp program.

Many students who receive free school meals automatically qualify because of their household participation in SNAP or Medicaid. So a reduction in those social service programs can directly threaten their eligibility for free school meals.

And many schools offer free meals to all students. Those schools qualify for federal funding that is tied to rates of SNAP participation. The complicated federal funding formula means even a slight change in SNAP enrollment could jeopardize free meal funding for entire schools and districts. 

“Cuts to SNAP are not going to stop at the grocery store,” said Clarissa Hayes, deputy director of child nutrition programs and policy at the Food Research & Action Center, a nonprofit working to combat hunger. “They really are going to threaten children’s access to school meals, which is obviously going to increase hunger at home and in the classroom, and is going to have that negative ripple effect across children’s health and academic performance.”

The threat to school meals comes during a period of upheaval for federal safety net programs and growing hunger across the country amid rising grocery prices. Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act implemented new eligibility and work requirements for SNAP as well as pushed new costs onto states. Already, millions have lost food stamps, but the threats to schools are just coming into focus.

“We are really only starting to see the beginning,” Hayes said.

The free school meal program allows previously qualified students to remain enrolled over a 30-day grace period. And some students who lost SNAP coverage may still qualify for free meals at school if their families submit certain paperwork. 

Many low-income families are struggling to keep their kids fed, according to a recent survey from the nonprofit No Kid Hungry. In that survey, parents said back-to-school season creates impossible choices: More than two-thirds worried they would have to choose between paying bills or buying healthy food for their kids. Already, more than half reported cutting back on groceries given the high prices. 

More than a quarter of the nation’s public schools currently offer universal free meals. Aside from the obvious financial benefit to families, those schools have reduced the stigma of free lunch and improved efficiency in the lunch line and the office since no one is paying up front for meals or working to track down unpaid meal debt, said Carolyn Vega, senior program manager at No Kid Hungry.

But federal changes could halt the important progress made in expanding universal access.

“Then all kids at all incomes would suffer,” Vega said.

Importance of school meals

For Tennessee parent Anthony Bonner, this year’s first day of school delivered instant relief. It meant that his 14-year-old son was ensured a free breakfast and lunch every weekday, leaving worry only about dinner each night.

“School starting has definitely alleviated some of that stress, that worry and that concern,” said Bonner, a 38-year-old campaign organizer and barber in Memphis.

School meals are more important than ever since the pair lost their $250 monthly SNAP benefit in March. Bonner said he lost his eligibility because of federal changes that ended the work requirement exemption for parents of children 14 and over. He is currently working a contract job that doesn’t satisfy federal work requirements.

It’s caused him to cut back on fresh proteins and produce, opting instead for cheaper frozen veggies and packaged foods like ramen packets.

“It’s one thing to cut me off, but I should have been able to get benefits for him,” he said. “I still have yet to really have enough food that I feel comfortable with that me and my son can eat for the month.”

For now, his son’s breakfast and lunch will continue as his entire school receives free meals. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Eligibility Provision reimburses schools for a portion of breakfasts and lunches using a formula based on the percentage of students that qualify for SNAP and other means-tested programs. 

Kids attending schools in the highest poverty areas will likely maintain eligibility for free meals for now, said Diane Pratt-Heavner, spokesperson for the School Nutrition Association, which represents 50,000 school meal providers across the country.

But schools with more mixed economic levels could lose free meal eligibility as participation in SNAP declines.

This summer, Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida announced it would no longer offer free meals at all of its 500-plus schools because of changes to its federal reimbursement eligibility. Florida’s largest school system still has universal free meals in 121 schools, but children at the remaining schools must now individually apply for free meals.

This fall, Central Kentucky’s Marion County Public Schools remain in a holding pattern, said Jennifer Wheeler, school nutrition director. The school system currently offers free meals for all, but future funding may be at risk as student participation in SNAP declines.

Under its current four-year certification, the school system receives the maximum federal reimbursement for about 93% of its students. But Wheeler said current SNAP enrollment means the school system would receive the full reimbursement for about 75% of its students.

“Which then is a huge financial impact on our program,” she said.

Like many school meal programs, Marion County’s is self-funded, meaning it doesn’t receive local tax revenue to feed its 3,000 students across seven schools. Rather, federal meal reimbursements must cover the costs of food, labor and kitchen equipment.

Wheeler said rising grocery prices have already stretched many families in her community. As evidence, she pointed to the school summer feeding program, which last year handed out about 134,000 prepackaged meals. This summer, the same program with the same offerings and logistics gave out more than 201,000 meals.

“When people would come through the lines, they would talk about grocery costs,” she said. “They would talk about gas costs. So inflation, I think, is the number one driver.”

Changing federal landscape

When Congress passed last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Republicans who supported food stamp cuts downplayed their impact. Many, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, said the changes would help cut waste and fraud from the safety net program.

Between May 2025 and May 2026, more than 5.6 million people lost SNAP coverage, according to the latest federal data. 

That 13.5% one-year decline was a much faster drop in coverage than was originally anticipated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that analyzed last year’s legislation.

The latest federal data showed about 36.6 million people received SNAP in May with an average monthly benefit of about $187 per person.

SNAP benefits are expected to shrink more as the law is fully implemented — raising fears that some states could even drop out of the program entirely as the federal government requires states to spend billions on administrative costs and benefits. 

The White House did not respond to Stateline’s questions about how the SNAP changes will impact school meals. Neither did a spokesperson for the U.S. Senate agriculture committee that oversees SNAP and school meal programs.

Currently, nine states provide free meals for all school students: California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York and Vermont. Experts say students in those states, which rely on a mix of state and federal funding, should be shielded from the SNAP fallout for now. 

But even states where lawmakers have specifically funded school meals could see major financial upheaval. 

In Maine, for example, the state spends $64 million per year to supplement federal meal reimbursements. But federal funds are based on how many low-income families schools serve. And those calculations will likely change as more children lose food stamps.

Already, more than 15,000 Mainers have lost SNAP coverage since last July, according to the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 

The changing landscape could force the state to spend much more to supplement school meals, Maine Morning Star reported.

“Free meals for all was already a big ask when it first went into law, and that was when the federal government was giving more money,” Allison Leavitt, nutrition director of the Lisbon School Department and president of the Maine School Nutrition Association, told the Morning Star. “Now the feds are giving less money and it’s like, how do we do this?”

Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org. 

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating  whether Milwaukee Public Schools uses race as a factor when considering disciplining students.

The investigation comes as the department on Tuesday issued new guidance to educational institutions. The department argues that using race as a factor when disciplining is a violation of Title VI. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs that receive federal financial assistance. 

MPS media relations manager Stephen Davis said the district received notice from the department’s Office for Civil Rights on Tuesday morning. 

A statement released Tuesday by the Department of Education doesn’t specify what prompted the investigation, but says that education leaders in Milwaukee “derided facially neutral school policies as reflecting systemic ‘whiteness,’ seemingly encouraging school officials to consider race in disciplinary practices.”  

Davis said the district will need more information from the department to respond appropriately.  

New school discipline policy guidance

The Department of Education’s new guidance, referred to as a “Dear Colleague Letter,” is not a legal statute, but instead explains how the administration interprets existing laws. It details how discipline policies “must treat students even-handedly and must neither favor nor disfavor any student based on their race.” 

The letter argues that the Constitution protects against intentional discrimination, not unintentional impacts. 

“Mere statistical disparities generally cannot show discriminatory intent or disparate treatment,” the statement said.

If discipline policies are adopted and applied without wrongful racial intent, are facially neutral and applied even-handedly without regard to race, the Department of Education argues that those policies do not violate Title VI.

A letter sent to Milwaukee Public Schools did not provide information about the investigation past a basic notification and information on how to get in contact with the Office of Civil Rights.

MPS was one of only two school districts, the other in Fayetteville, Arkansas, being investigated.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, a conservative public-interest law firm, issued a statement praising the Trump administration for investigating race-based discipline practices at MPS.

“(Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty) has sounded the alarm on race-based approaches to school discipline for years, beginning with federal guidance issued during the Obama administration and renewed under the Biden administration,” read the statement.

Oversuspension of Black and Latino male students at MPS

David Castillo, who was part of the founding team of the district’s Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement, helped establish the curriculum formed largely as a solution to the oversuspension of Black and Latino boys in the district. 

The Office of Civil Rights pushed MPS to reform its disciplinary policies in 2018 after a multi-year investigation found over 100 instances over a two-year span where Black students were expelled when white students were suspended for similar infractions. Black students also received harsher discipline than white students.

Castillo said he saw lower suspension rates for Black and Latino boys for fighting while participating in Black and Latino Male Achievement because the program helped to see students like them reflected in a positive light.

Because the data showed that these students were disproportionately suspended at higher rates, Castillo said, it was important to target that demographic specially. 

Castillo said focusing on solutions for those most marginalized and affected by an issue opens the potential to find solutions for everyone else. 

“You’re going to want to start where you see things are ineffective,” Castillo said.

Racial disparities in suspensions remain

Black students are still disciplined at disproportionate rates at MPS.

Black students were involved in 54% of the incidents that resulted in disciplinary action during the 2024-25 school year but made up 78% of suspensions and 86% of expulsions, according to data from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

White students at MPS were involved in 9.5% of discipline incidents, made up 2% of suspensions and had no expulsions. 

Henry Leonard, an MPS board member until 2025, pushed for the district to experiment with restorative practices as an alternative to suspensions and expulsions. He saw student behavior successfully change after trying restorative practices in his own classroom when he was a teacher.

He said when he got evaluations, the district’s administration was impressed by how his students listened to and respected him.

“They would say … you have almost no suspensions and fights are to a minimum,” Leonard said. “Over time, it became really clear … this was by far a better way to at least work in a classroom.”

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Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

US Education Department investigates Milwaukee Public Schools over race-conscious discipline practices 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.

This story was originally published by ProPublica.

At some point, my reporting colleagues and I began referring to them as the “100% schools.”

We were following the money that flows from states’ public coffers into private schools through vouchers when we noticed a subset of educational facilities where tax dollars cover all or a big part of the tuition for every student.

In essence, these were schools that were funded like public schools but didn’t operate with the same oversight or transparency.

Our reporting found that these types of private schools exist throughout the country and that in Wisconsin — where I’m based — there were 39 that fell into that category during the most recent school year. Together, they were educating 7,923 children and taking in roughly $87 million from vouchers offered by the state.

Atlas Preparatory Academy in Milwaukee was a 100% school in my city that had low test scores and declining enrollment while also receiving more than $4.3 million in voucher money for 357 students in grades K-12. It was one of the first schools I dug into, and immediately some of the facts I unearthed in public documents made me curious.

There was, for instance, the money being made by its board chair, who also appeared to serve as a school administrator. His compensation was more than $150,000 in 2024.

This dual role would be prohibited at a traditional public school in Wisconsin, though there are no such rules for private schools.

In another transaction that would raise alarm in a public school setting, the same board chair’s accounting firm received tens of thousands of dollars from the school for accounting and consulting.

During my reporting, it became clear that the school’s operations were not only discordant with public school policies but with basic governing standards for nonprofits, experts told me.

More than a decade ago, a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction research paper on what it called “choice schools” asked: “When is a private school really a public school?”

Though that question still resonates today, public officials supporting vouchers have yet to provide a clear answer.

Nor has there been any progress in Wisconsin or elsewhere in lining up the standards of private and public schools on a range of issues, even with the spectacular growth of private schools funded by taxpayer dollars.

Voucher schools, for instance, are not required to serve all children with disabilities. Public schools are.

Another major difference is transparency. In Wisconsin and elsewhere, information about public schools — good, bad or mundane — can be gleaned through open meetings, district YouTube channels and robust websites with detailed agendas, minutes, reports, statistics and information about enrollment, curriculum, special education services and more.

Districts have to abide by Wisconsin’s open records law, meaning that reams of records are available to anyone who formally requests them. Not so for the private schools. Voucher schools must, by law, have at least two opportunities a year for parents to meet with the governing board. But the schools do not have to make those meetings accessible to the general public.

In many states, private schools also don’t have to administer standardized tests or report those scores — in sharp contrast to the mandates for public schools. Wisconsin is different because it does require both students using vouchers and public school students to be tested, though parents can and do opt out.

In recent years, Atlas Prep has fared poorly on the state’s report card for schools, garnering the lowest rating: “fails to meet expectations,” or one star out of a possible five.

Not far from Atlas, Bay View High School, a public school, also has earned only one star on the state report card. Its website connects the public to the school’s improvement plan — its strategy to reduce dropouts and improve school culture — as well as information about local school council meetings and discipline methods, and about its science, technology, engineering, arts and math programming.

The Atlas Prep website includes a tab labeled “Build Your Own Curriculum.” When you click on it, nothing loads.

Though every student at the 100% schools we looked at relies on public funds for tuition, the money does not necessarily make up the institution’s total budget. The schools can take in additional revenue from investments, fundraising, grants or other means, but they are heavily dependent on tax dollars to maintain operations.

“If the choice schools are really some kind of quasi-public schools, then in keeping with national efforts to turnaround struggling schools, it may be necessary to subject low-performing choice schools to financial sanctions, turnaround efforts or even closure,” the state Department of Public Instruction suggested in its research paper.

That was back in 2011. Those types of accountability measures still do not exist.

Some key financial documents are available, however, for Wisconsin voucher schools — if you know where to look.

Annual IRS information filings for many nonprofit schools are easily obtainable through ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer page. And independent financial audits, required by the state, are available through the state Department of Public Instruction. I requested those for a handful of Wisconsin’s 100% schools, and I visited four.

One warm day in June, I stood in the lobby of one such school in Milwaukee, near a large fish tank. I’d sought days earlier to contact the woman running the school. An audit showed she was paying her own company rent for the building ($128,000 in one recent year). She put me off. “I’m not interested, ma’am,” she said via a phone in the foyer. “Please do not call us back again.”

On the other side of town, I rang the bell at Atlas Prep’s high school building and asked to speak to the executive director, Michelle Lukacs. I was informed she was headed to a meeting and could not speak with me.

By then, I was digging into Atlas’ finances, a process that would last several weeks and continue into July.

Over multiple emails, I shared with Lukacs what I was learning, including the compensation of the board chair, Steven E. Menden. A licensed certified public accountant, Menden had compiled the school’s IRS filing since its formation in 2001.

At times since then, Menden has been listed on the school’s website as “board advisor.” His daughter, Kaitlyn Menden, was also among the school’s most highly compensated employees in 2024. Her package was $127,674 in salary and benefits for a job in “business services.” (In an email to me, she described her role as wearing “many hats” beyond that, citing human resources duties, “oversight of the school’s technology hardware and cloud resources” and “special projects.”)

In the past couple of years, records show, Steven Menden has taken on the role of board chairman. The fiscal year 2025 IRS form showed Menden putting in a 40-hour workweek for Atlas and earning $132,505 in pay plus $19,916 in additional benefits. What’s more, his accounting firm, Menden & Associates, had an $87,250 contract.

Lukacs defended the school’s compensation practices, noting in an email: “Every person on our team, regardless of their role, earns their compensation and is not overpaid.”

She explained that Menden is not compensated for his board service but for “Executive Management Services.”

It would be forbidden for a public school board member in Wisconsin to also have a district management job under a legal doctrine regarding roles that are “incompatible.”

“In essence, one cannot supervise oneself, which would include hiring and firing and disciplining oneself,” said Dan Rossmiller, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

State law governing public officials also prohibits school board members from having a private interest in any contract over $15,000 that they bid for, vote on, negotiate or participate in. Violators can be charged with a low-level felony. There is no similar law that pertains to private school operators in Wisconsin.

In an email to me, Menden explained how the Atlas board handles potential conflicts of interest.

“Any conflicts of interest for either related or unrelated parties are resolved in favor of Atlas Preparatory Academy as outlined in our IRS mandated Conflict of Interest Policy,” he wrote. “This means that conflicted persons recuse themselves from the situation and do not vote or participate and the final decision that is made is strictly in the best financial interest of the school.”

This organizational structure does not comport with best practices for the governance of a nonprofit organization, experts told me.

“Board members are volunteers, and best practice is unambiguous that they should not simultaneously hold paid staff positions at the school they oversee — doing so collapses the separation between governance and management that gives a board its purpose in the first place,” said Chelsea Cross, a vice president at City Forward Collective in Milwaukee.

City Forward is a nonprofit group that champions high-quality school options for students and has been critical of the performance of the Milwaukee Public Schools.

Atlas Prep’s IRS filing indicated that Lukacs, the full-time executive director, earned $175,000 in salary and benefits and also had a board position. A third board member is listed as working only one hour a week for no pay.

In a public school setting, Lukacs’ situation would be akin to a district superintendent also sitting on the school board — an arrangement that would raise issues over proper checks and balances since superintendents typically are hired by and report to the school board.

Said Cross: “With 2/3 of its governing board also on the payroll — including the very executive the board exists to evaluate — Atlas Prep’s board cannot meaningfully hold its own leadership accountable.”

Lukacs disagreed with that assessment. “This is a false statement,” she wrote in an email, saying that Atlas board members “model strong personal leadership showing integrity, confidence and consistency in their actions and decision making.”

She told me she does not vote to approve her own salary “or vote in any other situation where a conflict of interest exists.” And she noted that countless hours have been invested at Atlas Prep in improving curriculum and student support. “While our standardized test scores do not yet reflect the level of achievement we aspire to, our staff has remained steadfast in its commitment to continuous improvement,” she wrote.

I had asked Atlas Prep twice for a copy of the school’s conflict of interest policy, which Menden had mentioned. As of mid-August, I had not received it.

I also requested a copy of the school’s contract with Menden’s accounting firm. I did not receive that either.

At a public school, such contracts would be subject to open record laws. I easily found a link on the Milwaukee Public Schools website to a decade’s worth of contracts for school nurses, mental health services, fitness instructors, interpreters, color printers, portable toilets, busing, professional development and so on.

But Atlas does not post those records online. It doesn’t have to.

Democratic lawmakers proposed nearly 250 bills in state capitols this year seeking to limit federal immigration efforts as they sought to push back against what they view as federal government overreach. 

In a new report tallying 2026 action, State Futures, a nonprofit coordinating hundreds of Democratic lawmakers across the states, tracked 242 pieces of such legislation introduced across 32 states. About a fifth of them passed. Most of the measures address the ramped up immigration enforcement efforts that have defined President Donald Trump’s second term. 

Some of those bills have faced Republican opposition and White House challenges. But Democratic governors have also raised concerns and even vetoed some measures, saying they supported their aims, but worried they could have unintended consequences and invite litigation.

The bills sought to ban the masking of immigration officers, protect against immigration enforcement in sensitive places such as schools and hospitals and enact new zoning regulations on private detention facilities, among other issues.

State Futures said 53 bills passed in 17 states this year, though several were vetoed or still await action from governors. Many of those bills face legal review as courts weigh the limits of state authority to regulate federal action.

But lawmakers say those numbers underscore the left’s growing embrace of federalism — the division of power between federal and state governments — that has gained traction during the second Trump presidency.

Rhode Island state Sen. Tiara Mack said many Democrats, including herself, have been wary of championing states’ rights, an ideology that evokes odious memories of slavery and segregation. But she said constituents are demanding action from state leaders to oppose the White House’s hardline immigration arrest and deportation efforts.

“This new landscape requires legislators to really own the narrative and own the reality that federalism is something that we can use as a tool to strengthen protections for our state,” she said, “and we have to work with states across the country.”

Mack is a co-chair of State Futures’ federal response working group that shares legislative ideas with state lawmakers across the country. This year, she was among those sponsoring Rhode Island legislation that seeks to protect people from immigration arrests while attending court proceedings. Signed into law in June, that law says violators of the protections can be held in contempt of court and can face a lawsuit from those arrested without a judicial order or warrant. 

Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed a similar bill that would have prohibited immigration enforcement in courthouses, schools and hospitals. In her veto message, the governor said she appreciated the intention of the bill but worried it would put security guards and law enforcement in the “untenable position” of choosing whether to break federal or state law. 

Another Delaware measure is currently awaiting action from Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer.  

Mack said lawmakers are increasingly coordinating across state lines, learning from legislative wins and failures in other capitols. As an example, she pointed to a California law aimed at banning federal and state agents from wearing masks.

A judge blocked that law earlier this year because it exempted state law enforcement, saying it therefore discriminated against federal agents. A similar proposal in Rhode Island, which was held in committee this session, seeks to stop all law enforcement officers from concealing their identity.

Oregon governor signs slew of bills protecting immigrants amid federal crackdown

Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek signed eight laws this April seeking to defend immigrant rights. Those laws protect against enforcement efforts in schools and hospitals, ensure individuals’ data remains confidential from the feds and allow people to sue the federal government for violating the law.

In Colorado, lawmakers this year expanded the health department’s authority to inspect immigration detention facilities and required compliance with state health and safety standards and reporting rules. That law is currently being challenged by a private prison operator as state officials demand more access and information regarding at least one tuberculosis case among detainees.

Colorado state Sen. Mike Weissman, one of the sponsors of that measure, said he’s worked with Democratic colleagues across conservative and liberal states more than ever before to oppose federal government efforts.

“We all talk because we all have the same concerns,” he said, “and that is to protect the basic freedoms of our people from an absolutely out of control federal regime.”

This story was updated with the number of bills that passed as of Aug. 13. Stateline reporter Kevin Hardy can be reached at khardy@stateline.org.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

If you’re looking to help your 4-year-old be ready to start elementary school, you may be in luck.

Earlier this year, Gov. Tony Evers secured $65 million for Get Kids Ready, a new school readiness initiative that pays child care providers to help prepare children with “academic, physical, social-emotional, self-help skills, and much more that kids will need to succeed in school,” a Wisconsin Department of Children and Families spokesperson said. 

About 900 providers across Wisconsin are participating in the program.

“The state pays child care providers for the time kids spend in Get Kids Ready, making that part of the day free for families,” said the spokesperson in an email to NNS.

There is no deadline to apply.

Is my child eligible?

Parents of any children who are 4 years old or will be by Sept. 1 are eligible to join a Get Kids Ready program.

Free?

The state covers the cost of the 437 required hours of Get Kids Ready instruction per year, making this instruction free for all 4-year-olds in the state of Wisconsin.

Child care providers can charge families for additional time children are receiving care beyond the Get Kids Ready instruction hours, according to the Department of Children and Families.

How do I apply?

To participate, a parent must submit this Department of Children and Families application to a participating provider.  

To complete the application, you will need the provider’s name, address and their provider and location numbers. 

Have your child’s name and birthdate and the phone numbers ready, as well as the child’s parents’ or caregivers’ addresses and emails.

Give the form to a participating provider of your choice, not the Department of Children and Families. 

The provider must accept the child’s application to attend that facility’s Get Kids Ready program.

Where can I find a participating provider?

Hundreds of providers across Milwaukee are participating. Find a provider and call to see if there are open seats for Get Kids Ready.

The Department of Children and Families keeps a running list of participating providers in all Wisconsin cities here. COA Youth and Family Centers announced Monday that the organization had received a grant to implement the program at its Riverwest Campus, 909 E. Garfield Ave., Milwaukee.

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Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Get your 4-year-old ready for elementary school for free through new Wisconsin program 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.

As a new school year begins, some classrooms may use artificial intelligence tools to flag a student struggling with classwork, track attendance or try to raise reading scores.

But as school districts make decisions on which tools are safe and worth spending thousands or millions of dollars on, some officials feel overwhelmed by the array of choices. Some states and districts have begun offering guidance for vetting AI purchases, but educators and experts say districts are still carrying much of the burden on their own.

While school districts have long wrestled with education technology purchases, AI is different because the industry is moving faster than districts and states can keep up with, said Mark Schneider, a nonresident senior fellow at the conservative-leaning think tank the American Enterprise Institute. 

“There’s always an asymmetry between what the providers know and what the districts know,” Schneider told Stateline. “And the question is, can we set up mechanisms for helping the districts understand what’s going on and choosing better.”

Billions of dollars are at stake. The overall U.S. education technology market, which includes computers, software and digital content, generated almost $48 billion in revenue in 2024 and is expected to reach more than $90 billion by 2030, according to Grand View Research. The AI in education market in the United States generated about $2.5 billion in revenue last year and is expected to exceed $15 billion by 2033, the group said.

Scott Langford, superintendent of Sumner County Schools in Tennessee, said his district decided to test AI to address plateauing middle school reading scores. Langford said the district wanted to know whether AI could give students immediate feedback and help teachers see, in real time, where students struggled during regular classroom instruction.

“You have to identify what you need,” Langford said. “The (AI edtech) market is so overwhelming for districts and for vendors. … Most of them don’t really do much that drives any kind of change for students.” 

Sumner first tried Coursemojo — an AI-powered literacy tool used to support classroom instruction and provide real-time feedback to students and teachers — in a five-day micro-pilot in a sixth grade classroom, then piloted the tool in half of its sixth grade classrooms. Langford said the strongest tools are not the ones that replace teachers, but the ones that “help them see student understanding more quickly.”

Sumner has continued using Coursemojo after the pilot, Langford said.

The Allentown School District, a large, urban district in Pennsylvania, uses a two-phase review process for AI programs that Superintendent Carol Birks said includes non-negotiables such as student safety and data security. Vendors must ensure that all user-generated data and chat logs remain the exclusive property of the district, and vendors must explicitly state that student data will not be sold or used to train AI models.

Birks said that while districts are making these decisions on AI tools, state and federal guidance would be helpful. In addition to Coursemojo, the district also uses other AI platforms like Google’s Gemini.

“A significant challenge is that the onus of making these decisions is placed entirely back on the individual school district,” said Birks. “Although Allentown has built strong internal capacity to handle these responsibilities, guidance from the state level on artificial intelligence vetting or protections would greatly assist school districts.”

What vetting looks like

In most cases, vendors must sign a data processing agreement, complete a security questionnaire and pass legal, privacy and security reviews before a tool can be approved for use in schools. And some states already have laws governing traditional education technology purchases and student data protections. But many districts haven’t laid out best practices or recommendations for how school districts enter contracts with vendors or even bidding processes for certain tools. 

And some AI use in classrooms has drawn criticism and legal action. Students and parents in Arizona and Kansas have filed federal lawsuits challenging school districts’ use of Gaggle — a student-safety monitoring platform that scans activity on school-issued accounts and devices — saying it violated their constitutional rights. In Los Angeles, the superintendent of public schools resigned after the district paid $3 million for an AI chatbot from a company called AllHere, which later filed for bankruptcy and whose founder was charged with fraud.

State education boards and agencies, which already regulate contracts for textbooks, transportation and student data systems, have filled in some gaps with vetting and procurement guidance for districts.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education instructs schools to understand who controls the data entered into any AI tool, examine third-party data-sharing practices, limit data collection to what is necessary, keep a human “in the loop” if the tool is being used for grading and discipline, and assess whether it improves student performance. 

New York City Public Schools updated its privacy and security review process to include standards for AI, require vendors to disclose what their AI tools are capable of, prohibit the use of student data to train AI models and meet transparency requirements so tools can be explained to families and students. 

Chicago Public Schools released an AI Guidebook governing the use of AI software and models and in December began blocking unapproved third-party AI products from its network.

“Chicago Public Schools welcomes the promising innovation of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning, while safeguarding the development of students’ foundational skills and critical thinking,” a Chicago Public Schools spokesperson wrote to Stateline. 

The U.S. Department of Education has provided little guidance to districts about AI purchases.

The Southern Regional Education Board — a consortium of 16 Southern states that provides guidance on school issues — published an AI procurement and evaluation checklist last year for K-12 schools. 

Leslie Eaves, program director of project-based learning at the board who co-led the AI commission, said districts should first let adults test AI tools before placing them in front of students. She cautions that teachers should review AI-generated material before using it in the classroom and they need to trust their experience and expertise. 

“Anything with AI is a risky click,” she said. “There’s a lot of tool makers out there that are going to sell you their product and they’re going to say it’s the biggest and best in everything … At the end of the day, humans are the ones who will know what’s best for their schools and students.”’

Janice Mak, an associate director of curriculum and pedagogy at Arizona State University’s Learning Engineering Institute, says districts should evaluate whether an edtech tool is accessible, explainable, grounded in learning science and solving a real educational need.

“State level policy or guidance only goes so far, and there’s also a research gap and there’s also a policy gap,” Mak told Stateline.

Mak said she heard from a middle school teacher piloting an AI tool who noticed English learners were being unfairly penalized or misread by the system. The students noticed the bias, she said, and the teacher used it to teach them about algorithmic bias and how AI systems are trained.

‘A tall order for districts’

Still, districts are being asked to do too much on their own, said Sue Thotz, director of outreach for Common Sense Education at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that researches and evaluates media and technology used by children and schools.

Thotz points to a California data privacy agreement, which districts can use to ensure vendors comply with the state’s student data privacy laws, as a way to take some burden off districts by creating a blanket agreement vendors sign onto. The California Student Privacy Alliance, which developed the agreement, gives school systems a searchable database of vendors that have signed, reducing the need for each district to negotiate privacy terms from scratch. 

“Placing the burden upon a district to make sure that every single vendor they’re working with is in full compliance with their state and federal laws when it comes to privacy,” she said. “That’s a tall order for districts that are already stretched very, very thin.” 

Districts may also be sorting an accumulation of a decade’s worth of technology purchases, said Tracy Weeks, senior director of education policy and strategy at Instructure, the education technology company that makes the Canvas learning management system. 

An Instructure report found districts had access to an average of 3,001 digital tools, while students and educators used only four of those tools on average. The report, based on Canvas launch data from more than 12.6 million K-12 users, said the volume of available tools has teachers navigating too many platforms and districts overseeing student data across vendors.

“What I think has happened is that I think we did a lot of digital hoarding,” Weeks said. Now, she said, districts are asking, “What are the things we should actually keep? What do we need to use? What can actually move the needle?”

Shrinking budgets and the expiration of federal pandemic-era funding has also forced districts to scrutinize purchases. 

Dacia Toll, co-founder of Coursemojo, the software used by Sumner County and Allentown, said districts should first ask whether an AI product aligns with what is known about cognitive science and strong teaching methods. 

“Education has had a long-standing issue with vetting edtech for safety, usability and efficacy, and I just think AI is making that more pronounced,” she told Stateline. “There are a handful of additional risks, and there’s so much hype right now that I think some districts are feeling like they’re behind if they’re not actively implementing AI.” 

Stateline reporter Robbie Sequeira can be reached at rsequeira@stateline.org. 

On June 11,  ICE agents trailed a car into the parking lot of Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore. For the family riding in that car, an everyday school drop off quickly devolved into chaos.

ICE agents pulled Jesus Acevedo Sanchez from the vehicle, pinned him to the ground and arrested him for being in the country illegally. They also handcuffed and detained his wife, Adriana Gavilan Sanchez, as the couple’s two daughters watched from the back seat and school staff whisked other students away from the scene.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson later told CNN that Acevedo Sanchez “refused lawful commands, violently resisted arrest, and used his vehicle to evade law enforcement, dragging an ICE offer in the process.”

But two weeks ago, a federal judge ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release him, ruling that agents did not have probable cause to make the arrest. In the courtroom, Judge Julie Rubin rebuked the ICE officers for failing to follow due process and described the incident outside the school as a “stomach churner.”

Since President Donald Trump began his second term with a vow to crack down on illegal immigration, more than a dozen states have enacted laws designed to keep ICE away from schools. But the incident in Baltimore was a stark illustration of the limits of state and local authority when it comes to immigration enforcement.

Both Maryland and the city of Baltimore have enacted such measures, but neither one prevented ICE agents from making arrests in full view of arriving students at the Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School.

“Schools are places where children should feel safe, where parents should be able to drop off their kids without fear, and where educators should be able to focus on teaching — not where federal agents carry out immigration enforcement actions in front of children,” Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement he released on the day of the incident.

In a phone interview, Zeke Cohen, the Democratic president of the Baltimore City Council, said “the behavior of ICE has been tragic, traumatic, and in violation of all of the principles that we hold dear in Baltimore.”

“They are reckless, they are lawless, and they do whatever they please,” Cohen said. “It’s a challenging situation for cities like Baltimore that prize diversity and inclusion when you have a government that does the opposite.”

The day after its inauguration, the Trump administration announced that it would reverse guidance in place since 2011 that restricted migrant arrests at “sensitive locations,” including schools, hospitals and places of worship. Since then, there have been at least 17 ICE encounters on school grounds, according to a tracker maintained by K-12 Dive, an education news website.

Katherine Currie, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said that ICE is not targeting schools, but that immigration enforcement “is a clear federal responsibility” under the U.S. Constitution.

“ICE is not going to schools to arrest children — we are protecting children. Criminals are no longer able to hide in America’s schools to avoid arrest,” Currie wrote in an email.

“If a dangerous illegal alien felon were to flee into a school, or a child sex offender is working as an employee, there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect public safety.”

Warrant required

The state and city restrictions on ICE activity in schools don’t challenge the supremacy of the federal government under the Constitution. Instead, they mostly limit what state, local and school officials can do to assist ICE, often specifying that federal agents should not be granted access to school property without a judicial warrant.

Matthew Lopas, director of state advocacy at the National Immigration Law Center, a nonprofit that advocates for immigrants, said blocking ICE agents from entering school premises without a warrant “is not in conflict with federal law.”

“It is merely saying that this is not a place where immigration enforcement should be coming on fishing expeditions,” Lopas said.

Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs, executive director and CEO of the National School Boards Association, said there are very few situations in which ICE would be justified in showing up at a school.

“We don’t see a need for law enforcement to be executing any activities on school grounds, unless it’s in response to an emergency situation,” McCotter-Jacobs said. ,“It causes stress and distractions to learning, which impacts every single child and every child in the building as well as staff.”

She added that when it does happen, it’s crucial for school officials to be on the same page with state and local law enforcement.

“Some states are unfortunately aligned with the feds in executing arrests on school grounds, and so that leaves the local school district kind of perplexed as to what they’re supposed to do,” she said.

Indiana, for example, enacted a sweeping law this year that bars school districts and universities from implementing any measure that prohibits or restricts public employees from cooperating with ICE. In November, Republican state Attorney General Todd Rokita sued the Indianapolis Public Schools for violating the law.

Ohio is another Republican-led state where political leaders are largely supportive of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, and it has not enacted a law restricting ICE activities on school grounds. But Chad Springer, superintendent of the Athens City School District in Chauncey, said his district’s immigration enforcement policy does focus on whether agents have a warrant.

As soon the Trump administration reversed the “sensitive location” policy last year, Springer said, he visited each of his campuses to explain how the district wanted them to respond in case of an ICE enforcement action.

“At any given time, there’s always a central office staff that’s going to respond if immigration did show up to a campus, and then we would be the ones to deal directly with immigration officials,” Springer explained. “And our board policy dictates we ask them, unless a judicial warrant is involved, to conduct business outside of the school day, not on school grounds.”

Springer said that every school board across the country should be crystal clear about how it would handle any law enforcement activity on campus. He said he understands his own district’s policy, but he’d welcome more direction from the state.

“In the absence of clarity, you have unclear measures, and that leads to confusion,” Springer said. “I would appreciate clear, explicit guidelines from lawmakers as to when we allow or don’t allow [officers] to be there…right now, all I can lean on is board policy.”

The coming school year

In Ohio and elsewhere, the Trump administration’s announcement late last month that it will terminate Temporary Protected Status for more than 330,000 Haitians living in the U.S. will heighten the potential for ICE enforcement at schools.  In Ohio alone, there are about 30,000 Haitians who formerly had that status, which allows people from certain countries to live and work in the U.S. if returning to their home country would be dangerous.

Jeff Wensing, president of the Ohio Education Association, said educators, particularly in cities such as Springfield with large Haitian populations, are concerned about what the new year might bring.

“So we gave guidance to our members in Springfield: ‘Here are your rights,’” Wensing said. “I don’t care who you are — if you are a stranger, including ICE agents, we have a policy, we’re not letting strangers into the school.”

As far as he’s concerned the law is clear.

“They have a legal right to attend a public school, regardless of their immigration status,” Wensing said. “When you make children pawns in a bigger game, that’s never a good thing.”

This story has been updated to correct the title of Verjeana McCotter-Jacobs. Stateline reporter Shalina Chatlani can be reached at schatlani@stateline.org.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In Milwaukee at H.W. Longfellow School’s Community Learning Center, which is operated by the South Side nonprofit Journey House, staff are always finding new ways to immerse students in art and culture.

To help, Cherise Myers, Journey House director of community partnerships, said the nonprofit utilizes state Child Care Bridge payments to bring in instructors specializing in art, dance, digital media and more.

Now Longfellow and other Milwaukee Public Schools-based before- and after-school programs must grapple with how to continue exposing students who don’t often get exposure to art while losing thousands of dollars in stabilization payments.

“This is kind of putting the nail in the coffin,” Myers said. “Not being able to have the money to contract or work with these opportunities.”

The Child Care Bridge Payments Program was the state’s temporary solution to the federal government sunsetting Child Care Counts, a monthly federal child care stabilization program born out of the pandemic that supported nearly 1,400 child care providers in the city of Milwaukee. 

The Wisconsin Legislature budgeted for a year of Child Care Bridge payments, which ended last month. 

Journey House received over $6,300 from the state in 2026 to support the Longfellow Community Learning Center. About 90 MPS-based before- and after-school programs collectively received $1.2 million in 2025.

Activities to be cut

Milwaukee Recreation, which received Child Care Bridge funding to operate child care as part of its programming at MPS locations, has struggled to attract and retain high-quality staff with competitive wages.

The monthly Child Care Counts and later state Child Care Bridge funding were critical in raising wages and giving employee bonuses, Community Learning Center coordinator Leighton Cooper said. 

Cooper, who coordinates Community Learning Centers through Milwaukee Recreation, said the funding helped staff stay longer at their programs overall.

“It’s causing us less and less to have to go out and find and recruit more and more staff to operate our programs,” he said. 

Now that Child Care Counts and Child Care Bridge payments have ended, Cooper said Milwaukee Recreation may have to cut funding for some supplies and activities, stop giving bonuses and cut staff positions beyond the required ratios from the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

“Our staff wages certainly can’t be changed,” Cooper said. “Staff are paid and that’s going to help us to keep staff in spaces.”

Journey House received less funding than other Community Learning Centers, and Myers said the organization already can’t always compete with wages at other schools.  

Myers said the ended funding may not affect new employees who were hired on starting pay, but veteran employees may leave if pay drops. Many already rely on other jobs to make ends meet, she said. 

Still, Myers said the money helped Journey House bring in instructors from local colleges, universities and community organizations to lead activities because those instructors aren’t always free.

Myers said Journey House programming depends on student needs, but the organization runs chess and Lego clubs, flag football, basketball and cheerleading classes, painting and metal classes and more.

500 programs across state losing funds

Across Milwaukee, about 90 MPS-based Community Learning Centers and before- and after-school camps received $1.2 million in 2025, according to Wisconsin Department of Children and Families data. 

Randy Neve, lead of the Wisconsin Out of School Time Alliance, estimates more than 500 before- and after-school programs serving school-aged children statewide are losing monthly stabilization payments. Milwaukee’s MPS-based programs are among them.

Many of the providers who received state and federal stabilization payments were early-childhood centers serving infants and toddlers, NNS reported in June. 

But Neve said these programs, including the ones across MPS, serve thousands of 4- to 12-year-olds. The loss of stabilization payments will affect that population of children and families. 

“In the long run, the kids are the ones that lose out and are hurt,” Neve said.

Push for the state

The state budgeted for one year of Child Care Bridge payments in the biennial budget. 

Legislators including state Sen. LaTonya Johnson, who represents District 6 on Milwaukee’s North Side, proposed SB 322 to support child care providers, but the bill didn’t get a hearing, NNS reported. 

Neve said the Wisconsin Out of School Time Alliance is working with other organizations to advocate for greater funding for before- and after-school programs like the one Journey House hosts at Longfellow. He and other partners are educating policymakers about what the loss of this funding will mean for providers and families. 

Myers said many of the families at Longfellow are already struggling with the rising cost of living, and the loss of stabilization payments will ultimately hurt students and families. 

“Things are tough, and it’s sad to say that this is just going to make things tougher,” Myers said.

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Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

After-school programs lose thousands each month as child care stabilization funding ends 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.

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Every morning, rising senior Chris Hutcherson takes two Milwaukee County Transit System buses to get to Audubon Technology and Communication Center on Milwaukee’s South Side.

Hutcherson said he doesn’t mind his daily commute on MCTS, except when the buses are delayed. If his bus hits traffic, he sometimes misses his transfer.

“Then the 57 don’t come for like a good, good 20 minutes,” Hutcherson said.

Hutcherson is one of about a fifth of Milwaukee Public Schools high schoolers who district officials say ride MCTS buses to school. The district is now deciding on whether to send more students on county buses as part of a transportation system overhaul. 

To hit its transportation budget for the year that began in July 2026, MPS needs to cut roughly $3.5 million, according to figures the administration presented to the school board in June.

MPS Senior Director of Transportation Services David Fifarek said the district will not implement most changes until the 2027-28 school year, to allow for community engagement and to determine which recommendations are most practical.

Betting on the bus

Hutcherson tracks county buses on Google Maps, which he said is the most reliable of the apps he’s tried, though it isn’t foolproof. 

“I was actively watching that app on my phone, and I remember getting on the bus, and it’s saying that it didn’t leave,” Hutcherson said. 

MCTS buses are on time 80% of the time, which, by its definition, is within one minute before or five minutes after the scheduled departure time, according to transit officials. 

Fifarek said students who live more than seven miles from their high school are assigned to MCTS, while those within seven miles typically ride a yellow bus. 

“You can’t have a yellow bus running effectively more than seven miles from starting point to destination without having to run at least an hour long to do it,” Fifarek said.

MCTS buses will likely be most effective for students in high-density areas who can take a bus to school with no transfers, Fifarek said. It also alleviates some safety concerns because students are quickly on and off the bus without having to get off the bus and wait for another one to connect them to school. 

He said things get tricky when students live on the opposite side of town and children have to transfer buses in an area that is unfamiliar to them.

Fifarek described a “tug of war” between MCTS covering more of the city with county buses and running them often enough so riders aren’t stranded waiting for a transfer.

MCTS is weighing that very dilemma as the agency begins its own overhaul of the county bus system to provide efficient service amid a looming budget deficit. 

For the next 12 to 15 months, a spokesperson said MCTS will engage with stakeholders including MPS as part of the MCTS Forward system redesign.

MCTS has already made tough decisions to recover from a $14 million deficit, reducing frequency on routes like Hutcherson’s 57, and running the 55, the main line for commuting Reagan High School students, during peak hours. Midday service has since returned for the 55.

Fifarek said the district’s future plans will largely depend on how MCTS will change its coverage and ride frequency in the next year. 

“If that coverage model changes, then we’re going to have to pivot and then reinstate some yellow buses or some other form of transportation to replace the void that might be created by the county transit system,” Fifarek said.

On July 15, MCTS proposed cutting bus service by 25% in 2027 to address the deficit.

Chronically late

McQuinn Coleman said his yellow bus is late multiple times each school year. When he has too much trouble with the bus, he stays home.

Four other students at Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education, Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade School and Milwaukee High School of the Arts said their buses are routinely late in the morning. They sometimes take MCTS buses as a result. 

A district-commissioned analysis by 4MATIV presented at the June board meeting found that 73% of trackable bus trips to MPS are on time. But, looking at all trips, including about a third that have no GPS data, less than half of MPS bus trips could be confirmed as arriving on schedule.

Coleman said he dealt with so many transportation issues that he lost a credit and had to take summer school.

‘On point ever since’

One day, Coleman said he got robbed as he left summer school. 

He said he doesn’t feel safe waiting at stops anymore and stays vigilant on his walks to and from the bus.

“I’ve been on point ever since,” Coleman said. 

Hutcherson said he generally feels safe taking MCTS buses, but he also makes sure to stay aware of his surroundings. 

Other male high school students who spoke to NNS said they feel safe walking to and from their stop and waiting for the bus.

Students like Coleman are the ones School Board Director Darryl Jackson thinks the district should consider when forming a transportation plan. 

He said cost saving measures are important, but safety shouldn’t be overlooked in favor of cost. 

“Currently, a lot of adults don’t want to walk through certain neighborhoods,” Jackson said. “We got to keep that in mind with having our students walk through certain areas.” 

Fifarek said safety is one of the biggest concerns as MPS reviews the recommendations and overhauls the district transportation system.

The report presented to the school board in June estimates $11 million in savings if the district consolidated stops, for example. But Fifarek said implementing such a step by only considering distance could potentially send young children crossing busy streets like Capitol Drive or Fond du Lac Avenue.  

“Eleven million dollars of savings in stop consolidation would have to completely wipe out this concept of no cross streets,” Fifarek said. “You might create some safety issues and risks in the process.”

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Alex Klaus is the education solutions reporter for Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.

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Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.

Milwaukee Public Schools weighs sending more students on county buses to cut transportation costs 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.

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Click here to read highlights from the story

• The Pulaski Community School District summer school program attracts more than 2,500 kids – 68% of the district’s enrollment. 
• The free program has become a lifeline for parents at a time when affordable child care can be hard to find. 
• Students can sign up for fun classes such as cooking and swimming lessons. Those who need academic support get it. 
• One of the biggest challenges officials ran into initially was – ironically – child care for educators. Now there’s “a babysitting room” where fellow teachers and students interested in early childhood education take care of a handful of babies.

On a Thursday in early July, more than 1,000 children flooded the halls of Pulaski Community Middle School. Heaps of backpacks were piled in corners of classrooms and hallways. Bikes crowded the racks outside. At lunchtime, lines of children snaked around the building as they waited for hamburgers. 

Summer school: a phrase usually wielded as a threat to keep students on task in the classroom.

Not in Pulaski. 

For six weeks each summer, the northeast Wisconsin village’s middle school transforms into the “place to be,” instead of a punishment.

More than 2,600 kids — 68% of the school district’s enrollment — sign up for summer classes ranging from knitting and cooking to swimming lessons and science experiments. Students who need extra academic help get it, but the focus is on exploring new interests, spending less time on screens and nurturing kids’ creative sides in a way classwork doesn’t always encourage.

At a time when affordable child care can be hard to find, the free program has become a lifeline for the community. Signing up for classes is as competitive as queuing to buy Bruno Mars tickets, staff said — the most popular classes fill up in minutes. 

“You get to see a lot of kids from other schools that you don’t get to see normally,” sixth grader Xiomara Lloyd said as she strung beads to add to the stack of bracelets on her wrist, each adorned with her nickname, “Xio.” “I love it.”

The classes help students build a positive association with school, explore new hobbies, get offline and into the real world — and, of course, learn. 

“There’s a lot of anxiety and different things as soon as they get close to those (school) doors because now they’re asked to do a lot of things that are difficult for them to do,” said Pulaski Area Community Education Director Mark Heck, who leads the summer school. “But when we can have them come in and have great success and really enjoy it, that’s a win.” 

‘A little different type of learning’

Walking through the halls is like stepping between different worlds. 

In one classroom, students dressed in Halloween costumes have a dance party. In another, students take turns using American Sign Language to describe emotions. Upstairs, students cook pizza from scratch in a home economics classroom. And in the gymnasium, shrieks and shouts echo as kids play an intense game of dodgeball.  

But the chaos is organized — every classroom has at least two adults, and kids wear a badge printed with their name and their schedule, so adults know where they belong if they get lost. 

“Summer school is stuff that you learn new, like swimming floats, or you learn how to make diamond art, or even make hearts made out of clay … Summer school lets you have fun in the summer, if you don’t know what to do at your house,” said elementary student Ava Lentz. 

And it’s not all fun and games. Those behind in classes or on tests take reading and math classes designed to catch them up. Several teachers also host tutoring sessions.

But generally, the classes take a more creative approach. That includes a science class where kids gleefully partake in a series of science experiments — on that Thursday, they combined soda and Pop Rocks and watched the fizzy reaction. 

“It’s really great learning, but it might not be exactly what they’re learning during the school year, where (educators are) worried about standards, and worried about the tests that they’re going to be getting kids ready for, and things like that,” Heck said.

“All of those things are very important, but during the summertime we can do a little different type of learning.”

That philosophy has guided the program for two decades.

When Pulaski leaders launched the summer school 22 years ago, it was a small program consisting of one or two classes at several schools because the state would only fund a few hours a day. 

Busy parents begged for a full-day program. Not long after Pulaski schools started offering afternoon programming at a cost, the state’s rules changed. Now, schools can get funding for eligible programs all day, all summer long. So Heck dreamed of something bigger.

“I just had this idea in my head that was going, ‘I think we could do something a lot better than this.’ … I want to make a program where your kids say, ‘No, I want to go to summer school,’” he said.

Nowadays, they do. 

Kids beg to sign up to be where their friends are. About 68% of the district’s 3,800 students will enroll in at least one summer school course. Signing up for classes is “an Olympic sport,” staff say. Parents take off work to refresh the computer. They post to Facebook the night before registration, wishing each other luck. The best classes fill up in minutes. 

It takes a village

Keeping such a behemoth summer school running smoothly takes a village. But in the tight-knit community, it works. 

The district employs roughly 130 teachers, 25 classroom aides, various high school and college students and other community members to keep over 2,500 students busy. 

“When we hire our teachers … The first thing I say is, if you weren’t here right now, what would you be doing?” Heck said. 

Those answers often become classes. For example: A local farmer teaches kids about horses, even bringing in equestrians as guest speakers and taking kids to visit the farm animals. Two food service workers teach students how to cook. A hobby fisherman took students to different ponds in the area during a previously offered course. 

Running such a major operation has also brought challenges. It was tough getting all of the departments — transportation, food, academics — on board. But that’s much easier to do in a small district like Pulaski, Heck said. 

Ironically, another major challenge: child care. 

Many educators have young children who are too young to attend summer school but still need care during the workday. Without viable child care, they couldn’t commit to working in the warmer months. 

The district’s solution: One classroom is transformed into a “babysitting room,” where fellow teachers and aspiring early childhood educators change diapers, make bottles and keep a handful of babies entertained. 

For aspiring educators like Cori Adelman, who studies early childhood education at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, the room offers hands-on experience working with young children. 

The program has become a workforce pipeline, too. Heck estimates about 15 young adults who first worked summer school have since returned as full-time educators either in Pulaski or in neighboring districts.

‘A lifesaver’

Affordable child care has become increasingly difficult to find, and securing spots in summer camps is notoriously competitive. For that reason, the free summer school that turns away no one has become a lifeline for local families.

Parent and Pulaski Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stacey Von Busch said her kids have participated in the camp for years, calling its affordability a “lifesaver.” 

“To have something like this in our community, where we don’t have to drive 30 minutes to get our kids to (other camps), is huge,” she said. 

The district provides bus transportation for students who need it, and thanks to a federal grant, children can eat breakfast and lunch at school. 

While by law the school must be tuition-free, the district may charge modest fees for supplies, such as beads for making bracelets or yarn for knitting and crocheting. Course fees range between $0 and $40 for each two-week term. 

The school is funded by the state — Wisconsin schools can receive funding for summer school classes that meet certain academic requirements. Rather than paying schools a flat amount for each student, the state bases funding on the total instructional time students attend. Therefore, Heck is on a mission to keep enrollment high: More students involved equals more funding.

That includes everyone. Parents of children with disabilities often struggle more to find summer schools and camps that serve them, Heck said. He didn’t want that to be the case in Pulaski. 

Many of the district’s special education employees staff a classroom dedicated to children with disabilities. That includes those who require federally mandated “extended school year instruction,” an individualized academic program meant to stop students from regressing over break. 

“I look forward to this every year,” said special education teacher Tessa Badtke. “You just get to know them in such a different way because there’s not this academic pressure like at school, so you can just build these relationships.” 

And then, Badtke said, students have a better school year. Heck agreed. 

“What’s the win out of it for us? We got our kids to walk through the school doors and actually not be angry and upset when they came in,” Heck said. “They’re coming in and they’re happy. Our hope is maybe next year, when they come back in the fall, they’re coming in and they’re saying, ‘I’ll give it a chance.’”

Miranda Dunlap reports on pathways to success in northeast Wisconsin, working in partnership with Open Campus. Find her on Instagram and Twitter, or send her an email at mdunlap@wisconsinwatch.org.

This story was updated to correct the number of students who attend summer school. Wisconsin Watch regrets the error.

A Wisconsin school district made summer school fun. Now 2,600 kids show up. 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.

Reading Time: 10 minutes

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of sexual assault.

Throughout high school, Amanda Watzka and David Heisel would go on long drives across Oconto County.

Heisel would stroke Watzka’s hand and talk about his family’s wealth. He would let her know he could protect her once they were finally together.

But Watzka and Heisel were not teenage sweethearts — Watzka was a 15-year-old technical education student at Oconto Falls High School, and Heisel was her teacher.

Watzka considered Heisel a mentor, a friend and, in some ways, her boyfriend.

But now that she’s in her 30s and has a daughter of her own, Watzka believes she was groomed by Heisel for years.

When Watzka talks about how the relationship went from grooming to an alleged sexual assault her junior year of high school, her reaction is physical.

According to a federal complaint and police reports, in 2012 Heisel sexually assaulted Watzka during a Skills USA competition at Chula Visa Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

“It’s hard to talk about. It’s hard,” Watzka says, rocking back and forth and patting her left arm. “I don’t know that I’ve fully processed that yet. I know what has happened. It is that he did not stop.”

In March 2026, Watzka and two other former students filed a federal complaint against the Oconto Falls School District alleging school officials ignored ongoing grooming and sexual abuse.

The complaint has since grown to include more than a dozen former students, teachers and parents connected to the Oconto Falls School District who allege that for 35 years educators and school board members were aware of sexual misconduct in all forms — whether perpetrated by teachers against students, by students against other students, or by staff against staff — but practiced “deliberate indifference.”  

WPR reached out to several attorneys, school officials and members of law enforcement related to the case. But with the exception of the attorney representing the plaintiffs, none would comment.

The complaint is one of the largest cases dealing with student sexual assault in Wisconsin, said Chicago attorney Cass Casper, who is representing the former students.

Since the filing in March, the complaint has been amended three times. It now includes seven plaintiffs and 19 sworn affidavits to support their allegations. 

The complaint names 12 staff members as alleged perpetrators going back to the early 1990s. So far, two have been criminally charged.

According to the complaint: 

• A student reported a classmate’s sexual assault to a principal and athletic director and was told the school could do nothing and she “had more healing to do.” 
• A teacher at school was aware the assistant volleyball coach was sharing a bed with a student. When the athletic director learned about the relationship, he talked to the coach about “boundaries.” 
• A student was sexually assaulted by a basketball coach; two fellow coaches knew and privately told them to stop without ever reporting it. One of those coaches was simultaneously having an illegal sexual relationship with another 16-year-old student. 

“I’ve never seen facts like this, ever, in my practice,” Casper said. “There are all of these people, staff members, students reporting it. The scope of this suit, and the number of witnesses who have come forward, reflects a severe problem in how the district responds to these situations.”

West Bend attorney Ron Stadler is representing the school district. Stadler did not return requests from WPR for comment. 

“Teachers who engage in sexual misconduct should face consequences — the loss of their employment, criminal prosecution and civil liability for the damages they cause,” Sadler’s motion to dismiss says. “In the context of sexual misconduct, a school district is not liable for the bad actor’s conduct.”

Under state law, all school employees are mandated reporters who are legally required to report suspected child abuse or neglect, including sexual abuse.

According to state guidelines, school staff must “learn to recognize manipulation and grooming by adults and peers and to communicate those concerns to appropriate authorities such as school leadership per school policies. In plain language, grooming is a process where a maltreater gains trust, builds rapport and compliance, and ensures secrecy of a child with the intent to be sexually abusive.”

School staff and other mandated reporters who knowingly fail to report abuse can face criminal charges and the loss of professional licenses.

Victims say abuse happened over years

Watzka graduated from Oconto Falls High School in January 2013. But she returned in May 2013 to walk with her class and receive her diploma.

Watzka said she left school early to get away from Heisel, who was in his mid-30s at the time.

Her teacher and alleged sexual abuser was many things to Watzka, who excelled in his class.

Throughout high school, Heisel invited Watzka on weekly drives to his job sites, restaurants, his house and his grandmother’s house.

During these trips, Heisel discussed what life would be like with Watzka, who was a teenager. He asked her about her sexual experience, while discussing his marriage and complaining his wife had cheated on him, according to the federal complaint. 

Heisel told Watzka he could marry her and take care of all her problems. He sang to her and made romantic comments. He also engraved his initials after Watzka’s name on her tools.

Then in spring 2012, when Heisel took students to the Dells for the annual Skills Competition, he allegedly escalated his behavior. 

According to the complaint, Heisel went into Watzka’s hotel room. She felt threatened and went into the hallway. He followed her into the hotel stairway, where he allegedly accused her of being a tease, partially undressed and forcibly kissed and fondled her.

“Amanda always remembered the facts of what occurred between her and Heisel,” the complaint says. “However, due to her youth, Heisel’s manipulation, and the grooming process, she did not understand until March and April 2025 that Heisel’s conduct was predatory, criminal, and constituted actionable civil wrongs.” 

Watzka said she continued to confide in Heisel even after the assault because she felt like he had always been there for her.

Child sexual grooming is a complex and deceptive process that masquerades as trust-building or mentorship, according to the National Children’s Alliance. It is estimated that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys have experienced child sexual abuse.

“The way I look at it is I’ve lived a very hard life,” Watzka said. “From what I’ve experienced and what I’ve reflected on, I don’t think that victims can come forward until they’re safe enough to do so.”

That safety came last year, once Watzka was married to her second husband and had three children.

In March 2025, Watzka, now 31, sent Heisel a text that was different from any type of contact they had previously had.

“I didn’t realize how incredibly messed up it was until I had my own daughter,” Watzka wrote. “Now that I’ve accepted it for what it is, I’m ready to share it openly so that I can move forward with my life and in hopes to prevent you from doing it to anyone else.”

According to a police report filed in April 2025, Heisel showed his co-workers at Oconto Falls High School the text messages and asked them what he should do.

They told him to get a lawyer.

Heisel did not respond to phone calls and text messages from Wisconsin Public Radio. His attorney, Clarence Duchac III, did not return multiple requests for comment from WPR.

Heisel has never been criminally charged.

The Oconto Falls district did not respond to requests for information on the status of Heisel’s employment.

However, Heisel surrendered his teacher’s license to the Department of Public Instruction on March 31, 20 days after being named in the civil rights complaint against the Oconto Falls School Board.

2 former teachers face criminal legal consequences  

While Heisel has never faced criminal charges for Watzka’s allegations, two other educators in Oconto Falls have been charged with sexually assaulting multiple students.

Brooke LaCount and Grace Williams, who are now adults, say they were both groomed and sexually assaulted by Brynn Larsen, a former substitute teacher and volleyball coach. 

According to court documents, LaCount was 15 when Brynn Larsen began a sexual relationship with her in 2013. Larsen, who was approximately 24 at the time, started sending LaCount pornographic photographs and then escalated the relationship to sleepovers at her house.

“I did not know what sex between women was and was not interested in sexual activity with women, but I felt obligated to comply because of the power differential between me and Brynn Marie Larsen and because of my youth and inexperience,” LaCount said in court documents. 

Brynn’s mother, Dawn Larsen, was a health education teacher at Oconto Falls High School and the head varsity coach for volleyball and softball. 

Allegations that Larsen was having an inappropriate relationship with a student were first reported to police in 2014.

In June of that year, Oconto Falls police officer Jamie Kuhn, who also served as a school resource officer, spoke to LaCount after someone reported Larsen appeared to be having inappropriate contact with the girl.

According to the federal complaint, the officer questioned her about her relationship with Larsen and told the 15-year-old LaCount she needed to decide whether she would cooperate or they “needed to put her in handcuffs.” 

“I was 15 years old. I was terrified,” LaCount said, saying she lied to police to shield Larsen because she was afraid.

Despite police investigating Larsen for child sexual assault in 2014, she continued to be employed at the district.

Grace Williams alleges she was abused by Brynn Larsen four years later. 

“An outcome made possible entirely by the Board’s failure to discipline, flag, or report Larsen after she victimized Brooke,” according to the complaint. 

As an adult LaCount realized while in therapy the predatory nature of her relationship with Larsen. She went back to the police in 2019. 

In 2021, Larsen pleaded no contest to third-degree sexual assault of a student for the assault of LaCount and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Kuhn and Oconto Falls Police Chief Brad Olsen referred all questions to attorney Craig Kubiak, who responded, “The city of Oconto Falls has no comment.”

Another former Oconto Falls teacher, Gayle Gander, was charged with 11 felonies in January including sexual misconduct and child enticement.

Plaintiff Jesse Kasal said he was groomed and sexually abused by Gander beginning in the second semester of his junior year and continuing through his senior year.

Kasal said Gander would remove him from study hall on manufactured pretexts, isolate him in private, lockable spaces within the school, and subject him to escalating sexual misconduct.

Gander is currently out on bond awaiting trial. 

Nine other Oconto Falls School District staff members named in the complaint have not been charged, including a physical education teacher who at least four people accuse of sexual misconduct in the civil suit. 

Oconto Falls School Board wants complaint dismissed

Oconto Falls is about 35 miles north of Green Bay. The city’s 3,000 residents live in an area that’s just under 3 square miles.

The school district serves about 1,600 students from the city and nine surrounding towns with one high school, one middle school and two elementary schools.

The district’s office is located across the street from a church, overlooking the high school football field.

Brianne Carriveau moved to Oconto Falls in 2020 and now runs the Facebook group “Parents of Oconto Falls Schools.”

She said her daughter, a sophomore in the district, has been harassed and inappropriately touched by teachers since middle school. But she said complaints have never been taken seriously by school administrators. 

“They silenced the kids. They silence teachers. They basically made it almost impossible for anybody to come forward,” Carriveau said.

Carriveau joined the complaint on behalf of her daughter.

“Part of the issue of why this has been going on for so long is the community itself,” Carriveau said. “It’s all interconnected. The police are connected to the school district. And you’ve got wives and spouses and grandchildren and generations all working together. How are we supposed to fight?”

On May 11, the Oconto Falls Board of Education filed a motion to dismiss the suit “not to argue that sexual misconduct is acceptable or ever tolerated,” the motion states. “But because as a matter of law it cannot be financially liable for the acts of reprehensible teachers.”

During an interview in March with WPR, Oconto Falls Superintendent Stuart Russ said the plaintiffs had been making “substantial monetary demands” on the school district since August 2025. 

Russ referred all questions for this story to the school district’s attorney, who has not responded to requests for comment.

According to a 2024 report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, sexual misconduct in schools is a prevalent problem that is often ignored.

Researchers found 10% to 17% of students experience some form of educator sexual misconduct, but only 6% of those students officially report the abuse to authorities.

In Wisconsin, lawmakers are trying to address the issue.

In March, Gov. Tony Evers signed two Republican-sponsored bills related to grooming.

The first establishes a criminal definition of child grooming and imposes strict felony penalties on predators who target minors.

The second requires all schools in Wisconsin to establish clear policies and training governing appropriate communication between staff and students.

‘Not only did they not do something about it, they defended the ones doing the damage’

Over the last several decades, there have been teachers and other adults in Oconto Falls who have tried to call attention to alleged sexual abuse and bullying behavior in the school district.

Tanya Jersey was a special education teacher at the district’s Washington Middle School from 2004 until she resigned in 2015.

Jersey said a male teacher bullied and sexually harassed female teachers, but after she reported him to administrators and the school board, he was promoted.

“What I experienced was people being treated unprofessionally, at the very least. And those who had the power and had the authority and responsibility to do something about it, didn’t,” Jersey said. “Not only did they not do something about it, they defended the ones doing the damage.”

But Jersey’s experience goes beyond what happened at work. 

She grew up in Oconto Falls.

Now, 10 years after leaving the school district and moving away from the city, Jersey is seeing her own high school experience differently. 

“When I was in high school, the two basketball coaches were sleeping with two players that were my friends,” Jersey says. “That was tough to go back to. I had put that away. I had compartmentalized that.”

Those two friends, and the coaches, are named in the civil complaint. 

Now, like Amanda Watzka, Jersey is a mom. And she can see more clearly what happened. 

“I mean we were kids — we were riding our bikes,” Jersey said. “That’s what really puts it in perspective for me. It’s just such a representation of when you’re that young and unassuming and inexperienced. For an adult male to take advantage of that is one of the cruelest things that could ever be done.”

Watzka says people knew Heisel had an inappropriate relationship with her, but said she believes it’s hard for teachers and administrators to speak up because it jeopardizes their own careers.

“If you’re going to blow the whistle on this, you’re going to lose quite a bit of teachers, and you’re also going to draw a lot of negative attention to the school district,” Watzka said. “That’s impossible, right?”

Watzka filed a report with the Oconto Falls Police Department in April 2025, alleging that Heisel began grooming her when she was a sophomore. 

She told police he assaulted her in Wisconsin Dells.

At the time she filed the report, Heisel, 46, was at a Skills USA competition in Madison with his current Tech Ed class.

Oconto Falls Police went to the competition and removed Heisel from the event, according to police reports.

Heisel was questioned and retained Duchac as an attorney but was not charged.

According to Oconto Falls police, Adams County has jurisdiction.

Adams County has declined to prosecute the case, citing a statute of limitations; however, Wisconsin law for sexual assault of a student by a school staff member gives victims until the age of 45 to file charges.

During a recent meeting in Oconto Falls, Watzka was wearing a black sweatshirt with an Oconto Falls High School Construction Crew logo. On her left arm, her maiden name is sewn on the sleeve.

She says she only started wearing the sweatshirt again since she came forward with her story about her relationship with Heisel.

“I love houses, I love design, I love remodeling and I love drafting,” Watzka said. “Why should one individual who used me and abused me take away what I really do love?”

If you or someone you know is experiencing sexual assault, you can dial 1-800-656-HOPE or text HOPE to 64673. Resources are also available online.

This story was originally published by WPR.

Accusers in Oconto Falls case say school had ‘deliberate indifference’ to abuse for decades 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.

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In the coming weeks, thousands of students will walk across stages at graduation ceremonies across Wisconsin. It is our job to ensure they are prepared for whatever step comes next. But as they step into a rapidly changing world, one question has become more important and complicated to answer: What does a successful graduate look like?

For generations, the answer has been straightforward: earn good grades, score well on tests and complete your coursework. Those things still matter — they always will. Academic mastery remains a cornerstone of our education system.

But alone, that is no longer enough.

Technology and the workforce are evolving in ways we couldn’t have imagined a generation ago.

The rise of artificial intelligence has left many questioning what jobs may disappear, even as schools try to prepare students for jobs that may not yet exist.

If we want our students to succeed in this evolving landscape, our definition of success must evolve with it.

That is why the Department of Public Instruction is developing a Wisconsin Portrait of a Graduate — a statewide effort to define the skills and dispositions young people need to succeed in their careers, as citizens and in life.

We continuously hear from our workforce partners that graduates need more than academic knowledge. They need skills that remain relevant over time, even as technology, artificial intelligence and the job market continue to change — skills like critical thinking, adaptability, problem solving, communication, collaboration and social intelligence. These essential skills aren’t measured on a standardized test.

What other skills define a successful graduate?

Ask a parent, educator and employer that question, and you may get three different answers.

That is why the Portrait of a Graduate must reflect a shared vision of student success. It must be shaped by voices from across Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has formed a steering committee that includes educators, students, higher education partners, statewide education organizations, employers and industry representatives across Wisconsin to guide this work. We also held listening sessions in communities statewide and will continue gathering input through upcoming virtual listening sessions and a public survey. I encourage you to participate. This is your opportunity to help shape the future of education in our state. More information on this initiative is available on the Wisconsin Portrait of a Graduate webpage.

It’s past time we focus on preparing students for their future and not our past. If we don’t use this moment to redefine success, we are doing a disservice — not only to students, but to our employers, our communities and the future of our state.

Jill Underly is Wisconsin’s state superintendent of public instruction.

Guest opinion: A changing world demands a new vision for graduates 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.