(The Center Square) – Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are taking the first step to change how the state’s Elections Commission handles election complaints.
The Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections held a hearing on
the Help America Vote Act, officially known as AB 595.
The plan would stop the Wisconsin Elections Commission from dismissing election complaints when voters accuse the Elections Commission itself of
making a mistake or wrongdoing.
“If the commission receives a complaint that alleges that the commission itself is violating [the federal Help America Vote Act] and the complaint raises a substantial question of material fact, the commission must make a final determination on the merits of the complaint and issue a decision,” the legislation states. “The bill prohibits the commission from dismissing the complaint simply because the complaint alleges a commission violation.”
The legislation also requires changes to how Wisconsin handles data sharing agreements, how the Elections Commission removes ineligible voters from the state’s voter rolls, how much Wisconsin charges for its voter list and would require the Elections Commission to conduct a non- citizen voter audit.
Kyle Koenen, Policy Director at The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said Wisconsin needs to make every change in order to restore faith in the state’s electoral system.
“In September, Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty released a report calling for a five-step audit of Wisconsin’s voter registration list to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in elections. The audit proposed in Assembly Bill 595 is similar to WILL’s proposal in many respects,” Koenen told lawmakers. “It will ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting, in compliance with the law.”
Koenen said being compliant with federal and state election laws should not be an option for Wisconsin’s election managers.
“[WILL] believes that regularly auditing Wisconsin’s statewide voter registration list is critical to ensuring the integrity of our elections and maintaining the public trust,’ he added.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s top education official did not attend the committee review of an audit of the state agency’s financial reporting policies and requirements for the state’s school districts, drawing the ire of the committee’s co-chairs.
The audit showed that 370 of Wisconsin’s 421 school districts had at least one material deficiency in its audit, 281 had repeat deficiencies, 96 submitted their 2022-23 financial statements late and the Department of Public Instruction did not begin reviewing reports for an average of 74.7 days after the Dec. 15 deadline.
“In our time as co-chairs of the Audit Committee, Superintendent [Jill] Underly is the first department head who has failed to appear before us when invited to discuss an audit,” co-chairs Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, and Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia, said in a joint statement after the hearing. “What can possibly be more important to her than ensuring transparency in how our schools spend and report their funds?”
Wittke asked Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy directly why Underly chose not to attend to start the hearing.
“She’s an elected official,” McCarthy responded. “You don’t get the governor at every hearing, do you?”
During testimony on the audit, McCarthy commented on both the responses to Milwaukee’s late financial reporting and those of other districts.
McCarthy said that the department has now changed some of its processes based upon Milwaukee’s late reports, including informing a full board of education instead of just the board president if the financial paperwork is late.
“Wisconsin’s students, parents, and taxpayers deserve responsible leadership of our schools, and Superintendent Underly betrays their trust by believing she can pick and choose which crises she chooses to address,” the co-chairs said.

(The Center Square) – The current structure where Wisconsin tribes would receive 60% of the gross revenue from mobile sports wagering under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act would be too high of a cost for top national brands.
A representative of the Sports Betting Alliance told a Senate committee Tuesday that DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, Fanatics and Bet365 the plan to expand mobile sports wagering statewide under the proposed bill would be too much for the organizations to operate in Wisconsin.
Counsel Damon Stewart, representing SBA, said that he didn’t know which number would work for the sportsbooks but that the bill seemed like a “bit of a rush.” SBA is supportive of Wisconsin expanding its mobile gaming statewide but “we don’t think this vehicle gets us there.”
The proposal would create a technical exception to the term “bet” in Wisconsin law by not counting mobile sports wagers that were conducted through a sportsbook with servers located on tribal land as one of those banned “bets.”
Wisconsin Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green, said that the bill would allow for the exception, then the state would have to renegotiate gaming compacts that would then be sent to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for approval.
Jeff Crawford, attorney general for the Forest County Potawatomi Community, noted that the Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks and Green Bay Packers are supportive of Wisconsin expanding its tribe-based mobile sports wagering statewide.
The expansion would mean that sports wagering in the state that currently is done through offshore or sweepstakes operators could move into the regulated space, which would create consumer and operator protections.
Crawford said that estimates show there were $150 million in offshore or illegal sports wagers placed by Wisconsin consumers in 2018, that exploded to $1 billion worth in 2024 and it is projected to only expand from there.
Rep. Tyler August, R-Walworth, noted that many of those in his district drive across the state line to Illinois to place wagers with legal sports wagering operators there and then drive back home. He noted that the sponsors have not spoken with Attorney General Josh Kaul on the bill.
“It’s good for the tribes,” August said. “It’s good for the consumers.”
Crawford took exception to the SBA “implying that we do not have the capability of operating a statewide sportsbook.”
Stewart said that the hub and spoke model of mobile sports wagering Wisconsin would use without national sportsbooks involved would be similar to how Arkansas and Florida operates, which he believes is not the best model for consumers.
“Let us have the chance to work with the tribes,” Stewart said. “We want to tether with them.
“Let’s do this right, let’s do this legally.”
If not, Stewart said that consumers will continue to use the illegal sports wagering sites they currently use or they will go to Illinois to use national brands.
“Online sports betting is a low margin, capital-intensive business,” Stewart said. “It’s simply not economically feasible for a commercial operator to hand over 60% to the in-state entity just for the right to operate in the state. That is why Wisconsin adults would not be able to use the national brands they see advertised on national TV every day.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction announced Tuesday it has launched a new online database related to teacher licenses in response to an investigation of how DPI handled 200 cases of sexual misconduct and grooming between 2018 and 2023.
DPI Superintendent Jill Underly was set to appear in front of the Senate Committee on Education on Tuesday afternoon and for the start of an audit of the department’s license investigation process on Wednesday morning.
Underly did not attend an Assembly committee on the matter two weeks prior.
“We take every allegation of misconduct seriously and act whenever it occurs,” Underly said.
Underly’s prior response to an investigation of the matter from the Capital Times was demanding a correction on the story without pinpointing any factual errors in the story.
She pushed back against claims regarding the department’s investigations are hidden because the state does not say why a license is revoked in its online database and the state requires a public records request is placed – with no required timeline and subject to potential large fees – before an individual can receive information on an investigation.
“Our work is open and accountable,” Underly claimed. “Nothing is hidden.”
Underly went on to state that she and DPI support the state further defining grooming. A bill was introduced Monday to do that.
Underly previously claimed that “the statutory definition of ‘immoral conduct’ does not currently include grooming or professional boundary violations, limiting our agency’s ability to obtain critical pieces of information.”
But legislative leaders disagreed. The statutory definition of immoral conduct is “conduct or behavior that is contrary to commonly accepted moral or ethical standards and that endangers the health, safety, welfare, or education of any pupil.”
“I’m concerned that the state’s superintendent of schools is saying maybe they don’t fall under that standard,” Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, told News Talk 1130-WISN based on questions asked by The Center Square. “It’s very concerning and I’m hoping to get an answer on that tomorrow.”

(The Center Square) – There will be more questions, and possibly more
hearings as part of Wisconsin’s teacher grooming investigation.
The Senate Committee on Education met Tuesday to hear from State Superintendent Jill Underly and to get answers about how her Department of Public Instruction handles teacher investigations.
But Sen. John Jagler, R-Watertown, said he has more questions.
“This story is not going away,” Jagler said Tuesday morning on News Talk 1130 WISN.
He also said the Cap Time investigation into 200 teachers investigated for grooming or sexual misconduct is not being framed as a ‘politics only’ story.
“The fact that the Democrats have not been criticizing me for asking questions or not really criticizing Tom Tiffany for making it a political issue tells me that we’re on the right page,” Jagler added.
Jagler said there are some questions to answer at DPI. Specifically, he wants to know what lawmakers can do to solve the problems and protect Wisconsin school kids.
“I’m not sure what type of legislation is going to come from this, on a policy side,” Jagler said. “How do you outlaw creepy behavior?”
Jagler does say the investigation, and the proposed pieces of legislation, will not stop with DPI.
“I have a ton of questions [for local schools]. Because that’s one of the things DPI has said. ‘Look the local reporting of this is not sufficient,’” he explained. “So, we need to look at that too as well, for sure.”
The Cap Times investigation found that 200 teachers were investigated between 2018 and 2023 for sexual misconduct or grooming complaints.
Some of those teachers were allowed to walk away from those investigations after agreeing to give-up their teaching licenses.
Underly on Tuesday announced a “new public resource” that she says will list Wisconsin’s revoked and surrendered educator licenses.

(The Center Square) – Democratic attorney generals from 22 jurisdictions sued the U.S. Department of Education Monday over its new rule limiting Public Student Loan Forgiveness for government and nonprofit workers.
The PSLF program was passed in 2007 with bipartisan support as part of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. Under the law signed by President George W. Bush, workers are entitled to forgiveness for the remaining balance of their loans if they dedicate 10 years to government or nonprofit work and stay up to date with their payments. On Friday, the Department of Education issued a rule that threatened to remove eligibility for student loan forgiveness to anyone who works for someone with “a substantial illegal purpose.”
California, Massachusetts, Colorado and New York are the states leading the coalition suing the Trump administration. The suit was filed by 21 states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts.
The lawsuit seeks a court decision declaring the new rule unlawful.
The suit notes Congress directed the U.S. Department of Education to cancel the “balance of interest and principle due for any borrower” who had been employed in a public service job for 10 years and met other statutory requirements. The suit noted all government jobs are eligible, except for members of Congress.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon of using student loan forgiveness to reward loyalists and punish opponents.
“This is just the latest example of Trump weaponizing our government to wage his culture war,” Bonta said during a virtual news conference, which also included attorneys general from Colorado and Massachusetts.
“First he weaponized our schools, hospitals and military,” Bonta told reporters. “Now he’s coming for hardworking people who’ve devoted their careers to doing good in the world.
“Trump and McMahon have no legal right to impose this rule and break the government’s promise to the American people,” Bonta said. “This rule directly violates the Administrative Procedure Act and defies Congress’ direction under the Higher Education Act, which clearly states that government agencies and nonprofits are eligible employers without exception.
“That means the administration can’t exclude an eligible organization just because it provides legal services to immigrants or provides gender-affirming care to minors or participates in legal diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives or engages in civil protest and the right to assembly – constitutionally protected rights,” Bonta said. “They can’t cherrypick which public service employers qualify or which don’t.”
The Center Square reached out Monday to the U.S. Department of Education after the news conference.
“It is unconscionable that the plaintiffs are standing up for criminal activity,” Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent told The Center Square in an email. “This is a commonsense reform that will stop taxpayer dollars from subsidizing organizations involved in terrorism, child trafficking, and transgender procedures that are doing irreversible harm to children. The final rule is crystal clear: the Department will enforce it neutrally, without consideration of the employer’s mission, ideology or the population they serve.”
But attorneys general at Monday’s news conference expressed concern about the people who would be denied the student loan forgiveness promised by Congress. Bonta noted the recipients vary from teachers to police officers, firefighters, librarians, social service workers and members of the military.
Attorney General Phil Weiser of Colorado said his state’s employees, varying from firefighters to state troopers, could lose their loan forgiveness if Trump and McMahon simply labeled Colorado as “unlawful.”
“That’s the sort of bullying we’re not going to allow,” Weiser said, answering a question from The Center Square. “This rule is illegal.”
He added he didn’t know how much money the federal government is trying to save in Colorado.
But as the attorneys general answered The Center Square’s questions about numbers such as costs, Bonta put the total amount of the program’s value, as of 2024 in California, at $6 billion.
The attorneys general answered The Center Square’s question about the number of people served by their programs: 18,000 over the last two-and-one-half years in Colorado, 25,000 between 2021 and January of 2025 in Massachusetts, and over 81,000 in California as of 2024.
“These are hardworking folks who had to be in the program 10 years and consistently make payments,” Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell told The Center Square. “It’s not a handout. It’s folks who work hard. We honor their service, knowing they make less than those in the private sector.”
As of July, 1.25 million people had received the forgiveness nationwide, Bonta said.
Besides the attorneys general from California, Colorado, Massachusetts and New York, the attorneys general filing the lawsuit are from Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.
In addition to discussing the lawsuit, attorneys general Monday reacted to the Trump administration’s announcement that it would issue half of the November payments for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits after Friday’s court orders saying the Trump administration couldn’t suspend the program Nov. 1. SNAP was formerly known as food stamps and is designed to help low-income individuals, seniors and those with disabilities. The Trump administration issued its response to the court orders on Monday, as reported earlier by The Center Square.
Partial instead of full payments could make the program more complicated and increase delays, Campbell of Massachusetts told reporters.
The attorneys general argue there’s enough money for provide full payments.
“They are intentionally starving some Americans when they don’t have to,” Bonta said. “We believe they should use all available funds.”
The Center Square reached out Monday to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers SNAP, for this story, but did not get a response. But as reported earlier by The Center Square, the USDA said it only has enough emergency funds, about $4.6 billion, to cover half of November benefits. The USDA said it will not draw from other contingency funds, which are normally used for events such as natural disasters when the federal government is open.

(The Center Square) – A pair of Wisconsin legislators have introduced a new bill that would create a felony offense of grooming with increased punishment if the grooming comes from a person in a position of authority, the child has a known disability or the crime impacts multiple minors.
The bill from Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, and Sen. Jesse James, R-Thorp, comes after an investigation from the Capital Times about the state investigations into 200 cases of sexual misconduct and grooming in Wisconsin schools since 2018 along with a Kenosha case of a teacher that led to 12 misdemeanors and sentence of 450 days in jail and three years of probation.
“Whether it’s a teacher, a coach, or a mentor – we must ensure that adults who exploit their positions of trust to manipulate and prey upon children face real accountability under the law,” Nedweski said in a statement. “This bill gives our partners in law enforcement the clear legal tools necessary to prosecute these predators and provide victims and families with the justice they deserve.”
The lawmakers said the bill language drew from prior grooming laws in Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Texas.
The bill defines grooming as “a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse or sexual contact or for the purpose of producing, distributing, or possessing depictions of the child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.”
The bill provides examples of the conduct.
The conduct of Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction in teacher’s license investigations was the subject of an assembly committee hearing on the matter and will also be part of a Senate Committee Education hearing at 1 p.m. Tuesday and the start of an audit from the Joint Legislative Audit Committee where DPI Superintendent Jill Underly is expected to be present at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Superintendent Underly and DPI failed at their most basic oversight role: to ensure our kids are safe at school,” Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, told The Center Square. “Recent reporting revealed a significant lack of accountability in how DPI tracks teachers and school officials accused of sexual misconduct with children.
“This audit will attempt to bring to light what DPI has tried to hide, and ensure we can keep Wisconsin’s students safe from predators at school.”
The grooming bill does not have a committee public hearing date at this point.
“This critically important piece of legislation will protect our state’s most important and vulnerable assets – our children,” James said in a statement. “While I am proud to join my colleagues in authoring this bill, I am disgusted by the stories that have made legislation like this so necessary. It has become clear to me, the Governor, and to my fellow legislators that Wisconsin needs a statutory definition for grooming.”

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed nine bills, including one that moves state employees back into an office and others that deal with unemployment requirements.
Overall, the vetoes dealt with bills that textended the time employers have to respond to unemployment claims, allowed for businesses to report when those on unemployment decline job offers, required state workers to work 80% of their time in an office, required schools to allow for inspection of instructional materials within 14 days of a request, prevented local governments from blocking the sale of motor vehicles based on energy source and required judicial approval for plea agreements related to violent crimes.
The vetoes came as Evers also signed 11 bills, including a cell phone ban in schools during instructional time.
Evers explained that he vetoed the unemployment requirements because he is against “creating additional barriers for individuals applying for or receiving benefits” from unemployment. Additionally, he wrote that an in-office work requirement for state workers would be encroaching on his own authority as governor.
Sen. Rob Hutton, R-Brookfield, wrote Monday that the bill extending the time employers have to respond to unemployment claims came because delays in the U.S. Postal Service have created situations where employers don’t have enough time to respond to claims after they receive a letter and that some letters have even arrived after the deadline.
“Improper payments cause unnecessary paperwork for both the state and employer and create a sense that the system is unfair among the hard-working staff that show up to work every day and keep a business running,” Hutton said in a statement. “This bill wasn’t a silver bullet, but it was a needed step in the right direction.”
He also objected to Evers’ veto of the bill requiring judicial approval of plea agreements for certain offenses. Evers said he disagreed with limiting prosecutors’ discretion in charges.
“Governor Evers’ veto is a victory for violent felons, dangerous reckless drivers, car thieves and abusers who hope to walk away from the consequences their crime, and it’s a defeat for the law-abiding citizens those people prey upon,” Hutton said in a statement.
Evers said that he believes schools already are required to provide parents access to instructional materials and doesn’t believe the state should add additional requirements.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Congressman Bryan Steil is not a fan of Milwaukee’s little-used streetcar, but he’s not committing to join the effort to kill it.
Seil didn’t say if he’ll ask former Wisconsin congressman, and current U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to allow Milwaukee to walk away from The Hop.
“This whole situation of The Hop, and the massive amount of spending that’s going on, and the recklessness of the spending in the city of Milwaukee is a huge challenge,” Steil said on News Talk 1130 WISN. “This is one of the conversations that we need to have broadly about how federal grants have been abused to create massive payments down the road.”
Milwaukee used a federal grant from 2015 to build the streetcar, but it also used some of the remaining money from a 1991 transit grant to get the system up and running. Milwaukee’s mayor says shutting down The Hop will mean Milwaukee has to pay-back $48 million of that 19991 grant. And he says Milwaukee doesn’t have that kind of money.
Milwaukee Alderman Scott Spiker last week asked Duffy to essentially cancel that payback requirement. Two Republican state lawmakers quickly joined him.
Steil didn’t go that far.
“That is a broader conversation,” Steil said. “How do we prevent good money from being spent, after bad money has previously been spent.”
Milwaukee is ready to spend more on its streetcar. The city last week posted a job opening for a marketing and communication officer. The city is offering between $90,000 and $105,000 a-year for someone to handle “strategic public engagement for the streetcar, securing and maintaining sponsorship, as well as advocating for it as a zero-carbon transit option.”
If that person lives within the city of Milwaukee, they could see a residency bonus of up to $3,100.

(The Center Square) – With the ongoing government shutdown dragging on for a record-breaking period of time, U.S. lawmakers are introducing bills to make shutdowns as painful for Congress as they are for federal workers.
Since the government shut down on Oct.1 after Senate Democrats filibustered Republicans’ House-passed funding bill, hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed without pay. Thousands more are forced to work without pay because their jobs are considered “essential,” such as air traffic controllers and federal police officers.
But members of Congress, the only people with the power to end the shutdown, are receiving their salaries as usual.
In a show of good faith, some lawmakers have asked the U.S. Treasury to withhold their salaries for the duration of the shutdown. But other lawmakers are taking steps to make that mandatory.
In the upper chamber, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., has introduced the Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act, which would cut the annual pay of all members of Congress by the number of days spent in a shutdown.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has put forward a similar constitutional amendment where lawmakers would receive no pay during the shutdown, and the forfeited money instead would go to the Treasury to help reduce the national debt.
“If Members of Congress had to forfeit their pay during government shutdowns, there would be fewer shutdowns and they would end quicker,” Graham said. “The U.S. Constitution requires Members of Congress to be paid, even during government shutdowns. This is the most constitutionally sound way to deal with this problem.”
In the U.S. House, Rep. Mike Kennedy’s, R-Utah, No Work, No Pay Act of 2025; Rep. Angie Craig’s, D-Minn., No Pay for Disarray Act; and Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s, R-Wis., constitutional amendment would each ensure that members of Congress receive no pay as long as the shutdown continues.
The salary for most senators and representatives is $174,000 annually as of 2025, according to the Congressional Research Service. Given that both chambers are in session for less than half of the year, that means lawmakers would lose more than a thousand dollars per workday during a shutdown, if such a bill passes.
But Rep. Frederica Wilson’s, D-Fla., Government Shutdown Salary Suspension Act goes a step further, preventing not only Congress but also the president and vice president from receiving pay during a shutdown.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is losing patience with senators as the government shutdown begins to affect critical federal programs like SNAP. The president told Republicans in a Friday social media post to “Get rid of the Filibuster, and get rid of it, NOW!”
So far, shutdown negotiations have led nowhere, with Democratic and Republican leaders seeming content to wait each other out.
Democrats have demanded that any funding deal extend the pandemic-era expansion of the Obamacare Premium Tax Credit, set to expire Dec. 31. Republicans refuse, accusing Senate Democrats of “holding the government hostage.”
There are some bipartisan efforts to prevent future shutdowns, however. Reps. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., and Scott Peters, D-Calif., have together introduced the No Budget, No Pay Act, another bill that would withhold lawmaker salaries during a lapse in appropriations.
“If Congress can’t fulfill its most basic duty to pass a budget, it shouldn’t get paid, and Members of Congress shouldn’t get back-pay either,” Huizenga stated.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin school boards must create rules banning cell phones during instructional time with a deadline by July 1 after Gov. Tony Evers signed the bill into law Friday.
States across the country have moved to ban cell phones at school or during certain parts of school.
“It has always been my belief that decisions like this should be made at the local level by local school districts and that we should trust local school boards to work with students, parents and families, educators, staff, and administrators to make decisions that make sense for students in their community,” Evers said in a statement. “That continues to be my position. Nevertheless, my promise to the people of Wisconsin is to always do what’s best for our kids, and that obligation weighs heavily on me in considering this bill, as it does every bill affecting kids that reaches my desk.”
Pew Research showed that an increasing number of adults in the U.S. approve of school cell phone bans with 74% supporting a ban for middle and high school students during class, up from 68% last fall.
“While I wish the Legislature would have taken a different approach with this legislation, I will never stop fighting for Wisconsin’s kids and working to do what’s best for them, which is why I am signing this bill into law today,” Evers said.
School district-issued electronic devices are exempt from the prohibition and districts can create an exemption to the prohibition for emergencies, managing a student’s health care, through a student’s individualized education plan or for educational purposes authorized by a teacher.
Several Democrats pushed back on the bill as it made its way through the Legislature.
“Wisconsin seems to be the only state where this is a partisan issue,” Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Fox Crossing, said at the time.

(The Center Square) – An audit is expected to be ordered of Wisconsin’s educational license program as Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly will appear before the state’s Joint Audit Committee at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
The agenda for the meeting includes a public hearing on the proposed audit and a follow-up executive session.
“Superintendent Underly and DPI failed at their most basic oversight role: to ensure our kids are safe at school,” Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, told The Center Square. “Recent reporting revealed a significant lack of accountability in how DPI tracks teachers and school officials accused of sexual misconduct with children.
“This audit will attempt to bring to light what DPI has tried to hide, and ensure we can keep Wisconsin’s students safe from predators at school.”
Underly was not present at last week’s meeting of the Assembly Committee on Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency related to a report showing that DPI hid 200 sexual misconduct and grooming accusations since 2018.
Underly was also invited to an informational hearing in front of the Senate Committee on Education on Tuesday but there is no agenda yet for that meeting.
The audit would examine how DPI handles complaints against teachers as it investigates related to state teacher licenses.
Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy said that DPI requires that license revocations be made permanent if teachers choose to have their license revoked instead of going through an investigation.
McCarthy admitted that process was not in statute nor could they prevent a teacher from later asking for the license to be reinstated. He also said that there are jobs within schools, like some paraprofessional roles, that do not require licenses.
Questions have also arisen about when individual school districts must inform DPI of issues and communication with law enforcement in those cases to ensure teachers are not able to simply move districts to avoid accusations of sexual misconduct.