(The Center Square) – A hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Thursday to address concerns about sexual misconduct and grooming in schools.
Committee on Government Operations, Accountability and Operations Chair Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, scheduled the hearing and invited State School Superintendent Jill Underly, along with law enforcement.
Nedweski announced Thursday night she would be introducing three bills related to the case including a grooming law, standards for communication between students and faculty and to end a “loophole” where educators can surrender their teaching license rather than facing further investigation.
She had previously been working on the grooming law and bill on communications standards after the case of Kenosha teacher Christian Enwright, who pleaded guilty to 12 misdemeanors for his conduct sending hundreds of Snapchat messages to a student that resulted in a sentence of 450 days in jail and three years of probation.
“Since the Kenosha County Eye exposed Christian Enwright’s predatory behavior toward a student, I have been working on anti-grooming legislation that will establish harsh penalties for any adult convicted of grooming a minor for sexual activity,” Nedweski said in a statement. “This proposal will be modeled after comprehensive laws passed in other states and will give our law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they need to keep children safe.”
Senate Committee on Education Chair John Jagler and Vice Chair Romaine Quinn asked a series of 12 questions of Underly and demanded to get a response within 24 hours of the Thursday afternoon letter on if she will be willing to testify before the committee.
The Senate committee leaders had not heard back from Underly or her office as of 11:30 a.m. on Friday.
The Capital Times report showed that 200 investigations into teachers for sexual misconduct and grooming were shielded from the public by DPI and that accused teachers were able to forfeit their teaching license to avoid further investigation into alleged grooming.
The Center Square was unable to get comment from Underly or Gov. Tony Evers before publication.

(The Center Square) – Some students in Wisconsin will soon see different grades on their report cards, and there are some worries that those grades may not be enough.
Eau Claire Area Schools last week became the latest school district in the state to shift to standards based grading.
The district’s director of secondary programming and post secondary readiness, Michelle Radtke, said standards based grading is a shift away from traditional A.B,C,D, and F grades and a shift toward a new scale to better measure “when learning occurs.”
“Standards based grading is about teacher practices and feedback and student goal-setting,” she said at last week’s school board meeting.
Standards based grading uses a 4-point scale to measure student learning. And things like attendance and class participation are not included.
That’s what worries Cory Brewer with the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
She told News Talk 1130 WISN that a simple point scale could be useful for children in younger grades. But standards based grading may not be as useful for older students, particularly when you are looking to measure reading, writing, or math proficiency.
“On a scale of one-to-three, what is a three? Is that a 90% or a 98%? Is my child excelling, or is she just meeting the minimum expectations? What does that cover? How are parents supposed to know,” Brewer asked. “Another issue we see with this is grade inflation.”
Brewer said parents can very easily get the wrong idea about how well their kids are doing in school.
“If it’s going to be used, it should be used in the very early grades,” Brewer added. “But when you get into the higher grades, I think it’s not the best option. And it can tend to lower the bar.”
WILL has been vocal about the concerns of lowering the bar in Wisconsin public schools.
WILL has opposed changes to Wisconsin’s state tests, and the reworked state standards that its says has made it impossible for parents to compare how their kids are reading, writing and doing math to years past.
“I don’t want to say that all standards based grading is a terrible, woke idea. I don’t think that would be accurate,” Brewer added. “But one of the things that we are seeing is the recommendation that teachers never give a zero. Ever. Even if something isn’t turned in.”
Brewer said doing the work, paying attention to detail, and finishing assignments is just as important in school as learning the core subjects.
Eau Claire Schools are one of several that have adopted standards based grading either this year, or in recent years.

(The Center Square) – A Wisconsin legal group is fighting against a transmission line being placed on a Saukville property to serve a new mega data center in Port Washington.
The Port Washington data center has been the subject of public backlash as the $8 billion data center is planned to use the same amount of electricity as the city of Los Angeles, becoming the largest energy user in Wisconsin history with Vantage asking for 1.3 gigawatts of energy to be available by 2027 and ultimately 3.5 gigawatts of power.
The data center is approved to be part of a tax increment district that exceeds the state’s 12% limit on the amount of taxable property in a municipality allowed to be part of a TID.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is arguing that American Transmission Co. does not have the right to use eminent domain to take the property of Tom and Mary Uttech because there are other options on where to build the transmission line or using on-site power generation and eminent domain should only be used as a “last resort,” WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas Vebber said in a statement.
Vebber argued that “even then, (it) should be used only when the public need is so absolute there are no alternatives. This is not such a case. We will do all we can to protect the Uttech family’s private property rights.”
The Uttech family has a 52-acre property that includes Tom Uttech’s artistic studio and WILL believes the transmission line will lead to “irreparable damage to the natural beauty and wildlife” there.
“This land is our home, and my wife and I have spent decades cultivating and caring for its natural beauty,” Uttech said in a statement. “As an artist, this land continues to be my inspiration for all that I do. My wife and I do not want to sell and certainly do not want this land stolen from us just to benefit a privately owned data center.”
WILL argues that the data center is a private company and does not fall under the “public use” stipulations in both the Fifth Amendment and Wisconsin Constitution.
“Many alternatives exist, from different and less impactful routes, to allowing the data center to generate power on site,” WILL wrote. “Taking land from our friends and neighbors to benefit private business is not why the eminent domain power exists.”

(The Center Square) – The leaders of Wisconsin’s Senate Committee on Education are asking for answers from the state’s Department of Public Instruction following a report showing that 200 investigations into teachers for sexual assault and grooming were shielded from the public.
Senate Committee on Education Chair John Jagler and Vice Chair Romaine Quinn asked a series of 12 questions of DPI Superintendent Jill Underly, including when she was made aware of the 200 cases, why she believes she shouldn’t be directly responsible for addressing concerns in the report and if local law enforcement was notified of any of the investigations.
“Allowing teachers under investigation to simply resign to stop an in-depth probe of the alleged abuse is a moral disaster,” the letter stated. “We also wholeheartedly reject the attempt to pin this on the legislature due to an alleged lack of funding. The first dollar spent by DPI should be ensuring that our kids are safe. Full Stop.”
The Capital Times report showed that DPI investigated more than 200 cases involving teachers, aides, substitutes and administrators from 2018 to 2023 involving accusations of sexual misconduct or grooming toward students without revealing that those investigations occurred.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican candidate for governor, told The Center Square through his campaign that citizens are asking the right questions in response to the report.
“Wisconsinites are rightly asking how these incidents could be hidden from the public, and the bottom line is that this is failed leadership, starting at the top with the so-called ‘education governor’ Tony Evers and his accomplices Sara Rodriguez and Mandela Barnes,” Tiffany said. “If an educator’s license is revoked or an investigation finds misconduct, the DPI should consistently track this information and establish a clear system for parents to know the truth, just as our state does for nurses and accountants.
“Educating children and prioritizing their safety should be DPI’s top responsibility, but instead, we have seen resources diverted to DEI initiatives and woke gender ideology in schools. As governor, I will ensure we have a transparent and honest system in place.”
The letter asked:
• When were you personally made aware that more than 200 sexual assault cases were under investigation?
• You declined to be interviewed for this story, citing a “conflict of interest”. What is the conflict of interest and why shouldn’t the state’s top education official be directly responsible for addressing child safety and educator misconduct?
• Was local law enforcement contacted to help investigate any of these allegations? What policies are in place that would trigger when law enforcement is notified? Are there clear guidelines DPI staff follows in this regard?
• What statutory or administrative authority allows DPI to close cases through license surrender without a formal finding?
• Are local school districts notified when DPI begins an investigation? Is there a clear policy on when the local schools should be notified and are their guidelines on how immediate in the process that notification occurs? What records are kept at DPI recording these cases, including the cases where a staff member resigns or voluntarily gives up their license?
• What safeguards exist to prevent educators who resign or surrender licenses from re-applying at a later date?
• Are future districts warned when these staff apply for other jobs?
• Why are disciplinary outcomes for educators not published in the same manner as other professional licensing boards in Wisconsin? Shouldn’t transparency, when it comes to safety of our children, be a top priority?
• The DPI spokesman blamed this inadequate record keeping on a lack of funding. If this is accurate, why was this issue not addressed in your last budget request or voiced in your State of Education Speech?
• The story lists that of the 416 teachers investigated, 207 have kept their licenses and are continuing to work with children. What standard do you have to exonerate those under investigation?
• Does DPI have a written policy for how these cases are identified and how the department takes action to address them? Please provide our offices with any of these records.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s latest enrollment numbers show some good news for choice schools in the state, but there’s also a warning sign.
School Choice Wisconsin said choice enrollment hit a new record high of 60,972 students.
“Parents are speaking loudly and clearly about what they want for their children: more educational options different than those offered by public schools,” School Choice Wisconsin Vice President Carol Shires said.
The nearly 61,000 choice students this year is up from less than 34,000 in the 2016-2017 school year.
And, Shires said, the new record-high comes just as Wisconsin’s choice school enrollment cap expires.
“Lawmakers in Madison should continue to prioritize protecting these private-school options for all students,” she said.
But there are also warnings about the limits of choice school enrollment growth.
Quinton Klabon with the Institute for Reforming Government said choice schools will soon face the same demographic challenges that traditional public schools are facing.
He said the “baby bust” from the 2008 recession has arrived, and all schools will see enrollments fall because there are simply fewer school-aged children.
“School choice supporters and opponents alike have projected rapid, continued growth, but new data suggest the programs are affected by declining birth rates, school participation, or parent choices,” IRG noted.
“School choice supporters cannot be complacent,” Klabon said. “Informing parents, expanding high-quality schools, and protecting schools from hostile red tape are high priorities. Otherwise, the baby bust will close choice schools.”
The new enrollment numbers show Milwaukee’s choice program added 235 students this year.
Racine’s school choice program lost 14 students, and the state’s special needs choice program gained 419. But it was the statewide school choice program that saw the largest enrollment increases. The Wisconsin Parental Choice Program added 1,814 students this fall.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin has paid billions of dollars in recent years for outside investors to manage most of the state’s retirement funds even though it has an expansive team of highly paid investment employees, according to state data.
State auditors this year urged the state of Wisconsin Investment Board to create specific plans that might shift more of that management to state employees “because external management is more expensive,” a recent report by the Legislative Audit Bureau said.
The bureau’s analysis of the Investment Board’s performance last year found that the state paid about $1.2 billion to non-employee investors, who managed about 61% of the state’s retirement funds.
That percentage is more than triple the limit that is stipulated by longstanding state law. But the board has determined it is not beholden to the limit.
A spokesperson for the Investment Board said it manages a larger share of investments than other public retirement systems and that its decisions have yielded returns of about $5 billion more in the past five years than its benchmark goal.
“This approach has proven quite successful,” Jay Risch, the board’s communications and government relations manager, told The Center Square.
Meantime, the board’s employees are by far the highest paid among Wisconsin’s state agencies, according to state salary data. Nearly 40 of those employees have annual compensations of at least $500,000 each, and the top three have been paid more than $1 million each.
Part of their pay is from performance bonuses that total tens of millions of dollars each year.
It’s unclear whether the board has formulated plans to keep more of the investment management with its staff.
“As a general rule, SWIB does not comment on its investments and strategies,” Risch said, using an acronym for the Investment Board.
A law change
Investment Board employees are charged with overseeing about $150 billion that funds the Wisconsin Retirement System.
That includes a primary fund that comprises the bulk of that money and a variable fund of about $12 billion that employees can select for half of their pension contributions. The variable fund has a riskier investment strategy with the possibility of higher returns.
In the past five years, the performance of those funds has exceeded the board’s benchmark goals, according to the latest state data. The investment returns for the main fund have averaged about 8% in that time, compared with a benchmark of about 7%. The variable fund’s returns have been about 12.8% – slightly higher than the benchmark. The board’s long-term rate of return expectation is at least 6.8%.
State lawmakers in 2007 broadened the Investment Board’s authority over how it can manage the money.
Before that, the board’s strategies were limited by statutes that specified what types of investments were allowable. The law also limited outside-of-government management of the retirement funds to 20% of their total.
But the law change gave the board permission to “manage the money and property with … care, skill, prudence and diligence.” Attorneys general in two separate opinions in 2008 and 2022 concluded that it empowered the board to invest in ways that are counter to the longstanding restrictions.
As a result, the board has delegated more of its investing to outside firms, often to gain access to private investment funds.
In 2020, just over half of the assets were managed by state investors, according to the Legislative Audit Bureau. In 2024, about 61% were managed by outside investors.
“Historically, SWIB’s goal had been to increase the percentage of assets managed internally,” a bureau report this year said.
The report noted the fees paid to outside investors, partly based on investment performance, have regularly eclipsed $1 billion annually in recent years. It also noted that the paid fees have increased for all investment types.
Auditors recommended the board create a plan that might prescribe which investment strategies are managed internally and the equipment, skills and staff numbers needed to do so.
The board declined a request from The Center Square to reveal the status of that plan or provide a draft of it.
State lawmakers who lead committees that oversee the Investment Board and Gov. Tony Evers’ office did not immediately respond to requests to comment.
Highly paid employees
In the auditors’ most recent analysis of board staff salaries, they found that the average compensation for the nearly 300-person board staff is about $150,000, but many make considerably more.
Investment Board employees represent about three-quarters of the state’s 100 highest-paid employees, according to state data. The list excludes university, legislative and judicial branch employees.
Edwin Denson, the state’s chief investment officer, was paid about $1.3 million in 2023, according to the most-recent state data. Anne-Marie Fink, a top investment officer, was paid about $1.2 million. Todd Mattina, a head economist, made $1.1 million.
Performance bonuses paid to the employees more than doubled from 2019 to 2023, the auditors found, even though they had been managing less of the investing over time. The board paid $13.9 million to 172 employees in 2019. It paid $30.6 million to 262 employees in 2023.
Two executive employees were awarded bonuses of $1 million and $510,000 in 2023, the audit report said, although it did not identify them.
Risch said the pay is meant to be competitive with other public pension systems and private firms.

(The Center Square) – Tuition at the University of Wisconsin has been “like a rollercoaster” with tuition freezes followed by hefty increases over the past 50 years, according to Rep. David Murphy, R-Hortonville.
That’s why he is pushing Senate Bill 399, which would tie future tuition increases to the consumer price index for the prior year rather than allowing the schools to increase tuition further in an individual year.
Murphy began pushing the bill while the state was in a tuition freeze for the University of Wisconsin campuses, at which point there was support for the bill from university system advocates, according to Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken. He read from Badgers United testifying for the policy in 2019.
Jacque told The Center Square this week that a lack of guardrails on tuition increases has allowed to University of Wisconsin to spend like “drunken sailors” and avoid taking hard looks at expenses surrounding the system while increasing student tuition costs.
An audit earlier this year showed an increase in staff and salaries over the past 10 years while student enrollment has dropped by 16,000.
Representatives from the University of Wisconsin were at public hearings in the Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges for the tuition cap and several other potential changes, including an attempt to block online class fees unless the university could prove the fees are tied to actual expenses.
Universities of Wisconsin Interim Vice President of Finance and Administration Julie Gordon said that affordability is always at the forefront for the Board of Regents and that it is sometimes difficult to fully realize the additional online course costs immediately.
Those costs can include training for professors, technology, student verification and test-taking integrity checks.
Gordon said the university system is in the process of simplifying bills so they don’t read like telephone bills with extensive lists of add-on costs and instead provide a clear cost of tuition.
“Ease and clarity of message is incredibly important,” Gordon said.
Jacque said that he has worked on affordability in the University of Wisconsin System since he was part of student government at UW-Madison. He wants to make certain the university is prioritizing affordability and applauded UW-Green Bay for not taking the optional 1% increase in tuition that was approved this summer after the Wisconsin budget was approved.
The Board of Regents approved a 4% tuition increase along with a 1% optional increase on its campuses in July in the weeks after the new state budget included a two-year $256 million budget increase with the schools receiving $1.13 billion in capital budget and $316 million for operational budget.
“Have we looked at every other option first before going to students?” Jacque asked.

(The Center Square) – Minor league baseball players in Wisconsin are finally going to see all of the benefits of their last contract.
The Wisconsin Senate approved legislation that will align state law with Minor League Baseball’s 2023 minor league collective bargaining agreement.
The 2023 deal declared Minor League players as salaried employees, with many new benefits including increased pay, team-paid health insurance, and increased housing benefits.
Wisconsin law still treats the players as hourly workers and makes them eligible for overtime. The change that passed through the Senate ends the overtime requirement.
“Wisconsin is home to roughly 70 minor league players who are set to realize the benefits included in the new CBA. Unfortunately, a change in Wisconsin law is necessary for this new agreement to be upheld. SB 374 exempts minor league baseball players from Wisconsin’s wage-and-hour laws by treating them as salaried professionals. This would line up Wisconsin’s statute with the new collective bargaining agreement,” Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, explained.
Wisconsin has several minor league teams, but only two will be impacted by the change. Players for the Brewers’ affiliate Timber Rattlers in Appleton, and the Miami Marlins affiliate Sky Carp in Beloit.
“Being a professional baseball player is a unique job, to say the least. With countless hours of training, practicing, rehabbing, playing the game, and more. If minor league teams are forced to track hours and overtime, players could feel the effects through reduced playing time, practice, or training to avoid accruing overtime,” Feyen added.
Feyen said the 2023 CBA hiked minor league pay, in some cases by almost 140%.
The legislation now heads to Gov. Tony Evers’ desk for his signature.

(The Center Square) – A bill that would require school boards across Wisconsin to create rules banning cell phones during instructional time took another step to becoming law when the Wisconsin Senate approved Assembly Bill 29 with a 29-4 vote.
Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Fox Crossing, cited a Marquette poll that showed 89% support a cell phone ban during instructional time and 72% support an overall ban.
“These are devices that are taking away from our kids’ learning and folks are asking for us to do something about it,” Cabral-Guevara said.
States across the country have moved to ban cell phones at school or during certain parts of school.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/issues/education/article_f1abda1c-050d-5a12-8241-91c38c13edd8.html
“Wisconsin seems to be the only state where this is a partisan issue,” Cabral-Guevara said.
Sen. Melissa Ratcliff, D-Cottage Grove, said that the bill would take away local control and cause safety issues if students didn’t have access to cell phones during a lockdown.
“This measure, though well meaning, would be an immediate step backward,” Ratcliff said.
Ratcliff said that she received a text message from her daughter, who was at a high school not far from Abundant Life Christian School in Madison when a shooting occurred.
She believes that students should have access to their phones and had “strong opposition to the bill.”

(The Center Square) – The public has an answer in one of Wisconsin’s most- watched Congressional races.
State Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, announced she will not be running for the congressional seat in the Northwoods.
“I have spent my entire life in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, growing up working on my family’s Christmas tree farm, raising my children, and running a small business. I love the Northwoods, and representing the people of Northern Wisconsin in Madison is a true honor,” she said in a statement. “After months of thought, prayer, and discussions with my husband, I have decided to not seek higher office. This is not the right time for my family, and besides, I love representing my constituents in Madison as a State Senator.”
Felzkowski, who is the Senate president, said she plans to continue in the state legislature.
“There’s a lot of work still to be done in Wisconsin, and I look forward to continuing to fight for a brighter future in our state,” Felzkowski added.
Her decision to stay in the Senate comes as Democrats in Wisconsin look to flip the upper chamber.
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein said on UpFront that the Wisconsin Senate is the most flippable body in the entire country.
“What we’ve been told time and time again by a lot of people is the Senate Democrats are the most flippable chamber that we’re going to have in the entire United States,” Hesselbein said. “Phone calls keep coming, the entire country, in the entire country, people are telling us this is the most hopeful chamber in the entire country,”
Keeping Felzkowski in the Senate means one less senate seat that Republicans would have to fight for.
Felzkowski’s decision now opens the race for congress in the Northwoods.
Current Congressman Tom Tiffany is running for governor, and a number of northern Wisconsin Republicans are expected to jump at the chance to run in the red district.
Republican Jessi Ebben, who ran for western Wisconsin’s congressional seat in 2020, has already jumped into the race.
Republicans are also expecting Michael Alfonso, who is the son-in-law of former Northwoods Congressman Sean Duffy to also enter the race.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to limit tuition increases at the University of Wisconsin System to the consumer price index after UW approved a 5% tuition increase earlier this year.
A bill to limit the full tuition increase – which includes tuition and mandatory fees – will have a public hearing in Wisconsin’s Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges on Wednesday.
The fiscal estimate on Senate Bill 399 estimates that a 1% undergraduate tuition and fees increase would amount to $9.7 million while a 2.93% increase would be worth $28.5 million.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/proposals/sb399
The University of Wisconsin waited until the budget process was completed in July before voting to approve a 5% tuition increase on its campuses in July. That timeline was questioned by Republican lawmakers.
https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_00a9d5da-1d55-499f-8bc7-0aa5cef4aad5.html
The new Wisconsin budget included a two-year $256 million budget increase with the schools receiving $1.13 billion in capital budget and $316 million for operational budget.
Sen. Andre Jacque, R-New Franken, is the bill’s primary sponsor and will testify on the bill Wednesday. Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, and Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, are also sponsors.
“Wisconsin families plan budgets while bureaucrats plan tuition hikes,” said Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, told The Center Square. “After the largest funding boost in nearly 20 years, the UW System is raising tuition for the third straight year.
“Those same Wisconsin families are now paying twice, once through taxes and again through tuition. Hopefully the Evers/Rodriguez administration will support this bill, restoring some level of predictability and protecting affordability.”
The fiscal estimate from the University of Wisconsin System noted that the cap on fees means that some programs would not be “self-supporting” due to “pay plan, fringe benefits, facilities maintenance and debt service payments.”
The UW System also said that different schools often have differing tuition increases.
“This bill does not account for necessary flexibility in determining tuition in any given year,” the fiscal estimate said. “For example, the BOR currently considers campus-specific needs, programmatic cost differences, and other sources of revenue in determining an individual campus’s tuition rate. Tuition increases are not necessarily uniform across our 13 universities.”
The July increase included a base 4% undergraduate tuition increase with an optional 1% increase that will be used by all of the schools except UW-Green Bay. UW-River Falls saw a 5.8% increase.
The committee will also hear Senate Bill 532, which would block online course fees from being charged unless the fee is set to go directly to cover actual costs to the school for offering the course online.
The Center Square was unable to reach Jacque for comment before publication.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Republican Congressman Scott Fitzgerald says he’s willing to talk about Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act subsidies, but he says Democrats must reopen the government first.
Fitzgerald was on UpFront over the weekend, and he said Democrats could vote at any time to reopen the government, and then there can be talks about how to deal with the healthcare system in this country.
“The [continuing resolution], it’s such a layup at this point,” Fitzgerald said. “If you want to have a discussion about health care, let’ss have that discussion. It’s a massive, complex issue that touches all Americans. And if they think we’re going to be able to sit at a table and negotiate something related to health care under the duress of a government shutdown, they’re just out of their minds.”
Fitzgerald said once the government is back open, there is certainly room for compromise.
“I’m all ears,” Fitzgerald said. “Extending Obamacare subsidies]] is something I think that has been frustrating for many of us who have watched the discussion, and I wasn’t necessarily part of that, but we can talk about Medicaid, Medicare, we can talk about all of it if you want.”
But Fitzgerald said it’s “outrageous” that Democrats think the best way to get to those talks is to now pay the troops.
Fitzgerald says he hopes the shutdown doesn’t last until next month, and said he’s worried about what will happen if it does. Specifically, he’s wondering about furloughs and federal layoffs.
“There’s kind of different set-ups for who’s working full-time and who isn’t, but yeah, I mean, all that’s going to have to be addressed at the end. I think It’s something that Congress has agreed on for many years,” Fitzgerald said. “So, we’ll wait, if this drags into November, though, good God, I just. an’t imagine that we aren’t going to do something to address some of these specific issues related to the shutdown.”