Audits: Many State, University of Wisconsin Offices Empty as Employees Work from Home

Working from home

A pair of Republican lawmakers are promising to hold hearings into why so many state and University of Wisconsin workers aren’t in their offices.

A pair of audits from the Legislative Audit Bureau looked at telework and office space trends.

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Education Reformers Question Wisconsin Schools’ Expectations

Despite test scores that show nearly 60% of students in Wisconsin schools cannot read or do math at grade level, more than 90% of school districts in the state meet the state’s expectations.

The Department of Public Instruction recently released its school and school district report cards.

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WMC Survey of Businesses Finds Alarming Number of Wisconsin K-12 Graduates Aren’t Prepared for the Workforce

As Wisconsin businesses struggle through a worker shortage crisis, it appears Wisconsin’s public schools are failing to prepare students for the workforce.

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce’s latest employer survey finds 73 percent of responding businesses said ‘no’ when asked if students graduating from the Badger State’s K-12 education system are prepared for the workforce.

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Report: Wisconsin Schools Directing Largest Share of Federal COVID Aid to Construction Projects

A new report shows Wisconsin schools are marking a significant amount for federal COVID relief on construction projects, outpacing planned pandemic aid for core educational and mental health programs.  

The Institute for Reforming Government’s updated K-12 COVID relief Audit found some $265 million of the current $1.49 billion in taxpayer funds allocated is going to construction.

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Wisconsin Test Scores Show Slight Bump in Math, Drop-Off in Reading

The latest snapshot of Wisconsin schools shows that kids are still not back to where they were before the coronavirus closed some schools for more than a year.

Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction on Thursday released the scores from the Forward Exam for elementary school kids, the ACT Aspire for freshmen and sophomores, and the ACT for high school juniors.

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Gov. Evers Vetoes Reading Readiness, Signs Spending Transparency Plan

Tony Evers

Wisconsin’s governor scuttled a plan aimed at getting kids to read earlier, but has signed a new law that advocates say will give parents a better view of how local schools are spending their money.

Gov. Tony Evers on Friday vetoed AB 454, better known as the reading readiness plan.

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School Choice Wisconsin: Enrollment Numbers Show More Families Adopting Schools of Choice

Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction on Friday released enrollment figures for this school year, and statewide enrollment once again fell.

“Wisconsin’s total school district headcount for the third Friday of September 2021 was 814,101, a decline of 0.5 percent from September 2020,” DPI said. “4K and preschool special education headcounts rebounded with a 7.0 percent increase from last year, and kindergarten headcount increased slightly by 0.7 percent . First through 12th grades — where Wisconsin’s mandatory school attendance laws apply — were down 1.1 percent.”

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Wisconsin Lawmakers Look at Opt-out Option for Parents on Gender and Sex Classes

Girl student standing and holding books in hand in a classroom

Wisconsin lawmakers are wrestling with the question of who should talk to their kids about sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Assembly Committee on Education on Thursday held a marathon hearing on a plan that would allow parents to opt their kids out of classes on both.

“This is merely just a way to give parents a choice,” Rep Bob Whitke, R-Racine, said. “Because there are a lot of concepts now that are coming out in school … it’s being done in a way that parents don’t understand, and parents aren’t notified.

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