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State legislators spar over controversial UW-Madison course on Trump presidency

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There’s dueling viewpoints from the Assembly over a UW-Madison professor’s modern politics course.

The course syllabus says Trump “gleefully flouts the norms of governing” and describes a number of scandals he’s involved in.

Assemblyman Dave Murphy says the wording could have been better. “The syllabus was somewhat over the top, and I’m somewhat concerned about how it would affect students and their feelings about taking the course.” 

Murphy says he’s working for his constituents in raising concerns over the education of students. “They pay taxes that go to the University to fund this. They have a right to be heard and we have a right to say something about this.”

Democrat Assemblyman Jimmy Anderson says this is a perfect example of the sort of protected free speech that Republicans championed last session, and they have no room to complain. “I hope that in the future Representative Murphy and Speaker Vos take more careful consideration when they are selectively applying what they determine to be free speech.” 

“[They] made a big showing of saying how important is that we have free speech on campuses, and that we allow our students and professors to be able to speak their minds, and it struck me odd that we were now criticizing a professor for doing exactly that.”

Assemblyman Dave Murphy says his concerns were over the wording of the syllabus, and that he doesn’t have any desire to change the nature or content of the course.

Eight on primary ballot for Green Bay mayor

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There’s plenty of interest, in being the next mayor of Wisconsin’s third largest city. A crowded field of candidates to be mayor of Green Bay includes former alderman Guy Zima, who’s making his fifth bid for the job.

Zima made the Wednesday deadline to file papers as a candidate, bringing the total to eight.

The others, ougoing state Representative Eric Genrich, Brown County Board supervisors Patrick Evans and Patrick Bradley, former Alderman Joe Moore, City Council President Mark Steuer (stoyer), Nick Mortenson and Paul Boucher. Boucher said he’s ready to be mayor after being unemployed for most of the last 15 years.

WTAQ

Evers names Stanford Taylor to lead DPI

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Governor Elect Tony Evers has named his successor as State Superintendent of Schools. She’s current Assistant State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor.

Evers says Stanford Taylor “is a dedicated, thoughtful leader, who puts the best interests of kids before all else.”

“She is known and respected throughout the education community for her commitment to equity and her work to help all students reach academic success. I have known Carolyn for the better part of three decades and know she will be an exceptional state superintendent.”

“It will be an honor to serve the students, teachers, and families of Wisconsin as the next state superintendent,” Stanford Taylor said. “I am blessed to be surrounded by the talented and devoted staff in the department, who care about the work they do to improve the lives of our state’s youth. I look forward to this opportunity, and know that together, we can continue to advance educational equity for all students.”

She’ll hold that position until the end of Evers’ term as Superintendent in 2021 and will be the first African American to be state superintendent in state history.

Baraboo school officials consider action after Nazi salute photo circulates online

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Baraboo school officials are considering action after an photo of students allegedly performing a Nazi salute circulated on social media.

In a message posted to its Twitter account, the school district says the photo, which allegedly shows members of the class of 2019 performing the Nazi Salute, does not reflect the district’s values.

It was shared under the Baraboo Proud hashtag that the school uses to promote itself on social media.

District officials did not immediately respond to calls for comment, but a posting on their Twitter feed says they are considering all actions, including legal.

Success for school funding referendums in Wisconsin

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Wisconsin taxpayers voted on Tuesday to invest at least $1.3 billion of additional revenue into their local public schools. Jason Stein, research director with the Wisconsin Policy Forum, said dozens of school funding referendums were successful with voters, noting that the majority of the 82 that were on local ballots last week ended up passing.

Stein said there’s not any single factor that can account for referendum approvals — but a healthy economy is one. “I think the fact that the economy is doing pretty well and unemployment is low is a factor,” he said. “Clearly, a lot of factors had to come together, for this many districts to seek this much additional money from voters, and then you had to have a lot of factors come together for the voters to agree to give that to them.”

Stein said districts go to their voters for different reasons. “Do they have a lot more students and they need to build a new school, or a lot fewer students and they’re having trouble meeting their budgets due to declining state aid and revenue limits.”

Voters agreed to raise their own property taxes, in what’s been another record year for school district referendums.

Dozens of school spending referendums on ballot in Wisconsin

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School districts around Wisconsin have referendums on the ballot this Election Day. Sixty-one districts are asking voters to approve more money than allowed under state spending caps.

Those districts are requesting a total of $1.4 billion for building and remodeling projects, security improvements and educational programs. The majority of the referendums are rural districts, where declining enrollment leads to reduced state aid, according to a report by the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Walker proposes two-thirds state funding for schools

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Walker

Locked in a tough reelection race with Democrat Tony Evers, Governor Scott Walker is out with a new campaign process – two-thirds state funding for K-12 education in the state.

“It’s not just about two-thirds, it’s about two-thirds combined with keep the (Act 10) reforms intact,” Walker said Monday. “Schools alone have have saved more than three billion dollars. That’s money that goes overwhelmingly into the classroom.”

Evers

That two-thirds commitment, first established by Governor Tommy Thompson, has not been met since the 2002-2003 school year. Over the weekend, Evers proposed a ten percent middle class tax cut – something the Walker campaign called “a gimmick.”

Walker is campaigning Monday with Thompson, who served as Health and Human Services Secretary in President George W. Bush’s administration. Evers is campaigning with Kathleen Sebelius, a former Governor of Kansas and HHS for President Barack Obama.

Standardized tests: modest math improvement and persistent achievement gaps

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Just half of public school students grades three through eight are testing proficient or better in English and math. The results of the Third Annual Forward Exam were released Monday.

They show that benchmarks haven’t been met in the previous two years, either.

Achievement gaps also persist. More than 40 points separate white and black students in many categories. Some 455,000 students across Wisconsin took the exam between mid-March and early May.

UW-Madison and Foxconn announce research partnership

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Foxconn and UW Madison have announced a research partnership. UW Madison Chancelor Rebecca Blank, announced Monday that Foxconn will give $100 million dollars to fund science and technology research. “I’m very excited about this. You don’t get $100 million gifts very often,” Blank said.


The UW plans to raise an additional $100 million in matching funds in this Foxconn deal, as part of a larger $3.2 billion fundraising effort. The Foxconn money will go towards development of an on-campus Foxconn Institute for Research in Science and Technology, or FIRST.

Blank was asked who will own any “intellectual property” generated there. “We have an agreement about exactly how we’re going to work on this,” she said. “The understanding is that we will both have some ownership of the intellectual property.”

Also on Monday, Foxconn exec Louis Woo said the company’s commitment to the massive Racine County project is unchanged. “Our original commitment to the state of Wisconsin, 13,000 meaninggul and creative jobs, that has not changed. Ten billion dollars invested, that has not changed.”

UW-System approves name changes for two-year campuses

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A merger of the UW-Systems two and four year campuses is bringing new names to the colleges.

Eleven of the two year campuses are taking the names of their sponsoring University.

The former UW-Marathon County is now University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Wausau. And the former UW-Marshfield/Wood County is now University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Marshfield. New signage, reflecting the purple and gold school colors, will be in place in September.

Other name changes came in Waukesha, Rice Lake, Sheboygan, Marinette, Manitowoc and Richland.

The campus merger program was approved last year, and UW officials say the change allows for better access to classes and education, and hopefully attracts more students to the University system.

WSAU