Wisconsin Right Now

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed a lawsuit for several parents of students against the Milwaukee Public School District for failing to provide the required 25 school resource officers in its schools. Wisconsin’s Act 12 requires MPS to have 25 SROs in place by Jan. 1, 2024, during normal school hours. “I think MPS needs to take their input from the parents and put those safety resource officers in the school,” MPS parent Charlene Abughrin said in a statement. “Otherwise, it’s just reckless and dangerous behavior left unchecked. No discipline, no consequences. What are we teaching our kids?” The WILL lawsuit cited several times this year when the SRO requirement was publicly discussed at board meetings or by district leadership, which acknowledged the requirement has not been met. “The actions and inactions of the board and the statements of these board directors all make clear they are aware of their plain duty under state law, but are deliberately not compl...

The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty is out with a new report that says rolling back the limitations on collective bargaining included adopted more than a decade ago in Act 10 would cost local governments in Wisconsin nearly $500 million. “At the time of Act 10’s passage, the legislation saved Wisconsin from pending financial ruin. As the federal government pulled back funding provided in the Great Recession, the state faced a budget deficit of more than $3.6 billion – the equivalent of nearly $5 billion today. Act 10 fixed the fiscal hole, and state and local budgets adjusted to the ‘new normal.’ There is little doubt that going back on the law would be ruinous for all levels of government,” the report states. WILL’s Will Flanders said the nearly half-billion-dollar price tag for local governments includes: ●      $113 million in new health insurance costs ●      $360 million in new retirement benefit costs ●      $12.7 million in new salary costs “When faced with...

“It is important to note that this is not a story about African American students disrupting learning for students of other races. In many cases, other African American students are the ones most harmed by disruptive classroom environments” The agreement to suspend fewer Black students in Milwaukee Public Schools has led to more students feeling less safe in their schools. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty released a report on Wednesday that looks at the impact of the 2018 agreement between MPS and the Department of Education. WILL Research Director Will Flanders and Policy Intern Amelia Wedward authored the report. WILL found: Suspension rates declined in Milwaukee after the MPS agreement. Reduced suspension for African American students resulted in lower reports of safety. Suspension rates for other student groups change in a more “normal” manner. Black students suffer the most because of the changes. Approximately 80% of MPS's student bod...