Gov. Tony Evers took the next step in starting additional audits of Milwaukee Public Schools on Monday, opening a request for services to conduct an independent operational audit of the district and starting a waiver to expedite the process of hiring an auditor to conduct an independent instructional audit.

The requests come as the state’s largest school district continues to deal with the fallout of being several months late in submitting required financial documents to DPI. Last week, the district and to work towards submitting the overdue financial documents and to address the factors that contributed to the delay.

Evers said last week that he would move forward with his plans to conduct operational and instructional audits in addition to the ongoing financial audit. He said in a statement on Monday that it’s “exceedingly important” that the audits are started “quickly to fully identify the extent of the problems in order to work toward having future conversations about solutions.”

Evers also said it’s “critical” that Milwaukee Public Schools cooperates with the state Department of Public instruction during the financial audit in progress.

“I look forward to these audits getting underway so we can support kids, families, and educators in MPS, as well as the greater community,” Evers said in a statement.

According to the operational audit request, the audit would need to include a review of compliance and reporting functions, financial management and controls, an analysis of the district’s human resources processes and the identification of areas to improve effectiveness and efficiency of the district’s central office.

The Evers administration will take responses to the operational audit request through June 24.

The instructional audit would need to provide the state government, MPS and the public with analysis, guidance and recommendations on several issues including supporting positive learning environments for students; supporting educators, staff, and administrators and implementing curriculum and instruction best practices.

Milwaukee Board President Marva Herndon said in a statement that the board is appreciative of the Evers’ support.

“We, too, are committed to identifying root causes of district challenges so they can be addressed moving forward,” Herndon said.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on and .

Gov. Tony Evers signed education-related legislation Friday, including a measure to tighten protections for students against strip searches and sexual misconduct.

One measure, Senate Bill 111, , was introduced in reaction to a 2022 incident in which a Suring School District employee, who was searching for vaping devices, allegedly ordered six teenage girls to undress down to their underwear. Neither the students’ parents or law enforcement were informed about or present at the time of the strip search.

The law redefines the meaning of “strip search” and “private area” to include undergarments in order to protect students from any official, employee or agent of any school or school district conducting strip searches.

Rep. David Steffen (R-Green Bay), who coauthored the legislation, said in a statement that “being treated with dignity and basic privacy is something that every student should expect when they enter our schools.

“The event at Suring revealed a statutory loophole that needed to be closed,” Steffen said. “This bill will protect our students from experiencing such intrusive searches in the future.”

Another measure, Senate Bill 333, , seeks to better protect students by making sexual misconduct against a student by any school staff member or volunteer a Class I felony. It also adds more violations to the offenses where the state superintendent would be required to revoke a license  without a hearing, and prohibits a licensee from ever having their license reinstated by the state superintendent if they are convicted of a crime against a child that is a Class H felony or higher or a felony invasion of privacy or sexual misconduct by a school staff person or volunteer.

Other education-related legislation includes:

SB 447, , which allows schools and school districts to get prescriptions for glucagon — a treatment for people with known Type 1 diabetes. It also allows schools to authorize school personnel to administer the glucagon to someone at school if the student’s prescribed glucagon isn’t available and grants civil liability immunity to a school and its school personnel.��AB 223, , which provides civil immunity for schools and school personnel for administering an opioid antagonist in a school setting.��AB 914, , which allows schools to adopt a plan for management of students who have asthma to administer a short-acting bronchodilator, for the prescription for a short-acting bronchodilator to be issued in the name of a school and grants immunity from civil liability.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on and .

Mykenzie Ritschard of New Glarus had not signed up to speak at Tuesday’s rally in support of funding Child Care Counts, funding that Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee eliminated last week without explanation. But when organizer and child care provider Corrine Hendrickson opened up the podium to whoever wanted to speak, Ritschard fought through tears and sobs to tell her story.

Ritschard’s son, the oldest of two children, has autism. She struggled to find child care until she offered to quit her “dream job” in a dentist’s office to work at The Growing Tree, a New Glarus child care center owned and operated by child care advocate Brooke Skidmore.

Skidmore “jumped at the offer mostly because she’s so short staffed,” Ritschard said.

Additionally, when Ritschard’s son was diagnosed with autism, Skidmore allowed his therapists to come into the center to work with him, something not many child care centers permit.

“We’ve seen so much progress,” Ritschard said. “I really don’t know where we would be without the opportunity that we were given.”

Ritschard, Hendrickson, Skidmore, and several other child care providers spoke on Tuesday about the potentially devastating consequences of cutting Child Care Counts funding from the budget, for them, their students, and the economy as a whole as families have to make hard decisions in the face of a shortage of openings and rising costs.

“We are here because we are trying to make clear just how misguided this decision is,” said Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine). “It is our job to design and implement programs that help fill the gaps in essential services in the state of Wisconsin. This decision by the GOP to gut the program will do the exact opposite. It is cynical, it is shortsighted, and it is wrong for the state of Wisconsin.”

The $340 million Gov. Tony Evers had in the budget for Child Care Counts was to maintain the program, which many providers stated was not enough. From Jan. 1 until Tuesday’s rally, the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families recorded 166 child care centers had closed. Many said that without that financial support, they may have to raise their rates up to $50 per week per child, putting families in a bind. A from the Wisconsin Policy Forum (WPF) found that year-round child care is more expensive than in-state tuition at any University of Wisconsin school.

Vince Williams, policy advisor for State Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) who co-chairs the Joint Finance Committee (JFC), told Hendrickson in an email that Child Care Count “meant to provide short-term relief.”

“It is important to recognize that the Child Care Counts program was started with one-time, federal COVID relief money” Williams wrote. “This funding is not ongoing and ends this year…Child Care Counts was an important program to help child care centers, employees and families weather the pandemic. But, again, it was funded with one-time, federal relief funds and was not meant to continue.”

Williams also pointed to the $95 million JFC allocated for other child care programs:

$45 million for the Wisconsin Shares program, which provides subsidies for low-income families to pay for child care.
$30 million for Quality Care for Quality Kids which will fund the resumption of YoungStar bonuses paid directly to child care centers.
$5 million for REWARD stipends that are paid directly to child care workers.
$15 million for a new revolving loan fund for start-up child care centers.

Last week JFC approved raising the household income ceiling for accessing the Wisconsin Shares program from 185% of the federal poverty level to 200%, making it more accessible to low-income Wisconsinites. The budget motion also eases the reduction of benefits when a household’s income increases above the ceiling, reducing the “benefits cliff.”

The WPF’s report found that cutting Child Care Counts without implementing new funding streams could “re-creat[e] the same or even greater challenges for the industry, families and the economy at large,” however.

Advocates say one obstacle is a profound misunderstanding of early childhood education and the child care industry. Phillip Scott, co-owner of Crone Apothecary, struggled as a single father to find child care for his son. Scott and several other small business owners went to Washington D.C. with Main Street Alliance in May to advocate for federal child care funding. According to Scott, when they met with Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, Johnson said something about “single women need to stop having babies out of wedlock” and could “easily find a rotation with other moms and take turns.”

“We went quiet… [T]he ladies in the room that were child care workers got very, very upset,” Scott told the Examiner. “When this is what is being talked about at the federal level, I can only imagine what the Republican Party is discussing here at our Capitol.”

Based on his own experience, Scott said this could have a major impact on the current labor shortage and entrepreneurship.

“Right now, we’re struggling with people having to decide, do I wanna work and pay 40 to 60% of my income to be able to send my kid to child care so I can actually have a job? Or do I just stay home and figure that out. And typically, if it’s not a two-income household, that’s not even an option,” Scott said. “I do have a lot of friends that are entrepreneurs that unfortunately the mom or the dad have chosen to stay home. And being [a single-income household] has made it hard.”

“If we don’t fix this problem and extend this money to be able to move this forward for children in our state, we’re gonna fall behind economically,” Scott said.

Beyond the impact of cutting funding for Child Care Counts, Nicky Krause of New Glarus took to the podium to voice her concerns about what the decision said about democracy in Wisconsin. She recounted how, despite probing from state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) for an explanation, none of the Republicans who voted to remove the funding gave an explanation why.

“We have an issue where there’s 80% popular support. That to me suggests that this is not a partisan thing and yet the lawmakers did not feel the need to explain what their reasons are,” Krause said. “And if they give no reasons, then we can’t exactly find a pathway to compromise and reconciliation. So it’s disturbing. The democracy cannot function if there isn’t this basic reciprocity, and I don’t see that.”

The response from Marklein’s office was sent to Hendrickson almost immediately after the rally. The only explanation given was that the funding initially came from the federal government. In a state with a $7 billion budget surplus, advocates say that explanation seems incomplete.

None of the state’s big business lobbies or right-wing think tanks have explicitly come out in support of the decision. However, Rachel Ver Velde, senior director of Workforce, Education and Employment Policy at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, told a state Senate committee on Monday that WMC favors “tax credits for employers to set up employer based child care options to or to buy slots for their employees.”

“We think that a lot of employers view this as something that is important, and they want to help provide those resources to their employees,” Ver Velde said. “I think they would have a higher incentive to do so if there was tax credits tied to that as well.”

Hendrickson, responding to Ver Velde’s comment over email, wondered why other businesses should get tax credits instead of the state directly funding child care providers. Tying child care to an employer limits access, she added.

“What happens when that business closes or lays people off, etc and then that child no longer has care and the parent can’t access it to find a job?” Hendrickson asked. “How does a small business with a lot of employees — retail, bars, restaurants — compete with big businesses? This is one more way that large businesses can continue to monopolize industries.”

Hendrickson also said tax credits wouldn’t necessarily translate to higher wages for child care workers, which is needed to keep centers staffed. WPF’s report found that lead early childhood educators earn on average $24,981, or $12 an hour assuming a 40-hour workweek.

Lani Harrison, who used to work at The Growing Tree in New Glarus, also took to the podium on Tuesday to explain why those wages were not sustainable.

“I loved my job,” Harrison said. “I enjoyed the challenges. Every day was a new adventure with the amazing and inquisitive minds of a child.”

But even with a Bachelor’s degree, her family was living paycheck-to-paycheck, with no health insurance, dental insurance, vision care, retirement, or student loan forgiveness. She saw more than 35 of her coworkers leave child care. Eventually Harrison, too, left the profession to become a special education teacher at a public school.

“[Child care] teachers will continue to leave the field for higher paying jobs that are less stressful and have benefits,” Harrison said. “How can child care providers stay open without the crucial resource for teachers? How can the rest of the society work without child care?”

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on and .

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signed legislation on Tuesday that increases local government funding, provides Milwaukee with a path to address its funding crisis, and requires several controversial policy changes for local governments across the state. Evers also signed another bill that was negotiated alongside the local government funding bill, increasing school districts’ revenue limits and boosting state aid to independent charter and private voucher schools.

Evers said the shared revenue issue is one that he began working on when he first took office in 2019.

“That effort began for me with a simple truth: that for far too long, our local communities have been forced to do more with less,” Evers said at a signing ceremony in Wausau. “We’ve seen the consequences of that in action, play out in communities across Wisconsin, especially in recent years… Local partners in every corner of the state have been forced to make impossible decisions about what essential services to fund, having to choose between paying for first responders, addressing PFAS, fixing the roads, and other critical priorities that affect the health, safety, and well-being of Wisconsinites everywhere.”

Evers signed the shared revenue bill, which will dedicate 20% of the state’s sales tax to local government funding, while surrounded by a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, including Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) and Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee), and local officials from across the state.

“I believe… the state should be doing its part to support our local partners and our local communities should have the resources they need to make sure those basic and unique needs are done,” Evers continued. “And I’ve also believed that supporting our local communities is an area where we could work to find common ground and bipartisan support. Well, folks, I was right.”

The bill will provide an additional $274.9 million to that can be spent on costs related to law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services, emergency response communications, public works and transportation.

The Wisconsin Counties Association and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities celebrated the “historic” legislation, praising the bipartisan efforts and saying the new funding would position the state for future prosperity.

“Working alongside our state leaders, this new law creates a sustainable funding source for local governments and more closely aligns incentives for government to promote a vibrant and flourishing economy,” said Mark O’Donnell, the counties association chief executive. “Under this momentous agreement, local governments will see an increase in shared revenue payments linked to our state’s economy, creating the resources to provide the vital services our citizens need.”

The legislation also creates an innovation grant program meant to encourage counties and municipalities to consolidate services.

Milwaukee provisions challenged by local stakeholders

The signing happened more than three hours away from Milwaukee, the state’s most populous city, which was also a major point of contention throughout the negotiation process. Evers’ spokeswoman Britt Cudabeck and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley’s spokesman Brandon Weathersby both said that he chose to sign the bill in Wausau because the legislation affects every Wisconsin community, not just Milwaukee.

The legislation gives Milwaukee and Milwaukee County the ability to enact, if two-thirds of their governing bodies approve, an additional 2% sales tax in Milwaukee and 0.4% tax in Milwaukee County. The additional revenue can be used to pay for unfunded pension obligations and public safety costs but comes with strings attached.

Crowley and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson also joined Evers in Wausau for the signing.

“For Milwaukee County, this brings us closer to avoiding a devastating fiscal cliff and continue critical service our residents rely on each day,” Crowley said in a statement. “As deliberations on the sole issue of additional revenue turn to local legislative bodies, it’s important that Milwaukee County, as an arm of the state, acknowledge the fiscal realities that we must confront.”

Crowley said the fiscal cliff is “the biggest single threat” to improving the quality of life for Milwaukee County residents, and that it’s important they don’t “miss the mark.”

The support from the top county and city leaders comes as other local Milwaukee officials explore taking action to mitigate certain policies in the legislation.

Milwaukee Common Council President José G. Pérez said that it’s essential that the local body works to pass the 2% sales tax as soon as possible. He also said, however, that the council will begin efforts to remove several provisions from the state statutes.

Pérez said the council will take up legislation separate from the sales tax that would double funding for the city’s Office of Equity and Inclusion and Office of African American Affairs, set aside money for litigation to fight provisions that “overstep our home rule,” and direct local agencies to apply for a federal grant to extend the streetcar.

The state law signed by Evers includes language that prohibits the city from using money from levying taxes on developing, operating or maintaining its streetcar, bars the city from using tax revenue on diversity, equity and inclusion positions, requires the city to maintain the level of law enforcement and fire department staffing at at least the current level and requires Milwaukee Public Schools reinstate school resource officers in schools.

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression criticized the legislation in a statement, calling it “the worst assault on the people’s movements in Wisconsin since the victories achieved coming out of the George Floyd Uprising of 2020.” Pointing to requirements to reintroduce police officers into MPS schools and for the city to maintain specified levels of law enforcement, the activist group said that the bill reduces people’s say over policing in their communities.

“These bills are a direct response to policy wins over the police secured by the Milwaukee Alliance and other community organizing efforts, including the banning of chokeholds, elimination of no-knock warrants, and a policy forcing the timely public release of video footage of police crimes,” the group stated.

Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), who voted against the bill, pointed out that it requires Milwaukee to hire an additional 165 police officers beyond its current number. “If they can’t find qualified candidates, the city risks losing 15% of its shared revenue, for the next year. This is not progress,” Larson said Tuesday morning.

Evers signs education funding bill

Evers also signed , which will increase payments to Wisconsin’s private choice and independent charter schools and raise revenue limits for school districts, on Tuesday. The bill was negotiated alongside the shared revenue deal.

The bill would raise the cap on the minimum amount of revenue school districts are allowed to collect from state aid and local taxpayers to $11,000 per student from $10,000 and increase per-pupil aid payments for private voucher and independent charter schools.

The bill would increase the per-pupil payments for private voucher and independent charter schools. According to a , under the bill the aid for private school choice K-8 students would increase from $8,300 in the current year to $9,874 in the 2023-24 school year and $10,271 in the 2024-25 school year. Per-pupil payments for private school choice 9-12 students would rise from $9,045 to $12,368 and then to $12,765, and independent charter school students’ payments would increase from $9,264 to $11,366 and then to $11,763 per student.

Public school advocates, including the Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN), called on Evers to reject the deal, saying the bill underserves Wisconsin public school students.

“Public school students and local property taxpayers will pay the price, while private schools that can legally discriminate and pick and choose their students get a blank check from the state,” WPEN said in a statement. “With voucher enrollment caps set to come off entirely in 2 years, this is the most reckless and irresponsible thing Wisconsin could do with its massive surplus, especially when we consider that the nearly 80% of students participating in the statewide voucher program never attended a public school.”

Evers said on Tuesday that the “small bump” for independent charter and private voucher schools was a way to reach the goal of passing shared revenue.

“What people forget is everytime we have a budget for public schools, our money for vouchers goes up too and so there’s almost nothing different than last time,” Evers said. “We added a little bit more money in order to get this deal across the finish line, but the idea that somehow voucher schools and independent charters haven’t been receiving money and all of a sudden they are this time? That’s just not true.”

Evers also touted other portions of the education funding that was negotiated with shared revenue, but included in the budget rather than as separate legislation.

“I will never stop fighting to do the right thing for our kids because I believe, as I’ve often said, that what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state,” Evers said. “Today, we’re one step closer to making a historic investment in this budget for K-12 schools and education.”

The investment includes an increase of $1 billion in state aid to public K-12 schools, raising the per-pupil aid by $325 in each year of the biennium, a $97 million increase in special education funding, $50 million to improve reading and literacy for K-12 students and $30 million to be spent on school-based mental health services.

He said the next step to introducing the new legislation is passing the biennial budget.

“We have to pass the budget,” Evers said. “The budget has not been signed. It hasn’t been approved by the Legislature, once that’s done I feel confident we’ll be in a good place to implement this.”

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Wisconsin Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Ruth Conniff for questions: info@wisconsinexaminer.com. Follow Wisconsin Examiner on and .

From historic test score declines to fractured learning recovery efforts, a teen mental health emergency, a high school absenteeism crisis and imploding college enrollment, the foundation of our education system has been rocked. Amid these trends, polls show parents more motivated by education to vote — and willing to cross party lines over school issues. 

Over the last several months, we’ve looked ahead to the Nov. 8 midterms and previewed the pivotal races that could reshape schools systems and priorities: New governors that could change course on local policies, new state superintendents that will oversee city and district initiatives, new ballot propositions that will prioritize education funds and potential Congressional shakeups that would affect broader learning recovery and accountability efforts. 

With education driving the political debate in a way it hasn’t for a generation, here are 16 key races we’ll be watching Tuesday night through the lens of how it will affect students: 

Florida Governor — As Kevin Mahnken notes in his race preview: “From Gov. Ron DeSantis’s early battles against mandatory COVID safety measures in schools to this year’s dramatic intervention in local school board races, the pugnacious conservative has embraced fights about what, and where, students learn. If he is known for nothing else in the VFW halls of Iowa and New Hampshire, DeSantis will always be cheered among conservative activists for his efforts to curb what he calls teacher indoctrination on controversial subjects like race, gender, and sexuality. In so doing, he has both locked Democrats into a battle over classroom instruction and redefined what it means to be an education governor in the 2020s.

“If anything, Democrats have been happy to pick up the gauntlet that DeSantis threw this year. Former Gov. Charlie Crist and the state party followed the governor’s lead on school board endorsements, backing a group of their own candidates. The Democratic challenger has also directly attacked the Stop WOKE and Parental Rights in Education laws, unveiling a ‘freedom to learn’ policy platform and vowing to make the state’s commissioner of education an elected office. To top it off, Crist chose as his running mate Karla Hernández-Mats, the head of Miami-Dade’s teacher’s union. The selection distilled an already-polarized debate — between committed education reformers and defenders of traditional public schools — even further. Experts called it an understandable political calculation, though not without potential downsides.” Read the full preview of the race in Florida. 

Texas Governor — Education policies and school choice initiatives have factored prominently into the top Texas contest. As the reported earlier this year: “A battle over school vouchers is mounting in the race to be Texas governor, set into motion after Republican incumbent Greg Abbott offered his clearest support yet for the idea in May. His Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke, is hammering Abbott over the issue on the campaign trail, especially seeking an advantage in rural Texas, where Democrats badly know they need to do better and where vouchers split Republicans. O’Rourke’s campaign is also running newspaper ads in at least 17 markets, mostly rural, that urge voters to ‘reject Greg Abbott’s radical plan to defund’ public schools. Abbott, meanwhile, is not shying away from the controversy he ignited when he said in May that he supports giving parents ‘the choice to send their children to any public school, charter school or private school with state funding following the student.’” . 

Georgia Superintendent — As Linda Jacobson reports in her preview: “Among the six candidates the Georgia Association of Educators endorsed for statewide office, all were Democrats, save one: Republican schools Superintendent Richard Woods. The two-term incumbent’s support of a controversial new ‘divisive concepts’ law that restricts what teachers can say about race and diversity in the classroom was apparently less worrisome to the union than the platform of Alisha Thomas Searcy, his Democratic challenger. ‘His opponent, regrettably, has a long history of advocating for taxpayer funding of private schools that we cannot overlook,’ President Lisa Morgan said when announcing the union’s slate of candidates. Searcy was elected to the state House at just 23 and consistently advocated for school choice legislation during her 12 years in office. She co-authored a law that allows students to transfer to other schools within their district, voted in favor of the state’s tax credit scholarship program and championed a constitutional amendment creating the State Charter Schools Commission. Groups seeking to start a new charter school can apply directly to the commission instead of their local district. Woods also supports charter schools, but expanding choice has not been the focus of his campaign.” Read the full preview of the race in Georgia. 

Arizona Governor — As Kevin Mahnken lays out in his race preview: “Amid debates this summer around parental rights, the teaching of controversial subjects, and LGBT issues in schools, Arizona politicians resolved the state’s longest-running education dispute. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and his allies in the state legislature pushed through an expansion of education savings accounts to all of the state’s 1.1 million students. The shift was the latest, and possibly the last, development in a lengthy war over school choice in the state. And as a political event, it may signify more than the hotly contested state elections this fall. Those campaigns are headlined by the gubernatorial bout, viewed as one of the closest in the country. But even though that race will serve as a bellwether on Election Day, delivering a rare battleground verdict on how well Democrats staved off Republicans’ midterm ambitions, its result likely cannot change the trajectory of school policy in Arizona, which will now feature more direct competition between public and private schools. Such sizable growth in ESAs has the potential to reshape the K-12 environment in one of America’s few remaining competitive states. The change was cheered by Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, a charismatic former news anchor who has been dubbed the ‘leading lady of Trumpism’ for her right-wing views and growing national profile. It was reviled by Democratic hopeful Katie Hobbs, who has captured her own national headlines over the last few years as the state’s top elections official. The contest between the two women will decide who leads the way for a newly altered school system.” Read the full preview of the race in Arizona.��

Wisconsin Governor — As Beth Hawkins reports in her preview: “Like many states, Wisconsin is awash in the newly charged politics over teaching about race and LGBTQ student rights. But the issues at the heart of what has become the most expensive gubernatorial race in the country are decidedly old school. A Democratic incumbent with long ties to traditional public education faces a GOP challenger who promises a dramatic expansion of the state’s private school voucher program, the oldest in the country.��As of late September, some $55 million had been spent on advertising, with the race between Democrat Tony Evers and Republican Tim Michels a toss-up. If Evers wins, residents can expect him to continue to push for more funding for the state’s traditional schools — and for the Republican-dominated legislature to push back. Those same lawmakers have already signaled support for Michels’ marquee proposal — making vouchers available to all Wisconsin students — even as it is unclear how they would pay for it.” Read the full snapshot of the race in Wisconsin.��

California Superintendent — As Kevin Mahnken reports in his preview: “California’s race for state superintendent is in its final days. But according to some local observers, the outcome has been in hand for most of the year. Incumbent Superintendent Tony Thurmond might have avoided campaigning entirely, in fact, if he’d picked up just a few extra points of support in the June primary. Instead, he settled for 46 percent of the vote — just a few points shy of the majority threshold to avoid a runoff — and the mantle of clear favorite heading into the fall. Thurmond’s opponent in the nonpartisan election, education advocate Lance Christensen, finished 34 points and more than two million votes behind him in the last round.” Thurmond was the slight victor over education reformers’ favored candidate in 2018; Christensen is an obscure former Republican staffer in the state assembly who has attacked the teachers’ union and quixotically pushed to bring private school choice to the deep-blue state. “And while the next superintendent will confront significant educational challenges, from pandemic-related learning loss to curricular reforms around math and English, the debate over the future of education policy has largely remained quiet.” Read the full preview. 

Oklahoma Governor — As Linda Jacobson writes in her preview: “Don Ford, a veteran Oklahoma educator who leads a rural schools network, initially thought state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister didn’t ‘understand the workings’ of schools outside the state’s major cities. But then Hofmeister, a former teacher and onetime owner of a Tulsa tutoring company, put half a million miles on her car traveling throughout the state. She listened as educators spoke of the challenges facing small-town schools. ‘She was willing to listen and learn by getting out into our districts,’ Ford said. Educational options in those communities are now center stage as voters prepare to choose their next governor. Incumbent Gov. Kevin Stitt is campaigning on a statewide ‘fund-students-not-systems’ platform and promises to ‘support any bills … that would give parents and students more freedom to attend the schools that best fit their learning needs.’ A voucher plan that died in the Senate earlier this year would have opened them to children in families that earn roughly three times what it takes to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, with most awards ranging from $5,900 to about $8,100. Senate President Pro Tem Greg Treat, a Republican, has pledged to introduce a similar bill if Stitt wins. But Hofmeister, who switched parties to challenge Stitt as a Democrat, has called the proposal a ‘rural schools killer’ because it would pull funding from traditional districts.” Read the full Oklahoma preview. 

California’s Arts Education Ballot Measure — As Linda Jacobson writes in her preview: “Parading down a busy street in Los Angeles’ San Pedro neighborhood, students waved signs over their heads and urged passing cars to support their cause. ‘Honk for 28!’ they yelled. ‘Say yes on 28.’ The shouting referred to California’s Proposition 28, a ballot initiative that aims to pump at least $800 million into K-12 arts and music programs, and one that comes with a pleasing selling point: It won’t increase taxes. That’s one reason no one is raising money to defeat the measure — a relief to former Los Angeles schools chief Austin Beutner, who led the effort to get the question on the ballot and donated over $4 million to the cause.” Read the full preview.

Colorado’s ‘Healthy Meals’ Ballot Proposition — As Linda Jacobson reports: “The Healthy Schools Meals for All program would fully reimburse districts for offering students free breakfast and lunch, regardless of family income. It would also increase pay for school nutrition staff and offer training and equipment to make meals from scratch. To pay for the program, the initiative would cap income tax deductions for those making $300,000 or more. There is no organized opposition to the measure, but one lawmaker who voted against putting it on the ballot said he had a ‘fundamental problem’ with subsidizing meals for students whose parents can afford to pay.” Read more about the Colorado proposal. 

Senate Education Leadership — As Linda Jacobson reports: Senator Rand Paul would eliminate the Education Department if he could. Senator Bernie Sanders would triple funding for poor students and send them to college for free. Depending on which party controls the Senate after the election, one of these men could be the next leader of the education committee. The other could be the ranking minority leader — setting up a scenario in which some of the most divisive issues in education get frequent airtime. Paul first has to defend his seat in Congress, which he’s expected to do in solidly Republican Kentucky. Sanders would have to give up chairmanship of the budget committee. Both men are next in line to influence legislation that not only governs the nation’s schools, but also health care policy and workforce issues. Read the full story.

Maryland Governor — As Asher Lehrer-Small reports in his preview: “Throughout the Maryland gubernatorial race, GOP candidate Dan Cox has done his best to keep education culture wars issues front and center. The state legislator named a right-wing parent leader as his running mate after her group lobbied to remove a Queen Anne’s County schools superintendent who expressed support for Black Lives Matter. And in his only public debate against Democratic challenger Wes Moore, the Trump-endorsed candidate railed against ‘transgender indoctrination in kindergarten,’ a problem he blamed on books that ‘depict things that I cannot show you on television, it’s so disgusting.’ The approach takes its cue from several recent GOP campaigns, most notably that of Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The Republican’s 2021 win over high-profile Democrat and former governor Terry McAuliffe was propelled largely by controversy over K-12 curricula and COVID school closures … But so far the strategy has not traveled well across state lines. As of late September, Moore led Cox by a 2-to-1 margin with a 32-percentage point advantage, according to a poll of 810 registered voters carried out by the University of Maryland and The Washington Post.

“Democratic candidate Wes Moore is a Rhodes Scholar, combat veteran, anti-poverty advocate and best-selling author. Sporting an endorsement from the state’s largest teachers union, he says he plans to boost educator pay, reduce the number of youth that schools send into the criminal justice system and fund tutoring initiatives to help students recoup learning they missed during COVID.” Read the full preview of the race in Maryland. 

Los Angeles School Board — As : “LAUSD school board president Kelly Gonez is headed to a runoff against teacher Marvin Rodriguez in district 6 — a surprising outcome for the five year board member who was backed by the powerful Los Angeles teachers union. In the other top board race, Maria Brenes and Rocio Rivas are also heading to a runoff for the district 2 seat on the seven-member board. As an LAUSD teacher, Rodriguez has taken votes from Gonez because he had “credibility as someone who knows the system from the inside. Teachers have a lot of sway with the public right now,” said Pedro Noguera, Dean of USC Rossier’s School of Education. Gonez, the board member for the East Valley and the frontrunner heading into the election; has led the board on crucial decisions, including pandemic recovery and expanding school choice. “I have a track record of successfully fighting for our students and delivering for our community,” she said. “I thoroughly understand what the position entails.” Read more about .

Michigan Governor — As Alina Tugend reports, driving the race between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and GOP challenger Tudor Dixon is a school choice measure few residents have heard about: A proposal that would create one of the country’s largest voucher-like systems, with the potential to give students more than a half-million dollars in public funds to attend private schools. More than 90% of the electorate in a recent statewide poll said they knew little or nothing about the proposal, which has been enthusiastically backed by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and her family, who have donated $4 million to the cause. Whitmer and Dixon differ sharply on measure; last year, both houses of the Michigan legislature passed bills that would have created ESAs but Whitmer vetoed them, saying they would “turn private schools into tax shelters for the wealthy.” Read Tugend’s preview of the race in Michigan. 

West Virginia’s Amendment 4 — As Linda Jacobson writes in her preview: “The state legislature would get final say on any rules or policies passed by the Board of Education if voters approve Amendment 4. Republicans in the legislature pushed for the measure, arguing that regulations governing schools should be left to those elected by voters, not an appointed board. But opponents, including former state Superintendent Clayton Burch and Miller Hall, former state board president, argue the proposed amendment would subject education to more partisanship and would lead to inconsistency in learning due to changes in the legislature.” Read our full preview. 

Pennsylvania Governor — As Jo Napolitano writes in her preview: “The Pennsylvania governor’s race — a face-off between a well-funded ambitious young climber already eyed as a future presidential contender and a radical right-wing election denier whose own GOP party leaders refuse to support — is among the most watched in the nation for its 2024 implications. The winner could wield significant power over how votes are counted in the next presidential election, one in which Donald Trump seeks to elevate an ally like Republican Doug Mastriano, in a key battleground state. Education is a leading issue in political contests across the country with Republicans pushing to remove discussions of race and gender from the classroom while leaning into greater parental control. But the script has flipped somewhat in Pennsylvania, with Mastriano’s stance so extreme he’s mobilized school board opponents to take unusual steps to block him while Democrat Josh Shapiro has embraced a school choice avenue usually reserved for conservatives. Both advocate stronger parent influence in schools.” Read the full preview of the race in Pennsylvania. 

New Mexico’s Amendment 1 — As Linda Jacobson notes in her preview: “The amendment would set aside roughly $150 million annually from the state’s Permanent School Fund for early-childhood education and about $100 million for teacher compensation and programs serving students at risk of failure. The fund comes from oil and gas revenues and capital investment returns. The measure seeks to increase the distribution of the fund from 5% to 6.25%. If voters approve it, the measure would need final approval from the U.S. Congress because early-childhood education was not one of the approved uses written into the federal law. There is no organized opposition to the measure, but a Republican lawmaker who voted against placing it on the ballot said withdrawing more from the fund would leave fewer resources for the state’s children.” Read our full preview of the measure. 

Other key reporting and analysis on what awaits education-minded voters this Election Day: 

Florida: DeSantis-Backed Candidates Rack Up School Board Wins Across Florida (Read the full story)

School Boards: There Are Just 90 LGBTQ School Board Members. Half Were Threatened, Harassed (Read the full story) 

Polling: Survey Shows Majority of Parents Would Cross Party Lines to Vote For Candidates Who Share Education Agenda (Read the full story) 

Parent Groups: Moms for Liberty Pays $21,000 to Company Owned by Founding Member’s Husband (Read the full story) 

Future of Education: How Do Americans Truly Feel About Public Education, & What Do They Want to See? (Read the full analysis) 

Campaign Politics: PACs Get Attention, but Teachers Unions Still Dominate School Board Elections (Read the full analysis) 

Civic Engagement: Educator’s View — My Schools Are Helping Parents Become Voters. Yours Should, Too (Read the full essay)

GOP: Heading into Midterms, Republicans Find All School Politics is Local (Read the full article) 

Watch: Video Roundtable — School Leaders Debate How Education Politics Will Shape Midterms (Watch the full conversation) 

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