Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has been atop the Education Bureaucracy for a quarter of century. Between his stints as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Public Instruction, DPI Secretary and Governor, he’s had a skybox view of the decline and dysfunction at Milwaukee’s Public Schools. This is the chief reason many are skeptical of his control over the pace, direction and selection of auditors who would examine what’s wrong, both within MPS and DPI itself.
The fear is rather than focus on GAAP, the audit would be more focused on CYA.
With that bit of background, let’s get to today’s Key Reads.
Legislative leaders have called for the experienced, nonpartisan staff at the Legislative Audit Bureau to take the lead. LAB staff are not Republicans and they do not do the bidding of the Republican legislative leaders. They are professional, non partisan auditors who are experienced in examining not just the books, but the bureaucratic processes within various levels of government.
Legislative leader blasts Governor’s slow go external audits of MPS | Dairyland Sentinel
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu chided Governor Evers for decision to hire outside auditors to address the Milwaukee Public Schools situation:
“The failure of Milwaukee Public Schools has tremendous impact in Milwaukee and statewide. Wisconsinites deserve full transparency and accountability, not a private audit commissioned by the former DPI Superintendent who played a role in creating this disaster.
“The non-partisan Legislative Audit Bureau has a long track record of transparent work on behalf of taxpayers. Governor Evers’ decision to move forward with an outside audit is disappointing, and his administration must be careful to choose an auditor with no ulterior motives or other entanglements.”
Tony Evers spent two decades as an administrator at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, including serving as the Secretary of the Department before being elected governor six years ago. Earlier today he announced details on his long range plan to finally address problems with the state’s largest school district.
In a written statement, Governor Evers announced his “Administration will begin the process of identifying auditors with necessary expertise and experience conducting audits in classroom and educational settings to conduct two audits of MPS: an operational audit of the district’s operations, processes, and procedures, as well as an audit of instructional policies and methodologies, which may include, for example, classroom learning environments and professional development policies and practices to support educators, among other areas. The Evers Administration will begin soliciting request for services in the coming days.”
Evers has been content with issuing written statements about the various scandals brewing in his administration, with one notable exception. He went on state owned and run Wisconsin Public Radio for a softball interview to address MPS, the Waupun prison homicide and the budgetary and enrollment problems with the UW System.
To the shock of nobody, Evers’ only solution for the UW System? More spending. He’s vowing tho shovel $800 million more taxpayer dollars into the institutions, regardless of if they address any structural issues, mission creep, ideological bias or anything else that may be leading to their decline.
Gov. Tony Evers talks about potential UW budget increase on ‘Wisconsin Today’ | Wisconsin Public Radio
Last week, Gov. Tony Evers announced he’s seeking an $800 million budget increase for the Universities of Wisconsin in the state’s next two-year budget. He described it as the largest increase in state funding in the UW system’s history.
…When asked why such a major investment in the university system is important at this time, Gov. Evers pointed to a decade-long history of UW campuses requesting funds and the administration and Legislature saying no. This has led to years of UW schools having to cut back, including layoffs at some campuses last year.
“The bottom line here is that the UW system ranks 41st or 42nd — depending on the study — in the nation in state support. That is just not where we want to be. We want to be one of the best in the world. And we’re failing that effort because of resources,” Evers said.
He said he believes now is the right time to act, despite declining enrollment at most two-year UW campuses.
Some good news on the business front here.
Ascension hospitals restore electronic health records in Wisconsin| WISN
Ascension Wisconsin has restored its electronic health record access, including MyChart, as of Monday, according to a release from Ascension’s senior director of external relations.
The systems went down in early May during a ransomware attack that affected 140 hospitals nationwide.
According to Ascension, the restoration will improve its documenting, charting and ordering systems. For patients, it means wait times will shorten, and health care workers can complete appointments more quickly.
We close out today with this: The University of Wisconsin Men’s basketball team went all the way to Europe to fill the last hole on their roster created by the mass exodus through the transfer portal.
Such is the state of college athletics today. The stat’e premiere public university, the flagship of the UW System, will be renting the services of a “Serbian Big Man” for a season or two. Much in the way NBA teams used to rent the services of aging veterans hoping for one last chance on a 10-day contract. The Badgers hope this will pan out for them. Oh, and of course the young man will get to pursue his lifelong goal of being a Badger. Sure.
Badgers land Serbian freshman center Andrija Vukovic | Bucky’s Fifth Quarter
Vukovic comes to Wisconsin after most recently playing basketball for KK Vršac in the Basketball League of Serbia, where he averaged 6.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game on 13 minutes a night, while shooting 66 percent from the field.
One year before, Vukovic played for Crvena Zvezda U19 team in the Junior ABA League, averaging 17 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists on 65 percent efficiency while playing 26.5 minutes per contest
A 6’11 big man, Vukovic provides some much-needed depth at center for the Badgers, as they were looking into the transfer portal and other options to add talent at position behind starter Steven Crowl.
Clearly, we’re cynical about the state of college sports, but at least Coach Gard and his staff are adapting to the reality of the environment in which they need to compete.
Oh, to be able to say the same about the ‘leaders’ at the UW System, DPI and MPS…
Some may say the big difference is that Gard’s job is on the line because he is answerable to alumni pressure.
But the real difference is this: In sports, they keep score. Everyone sees the winners and losers. the losses are obvious and sting because people, including the people in charge, care.
When it comes to k-12 and higher education, the kids are mere numbers in some cell on some spreadsheet that after a few years will be analyzed and compared with other cells from other years.
