Yearly Archives: 2022

(The Center Square) – The plan to require high school students in Wisconsin learn about money and how to manage it in order to graduate from high school is running into opposition from the state’s education leaders.

The Department of Public Instruction is opposition to AB 899, which would require all high schools in the state to teach financial literacy.

“We need to find a way to bring our education into the 21st Century, and teach our students stuff they need to learn to be successful in our economy,” Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Green Lake, explained to The Center Square on Tuesday.

DPI is open to teaching financial literacy, but has concerns about making it a graduation requirement.

Dallman said he is not really surprised that DPI and other education bureaucrats are opposed to his plan.

“School districts often complain about the money they don’t have, or how funding has decreased,” Dallman said. “But right now with all of the federal funds they have, they are sitting on piles and piles of cash.”

Dallman said there are also outside groups that will partner with local schools. He said Next Gen Personal Finance is already working with Milwaukee Public Schools to teach financial literacy. Next Gen pays for the curriculum and training for MPS teachers to take the class.

Many schools in Wisconsin already teach personal finance. Dallman wants to make it a required class worth one class credit.

Wisconsin requires 15 class credits for high schoolers to graduate. That includes four English or language arts credits, three math, three science, and three social studies credits, plus one-and-half physical education credits, and a half-credit in health.

“We want to listen to the rising pressure from parents who say we need to be teaching our kids some actual life lessons, and teaching them to be able to take responsibility over what they are doing so they don’t have to depend on the government when they grow-up.”

The Assembly Committee on Education held a hearing on Dallman’s plan on Tuesday. He’s not sure when it could come-up for a vote in the full Assembly.

(The Center Square) – It’s the latest snapshot of just how many parents in Wisconsin want to explore educational options for their kids.

Tuesday was the first day for parents to enroll in the state’s Private School Choice Program. By midday, the state’s website crashed because of a flood of applications.

“Due to high volume, the system is temporarily unavailable,” read a note at the Department of Public Instruction’s website.

Jim Bender with School Choice Wisconsin is not surprised.

“We know from talking to schools that interest in the program is very high. Many new parents are seeking options,” Bender said.

Bender said it won't be known just how many more parents will opt their kids out of traditional public schools until the fall.

But the trend is that more parents will make a choice.

Enrollment figures from last year showed more students enrolled in Wisconsin’s four school choice programs.

While Tuesday brought a flood of parents to Wisconsin’s private school enrollment, next week could see even more parents apply for the state’s Public School Open Enrollment, which begins next week.

Bender said parents shouldn’t have to wait, either for enrollment periods or overwhelmed websites, to improve their child’s education.

“Open enrollment periods for both public and private schools are an outdated method for connecting parents with schools. Over the last two years, parents have looked for education solutions – but in real time,” Bender explained. “Having to wait to apply, and then even longer to enroll, doesn’t work anymore.”

The interest in school choice comes after another year when public schools in the state saw mixed reactions to the coronavirus, and saw a slide in test scores.

The enrollment periods come after former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson told a crowd at a school choice event in Green Bay last week that school choice in the state needs to be expanded.

“Why should there be restrictions on people having choice?” Thompson asked. “Why should we not have everybody have choice?”

(The Center Square) – The cost of living is skyrocketing in certain “migration destination” cities where those fleeing mostly blue states are landing, according to a newly released report.

Redfin released the analysis, which shows that cities like Atlanta, Phoenix and Tampa have seen higher rates of inflation than the country overall. According to the report, those increases are “double the inflation rates in San Francisco and New York, places people are moving away from.”

“Migration into those places is one reason for rapidly rising prices of consumer goods and services,” Redfin said. “Because of high inflation, including rising home prices, the financial advantage of living in what are now relatively affordable places is likely to diminish.”

Americans have moved in droves, particularly from states like Illinois, New York and California, to other states. Many of those migrants are settling in the same cities and drastically affecting the economies there.

“Atlanta, the 10th most popular migration destination in the fourth quarter, saw prices of goods and services increase by 8.9% year over year during the same period, the highest inflation rate of all the metros included in this analysis,” Redfin reports.

Another city, Phoenix, saw an 8.4% price increase in the fourth quarter of 2021, the second highest inflation increase and the second highest number of new arrivals from other states, according to the report.

“In Tampa – the fifth most popular destination – prices rose 8% year over year, the third highest inflation rate,” Redfin reports. “On the flip side, San Francisco, the number-one place Americans moved away from during the fourth quarter, had the lowest inflation rate (4%). New York, which had the second-lowest inflation rate (4.6%), ranked number three on the list of places people are leaving, and Los Angeles – number two on the list of places people are leaving – had the seventh-lowest inflation rate (6%).”

Inflation has become a major concern for Americans after a steady stream of data showing prices of consumer goods and services are rising at the highest level in decades. These factors have only added to Americans’ pessimism on inflation.

Gallup released a poll this month showing that 79% of surveyed Americans “predict inflation will go up." The poll also found that 50% of respondents expect inflation will go up "a lot." According to Gallup, those are the most pessimistic figures on inflation ever recorded by the pollster.

“In the past, Americans have always been more likely to say inflation will increase rather than decrease, but the current expectation is higher than usual – in fact, it is the highest Gallup has measured in its trend,” Gallup said. “The prior high was 76% in September 2005. In recent years, from 2007 through 2020, roughly six in 10 Americans have expected inflation to increase.”

Redfin compiled its report by looking at metro areas where inflation data is available along with migration data.

Home prices have been a major source of inflation in those cities, due in part to the large difference between home prices in the cities where migrants are leaving, compared to the substantially lower prices in the cities where migrants are settling.

“For instance, Atlanta home prices were up 22.8% year over year in December, compared with a 10.3% increase in San Francisco,” Redfin said.

(The Center Square) – President Joe Biden’s commitment to only nominate a a new Supreme Court justice who is a Black female does not have broad support, a newly released poll suggests.

The ABC/Ipsos poll found that 76% of surveyed Americans say Biden should consider "all possible nominees" to fill Breyer’s seat while 23% say Biden should “consider only nominees who are Black women, as he has pledged to do.”

Biden promised several times during the campaign to nominate a Black female justice, saying he is “looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court.”

“Number one, I am committed that if I'm elected president and have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I'll appoint the first Black woman to the courts,” Biden said in March 2020. "It's required that they have representation now. It's long overdue."

Analysts have circulated several names as potential replacements for Breyer, including D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and South Carolina District Judge J. Michelle Childs.

Republicans have called on Biden to nominate a centrist judge. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, echoed the sentiments of the ABC poll and blasted Biden for narrowing his choice to only a Black woman.

“Black women are, what, 6% of the U.S. population?” Cruz said on “The Verdict,” his podcast.

A recent Rasmussen poll also found the majority of Americans oppose choosing justices by race and gender, though most Americans think Biden will do so anyway.

“A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 59% of Likely U.S. voters expect Biden to keep his promise by nominating a black woman to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer,” Rasmussen said. “Only 19% think Biden will break his campaign promise, while 21% are not sure.”

(The Center Square) – The latest school choice plan in Wisconsin would break up Milwaukee’s public schools.

Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, on Friday introduced the plan.

“Wisconsin was the first state to give parents more say in their children’s education and future. We have an opportunity to build on our reputation and reclaim our status as a national model for reforming K-12 education,” Darling said in a statement.

Her proposal would split Milwaukee Public Schools into four to eight smaller districts. Parents would then have a choice as to which school they want their kids to attend.

Darling’s plan also includes an expansion for school vouchers and other choice programs in the state.

“I’m proud of how School Choice empowers parents and gives kids a chance to succeed no matter where they live,” Darling added.

School leaders in Milwaukee say the idea is a non-starter.

Milwaukee School Board President Bob Peterson told the Journal Sentinel that says Republicans have proposed doing away with Milwaukee schools before.

“It’s reminiscent of the previous failed attempts to take over the Milwaukee Public Schools and it’s destined to be a losing proposition,” Peterson said.

State Superintendent Jill Underly said the plan from Republicans is "divisive."

But CJ Szafir, president of the Institute for Reforming Government, said Darling’s idea is worth debating.

“Wisconsin's K-12 education system is broken. Taxpayers spend billions every year on a public school system that gives more power to bureaucrats than to parents. It is no surprise that roughly two out of every three fourth graders in Wisconsin are not proficient in reading, and Wisconsin ranks last in the country for reading proficiency for black students,” Szafir said Friday.

“The visionary K-12 education reform package would help transform Wisconsin education so that all students have the opportunity for a brighter future. By expanding school choice options, holding school districts accountable for unnecessarily closing schools over the pandemic, and finally breaking up the failed Milwaukee Public School district, these lawmakers are putting children and parents ahead of bureaucracy.”

(The Center Square) – A northeast Wisconsin judge is not going to stop a team of medical workers from taking new jobs.

Outagamie County Judge Mark McGinnis on Monday refused to continue an injunction that would have stopped seven former employees at ThedaCare from leaving.

ThedaCare asked the judge to intervene this month, complaining that losing the seven members of their interventional radiology and cardiovascular team would leave stroke patients in the Appleton-area without care.

Judge McGinnis ruled on Monday that the argument didn’t carry enough weight to force the seven to stay.

Technician Kailey Young testified on Monday that she left ThedaCare for a new job at Ascension Northeast because it was a better offer.

She said her new job had “life changing money,” and a better "work-life balance.”

Other nurses and techs told the judge the same thing.

ThedaCare accused Ascension of “poaching” the team.

Ascension maintained that it simply offered team members opportunities, and they accepted.

McGinnis said he originally gave ThedaCare a temporary injunction that stopped the seven team members from leaving in an attempt to allow the two hospitals to work things out.

He said in his ruling on Monday that ending the disagreement in court is “sad.”

(The Center Square) – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is expected to formally announce his retirement from the high court Thursday. News broke of his imminent retirement Wednesday, setting off a flurry of speculation and political posturing over who would replace the Democrat-appointed justice.

Biden pledged multiple times on the campaign trail to nominate a Black female justice, emphasizing he is “looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court.”

Analysts have circulated several names, including D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and South Carolina District Judge J. Michelle Childs.

“Number one, I am committed that if I'm elected president and have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I'll appoint the first Black woman to the courts,” Biden said in March 2020. "It's required that they have representation now. It's long overdue."

Shannon Bream, a host at Fox News, tweeted Wednesday that Breyer had not intended to announce his retirement yet and was “surprised” by the revelation.

“Why are political operatives in the White House trying to bully Justice Breyer into retirement?” said U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, raising speculations about the motive and source of the leaked news.

The speculation highlights a deadline for Democrats. With the possibility of ceding control of the Senate to Republicans in November, Democrats will likely need to get their nominee through the approval process before the midterm elections. The Senate must ratify any Biden appointment to the bench with a simple majority.

“I can't imagine why Senate Republicans would agree to move on Biden's replacement for Breyer until after the November elections,” said Tom Fitton, head of Judicial Watch.

The rumors continued inside Washington, with others speculating that Vice President Kamala Harris could become the nominee, though the White House has given no credence to that idea.

In response to those rumors, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if Harris’ nomination was a possibility during the White House press briefing Wednesday.

“Again, I’m not going to speak to any considerations, preparations, lists,” Psaki responded. “And as we’ve stated earlier, and as you heard the president say, there is a long history of Supreme Court Justices determining when they will retire, if they will retire, and announcing that and that remains the case today.”

The Breyer news comes on the heels of a few major rulings from the Supreme Court, including its decision to block Biden’s vaccine mandate for private employers with at least 100 employees.

Notably, the court is considering an abortion case that some say could lead to the reversal of Roe v. Wade, upending federal abortion law and sending the power of abortion lawmaking back to the states.

While several Republicans are expected to vote against the nomination, moderate Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., will be closely watched. They have shut down other parts of Biden’s agenda, including his push to axe the filibuster to push through a federal takeover of state elections.

“I take my Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on a nominee to the Supreme Court very seriously,” Manchin said Wednesday. “I look forward to meeting with and evaluating the qualifications of President Biden’s nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy.”

Some Republicans called on Biden to use the nomination to extend an olive branch to the other side.

“Moment of truth for Joe Biden. Will this deeply unpopular & divisive president finally reject the radical elements of his party and nominate someone who loves America and believes in the Constitution?” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., wrote on Twitter. “Or will he continue to tear apart this country w/ a woke activist?

“If he chooses to nominate a left wing activist who will bless his campaign against parents, his abuse of the FBI, his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, and his lawless vaccine mandates, expect a major battle in the Senate,” Hawley added.

At 83, Breyer is the oldest member of the Supreme Court. President Bill Clinton nominated Breyer, who has served since 1994. Only two other current justices on the nine-member bench were nominated by a Democratic president.

“I'm sending my sincerest thanks to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer for his many years of service to our country,” said Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.

The (Center Square) – Justice Stephen Breyer, the most senior member of the U.S. Supreme Court's liberal wing, will step down from his post after his replacement is confirmed, multiple national media outlets are reporting.

President Joe Biden will be tasked with nominating Breyer's successor, who then would face a confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate. With a 50-50 political split in the Senate (two independents caucus with Democrats), Vice President Kamala Harris could break any ties.

Breyer, at 83 the oldest member of the court, was nominated to the post by former President Bill Clinton and has served since 1994. He is one of three of nine justices on the bench nominated by a Democratic president.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the administration had no further information on Breyer's decision.

"It has always been the decision of any Supreme Court Justice if and when they decide to retire, and how they want to announce it, and that remains the case today," Psaki tweeted. "We have no additional details or information to share from @WhiteHouse."