Education

Education Keeping Wausau Kids Safe & Parents Informed, a local parent group based in Wausau, purchased a billboard to push for a mask requirement in the local school district. The group is one of several across Wisconsin who are forming to fight back against the loud minority of people against COVID-19 safety measures in schools. (Photo courtesy of Jean Radtke)
Education Wisconsin Parents Are Standing Up for COVID Safety In Schools

As school boards—many times influenced by groups funded by national conservative organizations—decline to enact COVID safety protocols, local parent groups are pushing back. 

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson October 8, 2021 3:49 pm CDT
Education (Photo via School District of the Menomonie Area)
Education Menomonie Parents Request Due Process Hearing Over School District’s COVID Safety Protocols

The action is the first such known as parents throughout Wisconsin seek remedies for school districts that don't require COVID safety.

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson October 2, 2021 9:40 am CDT
Social Justice Alysse Arce, a member of the Menominee tribe and a Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women advocate, speaks during a press conference Monday in Wausau after a high school teacher there dressed in Native American attire to teach a history class. (Screenshot via Tricia Zunker/Facebook)
Social Justice Native American Leaders Seeking Improvements to Curriculum After Teacher Wears Racist Outfit

Insensitive depictions of Native Americans are demeaning and further negative views that help lead to violence against indigenous people, advocates said.

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson September 28, 2021 5:50 pm CDT
Education Danielle Ralston said she is constantly nervous that her 10-year-old son Graham will contract COVID-19 and experience extreme symptoms because he has a rare stomach illness that makes him more susceptible to the virus. (Photo courtesy of Danielle Ralston)
Education Parents, Progressive PAC Weigh Lawsuits Against Schools That Refuse to Enact COVID Rules

Lawsuits against Wisconsin schools that don’t require masks could be filed soon following the death of at least two students who had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson September 27, 2021 5:32 pm CDT
Coronavirus Students and staff at Mondovi Middle & High School will have to wear masks starting Monday, Oct. 4. The Mondovi school board voted unanimously to require masks last week following the death of a student who had tested positive for COVID-19. (Photo via Mondovi School District)
Coronavirus A Mondovi High Schooler Died While COVID-Positive. The School Board Still Didn’t Require Masks.

Dylan Passa is the second school-age Wisconsinite to die after testing positive for COVID-19 since the school year began.

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson September 24, 2021 2:32 pm CDT

continuing coverage

Emanuel Montalvo cuts Aaron Feria's hair on Oct. 12 at The Lounge Barbershop in Arcadia. The barbershop is one of a growing number of Latino-owned businesses in the Trempealeau County city that is home to a fast-growing Latino population. (Photo by Julian Emerson) Latinos As Latino Populations Increase, Communities Are Also Seeing a Growth in Latino-owned Businesses
The post-war economic boom of the 1950s and 60s sharply increased Wisconsin crop production. In this photo from the Wisconsin Historical Society, Latino farm workers hoe a cucumber field near Wautoma in 1967. Economy From Farms to Factories to New Businesses, Latinos Have Made a Mark on Wisconsin’s Economy for More Than a Century
Harmful blue-green algae blooms, like this one seen on Lake Monona in Madison, are becoming more frequent along Lake Superior as climate change continues to make conditions right for the species to bloom. (Photo by JT Cestkowski) Climate How Climate Change Is Causing Harmful Algae Blooms on Lake Superior
Nada Elmikashfi, chief of staff to state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), is outspoken about racism and bias, even at the statehouse. (Photo by Christina Lieffring.) Politics Hostile Workplaces, Closed Minds, Hurtful Rhetoric—Welcome to the Wisconsin State Capitol
Politics In this screen image from WisconsinEye, Sen. Roger Roth (R-Appleton), chair of the state Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges, leads a public information hearing on critical race theory.
Politics ‘Made-Up Political Outrage’: Republican Legislators Target Efforts to Teach About Historic Racism

Professor responds that students “don’t have to agree with me, but they do have to think.”

Jonathon Sadowski Jonathon Sadowski September 22, 2021 4:36 pm CDT
Education (Photo via School District of the Menomonie Area)
Education Menomonie School Board Ends Mandatory COVID Contact Quarantines, Leaves Decision With Parents

The vote comes after the school board voted twice last month against requiring masks amid a nationwide surge of the Delta COVID-19 variant.

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson September 15, 2021 5:54 pm CDT