Assembly leader pulls hastily called school accountability vote
One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint alleging that Thiesfeldt violated the state's open meeting law Tuesday when he brought up the bill. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Education
Did Assembly Education Committee Chair and Author of Taxpayer Funded Private School Voucher Legislation Violate Law With Latest Actions on Controversial Bill?
Did the GOP Assembly Education Committee Chair violate open government laws by engaging in discussions in the committee on school accountability legislation he authored, without public notice?
Arena plan prompts different reactions from area groups
Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, a liberal group, said his organization had "serious questions about the priorities of Gov. Walker." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Private School Voucher Industry Keeps Giving Big Campaign Cash, Keeps Getting Special Treatment from Gov. Walker and GOP Legislature
According to the latest round of campaign finance filings, individuals associated with the private school voucher industry kept busy filling the campaign coffers of Gov. Walker and others, even after Election Day.
One Wisconsin Now Demands Private School Voucher Industry Lobbyists Give Parents Answers About How Data They Seek to Force Schools to Turn Over Will Be Used
The voucher industry owes parents concerned about the safety of their children answers about how this extremely sensitive data will be used and who will be able to access it.
Pro-Voucher Group Seeks Student Info For Marketing Efforts
What we have is voucher industry lobbyists forcing districts to turn over minor's personal information. [Wisconsin Public Radio]
School choice group seeks personal data on students
We're not saying what they did was illegal, we're saying it's sleazy, and given the voucher industry's record on accountability, there are legitimate concerns about how this data is used, resold and transmitted. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Senate Republicans make a bad school idea even worse
Proving that it can always get worse, Wisconsin Senate Republicans have entered the debate on school accountability with a proposal, Senate Bill 1, even weaker than the bill proposed by their counterparts in the state Assembly. [Capital Times]
State Senate Republicans Make a Bad Idea Even Worse
The efforts of both Assembly and Senate Republicans fall woefully short of protecting our children and tax dollars, instead putting ideology and political payback before helping our schools be the best that they can be.
Good Money after Bad, WI GOP Demands More For-Profit Schools
“Pro-voucher special interests were among the biggest spenders on their behalf, and Assembly Bill 1 stacks the deck in their favor as payback,” said Scot Ross of the advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. [PRWatch]
Reaction to Walker’s State of State speech
“We see Wisconsin as a state in need of improvement,” said Scot Ross, director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now. “Our schools and workforce are among the best in the nation. But the facts show Scott Walker has failed to deliver, leaving us with lagging job growth and stagnant wages.” [Associated Press]
Testimony in Opposition to 2015 Assembly Bill 1
One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross submitted the following testimony to members of Assembly Education Committee, in opposition to Assembly Bill 1.
Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt defends school accountability bill from criticism on left, right
Democrats, on the other hand, see the new bill as bending to the will of the private school voucher industry. In particular, the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now pointed to the bill’s provisions governing appointments to the academic review board. [Capital Times]
GOP Legislature Starts 2015 Payoff to School Privatization Industry
Wisconsin legislative Republicans are promising legislation to regulate the private school voucher program that is slated to rake in over $212 million from state taxpayers in the current school year.
ProfitShip Learning
According to a report by One Wisconsin Now, the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation is a major underwriter of this propaganda effort. [The Progressive]
‘Right-to-Work’ Backer Cites Bradley Foundation-Funded Junk Science to Justify Attack on Middle Class Wages and Workplace Safety
Rep. Kapenga used statistics promoted by the Bradley-funded Mackinac Center to claim introducing the measure in Wisconsin would be good for the state economy.
State Government The Wisconsin GOP Way: Those Who Give, Get and Those That Don’t, Don’t
Assembly GOP Speaker Robin Vos and Gov. Scott Walker called for a dramatically expanded private school voucher program in Wisconsin, financed with public tax dollars.
As Percentage of Wisconsin Graduates With Student Loan Debt Rises, GOP Leaves Borrowers Out in the Cold
It is appalling Gov. Walker and the Republican legislative majority have again turned their back on the hard working college graduates saddled with massive education debt.
One Wisconsin Now slams Scott Walker’s tech school tour
Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now questions Governor Scott Walker’s motive as the Republican tours five of the state’s 16 technical colleges just two days after being elected to a second term. “He’s using technical colleges as a photo-op as he prepares to make another run for higher office and it’s a sad indictment on […] [Wisconsin Radio Network]
Mary Burke Supports Student Loan Debt Reform
Gov. Walker doesn't support common sense Reforms, like allowing Wisconsin's 800,000 borrowers to refinance loans at lower market rates.
Party Line Howard Marklein Tows the Education Privatization Line for Party Bosses and Special Interests
A recent news report reveals $139 million in state tax dollars went to private schools in Milwaukee kicked out of the school voucher program, supported by Rep. Howard Marklein, for failing to meet basic standards.
Lawsuit challenging teacher contracts politically motivated, says One WI Now
A lawsuit accusing the Madison School Board of engaging in illegal collective bargaining to the detriment of children and taxpayers was filed by a Milwaukee-based conservative legal group that is a “front” for Gov. Scott Walker, says the director of a Madison progressive advocacy group. [Capital Times]
A Guide to Gov. Walker’s Education Policy: Follow the Money
While studies of the voucher program have failed to demonstrate higher achievement for students, pandering to the voucher industry has been lucrative for career politician Scott Walker’s campaign account.
Gov. Walker Needs to Go Back to School on Education Policy
As students across Wisconsin head back to school, it’s Gov. Scott Walker who needs to be educated about the impact of his wrong-headed education policies.
They’re Back: Wealthy Private School Voucher Boosters Fill GOP Politicians’ Campaign Coffers
Supporters of private school vouchers from across the country are dropping big donations on Wisconsin politicians in recent months, including over $113,000 to Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.
Where There’s a WILL, There’s a Way… to Promote Gov. Walker’s Best Interests
For the years in which Federal IRS records are available for both the Bradley Foundation and WILL, 2011 and 2012, Bradley funds accounted for over 90 percent of the total money WILL reported raising.
U.S. Supreme Court Issues Anti-Worker Decision in Harris v. Quinn
The right-wing legal organization that helped bring the case received financial support from the Bradley Foundation run by Scott Walker’s campaign chair .
Gov. Scott Walker Still Refuses to Answer the Simple Question: Is He Still Doing It?
While Walker refuses to answer if he continues to direct a scheme to avoid campaign laws, the right-wing mega-funder Bradley Foundation’s chief Michael Grebe, might have the answer.
Private Voucher School Application Data Shows Overwhelming Support for State Public Schools
Time and again students in public schools outperform those in voucher schools, while parents and taxpayers alike get more accountability.
One Wisconsin Now Does the Leg Work – AB 748 Written by Voucher Lobby
Remember when news broke that AB 748, a bill dealing with voucher schools accreditation standards, was being put on the lightning fast track of having a public hearing a day after being introduced? Well, according to One Wisconsin Now they know why. It appears the American Federation for Children co-sponsored Rep. Jessie Rodriguez was more […] [Wisconsin Soapbox]
Records Reveal Private School Voucher Industry Lobbyist Wrote Latest Republican Bill Proposing to “Regulate” Voucher Industry
Legislation claiming to impose new accountability requirements on schools participating in the private school voucher program was written by the lobbyist for the school privatization industry.
Special Interest Shenanigans in 21st Assembly District
We know from news reports and court documents that Jessie Rodriguez's boss and the head of groups that have spent big money trying to get her elected were given special access to redistricting maps before they were made public.
S is for Shill
This report exposes the web of right-wing funders advancing a radical school privatization agenda through the use of Wisconsin-based front groups, with special focus on the Bradley Foundation, headed by Scott Walker's campaign co-chair Michael Grebe.
Wisconsin Ensnared in $83 Million National Propaganda and Privatization Web Spun by Radical Right-Wing Funders
A new report from One Wisconsin Now exposes a web of right-wing funders advancing a radical privatization agenda through the use of Wisconsin-based front groups.
Latest Enrollment Statistics Expose Unaccountable Private School Voucher Expansion Scam
The state Department of Public Instruction today released official enrollment counts for students in the expanded private school voucher program.
Private-school students claim most vouchers
“These numbers expose the expansion of the unaccountable private school voucher program for the scam that it is,” said Scot Ross, director of the anti-voucher group One Wisconsin Now. [Stevens Point Journal]
GOP Fatcats Pick A Side in State Assembly Race
Paid private school voucher advocate Jessie Rodriguez is the beneficiary of a windfall of over $45,600 in spending by a special interest group.
Latest Walker Tax Scheme Fails to Deliver for Wisconsin Homeowners
MADISON, Wis. — In an appearance in Wisconsin today, Gov. Walker unveiled a new tax scheme he claimed would help Wisconsin homeowners and called for passing a bill within the next ten days. But according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the average Wisconsin homeowner would save a mere $13, or $1.08 per month, in […]
Facts Are Facts. Gov. Walker’s Agenda an Abysmal Failure for Wisconsin
Instead of owning up to the fact that his radical, ‘divide and conquer’ agenda has failed and changing course, Gov. Walker is turning to the special interests he serves to try to re-write history.
Scot Ross: Gov. Walker and Republican legislators to voucher schools: ‘We’ll pay more for that’
While private schools benefit, courtesy of taxpayer-funded vouchers that in many cases far exceed the tuition paid by other students, it is once again our state public schools that lose out under the agenda of Walker and the Republican Legislature. [Capital Times]
One Wisconsin Now to Join ‘Public Education Is a Civil Right’ March, Rally
One Wisconsin Now will join public education supporters from across the state at Saturday's 'Public Education Is a Civil Right' march and rally.
AFL-CIO Joins Effort to Fix Trillion-Dollar Student Loan Debt Crisis
The campaign against the trillion-dollar student loan debt crisis and the effort to raise awareness about the devastating effects of it on students, workers and the economy has gained a prominent new advocate.
Private School Voucher Scam: 75% of Applicants for Statewide Expansion of Taxpayer Funded Private School Vouchers Not Currently Attending Public Schools
Seventy-five percent of the students applying for a taxpayer funded voucher are not coming from public schools, including 67% who were already in private schools.
Bradley Foundation Dollars Continued to Fuel Right Wing Noise Machine in 2012
According to documents reviewed by One Wisconsin Now, staples of the state right wing noise machine were once again beneficiaries of the largesse of Michael Grebe in 2012.
139 ALEC Bills in 2013 Promote a Private, For-Profit Education Model
The Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation is one of the top school privatization funders in the country, currently spending over $31 million over the past eleven years promoting “school choice” nationwide, according to One Wisconsin Now. [PR Watch]
Ward warns of problems posed by tuition freezes
Scot Ross with One Wisconsin Now said “the sentiment expressed by Ward shows a substantial disconnect about financing higher education and the impact of exploding debt on borrowers.” [Wisconsin Radio Network]
School Choice Will Destroy Wisconsin Education
A well-rounded education is not a business, it's a right. Let’s keep government funding in Wisconsin’s public school system.
#WalkerAt20: Walker’s Education Agenda a Formula for Failure
MADISON, Wis. — In his twenty years in office, Scott Walker has amassed a truly astounding record of failure. To commemorate the looming anniversary of his first election to office, One Wisconsin Now is highlighting a different and depressing failure of Gov. Walker every day, for twenty days. Under Gov. Walker no area has more […]
From Ailes to Yuval: Bradley Foundation’s Latest Prize Awards Reveal Right-Wing Propaganda Campaign at Work
The Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation annually doles out no-strings attached $250,000 “awards” to selected individuals. This year's recipients include Fox News CEO Roger Ailes.
#WalkerAt20: Bradley Foundation Errand Boy
There's no bigger funder of the right-wing noise machine and radical agenda of unaccountable education privatization than the Bradley Foundation.