Monthly Archives: December, 2020

(The Center Square) – Schools in Wisconsin in general saw a drop in enrollment to start the 2020 school year, but a new study by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty shows schools that started the year online-only experienced a larger drop.

WILL this week said its research shows a huge drop in enrollment compared to the 2019 school year.

“On average, districts saw a 2.67% decline in enrollment this year relative to 0.3% in previous years,” WILL research director Will Flanders wrote. “This represents a 790% increase in enrollment decline relative to previous years, and suggests an important impact of the pandemic on Wisconsin schools.”

Most of that 2.67% enrollment drop is because parents are enrolling fewer pre-K students.

Flanders said the drop in enrollment is more pronounced in schools that started the year all online.

“Districts with exclusively virtual education saw a 3% decline in enrollment on average relative to other districts in the state,” Flanders noted.

Some of the students, particularly pre-K students, are likely just staying home. But Flanders said there’s some evidence that other students are simply enrolling in choice schools.

“The 44 districts in Wisconsin with virtual charters saw an increase of approximately 4.5% in enrollment on average relative to other districts,” Flanders wrote in the study. “It appears that many families are utilizing school choice to move to districts that did offer in-person instruction, or those that had established, effective means of online education. Now, more than ever, it is incumbent on policymakers to ensure that families have the ability to take advantage of all educational options that are available to them.”

The study comes as more parents and lawmakers in Wisconsin are calling for all students to return to in-person classes.

Rep. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, on Thursday said the evidence clearly shows kids do better when they are learning in school.

“The widespread, long-term closures of school buildings since March has been the poorest government decision of the pandemic,” Thiesfeldt said. “This decision will be impacting some of our students for a lifetime.”

Thiesfeldt heads the Assembly Committee on Education. He said he’s willing to ask Gov. Tony Evers to put school teachers near the top of the coronavirus vaccine list if it helps get kids back into classrooms.

“It is long past time for schools engaging exclusively in virtual instruction to reopen their schools to students. Those schools engaged in hybrid models should also transition to full-time. Preparations for this transition must begin immediately,” Thiesfeldt said, “All Wisconsin students should have the option to receive full-time, in-person instruction as soon as practicable following Christmas break.”

(The Center Square) – The people who work for Milwaukee County will get full credit for their pensions, no matter how many days they miss because of furloughs.

The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved a plan to credit county employee retirement balances for any furloughs ordered because of the coronavirus. The county ordered furloughs or reduced hours for workers in May. Between May and the first week of August, more than 1,500 of Milwaukee County’s 4,000 employees had taken at least one furlough day. Nearly 160 workers were furloughed for a month during that time period.

Brett Healy, president at the MacIver Institute, said the free pension credits are just the latest perk for county employees that will come at taxpayer expense.

“This just shows you how out of touch the political elite in Milwaukee County government are,” Healy told The Center Square. “The hardworking taxpayers of Milwaukee County, many who have lost their jobs altogether, are working longer hours and working more jobs to make ends meet during this government-mandated shutdown," he said.

"Rather than give themselves another perk in the middle of an economic downturn, maybe the government workers of Milwaukee County should be thankful they all still have their good-paying jobs, platinum benefits and lavish retirement packages.”

County leaders on Thursday say the move to give employees full pension credits protects them.

“We shouldn’t further penalize dedicated public servants who have been forced to do more with less because of the pandemic,” Supervisor Jason Haas, who serves on the Pension Study Commission, said in a statement.

The county’s Pension Study Committee puts that price tag at roughly $3,700 to $11,100 annually over 20 years, or between $74,400 and $220,000 over those two decades.

“I’m not in favor of rubbing salt in the wounds of County employees – who have already suffered a loss of pay through no fault of their own – and cutting their pension credits, when the savings would amount to very little compared to the size and scale of our pension fund,” Supervisor Moore Omokunde said Thursday.

The Wisconsin Policy Forum reported earlier this year that Milwaukee County’s pension plan is 70.6% funded, and the costs are growing.

“Milwaukee County’s employer contribution for its plan (including its pension bond payment) grew by almost 50% in the past decade to nearly $98 million in the 2020 budget, which equates to nearly one-third of the county’s total property tax levy,” the Policy Forum wrote in March.

County supervisors say their pension contribution alone was $64 million.

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s governor wants everyone to know the new coronavirus tracking app coming to the state will be voluntary.

GHov. Evers’ office on Thursday made a point to say, repeatedly, that the WI Exposure Notification app will only work when people opt-in.

“The voluntary WI Exposure Notification app is another tool in our toolbox to stop the spread. Because it lets you know faster if you’ve been in close contact with someone who’s tested positive, you can take steps to keep yourself safe and protect those around you,” Gov. Evers said in a statement. “Also, the app doesn’t collect or use device location, so users will remain anonymous.”

The app is the latest in Wisconsin’s effort to track who tests positive for the coronavirus, and where.

The governor’s office says the app works by anonymously sharing Bluetooth signals with other people who are using the app nearby. Everyone in Wisconsin who tests positive for the coronavirus will receive a code for the app. When they enter that code, their phone anonymously notifies other people’s phones that they may have been near someone who was coronavirus contagious.

“The more people who use the app, the more effective it will be,” Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm said on Thursday.

The app is already installed on iPhones, but people who use Android phones will need to download and install the app.

The WI Exposure Notification app will launch on December 23. DHS said just about everyone in Wisconsin who has a smartphone will receive a text within a few days of the system going live.

DHS is also promising an FAQ section, and a video on the app at its website in the next few days.