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(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction spent $368,885 to hold a four-day standard setting event in June 2024 at a Wisconsin Dells waterpark, according to a new report.
The event included 88 expert educators who were subject to non-disclosure agreements related to the workshop, according to records obtained by Dairyland Sentinel.
The publication fought for more than a year to obtain records of the meeting through Wisconsin Open Records law and attributes the Monday release of 17 more pages of documents to the involvement of the Institute for Reforming Government.
“The agency did not provide receipts for staff time, food, travel, or lodging,” Dairyland Sentinel wrote of the event at Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells. “Taxpayers are left to wonder how much of that $368,885 was spent on resort amenities, alcohol, or water park access for the 88 educators and various staff in attendance.”
There are no recordings of the event, DPI told the outlet, and meeting minutes were not sent as part of the public records response.
DPI was found by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty to have lowered school report card cut points in 2020-21, changed the labels on those in 2023-24 and lowered the cut points again that year as well.
In response, DPI formed a committee, held meetings and adjusted standards again last year.
