“You’ve been in office about four and a half years,” Nass, a Republican from Whitewater, told her during a public hearing last fall. “Without that Cap Times article, I don’t think we’d be here today.”
Legislators called the hearing with Underly weeks after the newspaper revealed the Department of Public Instruction investigated more than 200 educators accused of sexual misconduct and grooming. The reporting showed the department fell short of investigative steps and transparency measures that abuse prevention advocates say would better protect children.
In response, Wisconsin lawmakers held three hearings questioning top education officials, ordered an audit of the department’s practices, and passed laws to close loopholes and help prevent students from being abused by teachers and others. The new laws:
- Criminalize grooming a child for sexual activity.
- Require schools to adopt policies on appropriate communication and to train staff on recognizing grooming.
- Ban schools from entering into non-disclosure agreements with employees investigated for misconduct.
- Require the Department of Public Instruction to maintain an online, searchable database that shows the outcomes of misconduct investigations and identifies educators who lost their licenses.
After signing the searchable-database measure into law, Gov. Tony Evers commended its intentions.
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more.
A Dane County Judge appointed by Governor Evers – Ben Jones – was previously a DPI attorney.
DPI notes & links.
Jill Underly.