Search results for: duclos

Danielle DuClos: Court records are also unclear on when police learned Wallace bought a firearm. Jones’ family alleges that regardless, Madison police could have arrested Wallace in January and taken her firearm away before Jones was shot in March. “My clients cannot understand why, when the police clearly knew that this individual had attempted to […]

Nicholas Bagley, Robert Gordon: The left has two competing impulses: Expand high-quality government services and embrace the public sector union agenda. But those two impulses are in tension with one another — and too many Democrats are in denial about that. At its core, the problem is that public sector unions generally fight to minimize […]

Daniele DuClos: Despite that cautionary message, elected leaders approved a 2025 plan to spend more than they expected to collect in revenue. They added the equivalent of about 44 full-time positions and tapped nearly $60 million in savings to make ends meet. For years, county leaders have authorized budgets where spending outpaced revenues, relying on […]

Danielle DuClos: “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 […]

Natalie Eilbert: When Cap Times reporters Erin Gretzinger and DuClos wrote about Eliav Goldman, a Madison teacher recently arrested and charged on two counts of sexual misconduct against a student and grooming a child for sexual activity, we learned he was among the first to be charged under the new anti-grooming laws. But their story also showed disturbing […]

Danielle DuClos: Jones was appointed to the Branch 1 seat by Gov. Tony Evers last year after Susan Crawford was elected to the state Supreme Court. Prior to his appointment by Evers, he spent almost a decade as an attorney with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction under three state superintendents, including Evers. For about […]

#rin Gretzinger and Danielle DuClos: Online court records show Goldman posted $5,000 for bail and his next court date is May 11. Goldman’s attorney didn’t respond to requests for comment. The school district placed Goldman on leave and is conducting an internal investigation. In a statement, the district didn’t indicate whether Goldman was on leave […]

Danielle DuClos: He oversaw the department’s legal strategy and educator misconduct investigations. Jones has also worked in private practice representing school districts and municipalities. ——- Governor Evers appointed Jones to the Dane County Circuit Court in 2025. Happily, we have a competitive election: Huma Ahsan. I’m glad reporter DuClos is covering former DPI lawyer Jones’ activities.

Danielle DuClos and Erin Gretzinger: After Dane County prosecutors said a brutal physical assault last fall at West High School left a student hospitalized, the Cap Times analyzed the school district’s published assault data back to the 2016-17 school year. That analysis found 1,476 assaults were reported during the 2023-24 school year, an eight-year high. […]

Kevin Dalton: If you are wondering if this is in addition to the $500 million that the Los Angeles Unified School District borrowed less than a year ago to settle sexual misconduct claims, the answer is yes, the $250 million is in addition to the $500 million. Experts say this will end up costing taxpayers […]

Catherine Herridge: Straight to the Point: Sexual Abuse Epidemic in Public Schools WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 00:40 “Pass The Trash” Teachers accused of abuse in public schools are quietly moved to other schools 01:23 Sexual Abuse Epidemic in California 02:40 Mandatory Reporting to law enforcement: Compliance is reported to be near zero 03:40 No legal requirement […]

By Danielle DuClos: In the span of seven months, five high-ranking officials at the Sun Prairie Area School District resigned, retired or announced exit plans, the School Board ordered an outside review of district staff, and the local Police Department started investigating administrators.  The turmoil rocking Sun Prairie public schools largely stems from the district’s handling of sexual misconduct […]

The nearly 175 years young Madison Literary Club hosted a talk by Paul Fanlund and John Nichols on “The Business of Journalism”. mp3 audio // Machine generated transcriptOverton Window, explained. A few personal notes on the newspaper era: I was blessed to grow up with parents who prized literacy and lifelong learning. Local, regional and […]

Danielle DuClos: The bill would require the department to publish on its website if an educator surrendered their license amid an investigation into misconduct. It would also remove ways to justify denying access to case records under state open records laws and mandate the department fulfill requests for case records within 14 days, if an […]

Danielle DuClos: Dane County’s drug task force seized a sedan as part of a narcotics investigation, while Madison police seized $7,700 in cash in another case. In neighboring Sun Prairie, officers seized a total of $77,700 cash in two cases that took more than 100 hours of investigation combined. Each seizure last year was made […]

Danielle DuClos: After the Cap Times revealed the state Department of Public Instruction had investigated more than 200 educators from 2018 through 2023 following allegations of sexual misconduct or grooming, public officials proposed new legislation, pledged greater transparency and ordered a wide-ranging audit. Yet, Wisconsin’s laws and the Department of Public Instruction’s policies to prevent educator misconduct […]

By Danielle DuClos In a recent high-profile case of educator sexual misconduct, the parents of a Kenosha student are suing their school district and their daughter’s former teacher after administrators concluded the teacher groomed the girl when she was 14. Christian Enwright, 31, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of disorderly conduct in April. Prosecutors accused […]

Danielle DuClos Then in January 2020, Kruchten was arrestedafter a school field trip to Minnesota where students discovered hidden cameras in their hotel rooms.  Kruchten pleaded guilty a year later to federal charges including attempting to produce child sexual abuse material and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The charges stemmed from two previous incidents in Wisconsin.  The federal […]

Danielle DuClos: After Evers dropped the 2017 rule changes while serving as state superintendent, neither his successor, Carolyn Stanford Taylor, ​nor the current state superintendent, Jill Underly, promulgated similar measures. Underly says the Department of Public Instruction is now working on two related rules, though. Facing pressure from critics after the Cap Times investigation, Underly […]

Danielle DuClos: State legislators called both hearings this week in response to reporting by the Cap Times that uncovered hundreds of sexual misconduct and grooming investigations conducted by the department from 2018 through 2023. In a joint statement, the audit commitee’s co-chairs — Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, and Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia — said Underly and the department “failed […]

Danielle DuClos: The Cap Times found the Department of Public Instruction has investigated more than 200 educators from 2018 to 2023 following allegations of sexual misconduct or grooming. The reporting also revealed the department relies on a rudimentary system to track its investigations, obscuring the scale of misconduct for policymakers and the public.  Wisconsin State […]

Mark Treinen: A major point of @danielle_duclos’ reporting on Wisconsin educator misconduct is that it’s really hard to get public records on these cases. On @WORTnews, transparency experts Bill Lueders and Tom Kamenick break down the issues, and solutions:

Danielle DuClos This time with a focus on school districts wanting thousands of dollars to provide staff investigation records No statewide tracking of sexual misconduct and grooming by teachers exists in Wisconsin, including at the state Department of Public Instruction, which oversees educator licenses.  A federal study estimates one in 10 students across the country […]

Danielle DuClos x.com A yearlong investigation by the Cap Times found the state Department of Public Instruction investigated more than 200 Wisconsin teachers, aides, substitutes and administrators from 2018 to 2023 who were accused of sexual misconduct or grooming behaviors toward students — information previously unknown to the public.   The department’s internal records show these […]

Danielle DuClos State law requires outside investigators whenever the death of a person involves law enforcement. In these cases, little information is typically released by investigators until a district attorney decides whether to charge officers with a crime. Last fall, however, Dane County authorities released a 911 call recording that provided new information about the […]

Danielle DuClos: Ratzlaff: Property tax relief. With the median home value in Dane County at $304,700, the typical annual property tax bill reaches $7,324 — far exceeding the national median of $2,690. There is no way that this can or will sustain itself. Plus, you add in the two referendums that the city of Madison has passed and […]

Danielle DuCloss “I work and reside in the community that everybody else does, and I think property taxes have increased at a rate that is unsustainable,” Ratzlaff said. “I just want to take a look and see if there’s anything we can do about that.” During his 2020 Assembly campaign, Ratzlaff said he supports municipal […]

Danielle DuClos: Critics, including former Madison mayor Paul Soglin, urged residents to vote against the $22 million tax referendum before the November election. Soglin suggested using the rainy day fund to close the gap in 2025 while lobbying for more funds. He reiterated this call, stating last year’s surplus and this year’s could have averted […]

Judith Davidoff & Liam Beran: Soglin opened the news conference at the Park Hotel noting that the room contained an array of “unconnected” folks who are “connected by their concern for the city.” Audience members included former Alds. Nino Amato, Dave Ahrens and Dorothy Borchardt; Lisa Veldran, who led the city council office for 30 […]

Nicholas Garton and Danielle DuClos If the referendum next month passes, one proposal estimates a homeowner with a property value of $457,000 would pay about $3,330 in taxes to the city — a $313 increase from the current year. If the referendum fails, the other budget proposal estimates the same homeowner would pay around $3,100 […]

Danielle DuClos In Dane County, there is one public defender position open and 40 cases are awaiting representation from the office. The office’s budget request seeks funding for a tuition reimbursement pilot program to attract attorneys as well as geographic pay incentives to help recruitment in rural areas. Both prosecutors and public defenders received pay […]

Danielle DuClos: Urban Triage also provides the county’s housing navigation services, which aim to help residents find housing and fill out rental applications. The nonprofit’s contract with the county for housing navigation and other services is $456,000, according to county records. Last year’s nonprofit tax filings show Urban Triage had 24 employees and $2.8 million in net assets. […]

Danielle DuClos and Kayla Huynh: Most Wisconsin students are poor readers. Each year, about three out of every five typically fail to score proficient in state reading tests. But it’s not just students struggling. Wisconsin’s prospective teachers haven’t fared much better in exams they must pass to become a licensed educator. In the most recent […]

Danielle DuClos: Child care in Wisconsin can cost more than college and eat up 18% to 36% of a family’s median household income, according to a report last year by the nonpartisan research group Forward Analytics. Statewide, providers are struggling with staffing after losing a quarter of workers in the last decade as demand for care remains […]

Danielle Duclos With low reading proficiency scores across the state, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin is exploring the causes and consequences of low literacy. This article is part of the By the Book series, which examines reading curriculum, instructional methods and solutions in K-12 education to answer the questions: Why do so many Wisconsin kids struggle to […]

Danielle DuClos In the nearly two-hour-long radio interview, Tiller talked about student mental health, applying for the superintendent job, re-energizing clubs for students and staff of color, the need to hire more teachers of color and his vision to make the Green Bay School District known for its education. During one of the commercial breaks […]

Corrinne Hess: “I think DPI is trying to appease the masses and go with the status quo,” Warner said. “I think they are putting in too many, and putting in poor quality because they are not willing to push the envelope of what they are expecting in schools.”  —— More. —— Legislation and Reading: The Wisconsin […]

Danielle DuClos In Wisconsin, at least 79% of school districts surveyed by the Department of Public Instruction use curriculums that don’t meet academic standards recommended by the department. Many teacher preparation programs aren’t embracing this science to help new educators learn to teach reading either. Are you an elementary school teacher whose students are having […]

Danielle DuClos: Green Bay School District Superintendent Claude Tiller is under review for comments he made on an Atlanta-based talk radio show last week, according to the Green Bay School Board. Tiller was in Atlanta on Feb. 6 to recruit teachers from Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University and Spelman College, according to his X, formerly known […]

Danielle DuClos Green Bay School District senior leaders have created a “dynamic of distrust and antagonism” leaving employees “frustrated,” according to an internal report on district administration. The report details a district whose senior administration undermines its employees, whose members are tethered to their desks and have turf wars among colleagues.  The 34-page report, obtained by the […]

Danielle DuClos: The Green Bay Press-Gazette found that, instead of conducting a thorough inquiry into the allegation, the Green Bay School District botched an investigation and kept Villareal in the classroom — until another girl came forward four years later. Experts say these missteps included asking the child to recount what happened in front of […]

Danielle DuClos: Meanwhile, public school enrollment is declining across the state, further eroding district revenue under a funding formula that is largely dictated by the number of students enrolled in district schools. Add in inflation and districts are in a pickle, according to Sara Shaw, a senior researcher with the Wisconsin Policy Forum, a nonpartisan […]