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Wisconsin Watch
Is the average salary for teachers in the Milwaukee School District $69,000?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. The average salary for classroom teachers in the Milwaukee School District in the 2022-23 fiscal year is $69,180, according to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction data.
Do billionaires pay an 8% federal income tax rate?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. Billionaires pay a federal income tax rate much higher than 8%, according to the latest data. The smallest income group the IRS reports on...
Were less than 15% of Milwaukee Public Schools fourth- and eighth-grade students proficient in reading and math in 2022?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. Following are the latest “Nation’s Report Card” results for Milwaukee Public Schools from the National Center for Education Statistics, which is part of the U.S. Education Department.
Wisconsin preschoolers are 5 times more likely to be expelled than K-12 students. Here’s why.
Child care centers often replace children whose behavioral struggles are linked to shifts in routine or disabilities. Wisconsin preschoolers are 5 times more likely to be expelled than K-12 students. Here’s why. is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Teachers’ mental health is linked to preschool expulsions. Here’s why.
Katie Dudley felt like she was regressing as a 4K teacher. Her students, although technically the same age she taught year after year, behaved completely differently. The reason was clear. Many parents told Dudley that being in her classroom was the first time their children had left the house or engaged with other children in two years — which happened to be half their lives.
Milwaukee police are making fewer drug arrests, even as opioid deaths soar
Despite Milwaukee County’s record-breaking rise in drug overdose deaths, drug-related arrests in the city of Milwaukee have declined in recent years. The Milwaukee Police Department in 2022 made 724 arrests for drug-related crimes including drug sales or possession — a 67% decrease since 2017, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Unified Crime Reporting data dashboard.
Inside Waupun Correctional Institution’s ‘nightmare’ lockdown
Prisoners locked in their cells for days on end report walls speckled with feces and blood. Birds have moved in, leaving droppings on the food trays and ice bags handed out to keep prisoners cool. Blocked from visiting the law library, prisoners say they have missed court deadlines and jeopardized appeals. Unable to access toilet paper, one prisoner tore his clothing into patches to use for tissue.
Did a Moms for Liberty chapter quote Hitler?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. An Indianapolis-area chapter of Moms for Liberty, described in June 2023 news stories as an emerging force in national Republican politics, published a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler in its inaugural newsletter.
Does Wisconsin own the stadium where the Milwaukee Brewers play?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. The Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District (64%) and the Milwaukee Brewers (36%) own American Family Field. A 1995 state law created the district,...
Has the Biden administration invested more in clean energy in red states than blue states?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. Two August 2023 reports say the Biden administration has directed more Inflation Reduction Act climate change resources to so-called red states — those controlled by Republicans — than blue states, those run by Democrats.
Wisconsin Weekly: News outlet in financial peril after politician sues
Wisconsin Weekly is a roundup of the week’s top headlines from around the state by Wisconsin Watch and other trusted news outlets. A Wausau news outlet faces hefty legal bills after being unsuccessfully sued. Climate change is threatening ecosystems throughout the Great Lakes region. Wisconsin’s gerrymandered districts could be...
Commission won’t tell Wisconsin’s top elections official whether to appear at reappointment hearing
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. The Wisconsin Elections Commission declined to vote Wednesday on whether the state’s top elections official should appear before a state Senate hearing on her reappointment as a fight continues over who will lead elections in the critical battleground state ahead of the 2024 presidential race.
Has nearly one in five Americans lost a family member to gun violence?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. A nationally representative poll of U.S. adults in March 2023 asked:. “Do you have a family member who has ever been killed by a...
Has college tuition increased four times the rate of inflation since Ronald Reagan was president?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. Nationwide, college tuition has increased about three times as much as inflation since Ronald Reagan’s presidency ended in January 1989. For public and...
Has Wisconsin been decided by less than 1 percentage point in four of the last six presidential elections?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. The candidate who carried Wisconsin in the 2020, 2016, 2004 and 2000 presidential elections won the state by less than 1 percentage point. 2020:...
Summer of weather records one reason we’re talking water quality in La Crosse Sept. 21
Wisconsin Watch, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Sustainability Institute will team up to discuss issues along the Mississippi River. Summer of weather records one reason we’re talking water quality in La Crosse Sept. 21 is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Low-income Chicago suburbs eye ‘RainReady’ investments to limit flooding
Heavy rainfall disproportionately affects people of color and immigrants in the Chicago region. Residents are crafting solutions. Low-income Chicago suburbs eye ‘RainReady’ investments to limit flooding is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Lawsuit targets Wisconsin legislative districts resembling Swiss cheese
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletter to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. If Wisconsin state Rep. Jimmy Anderson wants to visit residents in some of the northern neighborhoods he represents, he first must leave his own district — twice. From...
Climate change, more rainfall threatens wild rice in northern Minnesota
Wild rice thrives in shallow waters and serves as a sacred “mashkiki,” or medicine, to the Ojibwe. Climate change, more rainfall threatens wild rice in northern Minnesota is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Does Wisconsin’s constitution ‘clearly’ say the Wisconsin Supreme Court chief justice administers the Supreme Court?
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims. Wisconsin’s constitution says: “The chief justice of the Supreme Court shall be the administrative head of the judicial system and shall exercise this administrative authority,” but adds “pursuant to procedures adopted by the Supreme Court.”
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