Wisconsin’s election managers want to open a new multi-million-dollar office to focus solely on election transparency. The Wisconsin Elections Commission approved a $2 million budget request to open an Office of Election Transparency and Compliance. WEC chair Ann Jacobs said creating an Office of Election Transparency is “what we have to do.” The Elections Commission continues to deal with questions about how the state’s elections are managed, following the 2020 election that saw two investigations into the commission.

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Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_80a08708-712e-11ef-a3c2-cb2a8b6393c1.html

Two of Wisconsin’s Republican congressmen want answers from Dane County’s sheriff about how a wanted illegal immigrant was able to commit another crime in another part of the state. U.S. Reps. Tom Tiffany and Derrick Van Orden sent a letter this week to Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett asking about Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate. Prairie du Chien police say Coronel Zarate is suspected of being a member of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua. He is accused of assaulting a woman and injuring a child.

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Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_f556d78a-6f82-11ef-9991-bb568a4ace9f.html

The Wisconsin Supreme Court didn’t ask about Racine’s mobile voting van until the end of the hearing on whether it's legal or not. The court Tuesday instead focused on whether the voter challenging the van can actually sue and whether the van gave Democrats an advantage in the 2022 primary election. A Racine County judge ruled in January the van used by Racine’s clerk in 2022 is illegal and cannot be used again. The Supreme Court ruled in June to keep that ruling in place temporarily. Tuesday’s hearing will decide the case going forward.

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Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_719f3afe-6faa-11ef-bf39-f31d0dd7cb77.html

Former Independent party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Election Commission to remove his name from the state’s ballot this November, part of his ongoing battle to exit from races in swing states. The case argues that, absent a compelling reason, different treatment for third party candidates violates the Equal Protection Clause and Kennedy’s First Amendment rights. It claims the different deadlines for ballot withdrawal for Democrat and Republican candidates versus third-party candidates–September 3 for the former and August 6 for the latter–are unlawfully discriminatory.

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Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_9c391ede-6ae5-11ef-8cea-4b6146bf6e44.html

A lot of students in Wisconsin are about to get far better grades on the state’s standardized tests, but advocates say it’s not because they are suddenly better at reading or math. Wisconsin’s State Superintendent of Schools is defending the decision to change the standards for Wisconsin’s Fordward Exam and the ACT. The Department of Public Instruction is both lowering the threshold for what is proficient, a 19 on the ACT will now count as proficient and changing the terms to measure student success. The most noticeable change is dropping the terms basic and below basic in exchange for approaching and developing.

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There is more talk about releasing the University of Wisconsin-Madison from the University of Wisconsin System. The Legislative Study Committee on the Future of the UW System submitted a plan that would transition the UW-Madison campus into a new agency within state government, give the university borrowing power and spin the state’s main campus away from the other 12. Supporters of the plan point to Madison’s enrollment, which at more than 50,000 students is twice as large as the second largest school – UW-Milwaukee.

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State Sen. John Jagler is frustrated Milwaukee Public Schools seems to be ignoring the state law that requires police officers in the city’s schools. But, he doesn’t expect any changes either. Jagler, R-Watertown, last week wrote a letter to the MPS board, asking when the city’s schools plan to follow the law and return school resource officers to their buildings. Republican lawmakers included the school resource officer in 2023’s shared revenue deal. It required MPS to add 25 officers by Jan. 1. That didn’t happen.

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A Wisconsin lawmaker wants this to be the last school year that begins with cellphones in the classroom. Sen. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, released a column that outlines what he says is the need for a cellphone ban. Currently, local schools set their own rules for cellphones in schools. Some school districts have district-wide policy, while others allow principals in individual schools to set their own rules.

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Full story: https://www.thecentersquare.com/wisconsin/article_3d3cab8e-63d4-11ef-9152-9365750620b3.html