Tipsheet

What's the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Hiding?

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  February 05, 2026 12:00 PM

Things are rotten in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Late last year, a damning report showed hundreds of educational professionals, including aides and teachers, were investigated for sexual misconduct. Many of them were simply allowed to resign and kept their licenses. 

On top of that, educational standards in the state have decreased dramatically. Almost 70 percent of Wisconsin's fourth graders can't read at grade level, nearly half of first graders can't read at grade level, and a majority of the state's school districts were flagged for deficiencies in financial reporting.

Now the DPI is embroiled in another scandal. The Dairyland Sentinel is reporting the agency held a four-day junket at a waterpark, on the taxpayers' dime, to "redefine student proficiency."

Then the DPI issued a gag order on participants. 

But the Dairyland Sentinel found out what was going on at that junket.

Here's more:

More than a year after the Dairyland Sentinel first sought public records regarding the overhaul of Wisconsin’s student performance benchmarks, the Department of Public Instruction has finally released another handful of internal documents. The new disclosures were forced only after the Dairyland Sentinel retained legal counsel through the Institute for Reforming Government.

The records obtained by the Dairyland Sentinel reveal a process defined by high taxpayer costs and a strict, threatening vow of silence.

The documents concern the “standard setting” process used to redefine what it means for a Wisconsin student to be “proficient” in reading and math. Following a formal demand letter from IRG last month, the Department of Public Instruction late Monday released 17 pages of internal recruitment emails, applications, and non-disclosure agreements. Many of these records were withheld during the agency’s original response in February 2025, which at the time only provided a pre-packaged 324 page technical summary.

The newly released records confirm a staggering price tag for the four-day event. In an email to the Dairyland Sentinel, the DPI confirmed the line-item cost for the standard setting workshop was $368,885. The event was held in June 2024 at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells, a premier destination known for luxury amenities, including massive indoor and outdoor water parks, spa services, and multiple bars.

The event was held almost two years ago in June 2024 and the DPI has spent the months following the event stonewalling requests for information. The event generated a 300-plus page technical report, too, but as Brian Fraley reports, "DPI officials confirmed there are no recordings and didn’t provide requested meeting minutes from the event. Participants were required to leave all notes in the meeting room, where they were collected by facilitators. This raises a fundamental question of government accountability: if there were no official notes, no minutes, and no recordings, how was the final 324-page technical report actually written?"

The DPI will not release a list of expenditures, despite a request from the Dairyland Sentinel.

Under these new proficiency standards, rates jumped 12 percent, which means a majority of students now "meet expectations." Did the DPI lower proficiency standards to inflate those numbers? The public deserves to know that.

Republican Tom Tiffany, who is running for Governor, asked his Democratic opponents to demand a full audit of the DPI.

They have not done so.

This is unacceptable.

"It’s the predictable results of YEARS of failed leadership from our so-called 'education governor' @GovEvers and implemented by bureaucrats like @DrJillUnderly," Faretta wrote.

Last year, Governor Evers vetoed a bill that would raise educational standards in the state of Wisconsin. Our children deserve better, and Democrats won't deliver it.