(C) Wisconsin Watch
This story was originally published by Wisconsin Watch and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Wisconsin Weekly: How taxpayer dollars are used to discriminate against LGBTQ+ students [1]
['Wisconsin Watch', 'More Wisconsin Watch']
Date: 2023-05-08 14:54:41+00:00
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Wisconsin Weekly is a Friday news roundup of reports from Wisconsin Watch and other trusted news outlets. Access to some stories may be limited to subscribers of the news organizations that produced them. We urge our readers to consider supporting these important news outlets by subscribing, and sign up to get our free newsletters here.
Phoebe Petrovic reports on the Wisconsin School Choice program providing taxpayer funding to private schools that enforce religious policies banning LGBTQ+ students and allowing them to expel students with disabilities. Phoebe spoke with a top student at Fox Valley Lutheran High School who was told to break up with her girlfriend or face expulsion. She reviewed school policies at one-third of the choice program schools and found nearly half had policies or statements that appeared to discriminate against students who are LGBTQ+ or have disabilities. Because of state and federal laws, state officials say there is little they can do.
Also this week: We published reporter Zhen Wang’s investigation of Milwaukee Tool’s supply chain. She revealed allegations that Chinese prisoners were forced to make work gloves for pennies each day under grueling conditions.
If you value this reporting, please consider contributing to our spring fundraising campaign. Access to some stories listed in the Wisconsin Weekly roundup may be limited to subscribers of the news organizations that produced them. We urge our readers to consider supporting these important news outlets by subscribing.
Thanks for reading!
Education
Taxpayer-funded vouchers make eligible families better able to afford a private school education, but students who are LGBTQ+ or have disabilities lose rights they would have in the public school system. (Amena Saleh / Wisconsin Watch)
Wisconsin Watch — May 5, 2023
In 2022, the two Fox Valley Lutheran High School students were a few months from graduating when they got called into the dean’s office. One was the cheerleading captain and National Honor Society inductee; the other a basketball player, homecoming queen and student council member. Both were accomplished and well-respected students. Yet in separate meetings with the dean, they learned they faced expulsion — not for cheating or plagiarizing or breaking the law, but because administrators suspected the young women of dating.
Related story: Considering a Wisconsin voucher school? Here’s what parents of children who are LGBTQ+ or have a disability should know.
Economy
Shi Minglei, the wife of an imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Cheng Yuan, fled to the United States in 2021 and now lives in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. She is calling for Brookfield-Wis.-based Milwaukee Tool to stop sourcing gloves made from forced prison labor in China. A Milwaukee Tool spokesperson says the company has “found no evidence to support” allegations about forced labor. Shi is shown in Minneapolis on Feb. 19, 2023. (Ariana Lindquist for Wisconsin Watch)
Wisconsin Watch — May 4, 2023
Wisconsin Watch reporter Zhen Wang interviewed in Mandarin several Chinese workers who made gloves for Milwaukee Tool in a prison earning pennies a day. The company denied the allegations saying its own investigations “found no evidence to support the claims being made.”
Elections
BLOC canvasser Janice Agnew checks addresses before knocking on doors and greeting residents in Milwaukee, reminding people to vote on April 4, 2023. (Pat Robinson for Wisconsin Watch)
Wisconsin Watch — May 2, 2023
In his final story for Wisconsin Watch, democracy reporter Matt Mencarini offers insight into how Wisconsin has continued to produce high turnout elections despite the state becoming one of the least hospitable places for voting. Wisconsin once ranked fourth for ease in registering and voting, but as of 2022 ranked 47th. The fall came as other states adopted measures like same-day voter registration, and Wisconsin Republicans implemented a host of “election integrity” measures including one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation.
Matt has left Wisconsin Watch to take a job with the Lansing State Journal. We will miss him! We are searching for a new reporter to fill his shoes on the statehouse team.
State budget
The Associated Press — May 2, 2023
The Legislature’s budget committee began work on the state budget Tuesday by stripping out hundreds of Gov. Tony Evers’ proposals, effectively starting the process from scratch.
Local government
The Associated Press — May 2, 2023
Wisconsin counties, cities, villages and towns (especially Milwaukee) are starved for cash. The Republican-controlled Legislature wants to get tough on crime (especially in Milwaukee). And so Republican lawmakers introduced a shared revenue bill this week outside the normal budget process, which means it can’t be line-item vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, only taken or left. It delivers $176 million in additional aid to local governments and allows Milwaukee to raise a sales tax by referendum, but it also includes several Republican policy goals such as requiring police officers in Milwaukee schools, prohibits local advisory referendums (so no more of these), bans public health officials from shutting down businesses for more than two weeks during a pandemic without approval from local government (the Supreme Court ruled on this issue last year) and allows any town or municipality with land that’s part of a Knowles-Nelson Stewardship project to block state funding. Evers on Thursday promised to veto the bill.
Crime and justice
USA TODAY — May 3, 2023
A new season of Unsolved from USA Today features a missing Black girl from Milwaukee and puts a spotlight on why so many Black children in America go missing and are never found. Listen to the first episode here.
Entertainment
Wisconsin State Journal — May 3, 2023
Barry Adams gives a fitting tribute to the passing of an American troubadour and his unique ties to Wisconsin.
Access to some stories listed in the Wisconsin Weekly roundup may be limited to subscribers of the news organizations that produced them. We urge our readers to consider supporting these important news outlets by subscribing.
Thanks for reading!
Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Close window X Republish this article This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Scroll down to copy and paste the code of our article into your CMS. The codes for images, graphics and other embeddable elements may not transfer exactly as they appear on our site. You are welcome to republish our articles for free using the following ground rules. Credit should be given, in this format: “By Dee J. Hall, Wisconsin Watch”
If published online, you must include the links and link to wisconsinwatch.org
If you share the story on social media, please mention @wisconsinwatch ( Twitter Facebook and Instagram
Don’t sell the story — it may not be marketed as an individual product.
Don’t sell ads against the story. But you can publish it with pre-sold ads.
Your website must include a prominent way to contact you.
Additional elements that are packaged with our story must be labeled.
Users can republish our photos, illustrations, graphics and multimedia elements ONLY with stories with which they originally appeared. You may not separate multimedia elements for standalone use.
If we send you a request to change or remove Wisconsin Watch content from your site, you must agree to do so immediately. You are welcome to republish our articles forusing the following ground rules. For questions regarding republishing rules please contact Andy Hall, executive director, at
[email protected] Wisconsin Weekly: How taxpayer dollars are used to discriminate against LGBTQ+ students <h1>Wisconsin Weekly: How taxpayer dollars are used to discriminate against LGBTQ+ students</h1> <p class="byline">by Wisconsin Watch, Wisconsin Watch <br />May 8, 2023</p> <p>Phoebe Petrovic reports on the Wisconsin School Choice program providing taxpayer funding to private schools that enforce religious policies banning LGBTQ+ students and allowing them to expel students with disabilities. Phoebe spoke with a top student at Fox Valley Lutheran High School who was told to break up with her girlfriend or face expulsion. She reviewed school policies at one-third of the choice program schools and found nearly half had policies or statements that appeared to discriminate against students who are LGBTQ+ or have disabilities. Because of state and federal laws, state officials say there is little they can do.</p> <p>Also this week: We published reporter Zhen Wang’s investigation of Milwaukee Tool’s supply chain. She revealed allegations that Chinese prisoners were forced to make work gloves for pennies each day under grueling conditions. </p> <p>If you value this reporting, please consider contributing to our <a href="
https://checkout.fundjournalism.org/memberform?org_id=wisconsinwatch&campaign=7014p000000NDTWAA4">spring fundraising campaign</a>. <em>Access to some stories listed in the Wisconsin Weekly roundup may be limited to subscribers of the news organizations that produced them. We urge our readers to consider supporting these important news outlets by subscribing. </em></p> <p>Thanks for reading!</p> <p> </p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-wide" /> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">Education</h5> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/wisconsin-voucher-schools-discrimination-lgbtq-disabilities/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img src="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/VOUCHER-1-782x587.png" alt="" class="wp-image-1278810" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Taxpayer-funded vouchers make eligible families better able to afford a private school education, but students who are LGBTQ+ or have disabilities lose rights they would have in the public school system. (Amena Saleh / Wisconsin Watch)</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2022/12/election-nonprofit-that-drew-gop-ire-in-2020-renews-grants/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2022/12/election-nonprofit-that-drew-gop-ire-in-2020-renews-grants/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/election-integrity-voter-fraud-common-infraction-wisconsin/"></a><strong><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/wisconsin-voucher-schools-discrimination-lgbtq-disabilities/">False choice: Wisconsin taxpayers support schools that can discriminate</a></strong></h3> <p><strong><strong><strong>Wisconsin Watch — May 5, 2023</strong></strong></strong></p> <p>In 2022, the two Fox Valley Lutheran High School students were a few months from graduating when they got called into the dean’s office. One was the cheerleading captain and National Honor Society inductee; the other a basketball player, homecoming queen and student council member. Both were accomplished and well-respected students. Yet in separate meetings with the dean, they learned they faced expulsion — not for cheating or plagiarizing or breaking the law, but because administrators suspected the young women of dating. </p> <p>Related story: <a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/considering-a-wisconsin-voucher-school-heres-what-parents-should-know/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Considering a Wisconsin voucher school? Here’s what parents of children who are LGBTQ+ or have a disability should know.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">Economy</h5> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/milwaukee-tool-gloves-chinese-prisoners/"><img src="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Shi_Minglei_interior-782x521.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1278757" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Shi Minglei, the wife of an imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Cheng Yuan, fled to the United States in 2021 and now lives in Minnesota’s Twin Cities. She is calling for Brookfield-Wis.-based Milwaukee Tool to stop sourcing gloves made from forced prison labor in China. A Milwaukee Tool spokesperson says the company has “found no evidence to support” allegations about forced labor. Shi is shown in Minneapolis on Feb. 19, 2023. (Ariana Lindquist for Wisconsin Watch)</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/how-democracy-nearly-died-in-wisconsin-republican-gerrymandering-evers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/death-on-a-dairy-farm/"></a><strong><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/wisconsin-drivers-license-expanding-access/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a><a href="
https://www.wpr.org/issue-abortion-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-protasiewicz-kelly-roe" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/milwaukee-tool-gloves-chinese-prisoners/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chinese prisoners: We were forced to make Milwaukee Tool gloves for cents each day</a></strong></h3> <p><strong>Wisconsin Watch — May 4, 2023</strong></p> <p>Wisconsin Watch reporter Zhen Wang interviewed in Mandarin several Chinese workers who made gloves for Milwaukee Tool in a prison earning pennies a day. The company denied the allegations saying its own investigations “found no evidence to support the claims being made.”</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">Elections</h5> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/voting-wisconsin-difficult-cast-ballot/"><img src="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/access_01-782x521.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-1278689" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">BLOC canvasser Janice Agnew checks addresses before knocking on doors and greeting residents in Milwaukee, reminding people to vote on April 4, 2023. (Pat Robinson for Wisconsin Watch)</figcaption></figure> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="
https://madison.com/news/local/education/local_schools/tripledemic-is-trapping-families-in-perpetual-cycle-of-illness/article_0d7d5725-db12-5163-bf35-8d33398fd71a.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/what-epas-nationwide-pfas-rule-means-for-wisconsin-drinking-water/"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/safety-concerns-mount-at-milwaukee-countys-granite-hills-psychiatric-hospital/"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/voting-wisconsin-difficult-cast-ballot/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Voting has gotten harder in Wisconsin. Organizers have found ways to help</a></h3> <p><strong>Wisconsin Watch — May 2, 2023</strong></p> <p>In his final story for Wisconsin Watch, democracy reporter Matt Mencarini offers insight into how Wisconsin has continued to produce high turnout elections despite the state becoming one of the least hospitable places for voting. Wisconsin once ranked fourth for ease in registering and voting, but as of 2022 ranked 47th. The fall came as other states adopted measures like same-day voter registration, and Wisconsin Republicans implemented a host of “election integrity” measures including one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation.</p> <p>Matt has left Wisconsin Watch to take a job with the Lansing State Journal. We will miss him! <a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/wisconsin-watch-seeks-investigative-reporter/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">We are searching for a new reporter to fill his shoes on the statehouse team.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">State budget</h5> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/fish-consumption-advisories-great-lakes-wisconsin-risks/"></a><strong><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/wisconsin-republicans-kill-legalized-pot-stadium-repairs/">Wisconsin Republicans kill legalized pot, stadium repairs</a></strong></h3> <p><strong>The Associated Press — May 2, 2023</strong></p> <p>The Legislature’s budget committee began work on the state budget Tuesday by stripping out hundreds of Gov. Tony Evers’ proposals, effectively starting the process from scratch.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">Local government</h5> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong><a href="
https://madison.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/nearly-70-of-wisconsin-snowmobile-fatalities-involve-alcohol-as-bars-dot-trails/article_b0954814-7fa2-52bd-b160-b1d803c366f3.html"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/03/lawsuit-alleges-recreation-gov-is-cluttered-with-junk-fees/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a><a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/evers-promises-to-veto-gop-local-aid-increase-plan/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Evers promises to veto GOP local aid increase plan</a></strong></h3> <p><strong>The Associated Press — May 2, 2023</strong></p> <p>Wisconsin counties, cities, villages and towns (especially Milwaukee) <a href="
https://wispolicyforum.org/research/could-surplus-help-improve-state-local-relations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">are starved for cash</a>. The Republican-controlled Legislature wants to get tough on crime (<a href="
https://city.milwaukee.gov/police/Information-Services/Crime-Maps-and-Statistics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">especially in Milwaukee</a>). And so Republican lawmakers introduced a shared revenue bill this week outside the normal budget process, which means it can’t be line-item vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, only taken or left.<a href="
https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/230502LFB.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> It delivers $176 million</a> in additional aid to local governments and allows Milwaukee to raise a sales tax by referendum, but it also includes <a href="
https://www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/230502Bill.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">several Republican policy goals</a> <a href="
https://milwaukeenns.org/2020/06/22/three-things-you-should-know-about-mps-decision-to-cut-contracts-with-the-milwaukee-police-department/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">such as requiring police officers in Milwaukee schools</a>, prohibits local advisory referendums (<a href="
https://www.wisdc.org/reforms/118-redistricting/6392-toolkit-for-banning-gerrymandering-in-wisconsin#referendums" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">so no more of these</a>), bans public health officials from shutting down businesses for more than two weeks during a pandemic without approval from local government (<a href="
https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=542615" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the Supreme Court ruled on this issue last year</a>) and allows <a href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/04/pocket-veto-wisconsin-republicans-defund-stalled-projects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">any town or municipality with land that’s part of a Knowles-Nelson Stewardship project to block</a> state funding. Evers on Thursday promised to veto the bill.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">Crime and justice</h5> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2023/04/18/unsolved-season-4/11551055002/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Unsolved 4: A missing girl, a search for truth</a></h3> <p><strong>USA TODAY — May 3, 2023</strong></p> <p>A new season of Unsolved from USA Today features a missing Black girl from Milwaukee and puts a spotlight on why so many Black children in America go missing and are never found. <a href="
https://audioboom.com/posts/8293780-she-never-made-it-to-school" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Listen to the first episode here.</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">Entertainment</h5> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><a href="
https://madison.com/news/local/gordon-lightfoots-nearly-50-year-bond-with-wisconsin/article_e0d92239-54d1-5adc-b662-45d199c7ea16.html#tracking-source=in-article">Gordon Lightfoot’s nearly 50-year bond with Wisconsin</a></h3> <p><strong>Wisconsin State Journal — May 3, 2023</strong></p> <p>Barry Adams gives a fitting tribute to the passing of an American troubadour and his unique ties to Wisconsin.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <p>Access to some stories listed in the Wisconsin Weekly roundup may be limited to subscribers of the news organizations that produced them. We urge our readers to consider supporting these important news outlets by subscribing. </p> <p>Thanks for reading!</p> This <a target="_blank" href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/wisconsin-weekly-how-taxpayer-dollars-are-used-to-discriminate-against-lgbtq-students/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="
https://wisconsinwatch.org">Wisconsin Watch</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="
https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&quality=100&ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="
https://wisconsinwatch.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1278828&ga=UA-17896820-1" style="width:1px;height:1px;"> Copy to Clipboard
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://wisconsinwatch.org/2023/05/wisconsin-weekly-how-taxpayer-dollars-are-used-to-discriminate-against-lgbtq-students/
Published and (C) by Wisconsin Watch
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-ND 4.0 Intl.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/wisconsinwatch/
