WILL Keeps Winning! Beloit School District Rescinds Discriminatory Scholarship! WILL has been notified by the School District of Beloit that it will reconfigure its “Grow Your Own Multicultural Teacher Scholarship Program” (GYO) to remove the racial eligibility criterion. The District has promised that it will not accept new applications or award any further GYO scholarships until the program has been accordingly revised and published. This ends the need for further legal action at this time and WILL is celebrating another victory for true equality under the law. WILL Associate Counsel, Cara Tolliver, stated, “We will continue to seek out and litigate discriminatory programs that undermine human dignity and violate the Constitution. The District made the right decision in repealing the racial eligibility requirement for its GYO program—which was based on nothing more than a constitutionally-forbidden desire to match and balance students and staff according to their skin pigmentation." School Choice Enrollment Up! WILL Breaks It Down... Lost amongst the news of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released data on school district spending and enrollment around Wisconsin. The spending data is already significantly outdated—covering the 2022-23 school year that ended more than a year ago. Nonetheless, it does represent our best window into the current state of education in the state. Among the key points: In the past five years, public school enrollment has declined by 4.79%, while choice enrollment is up 26.7%. Inflation-adjusted spending per student is down from two years ago, but up nearly $1,000 per student from 2010. Facilities spending accounts for a large share of the jump in spending—up 71% from 2010. Read More Wisconsin Secretary of State Agrees to New Policies After WILL Lawsuit WILL filed a lawsuit on IRG’s behalf after Secretary Godlewski unlawfully disregarded a public records request for 189 days. The Secretary of State had refused to send a response to IRG’s public record request, believing the Office had no duty to respond to requests when the Office determined no records were available. After this litigation was initiated, the Office turned over records which showed state business was being conducted by the prior Secretary of State on a private e-mail account ([email protected]). As part of the settlement agreement, the Secretary of State’s office agreed to review state law and ensure that where private e-mail accounts are used for state business, those accounts will be searched for responsive records. Celebrate With Us! September 17th in Milwaukee. Details below: Please save the date for our annual celebration this year with keynote speaker Guy Benson (FOX News). DATE: September 17, 2024 TIME: Cocktail reception beginning at 5:00 PM with dinner to follow at 6:00 PM WHERE: The Italian Community Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Guy Benson is the Political Editor of Townhall.com and a Fox News Contributor. He co-authored End of Discussion in 2015, an updated edition of which was published by Random House in 2017. He is a familiar voice on the nationally-syndicated Hugh Hewitt radio show — which he regularly guest hosts — and contributes to NPR’s All Things Considered. Get Tickets Now Why Support WILL? WILL is representing hard-working Americans free of charge to protect their rights, liberties, and livelihoods. And we win! Generous tax-deductible donations from individuals like yourself fund our litigation and policy efforts. Every dollar reinforces the work we do, for all Americans—for this generation and those to come — by securing legal precedents. Make An Impact With Us Read more at www.will-law.org. Check out our various social media platforms!   Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty | 330 E. Kilbourn Suite 725 | Milwaukee, WI 53202 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice