Monday, January 6, 2025
Gov. Tony Evers calls it a 'mistake' to change state test score benchmarks
Molly Beck
MADISON - Gov. Tony Evers, a former state superintendent and public educator, said it was a "mistake" for the state Department of Public Instruction to change how school children are measured on state academic tests without gathering input from educators and parents.
The Democratic governor's comments put him at odds with his successor at the state's education agency, who has defended the changes as providing a more accurate picture of student achievement.
But the category changes have been met with criticism and mean the test is no longer aligned with the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly said in October that the benchmarks created an "extremely high standard to meet, beyond grade-level knowledge."
Evers, who in 2012 as state superintendent adopted the previous standards that were recently changed by Underly, said Friday he was surprised by the changes.
"I hate to even talk about things that aren't my purview anymore in the Department of Public Instruction but I just think there should have been some information and dialog happening with all sorts of people before that decision," Evers told reporters in a press conference. "It's hard to compare year to year if one year you're doing something completely different ... I think it could have been handled better."
Evers said he believes there were school officials who didn't know the changes were coming.
"The mistake was there wasn’t enough conversation with stakeholders, parents ahead of time," he said.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told CBS58 that the new testing standards were "preposterous" and expects to introduce legislation to address the changes during the upcoming legislative session beginning this month.
"We want to pass legislation to guarantee the standards are the same and you don't get to jigger then every time you want to run for reelection," Vos told CBS58.
Underly is seeking a second term as DPI superintendent this spring. She faces Sauk Prairie School District Superintendent Jeff Wright and Brittany Kinser, an education consultant in a Feb. 18 primary election. The two candidates who receive the most votes will move to the April 1 spring election.
Laura Schulte of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
The dumbing-down of the USA continues. If the students can't hit the mark in testing, then just lower the standards. This is not only an insult to the students and their parents, it's also an insult to future generations that have to adjust and tolerate more ignorance and more stupidity.
Hope grows for young Racine County boy in need of lifesaving kidney transplant
Foxconn acquires 20 acres near its Mount Pleasant complex. No plans have surfaced yet for the lots
Tom Daykin
A Foxconn Technology Group affiliate has acquired 20 acres of undeveloped land near its Mount Pleasant complex.
The parcels, at 4529 U.S. Highway 41, 13027 Braun Road and 10640 W. Prairie View Drive, were recently transferred from the Village of Mount Pleasant to Fewi Development Corp., according to a deed posted online by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
The transaction is valued at just under $4.9 million.
The lots were acquired by the village as it was assembling the site for Foxconn. Their transfer to the company's ownership was made under the development agreement between the village and Foxconn, said Sean Ryan, village communications director.
"The company recently requested title to these properties that were owned by the Village, and the Village transferred the properties to the company," Ryan said, in a statement.
There are no pending development proposals under village review for the properties, Ryan said.
Foxconn declined to comment on its plans for the parcels.
Then-Gov. Scott Walker and Taiwan-based Foxconn in 2017 agreed to a $2.85 billion tax incentive package ― including state and local funds ― if the company met annual hiring and capital investment goals.
Foxconn promised to bring 13,000 high-tech jobs to Wisconsin and create a massive large-screen LCD manufacturing facility in Mount Pleasant.
But those plans failed to materialize, and Foxconn instead shifted to contract manufacturing.
A 2021 renegotiated agreement under Gov. Tony Evers' administration allows the company to receive up to $80 million in state tax credits through 2025.
In return, the job target was reduced from 13,000 to 1,454, and Foxconn's estimated capital investment was cut from $10 billion to $672 million.
The company so far has received tax credits totaling $52.5 million since 2000, according to the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., a state agency.
Meanwhile, much of the land planned for Foxconn has since been sold to Microsoft Corp. for its data center campus.
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram,Bluesky, X and Facebook.
Microsoft pauses construction on Mount Pleasant datacenter
Caroline Neal
MOUNT PLEASANT — Microsoft has paused construction on its Mount Pleasant datacenter campus.
When the deal with Microsoft and Mount Pleasant was first approved, the company intended to spend $1 billion. In May, it announced plans to triple its spending to $3.3 billion with an artificial intelligence datacenter.
“We have paused early construction work for this second phase while we evaluate scope and recent changes in technology and consider how this might impact the design of our facilities,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.
Afterward, the spokesperson said it will be important for the company to discuss with local and state authorities whether these changes will impact its current or prospective permits.
Sean Ryan, communications director for the Village of Mount Pleasant, said the company paused construction work to “incorporate new datacenter designs.”
The pause affects Area 2 and Area 3A, on the west side of the railroad tracks Area 3.
Area 3B, on the east side of Area 3, is on track to be operational in 2025, Ryan said.
A Microsoft spokesperson said the company anticipates the pause lasting “months.”
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A map from the Village of Mount Pleasant depicts the boundaries of Microsoft's datacenter.
Despite the delay, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company is “fully on track” with the first phase of the datacenter and still intends to spend $3.3 billion on the investment before the end of 2026, as mentioned in the May 8, 2024, announcement.
Ryan said village officials have “no reason” to believe the pause will impact the “overall scope or nature” of the project.
“We appreciate Microsoft being transparent with village leaders about the construction timeline for its Mount Pleasant datacenters,” Ryan said.
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