WISCONSIN PUBLIC EDUCATION NETWORK

School Board Champion Onboarding 2025
2025-05-07 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | Zoom
Connect with public school champions around the state to maximize your impact as a board member! School finance basics! Advocacy pro-tips! Learn how to build trust as an education leader, engage your community productively, and work effectively with educators, administrators, labor and more! This event is co-hosted with WEAC. Special guests to be announced, including our friends from Local Progress and Wisconsin Progress. Free and open to all public school champions!
REGISTER HERE

A Conversation with the Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Co-Hosted by Wisconsin Public Education Network, NAACP, LWV & WECAN
2025-03-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Registration is now full. If you would like to watch live, please visit https://wiseye.org/?p=31255.
Update 3/17/25
Both Ms. Kinser and Dr. Underly are now confirmed what is likely the only forum featuring both candidates before the April 1st election! We look forward to a fair and friendly conversation, moderated by Dr. Kevin Lawrence Henry, Jr.
Don’t miss this opportunity to get past the politics and learn where the candidates stand on the issues that matter most!
Join us for a conversation with the candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction. This event is co-hosted by Wisconsin Public Education Network, the NAACP Wisconsin, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed (WECAN). This virtual forum is free and open to all supporters of thriving public schools.

Budget Action Workshop
2025-03-18 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
Join us to discuss what’s in the state budget and how YOU can take action to make an impact for local kids! Unpack what Gov. Evers’ budget proposal means to our kids with special guest State Budget Director Brian Pahnke, get the tips & tools you need to deliver effective testimony (in person or in writing) at upcoming hearings, and strategize with champions from around the state about how you can take action where you live to demand and deliver a budget that meets the needs of Wisconsin students and their public schools.
REGISTER HERE

Referendum Support Drop-In Sesion
2025-03-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Zoom
If your school district is going to referendum this spring, please join us for a drop-in support session! Whether you’re already working on a referendum team or looking for ways to get involved, this space is open for questions and collaboration with people working locally and Team Public organizers.
REGISTER HERE

PARTNER EVENT: Protecting Justice for All: The Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Hosted by UpNorthNews
2025-03-12 16:30 - 21:00 | Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State Street, Madison, WI, 53703, United States
UpNorthNews presents Protecting Justice for All, an evening of discussions about the implications of Wisconsin’s upcoming Supreme Court election followed by a watch party for the debate between the candidates on March 12 at Promenade Hall at Overture Center for the Arts in Madison.
REGISTER HERE FOR IN-PERSON OR VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE

Public Schools Week 2025
2025-02-24 - 2025-02-28
Celebrating Wisconsin public schools all week long!
Feb. 24-28 is a time to put our appreciation into ACTION as we join this national celebration of the public schools that unite our communities.
Click here to see our toolkit with templates and action opportunities.
Join us for a full week of action and amplification of the amazing things happening in our public schools — ending with a STATEWIDE DAY OF ACTION Feb. 28 in Madison — Register here!
Don’t miss it! And bring your referenda yard signs to the Capitol – event begins at 11:30 at the State Capitol Feb. 28!

Details and toolkits coming soon!

School Board Candidate Connection
2025-01-28 18:30 - 20:30
Running for school board? Looking for tips, information, and contacts to be connected to the larger pro-public education community around the state? Want to learn more about school funding in Wisconsin and how school board members can best advocate for policy that works for kids?
JOIN US for this virtual gathering to be part of our growing Network and get all your questions answered!
Register here for this Jan 28 session: School Board Candidate Connection
Note: Wisconsin Public Education Network does not endorse candidates. This session is open to all public education champions!

Go Public Action Briefing: Assessment, Accountability & Adequacy
2025-01-27 08:00 - 17:00
Wed. Jan. 29, 2025. 6:30-8:00 pm via zoom. Register to receive the link prior to event. This event is free and open to Wisconsin Public Education Network partners and champions for thriving public schools.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
New changes to standardized testing scoring and reporting have been the topic of much debate and confusion in recent months, and a new bill proposal, LRB 0976: relating to: changes to the educational assessment program and the school and school district accountability report, is being fast-tracked for co-sponsorship by Senator Jagler and Representatives Wittke and Novak (with a short deadline of Jan. 28 at 4pm). We expect this bill to be fast-tracked for a hearing as well (possibly as early as Feb. 6).
Join us on Wed. Jan. 29 from 6:30-8:00 to unpack what this proposal means to how we assess and report student achievement, and how we can best ensure whatever “accountability” measures the state mandates come with funding adequate to meet the needs of all students. We’ll be joined by Dr. Christopher Saldaña (UW-Madison), Dr. David Knight and Dr. Matthew Gardner Kelly (both of the University of Washington), and Christopher Thiel (Legislative Policy Manager, Milwaukee Public Schools), with additional discussants tbd. Our experts will provide critical context for this bill, share how similar changes to cut scores in other states have been enacted, and discuss the impact on students and public schools.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.
About our speakers:

Matthew Gardner Kelly, Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Policy and Social and Cultural Foundations, University of Washington. Matthew Gardner Kelly studies how racial, economic, and spatial inequities in education are created through state action, normalized in public discourse over time, and resisted by historically marginalized communities. His first book, Dividing the Public: School Finance and the Creation of Structural Inequity, was published by Cornell University Press in 2024. The book traces how a series of seemingly mundane and technical policies connected to public school funding helped create the racially, economically, and spatially fragmented postwar metropolis. In tracing how a poorly understood world of lawmaking connected to school funding extracted wealth from communities of color, subsidized white affluence, and promoted residential segregation since the 19th century, the book sheds new light on the culpability of the state in the production of educational inequities that persist in the present.

David Knight, Associate Professor, Danforth Educational Leadership Program and Educational Policy, Organization and Leadership, University of Washington. Dr. David Knight is Director of the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy and the Center for Early Childhood Policy and Equity at the University of Washington College of Education and serves as Associate Professor of Education Finance and Policy. David is a Fellow at the National Education Policy Center and a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Education Finance Academy.
Christopher Saldaña is an assistant professor of K-12 educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Chris’s research examines the relationship between K-12 school finance and educational opportunity, focusing particularly on the educational experiences of minoritized and marginalized students. Chris uses multiple and mixed methods in his research.
This event is part of our 2025 GO PUBLIC! ACTION LAB, a series of briefings with education experts, policy analysts and advocates to unpack and understand the content and impacts of legislative proposals and find common ground for local action with statewide impact.

Conversation & Go Public Happy Hour
2025-01-23 16:30 - 19:30
Click here to register!
A Conversation with Josh Cowen, Professor of Education Policy, Michigan State University and Visiting Center Fellow, Education Law Center. Special event in conjunction with our annual Go Public! Happy Hour at the State Education Convention, Baird Center, Milwaukee. Stop by our booth in the exhibition area too! Josh Cowen is author of “How School Voucher Programs Hurt Students” (Time) and The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers (2024, Harvard Education Press).
Join us from 4:30-7:30 to connect with public education champions and Network partners from around the state! Conversation with Josh Cowen will take place from 5:30-6:30 with happy hour/s immediately before and after, featuring a welcome from special guest State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly.
Event is located in the new Baird Center, Milwaukee – space is limited so be sure to register for updates and directions!
Click here to register!

Get Out The Vote! How to Motivate and Mobilize Public Education Voters
2025-01-21 18:30 - 20:00
Join us for this virtual webinar and get customized support for your nonpartisan spring organizing efforts!

Everything you need to know about getting public school supporters to the ballot box, managing volunteers, making phone calls and knocking doors, and more!

Register: https://secure.everyaction.com/lu7-wuIyYkuedgyGhsvq1g2

Partner Event: 6 Weeks of Power for the School Our Kids Deserve Hosted by Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS)
2025-01-14 18:00 - 2025-02-18 20:00 | Zoom
6 Weeks of Power is a free, virtual introduction to the art and science of organizing. AROS and our alliance partners Midwest Academy, NYU Metro Center, J4J Justice Schools, and HEAL Together will lead the training with local organizers.
6-8PM: January 14, 21, 28, and February 4, 11, and 18, 2025
LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE

All-State Budget Action Blastoff
2024-12-14 10:00 - 15:00 | WEAC Building, 33 Nob Hill Rd, Madison, WI, 53713, United States
Join us to launch a plan to show up for kids in 2025 and demand and deliver a budget that meets their needs!
REGISTER HERE

Post-Election Debrief and Budget Action Planning
2024-11-07 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
Join Wisconsin Public Education Network and and special guests for an all-state post-election debrief and budget action planning. Share local and regional election updates, unpack what the results mean to local public schools, and learn more about our next steps for working with newly elected leaders to pass a better budget for kids in 2025.
REGISTER HERE

ELECTION DAY: General Election
2024-11-05

Drop-In Referenda Support Session 2
2024-10-24 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
If your school district is going to referendum this fall, please join us for a drop-in support session! Whether you’re already working on a referendum team or looking for ways to get involved, this space is open for questions and collaboration with people working locally and Team Public organizers.
REGISTER HERE

Partner Event: A Conversation with ELC Senior Fellow Josh Cowen, Author of 'The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers' Hosted by Public Funds Public Schools
2024-10-24 14:00 - 16:00 | Zoom
Public Funds Public Schools is thrilled to announce that Dr. Josh Cowen, leading national expert on private school vouchers, will be featured in PFPS’s next webinar on October 24 at 2pm CT.
REGISTER HERE
Dr. Cowen, currently a Senior Fellow at Education Law Center, which directs the PFPS campaign, will discuss his new book, The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers, with Maria Bautista, Lead Trainer at NYU Metro Center’s Education Justice Research and Organizing Collaborative.
Dr. Cowen’s book provides a deep-dive investigation of education privatization. It covers a range of topics, including the origins of private school vouchers and the network of billionaire conservatives who have converged around the issue. The Privateers also highlights how vouchers are failing students and exacerbating income inequality, arguing that advancement of privatization policies is an assault on public education as a defining American institution.
Register here for The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.
Dr. Cowen is a professor of education policy at Michigan State University. He is frequently quoted in media stories about private school vouchers and has published numerous scholarly articles on the subject. Recently, his writing has focused on voucher students’ poor academic results, as well as the role of vouchers in defunding and segregating public schools. Dr. Cowen is currently taking a one-year distinguished leave from MSU to provide strategic, policy, research, and communications advice and direction for Education Law Center’s anti-voucher work and to add to PFPS’s research and advocacy tools.
Maria Bautista is the Lead Trainer at NYU Metro Center’s Education Justice Research and Organizing Collaborative, where she is supporting national education justice campaigns, including the launch of a national training program to support education organizing. She previously worked at the Alliance for Quality Education, leading a campaign that secured major victories for New York State students, including the successful push for the state to pay $4 billion owed to public schools. With over 15 years of experience in organizing, Maria focuses on racial justice, community building, and leadership development. She holds a Master’s in Social Work and has extensive policy expertise in education and racial justice.

Drop-In Referenda Support Session 1
2024-10-10 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom

Partner Event: Race Class Narrative (RCN) Foundations Hosted by HEAL Together
2024-10-09 17:00 - 18:00 | Zoom
In this workshop, participants will:

Identify a new way to engage, mobilize, and persuade audiences based on RCN and race forward empirically-based messaging research findings.
Recognize how the opposition is strategically using racism to undermine the government and hijack the economy, as well as ways that we can successfully push back.
Practice using one part of the RCN framework to integrate in their work for honest, equitable, and fully funded public schools.

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE

Partner Event: Forward Together Wisconsin Fall Convening 2024
2024-10-09 - 2024-10-10 | Baird Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI, 53203, United States
Join Forward Together Wisconsin for their Fall Convening, Inflation Reduction Act: Successes and Opportunities in Wisconsin!
REGISTER HERE
Join Forward Together Wisconsin at our Fall Convening in partnership with co-sponsors Invest in Our Future, Open Society Foundations, Evergreen Collaborative, the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, Wisconsin Conservation Voters, Green Home Owners United, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center, and UndauntedK12.
Forward Together Wisconsin will be convening local and national stakeholders in Wisconsin to celebrate the successes of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), educate attendees on how to access federal funding to fight climate change while saving money, and create a collective call to action to ensure funding continues flowing into the state. We are excited to bring together federal and state agencies, philanthropic leaders, labor unions, advocacy organizations, community based organizations, school districts, county & municipal governments, leaders in green business, and more to engage in discussions about how to prioritize resources and technology reaching the households, communities and groups that need it most!
This two-day convening is scheduled for October 9th and 10th in Milwaukee. We will send the event venue shortly after registration. The event will feature presentations from community-based organizations, local, state and federal government entities, leaders in clean energy, and more subject matter experts to include groups like Wisconsin Conservation Voters, UndauntedK12, Lawyers for Good Government, Ingeteam, Green Homeowners United, the Department of Energy, and more.
Ticket Types Include:

General Admission: $100
Young Professionals: $50
Student / Senior / Educator: $35

If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact Peter Drummond at Peter@forwardtogetherwi.org.
If you are interested in attending the convening and require financial assistance for a ticket, please contact Michelle McGrorty at michellemcgrorty@gmail.com for scholarship options.

Partner Event: Project 2025 and Education - How do we fight back? Hosted by Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS)
2024-10-08 17:30 - 19:00 | Zoom
Project 2025… What is it? How will it affect our classrooms? How will it affect our students? We’ll discuss these topics and how we can work collectively to fight back and continue our work to transform public education.
LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE

Partner Event: Public School Strong Orientation! Hosted by Public School Strong, HEAL Together
2024-10-08 17:30 - 19:00 | Zoom
Join public school parents, family members and supporters from across the country to learn: – How to show your support for well-resourced and inclusive public schools – What to look for when you observe your school district’s school board meeting – How to form a Public School Strong team in your school district – Ways to join a national movement to protect and transform public schools that serve all children
REGISTER HERE
Do you want honest, equitable and fully-funded public schools in your community? Are you concerned that while those of us who want this are in the majority – our voices are not being taken into account?
Are you concerned about the rising tide of book-bans and attacks on students of color, LGBTQ students and teachers that are harming our kids, our public schools and our country’s future?
Are you ready to DO SOMETHING in your school district, joining other people who feel the same way from across the country?
Then join the next national Public School Strong Orientation!
Public School Strong is a project of HEAL Together. More on HEAL Together: https://healtogether.org/

Drop-In Budget Input Session w/ Tom McCarthy, DPI
2024-10-03 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
Join Wisconsin Public Education Network partners for virtual office hours with Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy. Make sure the priority needs of students in your district are a priority in the 2025-2027 state budget as DPI prepares their budget to deliver to the Governor this fall. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to directly influence policy that impacts all Wisconsin students & teachers!
REGISTER HERE
Can’t make it on Oct. 3 but have thoughts on what Wisconsin should prioritize in the next state budget? Please submit written comments here and we will share them with Tom McCarthy. DEADLINE TO SUBMIT WRITTEN COMMENTS: Wed. Oct. 2, 2024

Partner Event: The Argument: How Op-Eds Can Shift the Narrative Hosted by HEAL Together
2024-10-02 11:00 - 12:00 | Zoom
Opinion pieces allow us to insert context into the news cycle to help reshape narratives. In this one-hour webinar, Word Force co-editors Nikesha Elise Williams and Megan Izen will facilitate a conversation about why, when and how to turn a story into a memorable argument that successfully advocates for change. We’ll cover:

Why and when your story should be an op-ed
Why audience and action matter
Elements of a story-forward op-ed
Pitching and placing
Getting around the gatekeepers

LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE

Partner Event: Harvey Kaye State of Democracy Speaker Series Featuring Jennifer Berkshire, Co-Author of 'The Education Wars,' Hosted by The Mauthe Center
2024-10-01 19:00 - 20:30 | The Mauthe Center, 2418 Leon Bond Dr, Green Bay, WI, 54311, United States
Commemorating the public engagement and broad intellectual spirit of UWGB Professor Harvey Kaye’s career, the Harvey Kaye State of Democracy series addresses some of the most urgent questions facing our democracy, including in the fields of workers’ rights, racial inequality, public health, technology, and journalism. This evening we will welcome Jennifer Berkshire. Berkshire is a journalist and podcaster whose work explores the intersection of public education and politics. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Nation, the New Republic, and many other publications. Berkshire is the author of three books: The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual (with Jack Schneider), A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School (with Jack Schneider), and More Worlds to Negotiate: John Dunlop and the Art of Problem Solving. She is the creator of the education policy podcast, Have You Heard and teaches in the Prison Education Program at Boston College.
LEARN MORE & RSVP HERE

2024 State of Education Address
2024-09-26 12:00 - 13:00
Wisconsin State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Jill Underly, will deliver her State of Education address in a ceremony at the Capitol in Madison.

Partner Event: Teaching About the Elections Conference Hosted by Professional Learning and Community Education (PLACE), UW-Madison School of Education
2024-09-21 09:00 - 15:00 | Grainger Hall, UW-Madison, 975 University Avenue, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
Teaching about elections is one of the best opportunities to prepare young people for political engagement. This conference helps educators teach about electoral politics in a way that is engaging, respectful to all points of view, and supported by the best and most current information.
LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE

Partner Event: A Conversation with the Authors of 'The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual' Hosted by Public Funds Public Schools & Education Law Center
2024-09-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Zoom
Public Funds Public Schools is excited to welcome back authors Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider to the PFPS webinar series. Ms. Berkshire and Dr. Schneider will discuss their new book, The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual, with Jasmine Bolton, Policy Director at the Partnership for the Future of Learning.
REGISTER HERE
Jennifer Berkshire is a journalist who has written extensively for national outlets about the politics of education. She teaches in the Boston College Prison Education Program and was the former editor of the statewide newspaper of AFT Massachusetts. Jack Schneider is an education historian and professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the co-founder of the Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education Assessment and has written six books.
For several years, Ms. Berkshire and Dr. Schneider have co-hosted the Have You Heard podcast, tackling hot button issues in education policy and politics. Their new book outlines the core issues and actors driving education battles over private school vouchers, “parental rights,” race and gender in schools, and book banning. They also explain what’s at stake for parents, teachers, and students and provide a road map for ensuring that public education survives the current assault.
Jasmine Bolton also is no stranger to hot-button issues in education law and policy. Prior to joining the Partnership for the Future of Learning, she was Senior Counsel in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights during the Biden-Harris administration, an education-focused policy analyst for Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign, and an attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Partner Event: Fully Fund Our Public Schools: How To Win Sustainable Funding For Our Schools Hosted by Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS)
2024-09-17 17:00 - 18:30 | Zoom
Join this workshop to better understand how school funding works and how we can successfully advocate and organize for the sustainable funding all our students deserve.
LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE

Partner Event: The Education Funding Cliff (and how to win sustainable funding for our schools) Hosted by HEAL Together
2024-09-17 17:00 - 18:30 | Zoom
Join this workshop to better understand how school funding works and how we can successfully advocate and organize for the sustainable funding all our students deserve.
REGISTER HERE
The federal government has distributed almost $200 billion of much-needed relief funds to public education since the COVID-19 pandemic. While these Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds were a temporary solution, the needs they addressed are ongoing, caused by decades of systemic underfunding. This underfunding has hit Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and immigrant communities, as well as low income communities, the hardest.
Federal support for our public schools meant students and their families experienced many positive academic, social and emotional benefits. They also received direct benefits, from one-on-one tutoring, to free summer schools, to additional support personnel for students with disabilities and more.
But that federal support will come to an end very soon – September 30th, 2024.
As this funding-cliff approaches, it is important that we equip ourselves with the organizing knowledge and tools to effectively demand that our state and federal government provide the long-term, full funding our public schools so desperately need.

Partner Event: Let's Walk In! Hosted by Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools (AROS) w/ the Chicago Teachers Union
2024-09-16 18:00 - 19:00 | Zoom
Join AROS and the Chicago Teachers Union to learn how to host a walk-in, best practices, and have your questions answered. This informal meet-up will help to support union locals and grassroots organizations in preparation for the September 30th day of action.
LEARN MORE & REGISTER HERE
