The other day I was asked if I knew where the Center for Equal Opportunity, which opposes affirmative action and bilingual education, gets its funding. It’s a good question.

Beginning this fall, taxpayer money will help children move from public to private schools in Racine. But according to a nonpartisan group, expanding vouchers to Racine will add nearly $3 million to the state’s costs over the next two school years. Part three of three in a series.

State legislative aides gave over $47,000 to legislative campaigns in the 2009-2010 election cycle. Why are aides significant donors to legislative campaigns? One answer is obvious: Their jobs depend on their bosses being reelected.

Dozens of Wisconsin political players have received millions of dollars from individuals and interest groups committed to promoting alternatives to public schools. Part two of three in a series.

A vast and interconnected array of school choice proponents — including the Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune — is changing the face of education in Wisconsin. Part one of three in a series.

School choice proponents argue that private vouchers give students in troubled school districts the opportunity for a better education. But the numbers don’t always back them up.

The Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association, a powerful state lobby group, is taking its case for more and better roads directly to the people — by running ads during Badgers’ and Brewers’ games.

PART THREE OF THREE IN A SERIES
The Center is exploring gaps in Wisconsin’s emergency preparedness to answer the question: A decade after 9/11, are we safer?

A joint project of Gannett Wisconsin Media and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism

PART ONE: A decade after 9/11 attacks, Wisconsin’s homeland security funding falls short Aug. 28, 2011.
PART TWO: [...]