A legislative committee on Wednesday ordered an audit of Wisconsin’s policies and practices regarding teacher license suspension and revocation.
The bipartisan audit committee order comes following criticism of the Department of Public Instruction’s handling of investigations into accusations of sexual misconduct by educators.
The audit could evaluate trends in the allegations and investigations by DPI in recent years.
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Auditors will also look at the processes DPI used to gather evidence and make decisions about teacher licenses.
This comes after the Cap Times newspaper found DPI investigated more than 200 accusations of sexual misconduct or grooming behaviors by educators between 2018 and 2023.
On Tuesday, Wisconsin State Superintendent Jill Underly appeared before the Senate Committee on Education to answer questions about DPI’s handling of accusations of misconduct by educators. Earlier in the day, she announced several changes DPI is making to strengthen student safety.
One of those changes is to create a new online database so the public can see teacher licenses that have been revoked or surrendered.
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