Political Digest

DFI: State-chartered banks report sound third quarter

Wisconsin’s 119 state-chartered banks continued to exhibit sound financial performance through September 30, according to data released by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI).

At the end of the third quarter, total assets for Wisconsin’s state-chartered banks stood at $69.58 billion, up from $67.03 billion reported September 30, 2023. The net interest margin declined slightly at 3.18% compared to 3.2% in September 2023. Net loans increased by 4.15 percent to $50.4 billion, up by $2 billion over the same time.

In the 12 months ending on Sept. 30, the capital ratio rose significantly to 10.28 percent, an increase from 9.44% in September 2023; the past due ratio increased to 0.88% from 0.62% in September 2023; and net operating income increased to $497.9 million compared to $460.5 million in September 2023.

Also, the return on average assets ratio rose slightly to 0.97% from 0.92 percent in September 2023; and bank liquidity remained stable, with only a slight increase in the loans-to-assets ratio at 72.46% compared to 72.21% in September 2023.

“Through the third quarter, Wisconsin’s state-chartered banks continue to persevere with sound financial performance through changing economic and global conditions,” said DFI secretary Cheryll Olson-Collins. “Although monitoring of asset quality metrics will continue, the earnings and capital positions reflect some improvement. The continued stability of Wisconsin’s state-chartered banks provides strength and reliability to the state’s consumers, businesses, and communities.”

DPI awarded $10.5M grant to bolster special educator and leadership retention

As schools continue navigating staffing challenges, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has announced that it has been awarded a $10.5-million federal grant to support the recruitment and retention of special education teachers and leaders across the state.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the five-year grant as part of its State Personnel Development Grant Program. The funding will improve professional development systems for educators and help districts implement innovative strategies to address critical staffing shortages in special education. 

According to DPI data, 49.4% of Wisconsin’s new special education teachers either leave the state or the profession altogether by their sixth year.

“This funding is a big step forward in helping address the urgent need of recruiting and retaining qualified special education teachers,” state superintendent Dr. Jill Underly said. “My budget proposal prioritizes special education funding, and it’s time to take our special education reimbursement rate to 90 percent. Supporting the development of new educators and working to retain them is critical to resolving staffing challenges. This federal funding will help districts increase professional growth opportunities, implement innovative retention strategies, and ensure that every Wisconsin student has access to the high-quality, dedicated educators they deserve.”

The DPI’s use of the federal funds will focus on universal, targeted, and intensive supports, including development of a professional learning toolkit and social media materials to support educators statewide; implementation of a statewide instruction program offering specialized training and coaching for new special education teachers and leaders; and creation of a teacher residency program in partnership with educator preparation programs.

The DPI’s initiative represents a collaborative effort, with key partnerships including the Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESAs), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the Wisconsin Council of Administrators of Special Services (WCASS), Wisconsin Family Assistance Center for Education, Training, and Support (FACETS), the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and the Department of Workforce Development — Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

WILL files federal civil rights complaint against Wauwatosa School District

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against the Wauwatosa School District (WSD) for its plan to shut down the Wauwatosa STEM School, currently ranked the fifth-best elementary school in Wisconsin by U.S News and World Report.

WILL says the district’s plan is racially discriminatory and includes phasing out other STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) programs because too many white students use the programs. In the complaint, WILL highlights a current WSD school board member, who it said would provide further evidence that WSD’s actions are racially motivated.  

“Shutting down science and math programs because too many white students are in the program is despicable, and illegal,” WILL deputy counsel Dan Lennington said. “As we promised to do, WILL is taking every legal action available to reverse this damaging decision. If the Biden administration does not open an investigation, we hope the new Trump administration will.”  

WSD school board member Michael Meier said that students and families deserve a high-quality education. 

“The prolonged, arbitrary DEI-driven focus on racial composition has, in my view, undermined both education and safety, now culminating in the push to close the STEM school,” Meier said. “I welcome a federal investigation and urge the public to join me in speaking out.” 

According to the district’s website, WILL alleges, a task force was instructed to fix several “challenges” and “concerns” in the district, including the fact that in certain programs and schools, the “student population is not as diverse as the district’s overall population.” 

“This is just code for race, and the district’s desire to shift around students to have a preferable balance,” WILL states. “Making recommendations on which programs to offer and which schools to operate based on the racial demographics of the students using those programs violates the constitutional guarantees of equal protection. Title VI asserts that all students must be treated equally, without regard to race.”

UW-Madison: Childhood traumas related to fewer mental health problems later

An analysis of national data by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health psychiatry researchers showed that the type of trauma a person experiences could be more impactful than the amount of trauma they encounter in youth.

Justin Russell, research assistant professor of psychiatry, UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and his colleagues examined data from more than 11,000 children participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, which is the largest long-term investigation into child health in the United States.

Recognizing the lasting impact of childhood trauma and adversity, a growing number of states are mandating that all children who see a pediatrician complete the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire, or ACEs, which asks about children’s exposure to several types of harmful events or circumstances, Russell said.

The resulting ACEs score is a widely used measure of early life adversity that is broadly predictive of future health problems, he said. Yet, the ACEs score isn’t a good predictor of specific health problems, and therefore has limited value for medical professionals, according to Russell.

“Critically, it doesn’t take into account how a type of trauma might influence a child, rather it only tabulates the amount of the trauma they faced early in life,” he said. “It’s not just how much happens to you but what happens to you that can shape your future.”

To get a better sense of what might be impacting children and how that might affect them later in life, Russell and his team distilled 268 answers to questions about children’s exposure to negative life events or circumstances from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study down to eight key types of traumatic or adverse childhood experiences that the UW team called TRACEs: community threat, peer aggression, caregiver maladjustment, chronic pain, discrimination, family conflict, poverty and interpersonal violence.

The study was recently published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Supreme Court to decide if serving the needy is religious

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior’s care for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled is part of its religious mission. 

In Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin Labor & Industry Review Commission, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 4-3 earlier this year that Catholic Charities’ service to the poor and needy was not “typical” religious activity. This means that Catholic Charities is prevented from leaving the state’s unemployment compensation program and joining the Wisconsin Catholic Church’s own program.

Catholic Charities is asking the justices to protect its freedom to join the Church program. 

Most Catholic dioceses have a social ministry arm that serves those in need, Catholic Charities says, adding that it carries out such work for the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, by helping the disabled, elderly, and those living in poverty — regardless of their faith. 

The requirement to serve everyone in need comes directly from Catholic social teaching and advances the Church’s religious mission through the corporal works of mercy, the bureau states.

“Catholic Charities Bureau is on the front lines bringing love, healing, and hope to the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Bishop James Powers, Bishop of the Diocese of Superior. “We pray the Court recognizes that this work of improving the human condition is our answer to Christ’s call to serve those in need.” 

Under Wisconsin law, non-profits that are operated for a religious purpose are generally exempt from the state’s unemployment compensation program. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, ruled that Catholic Charities was not exempt because it serves everyone, not just Catholics. 

The court said that Catholic Charities could qualify for an exemption only if it limited its hiring to Catholics and tried to convert those it served — even though the Catholic Church teaches that care for the poor cannot be conditioned on acceptance of the Church’s teachings. 

The justices will now decide if Catholic Charities, like other religious ministries in Wisconsin, can receive a religious exemption from this state law. 

“Wisconsin is trying to make sure no good deed goes unpunished,” said Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “Penalizing Catholic Charities for serving Catholics and non-Catholics alike is ridiculous and wrong. We are confident the Supreme Court will reject the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s absurd ruling.”  

Catholic Charities Bureau is also represented by Kyle H. Torvinen of Torvinen, Jones & Saunders, S.C., in Superior, Wisconsin.