The Institute for Reforming Government is calling on the Wisconsin Legislature to establish a Special Committee on Oversight of the Department of Public Instruction.
The Institute for Reforming Government (IRG) is calling on Wisconsin lawmakers to establish a Special Committee on Oversight of the Department of Public Instruction amid its secretive handling of a costly workshop to set standards for the state’s Forward Exam, urging lawmakers to launch a formal oversight probe that could invalidate the new benchmarks.
IRG released a report in February highlighting DPI’s June 2024 workshop at the upscale Chula Vista Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. The four-day event, which brought together 88 educators to adjust student performance standards, cost taxpayers $368,885. Critics say the luxury venue and lack of public notice smacked of government excess and opacity at a time when Wisconsin families deserve straight answers about their children’s education.
DPI required participants to sign blanket non-disclosure agreements that went beyond protecting test questions, effectively gagging discussion of the proceedings. The agency treated the gathering as exempt from the state’s Open Meetings Law, holding it without public notice or open sessions — a move the report argues violated Wis. Stat. § 19.81, which demands transparency in government deliberations.
“Transparency delayed is transparency denied,” said Jacob J. Curtis, IRG’s general counsel and director of its Center for Investigative Oversight. The report contends the workshop committee qualified as a governmental body subject to open meetings requirements, yet DPI stonewalled records requests for months, releasing some only after formal demands.
The changes lowered performance standards on the Forward Exam, making it harder for parents to track progress and potentially masking achievement gaps, according to the institute’s earlier analysis. Lawmakers tried to restore higher benchmarks through legislation, but Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the bill in March 2025. Even Evers has criticized the process, noting a lack of dialogue with parents and stakeholders beforehand.
In February, the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee flexed its oversight muscle, delaying $1 million in DPI operational funds until the agency explained attendee selection, spending and comparisons to other states. Most funds were eventually released, but questions linger about third-party influence from Data Recognition Corp., which helped run the workshop. DPI has yet to fully disclose its contract with the firm.
The report recommends the Legislature create a special committee — modeled after a recent Senate probe of the Department of Justice — with subpoena power to compel testimony from State Superintendent Jill Underly, DPI officials and workshop participants. Such a panel could examine potential Open Meetings Law violations and the legality of the NDAs, which may jeopardize the new standards.”
Parents and taxpayers have a right to know how decisions affecting their children’s futures are made,” the report states. “Without stronger legislative checks, DPI’s pattern of secrecy risks undermining public trust in Wisconsin’s education system.”
Lawmakers have not yet announced whether they will form the proposed oversight committee.
