PBS Wisconsin original production.

>> The president clears nearly 30 million federal dollars to go to flood victims in southeast Wisconsin.

This, as the Milwaukee County Executive, officially enters the race for governor and kindergarten to college.

[MUSIC] declining populations for years to come.

[MUSIC] Tonight on "Here& Now" how state universities are tackling enrollment problems with direct admission and what that means.

[MUSIC] K-12 schools may soon be incentivized to consolidate.

Two districts are starting the process now.

Emergency officials are calling on the state to help with a shortage of dispatchers, and tribal colleges remain uncertain about the future of federal funding.

It's "Here& Now" for September 12th.

[MUSIC] is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

>> Reaction in Wisconsin to the assassination of Charlie Kirk in Utah this week was swift and unified.

Democratic Governor Tony Evers saying, quote, violence against anyone beliefs is wrong.

Violence against others is wrong.

Violence is never the answer for resolving our differences or disagreements.

Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Bryan Schimming said the political violence that we have seen in recent years must come to an end.

As Americans, we need to stand against these violent attacks.

>> Donald Trump is on a rescue mission to revive your birthright.

>> An ardent Donald Trump supporter, Kirk was a prominent figure in Wisconsin battleground campaigns, delivering remarks at last summer's Republican National Convention and a GOP rallies across the state.

Lawmakers at the state Capitol late this week discussed increased security following the assassinations of Kirk and of a Minnesota state legislator and her husband in June in state education news.

With the start of the new academic year.

Estimates show freshman enrollment is up at universities of Wisconsin schools this fall.

That's after six branch campuses closed or stopped in-person classes in the last three years, according to the UW.

New student enrollment is up a total of 3%, with eight campuses seeing increases at or above 5%.

Overall enrollment at the UW stands at more than 164,000 students.

System President Jay Rothman says the new Direct Admit program is attracting new students.

Under the program, qualified high school juniors get direct admission based on grades and coursework.

UW-Madison, Eau Claire and La Crosse do not participate.

But Wisconsin high school applicants ranking in the top 5% are guaranteed admission to UW-Madison under a different program.

UW-Madison Professor of Education Taylor Odle conducts national research on direct admission programs.

He joins us now.

Thanks for being here.

>> Thanks so much for the invitation.

see your research in action like this?

>> I think that's every researcher's dream.

We we work a lot.

We work with a lot of data, talk to a lot of policymakers.

And the ultimate goal at the end of the day is that what we do matters.

And that's also true of the Wisconsin idea that we care about here at UW-Madison, that the insights that we produce actually make their hands into or make their way into the hands of policymakers and into the lives of people who live across the state.

Rothman says our Direct Admit program is driving new enrollment.

Why do these programs work?

>> They work because we make it easier for people to take us up on our offers of admission.

The pathway to getting into college.

And this doesn't have anything to do with eliminating or reducing standards of admission.

It has to do with simplifying the pathway.

And so we know that students and families have to navigate a lot of complex red tape, applying sending transcripts, taking tests, getting letters of Rec, etc.

etc.

And so if we implement programs like their way through that red tape and say, hey, we know that you're admissible.

Tell us when you want to come to campus because we want you to be here.

Surprisingly, more people show up on campus when we make it easier for them to do so.

>> And yet, not all people who get that letter that say you've been directly admitted to, you know, one of these schools across the state and roll, why wouldn't they?

There are myriad reasons of why people choose to go to college, and also why they choose not to go to college.

And so getting admitted, getting that letter, piece of the puzzle.

But we also know there are other things that impact whether or not people come to college, principally whether or not they can afford it.

But also there are a variety of other factors.

You may be a single parent.

You may also be working while while learning and supporting your parents, doing some other engagement with the community as well.

And so it's just one piece of the puzzle, but it seems like that piece has been important for getting more students to show up on campus.

>> A similar program that you developed in Tennessee also has a personalized financial aid estimates feature attached to it.

How important a piece is that for students and families?

That piece in Tennessee.

>> We think it's critical because it changes the message from there's a spot for you on campus to there's a spot for you on campus, and there are resources to help you afford it.

So it pushes people further down the college going pathway by letting them know what their options are for where they can go, but also what their options are for how they can pay for it.

Students and families often face this kind of big, amorphous number of how much does it really cost?

And they have to complete things like the Fafsa and hear from their campus about how much it's going to cost at the end of the day.

And so if we can provide a little bit more of that information up front, we hope that it helps kind of create a snowball effect, if you will.

They're more likely to file that Fafsa, more likely to engage with the campus so they have a >> Is that something that could attach to the Wisconsin program as well?

>> Absolutely, yes.

So we're actually using exists on these students, such as their GPA, much like Direct Admit Wisconsin.

They guarantee does here to know whether or not students would be eligible for merit based financial aid.

Some other states, like the state of Washington, are actually using K-12 records on free and reduced price lunch, and also students participation in Snap and TANF and other things to actually pre award them need based financial aid.

So there's some bubbling of this across the country and we'd love to see it in Wisconsin for sure.

declining enrollments have schools for decades.

How meaningful can Direct Admit programs be toward pulling as many new students in, even as demographics work against that?

>> They can be critical because, as you mentioned, demographics are also student who shows up on campus today isn't necessarily look like the student who showed up on campus 30 years ago.

Many students who are showing up, whether they're students who weren't originally born in the US or students of color, students from very rural backgrounds, students from low income families, of barriers in navigating that college application admissions in many ways is designed for them.

It eliminates those barriers completely and says, hey, you've done a really great job academically.

There is a place for you on campus.

And I think this is why, and I'm happy to see this system attributing a lot of these enrollment increases programs like this, because they're kind of common sense, I think, all around.

>> So J. Rothman also notes that the new enrollment numbers show there are significant declines in international students, as we would have expected up to 15% nationwide.

I don't know where we square with that right at this moment, but what kind of losses that to campus communities?

>> It's a large loss, right?

So in the student interpersonal aspect of not being engaged or not being exposed to students of varying cultural or ethnic or religious backgrounds, which is a hallmark, I think, of the college experience.

It's also critically important for our institutions.

We are facing lagging and slow support from the state.

We're facing reductions from the federal government in funds for research dollars.

And now students, particular international students who pay out of state tuition.

And so we're in a particularly hard place.

And so losing this population not only has an academic loss for campuses, but a financial one as well.

>> We leave it there.

UW-Madison Professor Taylor O'Toole, thanks very much.

>> Thanks.

>> In the case of Wisconsin K-12 schools, enrollment has been on a steady slide.

In the 20 2425 school year, there were 68,000 fewer students than in 2005.

Enrollment figures for this year aren't tallied until the third week in September.

Declines in school populations mirror declines in the state population and birth rates.

School buildings being emptied out is happening all over the state, an issue lawmakers are hoping to address this fall by helping districts consolidate.

>> Because student enrollment is the primary driver of our state's school funding formula, districts experiencing declining enrollment receive less money in state aid.

So to make up for this, many districts go to referendum and they raise local property tax bills to pay for increasingly empty buildings.

The already heavy burden on taxpayers will only get worse over time.

>> This is especially true for rural districts.

We embarking on consolidation in the small Clark County cities of Loyal and Greenwood.

For more on this, we turn to Greenwood District Administrator Jo Green and loyal administrator Chris Lindner.

And thanks to both of you for being here.

>> You bet.

Thank you very much for having us, Jo.

>> Are these enrollment numbers kind of the tipping point for what prompted the moves to consolidate?

>> It's definitely one of the factors.

It's a significant factor.

I think that, you know, when you think about factors of why we look to consolidate, it's it's the declining enrollment paired with the increasing difficulty to hire highly qualified staff, which is then also, you know, paired with creating more opportunities for our kids and maintaining the opportunities that our kids need to be college and career ready when they leave the district.

>> What is the mood among residents for and families for this consolidation?

>> So this has been something that has been talked about since 1960, early 2000.

I think it was approached once, if not twice, actually had a vote on it, had a study done with it, and it did not pass.

We so it seems like every 20 years this this continues to come up.

And we are at 20, 25, 26 school year, I believe community members, families are, are, are ready to make that move.

I know there's questions out there.

We we have done a number of things in the last 2 or 3 years to help alleviate some of the pain with co-opting a number of sports.

Our marching band is co-opt.

We share some students back and forth for classes.

Some of your higher end classes that may not run because or you run with 3 or 4 kids.

Now you can add some more kids to make it a little more efficient for that teacher, communities which which according to the advisory vote that we had last spring, are for it and want to do something moving forward to help alleviate, you know, what I'll say is, is higher taxes and the operating referendums.

>> What are your opinions of the state right now saying taking an interest in helping districts, potentially incentivizing districts to consolidate?

>> Well, I it's music to our ears that there's there's some interest.

There was interest years ago.

And I think I'm cautiously optimistic that they will they will take interest in in consolidation.

But again you know, what I would hate to see is, is take the local control away from consolidation is not right for everybody.

I mean, the school districts of Greenwood and Loyal are are going down this road for for good reason.

And and the reasons are you know, we have similar a similar tax base.

We have a similar mill rate.

Neither one of us have debt.

We're six miles apart.

We share the same bus service.

There's a lot of lot of things that make sense for our district, but that that don't necessarily make sense for every district.

So I hope that the I hope the state supports in there.

If there is legislation, I hope they support the local control that districts have.

If they decide that this is the right course of action to to help their districts out.

>> Chris, thoughts on that?

>> I would say throughout the state, you have a lot of districts that are probably watching Doyle and Greenwood to see what happens there.

I hear it a lot of superintendent conferences or meetings, just that if we don't start working together and not just Loyal and Greenwood, but all our districts, we will be on an island by ourselves.

And it won't be.

It will be a sinking ship or island, whatever you want to say.

Deserted.

So we need to work together and help not only survive, but to thrive.

>> Are you hopeful this will this will happen.

And when?

By 2028.

Is that right?

>> Yeah.

We've been meeting as joint boards for the better part of a year regularly to, you know, work through this process.

And our joint boards just earlier this week passed a motion, both passed a motion that there will be a a binding question on the November 2026 ballot that if both communities approve that question, then it's it's a binding process to consolidate July 1st, 2028.

>> Okay.

Well, we really appreciate you taking your time out today to talk with us.

Joe Greene from Greenwood Schools and Chris Lindner Local Schools, thanks very much.

Good luck.

>> Thank you.

Thank you.

>> A legislative hearing at the Capitol this week focused on staffing shortages in law enforcement, looking at county jurisdictions in particular.

of the emergency?

>> One place staffing shortages are being felt acutely across the state.

In 911 emergency call centers among dispatchers.

What has led to shortages and what can be done about it?

We turn to Columbia County Sheriff Roger the Capitol.

And Sheriff, thanks very much for being here.

>> You're welcome.

Glad to be here.

>> So describe the shortage of dispatchers in your county.

>> Yeah, I think we're consistent with the rest of the 901 PSAP dispatch centers across the state.

There's been a struggle to get qualified dispatchers in the door and get them trained in our county.

We're we're four short.

We've been 4 to 5 short for just over a year and a half, which puts a, you know, a great strain on the other dedicated dispatchers that are currently there.

>> Yeah, indeed.

Now, I read that the pay is between about 50 and $70,000 a year.

Why is it hard to fill a retain these positions?

Is it that the pay cannot make up for the stress of the job?

>> Well, I think it's a combination of both.

You know, most dispatchers around the area are going to be making around that 25, $26 an hour.

You know, which is not a bad paying job, but you're working nights, weekends, holidays.

It's not Monday through Friday shift work.

These are long hours.

Very stressful.

You know, if you taking that call from that mom whose young child is not breathing or from a car accident or a domestic, you know, or a sexual assault, there's a lot of stressful calls.

And these dispatchers are the ones that answer that call to get the first responders to that scene.

>> And and so with a shortage, in addition to, to that, they're working a lot of overtime hours.

>> Oh, absolutely.

I know dispatch centers across the state that have contracted with other dispatch centers.

I know one county where the sheriff is actually dispatching at night because they're so short.

Our dispatchers are working a lot of overtime.

It's nothing.

Nothing for them to work 20 extra hours in addition to their 40 hours a week.

>> What does a shortage of dispatchers mean for emergency response in your community and others?

>> Yeah, I mean, we've been able to backfill it with our dedicated men and women in our dispatch center.

But the fear across the state and in our county especially, is when they burn out and they leave and we get any shorter, we're going to struggle with having someone answer that call for service.

When someone calls for that, that immediate need of fire, EMS or law enforcement, you know, we need a proper, timely response.

We need a trained dispatcher to gather all the adequate information to get the right first responders there.

And if they're tired, if they're calling in sick, if we don't have the staff to to sit in that dispatch center, there's going to be a delay in first responder services, which is a public safety issue.

you is that as the lead law enforcement official in your county, to be worrying about emergency response times?

>> Oh, it's it's critical.

This has been our number one focus in our county for about the last year.

There's no question there's law enforcement officers that work the street, our jailers and our county jails.

Many county jails are not at full staff.

But our dispatch center.

I mean, they have to be there.

They have to answer that, that call for service.

They they just have to we have to have someone sitting in those chairs and there cannot be a delay.

Seconds truly make a difference when you're calling for assistance.

>> What are some of the solutions being looked at?

>> Well, our county specifically, we really did a an adjustment of pay.

We did some premium incentives for working at night and on weekends.

We have done some other financial type of incentives.

So if you're here a year, three years, five years, you get a bonus.

We have changed the hours.

One unique thing with us is we just consolidated the Wisconsin Dells Police Department's dispatch center, which, you know, was about $1 million project.

And we had to increase our space up there.

Our dispatch stations, the equipment, update them.

So that was a big project, you know, because Wisconsin Dells area is is busy in the summertime especially.

But, you know, actually all 12 months out of the year now.

So we've we've given them more help.

We've we've increased, you know, some of the the little things up there, as crazy as it sounds, we got them a treadmill.

We started some yoga classes here.

We do a lot of stress management with helping them cope with the stress of taking these calls.

Because our dispatchers work 12 hours a shift, and that's a long time to be sitting there, and they don't get the opportunity, like so many other workers, to get up and walk around, to move around, to leave the station and go get fresh air outside.

They have to stay close to that radio at any given second.

That Roger Brandner, thanks very much.

you.

>> In northern Wisconsin, the state's two tribal colleges stand to lose more than half of their federal funding if Congress approves President Trump's 2026 budget next month.

Here and now.

Reporter Eric Ayisi traveled to one of the colleges, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University in Hayward, where they say they are devastated but working with their tribal leaders and Congress to maintain their funding levels.

This report is in collaboration with Icct, formerly Indian Country Today.

>> Oscar Reo is a freshman education major at the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe also an enrolled member of the Sainte Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Gingrich Gaza.

to teach Ojibwe and Native American language.

>> I'm excited.

I think I'll get there pretty quickly here.

There's a lot of people that are good teachers and a lot of people that speak Ojibwa here.

staff at tribal institutions like Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University are facing a massive federal threat this October under President Donald Trump's 2020 budget proposal, leaving Reo educational goals ambiguous.

>> I don't know about my ability to continue, but I think there's a lot of progress that's trying to be made here, especially within the language program that hopefully doesn't get halted because of it.

>> The Trump administration is requesting $22 million for post-secondary Indian education programs, compared to $191 million requested for 2025.

Karen Breit, interim president of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University, says federal funding is the university's major operating resource.

>> Over 80% of our funding comes from federal funds.

>> How will the university survive?

>> We're working on different initiatives with our government on that side of generating different, different revenue for the institution.

university is looking to the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Tribal Nation and other donors for support, but challenges with the Department of Education persist.

>> We're the department administers our ability to access federal funds right now.

We're having some struggles with that.

>> Gabbard Wiggins NewsHour.

>> They are also struggling to keep university staff on to address student advisory jobs eliminated by the Doe like academic coaches.

>> The institution is working to to figure out a plan to to keep some of the coaches with us so that they can continue to do the work.

>> Breit says the increase in credit hours for Pell Grant eligibility could affect half of the student population, who also work part time.

requirement would really have a huge impact on their ability to to afford school.

>> 70% of the students here are Native American.

The United States has a federal trust responsibility to provide support for Native Americans in exchange for their land.

>> It is an obligation.

It is an in the treaties.

It is in writing and a promise that was made.

And education is part of that promise.

administration aiming to cut at least 80% of funding to the Bureau of Indian Education for 2026.

The impact will be felt here on campus and in the surrounding community.

>> Tribal communities are often in rural areas, remote areas of the country, and so having access to higher education within within your home community is tremendous for for tribal people.

>> The House Subcommittee on Appropriations approved $1.5 billion for the Bureau of Indian Education in July.

However, those funds were not specified for tribal colleges and universities.

>> No vowels are Teigen none.

academic year with a potentially massive federal funding reduction lurking in Congress.

>> They're trying to start new programs and new hire, new teachers and everything.

And hopefully that doesn't get messed with.

>> Reporting from the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation.

I'm Erica Ayisi for "Here& Now" and ICT.

>> For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBS Wisconsin.

Org and then click on the news tab.

That's our program for tonight I'm Frederica Freyberg.

Have a good weekend.

[MUSIC] .

>> Funding for "Here& Now" is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.