My name is Bill Glauber and this is the Daily Briefing for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox every morning.
Make sure you get outside on Thursday. It will be mostly sunny with a high of 69 by the lake and 79 inland.
Delving into Wisconsin’s deep political divide
Have you ended political conversations because of deep disagreements? Cut ties with a friend or family member over politics?
You are not alone.
UW-Madison Center for Communication and Civic Renewal has taken a deep dive into political attitudes in the Badger State.
You can read some of the results uncovered in an October survey in this essay by three teachers.
It’s not pretty.
Sixty percent say disagreements ended conversations and 17% say they ended relationships with friends or distanced themselves from family members over politics.
The researchers write:
“It’s no secret that Wisconsinites are deeply divided about politics
“What is less clear, and what we seek to understand in our research, is the extent to which these political divisions threaten our relationships and our well-being, and what we can do about it.
“Some of our results are dismal, but we also find areas of substantial agreement across divisions that could help renew democracy in Wisconsin.”
One of the authors is Michael W. Wagnerprofessor of Journalism and Mass Communication and Faculty Director of the Center for Communication and Civic Renewal.
Wagner told us the center has been doing election polls for the past several cycles in Wisconsin.
“As the work we’ve been doing has developed, we became more interested in how we might understand the health of democracy in Wisconsin.”
He added: “We have sought to improve understanding of the political and communication dynamics of our state so that we can help our citizens and leaders understand the state of democracy.”
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How much will it cost MPS to put 25 police officers in the schools?
As you probably know, there are many conditions attached to the GOP-led Assembly bill to increase revenue sharing in communities across the state, including Milwaukee.
One issue in particular is drawing a lot of interest and comment: a requirement that Milwaukee Public Schools hire 25 school resource officers, which lawmakers say will curb fights, criminal activity at school and increase the hiring of teachers
Molly Beck reports the proposal could cost the district an extra $1 million per year, according to a new state estimate.
She writes:
“A requirement estimate drawn up by Department of Public Instruction officials shows that hiring 25 officers could cost $2 million a year if the cost per officer is assumed to be about $84,000 a year. costs, the district’s share it could be half that, according to the estimate.”
Fallout com Medical College of Wisconsin retires from hosting panel with Ron Johnson
You know this story will have legs.
Devi Shastri reports that the Medical College of Wisconsin last week called off a panel “uses and abuses” of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in medicine and science.
Students and faculty said the subject lacked scientific evidence and went against the university’s values.
Shastri says the decision to cancel “prompted the panel’s speakers, US Senator Ron Johnson among them, to argue that they are victims of canceling culture and intolerance of anti-field thinking academic”.
Shastri captures the nuances of the dispute, writing, “The result is a classic clash between those who embrace diversity and, in this case, want to address the underlying inequalities that cause health disparities, and those who argue that diversity efforts , race and equity. are teaching white guilt and undermining the ideals of freedom and equality by arguing that systemic racism has created two Americas.”
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Bill Glauber can be reached at (414) 224-2526 or bill.glauber@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BillGlauber.
