Panel of experts to discuss state education policy Sept. 19

MADISON (News Release) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers and educational experts will look at factors that shape Wisconsin’s public education system at a panel discussion Wednesday.

Sen. Luther Olsen (R – Ripon) and Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts (D – Cross Plains) will participate in the panel
from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on Sept. 19 at the Madison Club’s Lake Dining Room, 5 E. Wilson St., Madison.

Other panelists will include Michael Thompson, deputy state superintendent from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; Judy Norman-Nunnery, administrator at the state Department of Children and Families; Mary Bell, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council; and Dan Rossmiller, director of government relations for the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

The panel will be moderated by Alan Borsuk, senior fellow in law and public policy at the Marquette University Law School and former education reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Additionally, more than 70 decision makers from government, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and local businesses will attend, based on current RSVPs.

The event is hosted by EdTogether, a nonprofit education policy and advocacy group.

Eamonn Collins, executive director of EdTogether, said discussions like the one planned for Sept. 19 are
critical to improving Wisconsin’s education system.

“We need preventative approaches to closing Wisconsin’s achievement gaps,” Collins said. “The only way
to truly create those approaches is by first getting input from all relevant stakeholders. Discussions like this panel are exactly why EdTogether exists.”

Collins said EdTogether is currently working to expand access to quality early childhood education and
advance opportunities for learning beyond the traditional K-12 school year and day.

The panel is open to the public at no charge. However, due to space limitations those interested in attending must RSVP to debruin@edtogether.org.

For those unable to attend, the event will be broadcast and archived by Wisconsin Eye at www.wiseye.org.

For more information about EdTogether, contact Isral DeBruin, outreach & communications director, at
debruin@edtogether.org or (414) 331-1894.