Wisconsin lets public schools reject applications of students with disabilities who seek transfers across district lines — a form of exclusion courts have upheld.
Author Archives: Mario Koran / Wisconsin Watch
Mario Koran reports on education, immigration and issues affecting communities of color. He is currently a New York Times local investigations fellow. Most recently, Koran was a 2021 Knight Wallace reporting fellow at the University of Michigan. Previously, Koran served as a west coast correspondent for the Guardian US and spent five years covering education for Voice of San Diego, where he was named the 2016 reporter of the year by the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. Since leaving an internship with Wisconsin Watch in 2013, Koran’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Appeal, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among others. Koran holds a BA in Spanish literature and MA in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Posted inEducation
Tired of turmoil, Kiel residents rebuke far-right school officials
Seven months after a transgender bullying investigation spurred bomb threats, moderates regain control of the school board in Kiel, Wisconsin.
Posted inEducation, Government, Justice & Safety
In Kiel, Wisconsin, attack on ‘critical race theory’ ignores bullying of Black student
Parents urged Kiel High School to respond to racial bullying their teen faced at school. Backlash forced him to transfer — and upended life for others in town.
Posted inImperiled Shores
15 years later, Wisconsin university’s massive Lake Michigan seawall frustrates downstream neighbors
Erosion concerns and seawall feuds span the Great Lakes and the globe. Concordia University Wisconsin’s fortification has left neighbors bitter.
Posted inEducation, Government, Justice & Safety
Bomb threats, canceled events, empty schools: How a bullying probe paralyzed a Wisconsin town’s democracy
The Kiel school district’s closure of a Title IX investigation under pressure sends a ‘chilling message’ expert says. But some residents tell LGBTQ youth: ‘you are not alone.’
Posted inEconomy, Government
‘We’ve got to get gaming out of our blood’: Pandemic shock pushes Wisconsin tribes to diversify economy
Wisconsin tribes contemplate future beyond gaming after pandemic shows risk of overreliance on casinos.
Posted inEconomy, Government
Behind the story: How we reported on challenges and opportunities for Wisconsin’s tribal economies
Partnerships and deep listening were key in attempt to build trust among Ho-Chunk Nation citizens.
Posted inEducation
Midwestern community colleges work to lure, and keep, students struggling with poverty and other barriers
From free tuition to food pantries, two-year colleges try to counteract plunging enrollments with new programs to make college more affordable and accessible.
Posted inEducation
MATC broadens access for Milwaukee students amid historical inequities, dropping enrollment
Milwaukee Area Technical College offers free tuition, debt forgiveness, early credit to make college cheaper and more available to a diverse student population.
Posted inEnvironment, Government, Imperiled Shores
Wisconsin state parks battered as Lake Michigan shrinks beaches, smashes boardwalks
The state Department of Natural Resources is weighing a fundamental question: Preserve land or let nature take its course?
Posted inNews about Wisconsin Watch
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As newsrooms across the state continue to dwindle, and political divides in communities deepen, your support is vital to sustaining our efforts to hold the powerful to account, protect the vulnerable and search for solutions.
Posted inEconomy, Environment, Imperiled Shores
Imperiled Shores: A multimedia presentation
Wisconsin’s Great Lakes communities expect to spend $245 million in five years to protect shorelines as a climate ‘tug of war’ drives extreme shifts in water levels. Wisconsin Watch reporter Mario Koran explains the impact this has on lakeshore communities in this multimedia slideshow.