The Wisconsin Joint Auditing Committee ordered an audit Wednesday into the Department of Public Instruction’s process of investigating, suspending and revoking teachers’ licenses, according to The Center Square.
The audit will identify trends in allegations and investigations received, the timeframe from allegation to investigation and monitor how teaching staff follow rules set by the DPI, according to The Center Square.
Currently, Wisconsin’s educator misconduct investigation processes begin with a complaint which the DPI then reviews in order to provide a determination on whether there is immoral conduct at play, DPI director of communications Chris Bucher said.
If DPI determines an investigation is needed, it will gather evidence, create a summary report and send the case to its licensing review team to decide if the individual’s license needs to be revoked, Bucher said.
“It remains to be seen what their [the audits’] findings are, but our processes are thorough,” Bucher said.
In a Wednesday hearing, Wisconsin Superintendent Jill Underly spoke on points she made in her Tuesday testimony in a meeting with the Senate Education Committee where she addressed sexual misconduct concerns among Wisconsin educators, according to The Wisconsin Examiner.
After Underly explained the DPI’s current process, the Joint Auditing Committee then unanimously approved the audit, according to WisPolitics.
Underly said the DPI’s investigations could be strengthened in some ways, and the DPI believes that defining the laws around sexual misconduct, such as grooming, could make its processes better, Bucher said.
“Law enforcement has made something abundantly clear — that there should be a criminal definition of grooming, and there’s not one right now in law,” Bucher said. “So that is one area of solutions.”
The DPI advocates for more investigative power when looking into accusations, according to The Center Square.
The DPI currently lacks subpoena power and relies on voluntary cooperation during investigations, Bucher said. Their investigations could act faster if they were given limited subpoena, Bucher said.
Additionally, the DPI is working on a statewide educator code of conduct to bring consistency across the state and help guide schools on boundaries of professionalism and misconduct, Bucher said.
The audit will also examine the amount of staffing and time put into investigation processes and the qualifications of investigators, according to The Center Square.
“We remove bad actors from classrooms,” Bucher said. “Every single allegation of misconduct is taken seriously. We protect kids with our processes, and we’re always looking to grow though, so hopefully that’s where we’re going with this.”
