WAUWATOSA, Wis. — In the wake of the Wawatosa School District’s plan to shut down the Wauwatosa STEM School, which is ranked the fifth-best elementary school in the state by U.S. News & World Report, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) has filed a formal complaint against the Wauwatosa School District.
WILL officials claim that the school district’s plan to phase out STEM programs and move on from the school is “racially discriminatory,” claiming the decision was made because “too many white students use the programs.”
The complaint claims that a Wauwatosa School District task force identified a lack of student population diversity in STEM programs as one of its concerns, citing a page that states the following:
“The District’s academic portfolio presents management challenges, and the investment in specialty schools and programs (STEM and Montessori) is significant.
Using the current lottery system, these schools and programs have less than a 14% acceptance rate, and the student population is not as diverse as the District’s overall population.”
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WILL’s complaint suggests that this is racially discriminatory in practice because it allegedly discriminates against a majority white student population in STEM programs that are being diminished, citing Title VI assertations that “all students must be treated equally, without regard to race.”
Michael Meier, a WSD School Board Member, is participating in the complaint and process in support of these claims. He offers the following statement:
“Students and families deserve a high-quality education, which is why I am speaking out. The prolonged, arbitrary DEI-driven focus on racial composition has, in my view, undermined both education and safety, now culminating in the push to close the WSTEM school. I welcome a federal investigation and urge the public to join me in speaking out.”
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