Conservative National Group Targets Wisconsin School Boards

The entrance to Watertown High School in Watertown, Wis. Photo courtesy of the Watertown Unified School District

A right-wing organization focused on building a nationwide network of school board members is expanding its reach in Wisconsin.

School Boards for Academic Excellence was created in 2023 as the “reform-minded alternative to the National School Board Association.”

The group now operates in 38 states with 45 partner organizations.

In Wisconsin, the group’s partner is the conservative law firm the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

SBAE Executive Director David Hoyt said the group doesn’t typically work directly with school districts, but is in talks with the Watertown Unified School District to audit its curriculum.

“The status quo is not working for students, and we’re going to need to do things differently in order to improve academic outcomes,” Hoyt said. “I don’t know every single thing that happens in the school district of Watertown, so I won’t pretend to be an expert on the local issues there. But the interactions I’ve had with their administration and their school board, I think those are people whose hearts are in the right place, and they’re trying to make things better.”

The Watertown School District is located about halfway between Milwaukee and Madison and has about 3,000 students. According to the latest state report card, about 48 percent of students are “advanced” or “meeting” expectations for reading and 47 percent of students are “advanced or “meeting expectations for math.

In a Sept. 4 email to Watertown Interim Superintendent James Feil, Hoyt proposed SBAE would conduct an audit of existing math and reading curriculum and provide a report to how it aligns with state standards; conduct off-site training with the Watertown School Board and in-person governance training.

“Knowing there is some tact in how to proceed with messaging, SBAE will help provide support around communication and PR,” the email obtained by WPR says. “This will be discussed discreetly and after the other items above have been completed.”

Feil did not respond to requests for comment from WPR about whether these meetings would be open to the public.

During a school board meeting on Sept. 28, Feil asked the board to consider the “free” services SBAE could provide.

“What they have is a commitment to help elevate the academic standards,” Feil said. “Some of this is still to be defined. I think what we are doing is recognizing schools need help, and not another price tag.”

In an interview with WPR, Hoyt says the services are provided free of charge because SBAE is supported by donors.

“Everything we do is 100 percent free, we’re just providing free advice,” Hoyt said.

David Armiak, research director with the progressive watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy, says most of those donations come from dark money groups.

“School Boards for Excellence is seeking to be a right-wing influence on school boards across the country,” Armiak said.

A financial analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy found the following SBAE contributions:

• Bradley Impact Fund: $20,000 (2023-2024) (The Bradley Foundation’s donor advised fund. Bradley curates the grantees for donors.)
• Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund: $100,000 (2023)
• Kansas Policy Institute: $18,000 (2024)
• Morse Charitable Foundation: $25,000 (2024)
• National Philanthropic Trust: $250,000 (2023-2024)
• Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program: $250,000 (2023)

“Except the Kansas Policy Institute and Morse Charitable Foundation, all of SBAE’s revenue is dark as it comes through donor advised funds or is unknown,” Armiak said.

Armiak questioned why a group that purports to want to restore academic excellence and parental rights isn’t sharing its donors or mission publicly.

“There are lots of debates around curriculum, and if they want to be part of the debate, then they have a right to be part of it,” Armiak said. “But it’s unclear to me, because I haven’t seen through stuff that’s posted on their website exactly what they’re hoping to achieve with curriculum change.”

Attorney Cory Brewer who heads WILL’s Restoring American Education project, said the firm collaborates with SBAE on policy efforts.

“I think our missions overlap quite a bit in that the primary goal is to enhance good governance and student academic achievement, and provide an alternative for school board members in addition to what’s currently out there for them in terms of resources,” Brewer said.

WILL and SBAE host separate conferences for school board members. Brewer said the organizations support each other with and sponsors.

Despite SBAE’s donors and ties to WILL in Wisconsin, Hoyt pushed back on the idea that his organization is conservative.

“Our ideology is student achievement,” Hoyt said. “I’ve worked for a lot of libertarian groups and conservative groups, but when it comes to education reform at the local level, who you vote for for president, really doesn’t matter.”

Hoyt served in management positions at The Heartland Institute and Young Americans for Liberty. He co-founded Cornerstone Classical Academy in Jacksonville, Fla.

Hoyt says some of the things SBAE has taken a stand on or against is SAT and NAEP scores being “watered down” and DEI  being a distraction from educational achievement.

“We have a view that oftentimes does correlate to people who self-identify as conservative,” Hoyt said. “But we’re very careful to say we are (not) the conservative thing, because then you are automatically limiting yourself in a way that is going to undermine the ultimate mission, which is to change what is going on.”

Conservative national group tapping into Wisconsin school boards was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.