Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty Calls Out Department of Justice

MacIver News Service | August 28, 2013

[Milwaukee, Wisc…] The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) released a memo on Wednesday responding to the federal Department of Justice’s (DOJ) claims that Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI) “must do more” to enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in choice schools around the state.

WILL concludes the DOJ cannot force DPI to enforce the law on private schools that participate in the choice program because it is inapplicable to these schools and DPI does not have the authority to do so. Rick Esenberg, President of WILL, said DOJ’s letter to DPI is not based in any finding of actual discrimination.

“DOJ misunderstands school choice in Wisconsin and ignores state and federal law, decades of court precedent, and even long standing federal policy,” Esenberg said in the release. Esenberg added that it is “just another federal power grab.”

See the full press release from WILL here.