The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction is asking lawmakers for $350,000 over the next two years to hire two full-time paralegals focused on educator license investigations, as the agency works through a backlog of 150 open misconduct cases. The request is part of DPI’s proposed 2027-29 state budget. Agency officials said some of the unresolved cases have been pending for two or three years, while complaints and new investigations continue to increase. “The existing volume of investigations and complaints precludes the department’s existing paralegal staff ... from making meaningful progress in reducing the backlog,” the budget request says. DPI previously reported having just one full-time investigator and one part-time investigator to handle an average of 113 investigations each year. State lawmakers questioned Superintendent Jill Underly and other education officials about the staffing levels after an investigation into the agency’s handling of educator sexual misconduct and grooming allegations. At a legislative hearing, Underly said additional resources would help the department complete investigations more quickly but could not specify how many investigators or staff members would be needed. The agency is now seeking paralegals rather than investigators for the two requested positions. DPI is also asking lawmakers to stop directing 10% of educator license application fees to the state’s general fund. Keeping that money within the agency could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for licensing and investigative operations. ## License surrender can close cases Educators most commonly lose Wisconsin credentials by voluntarily surrendering their licenses, according to an analysis of misconduct cases from 2018 through 2023. When a license is surrendered, the investigation is generally closed without a formal finding of wrongdoing. That process has raised questions about whether surrendering a license always prevents someone from working in schools. Heather Brickl surrendered her teaching license in 2023, about three months after DPI opened an investigation into an alleged “inappropriate relationship.” The nature of the alleged relationship was not clear from a department case summary. Brickl later worked as a short-term substitute teacher in the Reedsburg School District, despite the position requiring a DPI license, according to agency records. Underly previously told lawmakers that surrendering a license immediately removes an educator from the classroom and prevents the person from being rehired anywhere. DPI spokesperson Alison Parkins said state law requires school boards to ensure that employees in positions requiring a state license hold the appropriate credential. The agency did not explain how educators who surrender licenses may nonetheless obtain school-related employment. Another former educator, Matthew Thiel, surrendered his license in 2024 after DPI investigators determined that he had sexually groomed a student, according to records reported by the Sheboygan Press. Thiel later worked in clerical staff roles in the Port Washington-Saukville School District during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years. Superintendent Michael McMahon said Thiel did not have direct contact with students and stopped working for the district in June. Unlike the Department of Safety and Professional Services, which publishes disciplinary orders for many other licensed professions, DPI generally does not disclose why an educator lost a license unless state open-records requirements apply. A lawsuit filed in Dane County Circuit Court could test those disclosure rules. After a private citizen sought Brickl’s complete investigation file under Wisconsin’s open-records law, Brickl sued DPI to block its release. Her attorney said the case involves sensitive information about a person who was a minor at the time of the events. The lawsuit remains pending. ## New transparency requirements The Legislature’s scrutiny led to several new laws addressing educator misconduct. In April, Gov. Tony Evers signed a measure requiring DPI to create a public portal showing the outcome of each license investigation. DPI launched a webpage last November listing educators who surrendered or lost their licenses. Underly had said the agency planned to add information about the legal basis for revocations and the allegations involved. Parkins said this month that the existing webpage meets the new law’s requirements and that DPI will not add those details. State Sen. John Jagler, a Republican from Watertown who sponsored the transparency measure, said he wanted DPI to publish disciplinary orders in a format similar to the records maintained by the Department of Safety and Professional Services. The staffing and funding requests now move to lawmakers as they develop the 2027-29 state budget. Until then, the agency’s backlog leaves unresolved questions about how quickly misconduct allegations are investigated and what information families and school communities can access about educators’ disciplinary histories.