Editor’s note: This story was produced with financial support from the Education Writers Association’s Reporting Fellowship program.
On a February day two years ago, a parent called Sauk Prairie High School to ask if their child should drop out of an Advanced Placement course.
The day before, state lawmakers had created a new path for students to get into Wisconsin’s state universities based only on their high school grades. High schoolers in the top 5% of their class were guaranteed admission to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and students in the top 10% were promised acceptance to all other UW system schools…