Johnson said she checked with other school board members to see if she had made an offensive comment by making the comparison.

“They didn’t feel that I had,” Johnson said. “It’s clearly disappointing when our representatives are not willing to engage in conversations about the issues.”

She thanked the two other Republican legislators, state Sen. Terry Moulton (R-Chippewa Falls) and state Rep. Warren Petryk (R-Eleva), for staying another 35 minutes to the end of the meeting and discussing issues.

“Sweeping partisan statements coming out of a non-partisan member just ticked me off,” Bernier said.

She was upset when Williams stated thar Minnesota’s prison system was faring better than Wisconsin, because that wasn’t on the agenda.

“This is not productive,” Bernier said. “I want to have a conversation on how we can work together to make a difference.”

She said she favors school choice, and hopes at some point the three local districts will accept that it is part of state law and work to make it better.

Comparisons