Katherine Kokal
Education ReporterKatherine joined WUWM in 2025 as an education reporter covering both K-12 schools and higher education.
A native of Waukesha, Katherine grew up camping around Wisconsin in the summers and cross-country skiing and sledding in the winters. She attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism and interned for Lake Effect in 2017.
Katherine covered local government, transportation and environmental issues at The Island Packet newspaper in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina before moving to South Florida to cover education for The Palm Beach Post. She is the recipient of the 2023 Lucy Morgan Award for In-Depth Reporting from the Florida Press Club for her investigation into data privacy for student athletes required to submit medical information to the state in order to play high school sports.
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The Trump administration cut the USDA's Local Food Purchase Assistance Program in March. It allowed schools to buy local farmers' food. -
A Halloween concert at the Milwaukee Art Museum featured work from composers reflecting on Día de los Muertos. -
College professors report less student participation in class, rooted in a fear of disagreement. A Marquette University program is trying to change that. -
Food assistance programs and two Head Start centers in Wisconsin are shuttered. Why kids lose the most when the government shuts down. -
MATC fired four staff in its multicultural department after threats of investigation by the Department of Education this summer. -
The Cap Times found that nearly 200 school employees were investigated for sexual misconduct and grooming. Their records are not easily accessible by the public. -
Milwaukee Public Schools will not hire new international teachers after the Trump administration made changes to the H-1B visa program. -
New reporting from "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" eulogizes the lives of the 23 Milwaukee Public Schools students killed by gun violence between June 2024 and June 2025. -
Nearly 200 young people in Wisconsin are both deaf and blind, and they relied on the Wisconsin Deafblind Technical Assistance Project for help. Now the project has been defunded. -
Dr. Brenda Cassellius started her first full school year as superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools this week. Here's what she thinks the year will bring and what will improve.
