Step into a classroom in the 21st century, and the odds are it won't look all that different from one in the 20th century. One decade into the 2000s, many schools and universities have been frustrated in their efforts to upgrade their facilities and resources because of shrinking budgets. But even with the ailing economy, some education…

Analysts frequently credit prominent politicians with the avant-garde direction taken by the state government, though a powerful force in Wisconsin was the often overlooked Legislative Reference Library, brain child of the historian-librarian Charles McCarthy. (JB)