The Wisconsin State Council for Regional Educational Laboratories was one of five councils (Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) constituting the Upper Midwest Regional Educational Laboratory. UMREL was a product of Title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act signed into law on April 11, 1965. Funds for the financing of the laboratories were appropriated by the United States Office of Education. With its headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, UMREL became operational in June 1966 after many months spent on developing a prospectus.
UMREL functioned as a “catalytic leadership agency,” its primary goal being to “identify and implement programs for the improvement of elementary and secondary education in the region.” This was effected by each state council assessing its problems of education which were then brought to the attention of UMREL so that solutions could be sought within the framework of the Laboratories' regional channels.
The five-state membership of UMREL was an independent, non-profit organization governed by a fifty-five-member board of trustees which acted through a twelve-member executive committee. Each state council selected its own trustee members who guided the evaluation and assessment of the educational problems in its state. The primary focus of evaluation and assessment was on the continuous nature of teacher education and its expansion.
The membership of the Wisconsin State Council was a voluntary association of organizational and occupational groups. The thirty-one-member Council consisted of educators and school administrators, professionals outside the education field, an AFL-CIO representative, the Governor of Wisconsin or his designee, the Attorney General of Wisconsin or designee, and others. Each member held office for three years on a staggered basis. The executive committee was elected from the State Council membership, and its members represented the State Council on UMREL's board of trustees. The Council's principal purpose was to represent its constituents and suggest priorities for programs that reflected regional concerns.
Dr. William H. Ashbaugh of the Milwaukee Public Schools served as the chairman of Wisconsin's Council from its inception to about April 1967. Elected to succeed Ashbaugh was Dr. Lester M. Erians, Dean of the School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Emans remained as chairman until the Council was dissolved in 1969.
