State schools Superintendent Jill Underly said the state owes the more than $4 billion she has requested in the DPI budget to public schools, even though that would eat up all the state’s projected surplus.

Meanwhile, Sauk Prairie Superintendent Jeff Wright blasted the proposal as unrealistic. And Underly’s other challenger to lead the Department of Public Instruction, Wauwatosa education consultant Brittany Kinser, didn’t directly weigh in on the dollar amount but said she’s focused on “ensuring funding that goes into the classroom, not bureaucracy.” 

WisPolitics spoke with all three candidates for state superintendent about their stances on education policy and how they would lead the Department of Public Instruction. They meet in a Feb. 18 primary that will narrow the field to two candidates. The general election is April 1.

Underly is a former Pecatonica Area School District superintendent and has held her current office since 2021. She’s been endorsed by the state Dem Party. Wright has been the superintendent in Sauk Prairie for over 12 years. Before that, Wright was a principal on the south side of Chicago. He’s earned the support of the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators. Kinser, viewed as the conservative candidate, currently leads a reading initiative called “95 Wisconsin,” which works to ensure that students have access to instruction necessary to reach reading proficiency. She was most recently the president and CEO of City Forward Collective, which focuses on giving every kid in Milwaukee the opportunity to attend high school. She’s being backed by CFC’s Action Fund. 

Budget for education 

Despite criticism, Underly defended her budget request, saying public schools have consistently been underfunded by the state: “$4 billion is what I truly believe the state of Wisconsin owes its public schools.” 

But Wright knocked the proposal. 

“We’ve had a state superintendent that basically asked for all the surplus for one part of government, and even people who agree with some of her asks are saying an unrealistic ask of that size is comical,” Wright said. “It’s not seen as serious.”

Kinser said she wants to ensure funding goes into the classroom and that teachers get the pay and respect they deserve. She said she also supports an increase in special education and rural transportation reimbursements. 

“But we have to make sure it’s something that can actually get passed, and we’ve had communication, again, like rapport with the Legislature,” Kinser said. “So, you know, I think it’s really important that you understand what’s possible before we put something out there that people … won’t want to work with you on it if you haven’t already had some conversations.” 

Both Wright and Underly also mentioned that special education funding is a priority for them, and schools need more of a state investment. 

Underly said that $2 billion of her $4 billion budget request would increase the reimbursement rate for special education. She has proposed to increase the reimbursement rate from 32% to 75% in fiscal year 2026 and 90% in fiscal year 2027. 

While he didn’t support Underly’s large budget proposal, Wright agreed that there should be more state funding for special education. 

“The state needs to pitch in its share to make sure it’s not all being placed … on local districts, and therefore local taxpayers,” Wright said. 

Act 20 funding dispute 

The state Legislature has still not released $50 million set aside for new reading initiatives under Act 20, which was signed into law in 2023. According to Underly, the new initiatives have been implemented, but schools cannot finish their part, including hiring literacy coaches, until the Joint Finance Committee releases those funds. 

Underly said that the funding is “overdue,” and that schools have been implementing the work as an “unfunded mandate” without that support from the Legislature. 

“If we want to do this right, especially when you look at other states that have been able to successfully implement evidence-based literacy, it costs money,” Underly said. “And for the Legislature to withhold that from us, it is stingy and selfish.” 

Wright blames Underly, in part, for this difficulty. He argued that this delay is part of a “broken” relationship between the GOP-run Legislature and DPI. If elected, Wright said his goal would be to pursue more compromise with the Legislature. 

“There’s a lack of trust between the Republican legislators and the leadership of the Department of Public Instruction,” Wright said. “And they’re not going to release this $50 million until they trust that the DPI is actually going to uphold the law and make sure it’s being followed as intended.” 

Kinser said she didn’t have an opinion yet on whether the Joint Finance Committee should release the money, noting “I have not been into the politics of all that.” 

“I hope DPI and the Legislature can come to an agreement on how it was supposed to be spent,” she said, adding the first step should be ensuring school districts are reimbursed for research and evidence-based curriculum they purchased. 

Test scores 

DPI has instituted changes to statewide testing standards, including lowering the cut scores between groups and changing terminology used to describe student progress. This decision has met opposition from Dem Gov. Tony Evers, who served as state schools superintendent before being elected governor, and Republicans. 

Underly defended her decision, pointing out that most states need to periodically change their standards. She said this was in accordance with feedback from educators, experts and parents. To her, this made the test scores more “meaningful,” and aligned state test scores with state standards. Underly added that the new language helps parents understand how their kids are doing in the classroom. 

Wright agreed with critics, saying that this was a bad time to change the score standards. He said that, following the pandemic, it would have been better to evaluate student performance based on the same standards, without creating confusion with new measurements. 

“I worry anytime we are making it easier,” Wright said. “We should be growing because our students are achieving more, not because we’re lowering the bar to determine whether or not you achieved.”

Kinser said she would go back “right away” to the previous standards used in the National Assessment of Education Progress, also known as “NAEP.” She argued DPI’s changes lowered the standards and make it harder to ensure kids are career and college-ready. 

Subscribers can read more, including candidates’ responses to questions on transgender athletes and the school choice program, in Friday’s REPORT.