State Superintendent Candidates Trade Competing Education Visions In Online Forum

With only two weeks before voters head to the polls, incumbent State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly and challenger Brittany Kinser met Wednesday night for an online forum to discuss their differing ideas and assessment of Wisconsin’s public education system.

The state superintendent, which oversees the state Department of Public Instruction, manages more than 500 employees, sets statewide educational policies and supports all of Wisconsin’s 421 public school districts. And while the candidates both spoke Wednesday of wanting to improve Wisconsin’s schools, they disagreed starkly on where the system is right now.

The forum, which ran for an hour and a half, was sponsored by the Wisconsin Public Education Network, NAACP Wisconsin, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed and was streamed by Wisconsin Eye. Dr. Kevin Lawrence Henry Jr., of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, moderated the program.

Underly, who has been state superintendent since 2021, said she feels she is very qualified to lead the system.

“I have the relationships, I have the experiences and I have the deep knowledge of what It takes to lead Wisconsin’s public schools. I’ve built partnerships across the state and in the Legislature. I also hold the necessary credentials, the licensing and the expertise to do the work,” she said.

She also pointed to different successes during her tenure.

“Wisconsin (has) moved from 14th in the nation for education in 2020 to sixth in 2024, and now, we have the highest graduation rate in our state’s history. And the progress that we’ve made is real, but our work isn’t done. So, I’m committed to keeping Wisconsin public schools strong and ensuring that every child has that opportunity to succeed.”

She said she remains an advocate for public schools and public education and that her budget proposal puts “kids first.” She touted efforts to improve mental health, early childhood education and literacy. 

Kinser, by contrast, said that she is running to “restore our high standards that were lowered back … in the spring, restore them back to our ‘Nation’s Report Card’ levels that Gov. (Tony) Evers had set for us eight years ago.” She pledged to work with parents because “they are (a) child’s first teacher and lifelong champion.” She said she also wanted to make sure “the billions of dollars that we do have in education is getting into the classrooms, rewarding our great teachers and having less bureaucracy.” 

She argued that the state’s education system isn’t pointed in the right direction right now.

“My vision for Wisconsin education is that 95% of children will be able to read well enough to go to college, have a career or a meaningful job or master (a) trade,” she said. “Right now, unfortunately, three out of 10 children are only reading well enough to go to college or have a career. And in Milwaukee, where I live, we have the worst outcomes for our black students, with only 5%  of children reading well enough to go to college or have a career.”

Underly disagreed, arguing that Kinser’s claim that only three out of 10 children are reading well enough to go to college is “misleading.”

“It’s like when you look at the data, that doesn’t add up,” she said.

The candidate disagreed markedly on a range of issues, from special education funding to challenges for Wisconsin’s rural districts to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts to concerns about public school funding and efforts to expand voucher programs and charter schools.

In particular, the two spoke of different solutions when asked about the challenges Wisconsin teachers are facing, including confronting issues like licensing requirements, a general shortage of educators and the need for more teachers of color – a situation the moderator labeled a “teacher crisis.”

Underly said that they know they’re preparing enough teachers in the state’s educator preparation programs, but the problem is that many opt not to stay in education and that mobility between districts is “at an all-time high.” She argued that many of the challenges for teachers came from Act 10, the controversial law passed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker and the GOP majority in the state Legislature in 2011 that stripped some public-sector workers of their collective bargaining rights. She said this law lowered funding for school districts and ultimately affected teachers’ pay.

“We need to make sure that we are paying our staff what they what they are worth. I mean, it’s really, it’s a commitment to valuing and supporting the entire teaching profession,” she said. “Teachers are the backbone of our schools. And they deserve more than just gratitude. They deserve ongoing support, sustained investment in the profession.”

She also said she supported more teacher preparation programs and teacher apprenticeships as steps to ease the situation.

Kinser said she believes new ideas are the solution to the problem. She pledged to make changes and to study how other states are tackling similar issues. She said she would support reform of the state’s “complex teacher licensure systems and welcoming qualified individuals to enter the teaching profession.” She also said she supported “alternative educator preparation pathways” to increase the number of “high-quality teachers in our schools.”

“As DPI superintendent, that will be one of my priorities to be making sure I’m listening, learning and collaborating to ensure we have more alternative pathways and ways to support our teachers in Wisconsin,” she said.

Kinser said that she supported efforts to boost the number of teachers of color in the Milwaukee area and saw great success in their efforts. She said they supported paraprofessionals who wanted to be teachers and connected them with programs to train to be educators. She said they also found alternative funding solutions to reduce the expense required to become  teachers. 

“That’s why I said we need to be working on different ways for alternative pathways,” she said. “It’s wonderful when you have people from the community working in the schools with their students because it’s been a community school, and sometimes, you get parents who come in and want to be teachers, and again, that just … changes the whole dynamic.”

Underly also pointed to the challenges districts are facing with funding, citing the number of districts that have gone to local voters with referendums.

“They’re doing it because they they need to, and they can’t keep the lights on, they can’t pay their staff, they can’t give them raises, and teacher pay has lagged. It’s 20% less right now than it was 15 years ago in real dollars in other states,” she said. “We’re losing teachers from Wisconsin to other states because they just can pay more. Illinois is a good example of that.”

In terms of common ground, both candidates shared their support for LGBTQ students and making the school environment inviting for all.

“Of course, I want all children should be welcomed in school and feel safe and get a great education, and so 100% that students should be supported so that they can come to school and learn. That’s very important,” Kinser said. 

Underly concurred, and said that this effort extended to students with disabilities, Black students and other students of color. She said she backed mental health support, anti-bullying initiatives and promoting inclusive environments for all students.

“Public schools are for everyone and every child should see themselves as belonging in their public school,” she said.

The election is April 1.