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Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction election, 2021

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Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction
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Election details
Filing deadline: January 5, 2021
Primary: February 16, 2021
General: April 6, 2021
Pre-election incumbent(s):
Carolyn Stanford Taylor (nonpartisan)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting in Wisconsin
Ballotpedia analysis
Federal and state primary competitiveness
State executive elections in 2021
Impact of term limits in 2021
State government trifectas
State government triplexes
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2021
Wisconsin
executive elections
Superintendent of public instruction

Jill Underly defeated Deborah Kerr in the nonpartisan election for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction on April 6, 2021. The primary took place on February 16, 2021.[1] Kerr, a former school district superintendent, and Underly, a school district superintendent at the time of the election, were both affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Re-implementing in-person schooling in response to the coronavirus and the allocation of school funding were central issues in the race, according to the Associated Press.[2] In a candidate forum on WISN, Kerr and Underly disagreed on the role of charter schools and school vouchers in public education policy. Kerr supported school vouchers and charter schools, saying: "I am pro-kid, I support great schools, and I do not support taking away a parent's right to choose where their child goes to school." Underly criticized public funding for vouchers, saying: "I'm against the privatization of our public school system and I'm against using our public dollars to fund voucher schools." [3]

In the WISN candidate forum, both candidates expressed support for re-opening schools across the state as soon as possible.[3] Kerr said her plan would have school reopenings be mandatory across the state and allow for different districts to take customized approaches to reopening.[4] Underly said her plan for reopenings would have local school districts decide when they reopen and she would focus on providing resources to the districts.[5]

Though the race was officially nonpartisan, both candidates were affiliated with the Democratic Party.[6][7] Underly was endorsed by two former Wisconsin state superintendents, four Democratic members of Congress, and 29 Democratic members of the Wisconsin State Legislature.[6] Kerr described herself as a "pragmatic Democrat with conservative values."[7] She received endorsements from several local school board members and state Senator Alberta Darling (R).[8] Governor Tony Evers (D), who was state superintendent of public instruction from 2009 to 2019, did not endorse a candidate in the race.[9]

Kerr and Underly advanced to the general election with 26.5% and 27.3% of the primary vote, respectively. They defeated Sheila Briggs, Shandowlyon Hendricks-Williams, and Joe Fenrick, Troy Gunderson, and Steve Krull, who each received less than 10%.[10]

Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor, who was appointed to the position in 2019 by Evers, announced on January 13, 2020, that she would not run for a full term.[11] The decision marked the first time in 10 years that an incumbent declined to enter the race at the time of the election.[10] To read more about historical superintendent election results and voter turnout, click here.

Wisconsin superintendents serve as the head of the state's department of public instruction. The superintendent's responsibilities include providing leadership for Wisconsin's public school districts, providing the public with information about school management, attendance, and performance, licensing the state's teachers, and receiving and disbursing federal aid for schools.[12]

Candidates and election results

General election
General election for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jill Underly
Jill Underly (Nonpartisan)
 
57.6
 
526,406
Image of Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr (Nonpartisan)
 
42.3
 
386,543
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.2
 
1,420

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 914,369
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Jill Underly
Jill Underly (Nonpartisan)
 
27.2
 
88,796
✔
Image of Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr (Nonpartisan)
 
26.4
 
86,174
Image of Sheila Briggs
Sheila Briggs (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
15.6
 
50,815
Image of Shandowlyon Hendricks Reaves
Shandowlyon Hendricks Reaves (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
11.3
 
36,850
Image of Troy Gunderson
Troy Gunderson (Nonpartisan)
 
8.4
 
27,452
Image of Steve Krull
Steve Krull (Nonpartisan)
 
6.3
 
20,543
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Joe Fenrick (Nonpartisan)
 
4.4
 
14,507
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
937

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 326,074
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff compiled a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.[13]


Deborah Kerr

Deborah Kerr

Image of Deborah Kerr

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography:  Kerr received a bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University, a master’s degree in education from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and a doctorate in educational leadership from National-Louis University. Her professional experience included working in education and as a superintendent. She was the superintendent for Brown Deer schools from 2007 to 2020. Leading up to the election, she was the founder and CEO of Lead Greatly, LLC, an educational leadership consultancy organization.


Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Kerr said she would work to safely reimplement in-person learning. She said her plan would prioritize returning elementary students, provide parents and guardians with the choice between in-person and virtual learning, and support the mental well-being of students and teachers.

Kerr said there was a racial achievement gap in Wisconsin schools. She said she improved reading skills among students of color as Brown Deer Schools superintendent and that closing achievement gaps would be a priority for her as state superintendent.

Kerr said she supported the public funding of charter schools and school vouchers. She said the policies provide parents and guardians with choices about their children’s education, and that she wanted to serve all students in Wisconsin, both in private and public education.

Show sources

Sources: Deborah Kerr campaign website, "Op-Ed: Let’s Resolve to Get our Kids Back to School," January 12, 2021; Deborah Kerr campaign website, "Vision for Wisconsin," accessed March 3, 2021; LinkedIn, "Dr. Deb Kerr," accessed March 3, 2021; Deborah Kerr campaign website, "Meet Deb Kerr," accessed March 3, 2021

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2021.

Jill Underly

Jill Underly

Image of Jill Underly

WebsiteFacebookTwitterYouTube

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Biography:  Underly received bachelor’s degrees in history and sociology from Indiana University-Bloomington, a master’s degree in secondary education from Indiana University-Purdue University, and a master’s degree in educational administration and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked as a teacher, educational administrator, and principal. Leading up to the election, she was the superintendent of the Pecatonica Area School District, a position she assumed in 2015.


Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Underly said her top priority was revising how schools were funded. She said she would increase reimbursements for special education and English language learner programs, and reexamine how per-pupil funding was distributed. She said she opposed public-funded school voucher expansion.

Underly said she had experience restarting in-person learning in the Pecatonica School District. She said she would do this across Wisconsin according to the individual needs and circumstances of districts and schools.

Underly said there were opportunity gaps in Wisconsin schools. She said she would increase equity in schooling by supporting early childhood programming, teacher recruitment and retention, mental health support and resources, and revising Wisconsin’s school finance formula.

Show sources

Sources: Jill Underly campaign website, "Issues," accessed March 3, 2021; WISN, "'UPFRONT' recap: Candidates for state school superintendent clash on leadership, vouchers," February 28, 2021; Jill Underly campaign website, "About Jill Underly," accessed March 3, 2021; LinkedIn, "Jill Underly, Ph.D.," accessed March 3, 2021

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2021.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

If you are aware of polls conducted in this race, please email us.

Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.

Noteworthy endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.

Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available.

Last updated March 18, 2021

Noteworthy endorsements
Endorsement Kerr Underly
Newspapers and editorials
The Cap Times[14] ✔
Milwaukee Community Journal[15] ✔
Shepherd Express[16] ✔
Wisconsin State Journal[17] ✔
Elected officials
29 Democratic members of the Wisconsin State Legislature[6][18][19][20] ✔
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D)[6] ✔
State Sen. Alberta Darling (R)[21] ✔
Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski (D)[6] ✔
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D)[6] ✔
Rep. Ron Kind (D)[6] ✔
Rep. Gwen Moore (D)[6] ✔
Rep. Mark Pocan (D)[6] ✔
State Sen. Lena Taylor (D)[22] ✔
Individuals
10 current district superintendents[8] ✔
25 current district superintendents[6] ✔
Former Wisconsin State Superintendent John Benson[6] ✔
Former Wisconsin State Superintendent Bert Grover[6] ✔

Timeline

2021

Campaign advertisements

This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.

Grey.png Deborah Kerr

Supporting Kerr

"Vote for Deb Kerr-She's Ready on Day 1" - Kerr campaign ad, released April 1, 2021
"Let's Safely Reopen ALL Schools-NOW!" - Kerr campaign ad, released March 23, 2021
"Vote for Deborah Kerr February 16th - Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction" - Kerr campaign ad, released February 11, 2021
"Kerr Campaign Video" - Kerr campaign ad, released February 14, 2021


Grey.png Jill Underly

Supporting Underly

"Gwen Moore endorsed Jill Underly for Wisconsin State Superintendent" - Underly campaign ad, released March 25, 2021


Opposing Kerr

"Every Child" - Underly campaign ad, released March 16, 2021

Debates and forums

Milwaukee Press Club candidate forum (April 1, 2021)

Milwaukee Press Club State Superintendent Candidate Forum, held on April 1, 2021
  • Click here to read coverage of the forum from Spectrum News.
  • Click here to read coverage of the forum from WisPolitics.

100 Black Men of Madison candidate forum (March 30, 2021)

Wisconsin Policy Forum candidate forum (March 19, 2021)

Wisconsin Policy Forum State Superintendent Candidate Forum, held on March 19, 2021
  • Click here to read coverage of the forum from The Star News
  • Click here to read coverage of the forum from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.



Campaign themes

See also: Campaign themes

Grey.png Deborah Kerr

Campaign website

Kerr’s campaign website stated the following:

“
  • Ensure Success for All Students through Equity with Excellence
    • Reopen our Schools NOW
    • Close racial achievement gaps
    • Laser focus on literacy and numeracy skills with defined outcomes for all kids
    • Ensure success for every student by creating schools that prioritize character education, with rich social-emotional and mental health supports
    • Create strength-based pathways for all kids that provide career AND college opportunities
    • Require rigorous and relevant learning opportunities that culturally reflect the real world and the needs of our learners, so that all kids are well prepared for success in life after high school
  • Innovate and Personalize Learning for All Students
    • Our Wisconsin Promise - where every student will be known by name, strength, passion and need and graduate prepared for the future they choose
    • Deliver child-centered personalized learning with innovative experiences and opportunities taught by learner responsive educators
    • Eliminate digital divide & access to robust internet, especially in rural areas and underrepresented communities
    • Provide staff and parents professional development with digital tools to meet the needs of all learners
    • Foster and celebrate innovations in our Wisconsin schools
  • Engage Families and Communities as Partners
    • Aligning resources to ensure that all children and families are well served
    • Find creative ways to engage families as valued partners in supporting their children’s learning
    • Elevate all children and families to break down barriers to ensure access and opportunity
    • Foster partnerships in our respective school communities to serve as catalysts for a world-class education
  • Lead with Strength and Respect, and Honor all Stakeholders
    • Support continuous improvement and expect increased student achievement and accountability from all schools and opportunities taught by learner responsive educators
    • Honor our teachers, staff, administrators, school boards, business, and community leaders
    • Tell the great education stories of all kids in our Wisconsin educational system, and retain our students as life-long Wisconsin citizens
    • Promote the profession to recruit the best and brightest to work in our schools

[32]

”
—Deborah Kerr’s campaign website (2021)[33]



Grey.png Jill Underly

Campaign website

Underly’s campaign website stated the following:

“
  • Early Childhood and 4K Programming for All Students: All Day, Everyday

Fitting with “every child, every day,” I am a strong believer in a healthy start for all kids by offering universal all day/every day 4K and optional 3K programming. All kids need to have the same strong start to schooling with literacy and math exposure, behavior interventions, and support for kids with special needs, including mental health needs. I also strongly believe that early intervention, and investing in children early will help close the achievement and opportunity gaps in Wisconsin. I also know that investing in our kids will help with graduation, long term educational outcomes, health outcomes, and help end the school to prison pipeline for many of our black and brown children, and children who grow up in poverty.

We must make Wisconsin a national leader in early childhood education again. Not that long ago, as a young mom, I searched for preschool programming for my two children who were 19 months apart at a rate that I could afford. What a near-impossible quest. Because I could not afford it, either I had to choose which child got to go to a high-quality program, I had to settle for something subpar so they both could attend, or I had to keep them home and educate them myself until they were eligible for full-day programs. This is not something that parents should have to choose because they live far away from a good program, or because they cannot afford a high-quality program.

And as we’ve learned in this pandemic, it’s often the mom who leaves the workforce to care for young children or to stay home and educate them, therefore exiting the workforce and having long-term consequences for their family’s economic future. It’s not just about mothers, though, as it is proven that high-quality early childhood education is critical to lifelong successes. Every school district must have high-quality programming and they need to offer it every day, because otherwise it becomes uneven. Parents need to feel confident that if they want to send their child to a program, they can also return to the workforce if they so desire. We have so much research on what works, yet we will not do any of it because of the upfront cost. Instead, we put that responsibility on parents, and what you find is that those who can afford it or have access to it take advantage of it, setting up their children for lifetime success. However, for those who cannot afford or access it, their children head down a road of greater inequity—a loss for all of us. Every parent wants the best for their child. Parents should not have to choose between paying a mortgage and putting their child in daycare or private preschool. If all kids had access to early intervention services and strong early childhood programs, can you imagine what their elementary experience would be like? Can you imagine a world where all children received a strong start complete with early interventions for speech, language, reading, and other learning needs? Can you imagine the possibilities for our economic future when we set all kids on the path to graduating from high school career- and college-ready? If they had a strong early childhood program that set them up for a lifetime of success? I am a firm believer that we need to invest in our kids in the beginning of their lives rather than pay for social services or corrections when they are adults.

Early childhood programming is a proven program that lifts all children up and benefits our entire state—and economy—for a lifetime. In Pecatonica, I started after-school programs, a full-day summer program, and a full-day, every day 4K program for this explicit purpose. We needed to ensure our kids were receiving early intervention, and we did so, even if it meant a small loss in revenue that was not reimbursed by the state. Our school board shared my belief that it was best for kids. I want to bring these programs to all public schools in the state, and in a time of COVID-19 recovery, these programs will be needed now more than ever before.

  • Fair and Full funding for our Public Schools

Our public schools are facing a funding crisis. The system of funding our public schools primarily from local property taxes isn’t working and we need to fix it.

Currently, the state reimburses only 30% of the cost for special education and only 4% for English Language Learners which causes significant budget shortfalls for schools that have a high number of students in either category. A lot of Wisconsin’s schools do not have school nurses, reading specialists, gifted and talented coordinators, or school psychologists because they cannot afford them. Many schools are facing crumbling infrastructure. Meanwhile, schools in areas with higher property values and growing populations are building cathedrals to learning with beautiful athletic “complexes” and industrial arts centers. All kids deserve all of these things, but our current system of school finance certainly creates a system of winners and losers, and it’s simply not right. Public schools are supposed to be the great equalizers and we have to take action to fulfill that purpose.

I was an invited speaker for the Blue Ribbon Commission in 2018, and I shared how the current school finance system has created more inequity between our public schools since 1993. As State Superintendent I would work with the legislature and our school boards association and use the recommendations in the 2019 Blue Ribbon Commission on Education Funding as our plan for fair funding. We will increase reimbursements for special education and English language learners in addition to re-examining how we distribute per-pupil finding.

  • Mental Health Support for Students, Families, and Staff

In the last 30 years, poverty has increased in Wisconsin, and nationally, 1 in 6 children live in poverty, making them the poorest age group. Anxiety and depression are rising among our students too, and the pandemic did not help curb either of these.

My goal as state superintendent is to work with our school administrators and our different professional organizations and private-public partners in mental health to bring more training to our staff, but also provide more on-site mental health services for our students and families. In a rural area especially, where there are shortages, the needs are critical. As our children and staff weather this pandemic, the need is greater than ever before.

Across our state, there is a shortage of mental health providers, and there are limitations in Wisconsin as to which providers can work in schools. I would work with the legislature to change the rules to allow individuals who are trained professionals to leave private practice and work in the public schools. In addition, I would advocate with educator licensing programs in the UW System throughout the state such as Platteville, La Crosse, Superior, and Eau Claire to revisit their social work programs and offer master degree programs. In this case, we should allow school social workers to start with a bachelor’s degree and work toward a masters degree to advance in their career.

Next, we need to provide the allocated school mental health funding directly to schools in the form of personnel instead of making funds available as competitive grants. Again, my agenda focuses on equity, disrupting those factors that create generational poverty, and disrupting the cycle of poverty that inequity in our society exacerbates. Due to unmet mental health needs, children in middle and high school are introduced at a young age to the criminal justice system, and unmet mental health needs factor into Wisconsin’s very active school-to-prison pipeline.

We need to review how we staff our schools in general, and this would be a great place to start. For example, can we agree that every school building needs to have a school nurse, a social worker, and a mental health professional? Then let us move forward from there. Again, this would come back to the revision of the school finance formula to ensure we make these positions a reality. In this COVID-19 pandemic, we see that these professionals are needed more than ever. The commitment from the state would come in the form of funding but also in reviewing and revising our educator licensing for school pupil services personnel. DPI would need to make minimum staffing recommendations and perhaps allocate more resources to our school districts with the lowest local financial resources specifically for mental health needs.

  • Voucher School Program

I’ve been asked what my position is on the expansion of taxpayer-funded private school vouchers, and whether or not I would be supportive of the program’s expansion.

The short answer is “NO.”

  • I am strongly against the expansion of taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.
  • I strongly believe that the public should be investing their public dollars to make public schools better and meet the needs of all public school kids, versus placing public dollars in private schools.

Further, I think that most people in Wisconsin have no idea how much voucher expansion has cost them as taxpayers, and how much of the funding for vouchers has come from the aid that is general school aid that used to go to public schools. I have nothing against private schools, and they serve a purpose, of course, in the general fabric of what makes Wisconsin schooling great, but I do not believe that private schools that take funds from public schools should be funded with tax dollars.

As state superintendent, I would implement the law as it is written; however, I advocate that public money go to improve public schools and their programs that improve equity and student achievement instead of expanding private school vouchers.

I think that private schools that accept public dollars should be in the same accountability system as public schools. Their teachers and administrators should have the same licensing requirements, and they should have the same accountability report cards as public schools and districts required for all of their students. I would take it a step further: those private schools that accept federal dollars like Title I and Title II should also be a part of the federal accountability program and identification process. In addition, I would like to see an item on our tax bills that shows the amount that is provided for the local public school tax levy, and then the amount that is removed from the levy that goes to both voucher schools and independent charter schools.

Taxpayers deserve transparency in where their money goes, particularly when they are approving referendums for their public schools, while private vouchers and 2R charters never have to go to referendum and take their funding off the top of the equalized aid distribution.

  • Educational Equity for All

Our history is one of progress, but also of the reality that kids have been denied opportunity based on skin color, gender, ability, orientation, and socio-economic status. It’s past time to tackle the inequity plaguing our public schools.

My vision for PK-12 public education in Wisconsin is rooted in equity. I want to solve problems of inequity, and that starts at the beginning of a child’s life and then at the start of their public schooling career. When people have asked me “why” I want to run for State Superintendent, my response is, “I want to disrupt the systems of inequity that plague our public schools.”

We have inequity and that translates to what people commonly call “achievement gaps.” However, when we call it an achievement gap we put the onus or blame on the lack of achievement on our kids. In reality, it is not our childrens’ fault that they live in a state or within a system that penalizes them for where they live, their zip code, who their parents are, or what their race, gender, or socio-economic status is. What we have are opportunity gaps. There are children in our state who are afforded more opportunities and they will achieve more as a result.

My platform is rooted in equity and the game-changers that can disrupt these systems of inequity and afford all children the opportunities that will set them up for a lifetime of success:

  • Fully funded early childhood programming that is full-day and every day, and is high quality and assured to give all children the start they need to be successful.
  • Teacher recruitment and retention, particularly in rural and urban areas, that brings the best and brightest into our schools and values them.
  • Mental health support and resources for our students, particularly during the aftermath of a pandemic when there is so much trauma.
  • The way forward is through a revision of our school finance system, and that will be my highest priority during my tenure. We need a school finance formula that works for all public schools in Wisconsin.

Supporting Students of Color

The disparities between black, brown, and white children have only been growing. We have tremendous work to do, to dismantle more than four centuries of racist national, state, and local policies.

For all students, especially students of color, English Language Learner students, our students in poverty in urban and rural settings, and our students with disabilities in both settings, having access to fully funded preschool and early childhood programming where they can socialize, be well supervised, get access to interventions in literacy and mathematics, behavior, and speech, language, and OT/PT, are important building blocks for future academic success. When all kids get the strong start they deserve, they are much more likely to be successful academically, to thrive in school, and graduate high school.

We also need to reevaluate the institution of public schools inside and out. We need to root out racist disciplinary policies, attract and retain educators of color, and listen to our students of color when they tell us something isn’t right.

Supporting LGTBQ+ Students & Staff

All means “all.” All kids need to be included in our schools, and they need to be safe. This is an equity issue – our students and staff have a right to feel safe and comfortable in our public schools. Anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies and enforcement of those policies is an imperative for our LGBTQ+ community. One way to ensure this is happening is to provide an outlet for kids so that they can talk to trusted adults. We need to foster school cultures where adults truly listen and can help students identify resources they need to grow in a safe and healthy way. It is also an imperative that students get access to support, to mental health resources as needed, and representation in our school culture and activities.

It is also an imperative that students get access to support, to mental health resources as needed, and representation in our school culture and activities. Additionally, our trans and non-binary students and staff deserve to use the restrooms and changing facilities that match their gender identity.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) Education

Wisconsin’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) communities have been underserved by our public school system. My platform is centered around disrupting the systems of inequity that plague our public schools — and that includes the inequity faced by our DHH students and families.

One of the biggest things we can do to tackle this inequity is to expand our early childhood education, especially around language skills, for our DHH students. Home visits by DHH mentors are a core component of this and our schools need the funding and resources to provide these and other services that set up our DHH students for success.

Additionally, we need to ensure that we can recruit and retain the American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters that our schools are both morally and legally obligated to provide so that we can give our DHH students the high-quality education they deserve. On top of this, we also need to expand our efforts to recruit DHH teachers and educators.

As Superintendent, I would also encourage and promote ASL learning for anyone. You don’t need to have a DHH family member or friend to learn ASL, and the more people in our community who learn ASL, the easier it is for all DHH people to fully participate in society.

There are many other areas of DHH education that need improvement, and I’m ready to begin this work as Superintendent.

Equity Audits

I am committed to establishing a cabinet-level officer in DPI Administration that will oversee the equity work in our agency as well as in our school district programming.

One of my passions is “equity audits.” Equity audits are a way to look internally at our policies and practices in school, in our curriculum, handbooks, and participation/engagements in clubs, activities, classes that fully shows us that kids are not feeling unsafe or unwelcomed in our school culture (like certain classes, spaces, extra-curricular), and that everyone is represented.

Through equity audits we identify areas that are not working for all kids, or areas that need additional resources to make them truly equitable for our students. I am excited to get to work on this very important initiative – through the equity projects within my platform, to the equity audits in our schools, I am committed to ensuring that every child, every day, thrives in Wisconsin’s public schools.

  • Teacher Education, Recruitment and Retention

We need highly trained, passionate, and compassionate teachers in the profession. Act 10 destroyed that promise for many of our future teachers by reducing pay and benefits, and making the profession undesirable. It also discouraged young people from going into the teaching profession, and as a result, we have more vacancies now more than ever, especially in the highest need areas like special education, math and science, computer science, reading, and foreign language, school counseling, and technical education (business, agriculture, and STEM).

  • I would work with our teacher unions to restore the teaching profession to the respectability it deserves as one of the most noble professions. I would work with existing programs in our colleges and schools of education to recruit young adults back to teaching. I would work to increase teacher pay so that teachers can once again support a family with a living wage and a career path that pays them for their expertise and education.
  • I would advocate for the removal of “educator effectiveness” as it stands right now and replace it with a system that is locally controlled, and collaborative between unions and school boards and administrators.

I have other ideas:

  • School-based professional development
  • Revisiting the multitude of gatekeeping tests that teachers must pass to become licensed
  • Reorganization of roles and responsibilities that are rooted in evidence-based practices such as collective efficacy among staff
  • Student loan forgiveness for teachers and administrators
  • A complete overhaul of the educator “effectiveness” system

I have experienced this issue firsthand as a rural school superintendent who has recruited and hired dozens of teachers. We have a crisis that needs someone who knows the local struggle. And I can lean into my experience of working in educator licensing at the Department of Public Instruction and with quality students at UW-Madison who wanted to become teachers but could not get into the School of Education.

There are several issues here. The first is supply and demand. No one ever went into teaching to get rich. It is a calling, a vocation. Since 2011, Wisconsin public teachers have been disrespected and demonized by too many, including some of our state leaders. This in turn has deterred young adults from pursuing the teaching profession. Cuts in salary and benefits have made a once attractive job that could support a family now unattractive. Wisconsin has moved to the lower half of states in starting teacher pay and below the average in teacher salary. This puts potential teachers behind what many others who have college degrees would earn in the workforce. We now are losing the Midwest regional competition for new teachers. It’s time to stop that.

Second, our schools of education—while I applaud them for their selectivity—had become so exclusive that they were attracting a type of student who had an educational experience completely different from what our public school students experienced in reality. Personally, I think the best teachers are those who did not have an easy time in school. They did not have the best grades all the time, and learning did not always come easy to them. Often, the best special education teachers are the ones who struggled with standardized tests. And our new teachers look nothing like many of the kids they will teach in our schools. We need a diverse workforce not only in race, ethnicity, and language skills, but also in upbringing—those who perhaps did not grow up in an upper middle-class household but struggled in school. There are some great programs like Educators Rising that recruit high school students into teaching majors in college. UW-Platteville has a program that recruits engineering majors into STEM teaching careers. I would like to use the Wisconsin Teachers of the Year Council in an advisory capacity to inform school boards and colleges what needs our new teachers must be educated in before graduating. We all want the same thing and we all should work together on this: schools and colleges, school boards, SAA, WEAC, and DPI.

Lastly, we need to reprofessionalize the teaching force. I want unions and school boards to work together to figure this out. If we are going to get the best and the brightest in our classrooms, we must pay them what they are worth. We must value the elementary school teacher the same as we would value a high school technology or physics teacher. Each teacher has a role to play in the educational development of our children. I want the best in our classroom, and to do that, we need to rethink how we compensate teachers and we need to rethink their career ladder. Teachers need to see a future in a school district. And they need to know that those who choose to teach in a rural area are as valued for their labor as a teacher in a wealthier suburb. I think we can learn a lot from what other states and other countries have done for educator compensation and apply that learning to our situation in Wisconsin.

We need to revisit how teachers are licensed. I think that we have too many expensive tests for teachers too, and they must take a semester of an unpaid internship to boot. We need to value people for their labor and their contributions if we want people to go into the profession, and we need to get the people who are teachers and educators to control the licensing and make decisions about tenure. I would also like to work with WEAC, the school boards, AWSA, WASBO, WASDA, and the colleges and schools of education to develop a true career ladder with sectoral bargaining and compensation packages so that teachers can establish roots and see a future in their school districts rather than have to move around so much in order to get a pay raise. I have also given thought to a “baseline” personnel expectation in all schools. Is it reasonable to expect that each building has a principal? What about a reading specialist or a gifted and talented coordinator or a curriculum coordinator? Many schools have cut different positions, which has created a widening inequity in educator positions in our schools. So when I look at licensure, I look at the economically stressed districts, and I wonder how we can aid them so that they can hire people to fill roles that have gone unfilled because of shortages or because they are cost prohibitive.

The point is, becoming a licensed educator in Wisconsin is a series of expensive and frustrating hoops to jump through. It should not be this difficult for intelligent, strong, and passionate educators to work with our kids. There must always be criteria, but the criteria should not be so impossible and time-consuming (and expensive) that they deter people from the profession. If we can make education a sought-after profession, we will attract the best and the brightest. If we can promote the profession and respect the individuals already employed by our schools, we will keep them in our schools doing what they do best: educating and inspiring our kids. [32]

”
—Jill Underly’s campaign website (2021)[34]



Aftermath

After the election, Jill Underly tweeted: "I’m ready to get to work and build a stronger, more equitable public education system that provides every child, every day with the world-class public education system they deserve."[35] In an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, she said her main priority would be providing support to public schools to reimplement in-person learning. Her other top priorities for her tenure included collaborating with the Wisconsin State Legislature on the school budget, expanding access to early childhood education, and supporting teacher recruitment and retention.[36]

At the time of Underly's win, Governor Tony Evers (D) and the Republican-controlled state legislature disagreed on the source and amount of education funding for the upcoming budget. Evers said he planned to spend a portion of the state's coronavirus relief funding on education. Republican members of the Joint Finance Committee said they wanted to know how much relief spending would go to education before making changes to Evers' proposed budget. Rep. Mark Born (R), co-chair of the finance committee, said "The federal money is definitely impacting things. Education's a priority, but we need to figure out how this federal money impacts that."[37] In an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, Evers said: "I don't want people to assume that this federal money is going to replace the money that we normally provide. That's not what it's for." [38]

In 2019, the legislature increased education funding by about $500 million, which was about $900 million less than Evers called for that year.[38] For the 2021-2023 budget, Evers called for a $1.6 billion education budget increase. In a February 2021 forum, Born said: "Are we going to spend at the levels he [Evers] is? Of course not. We didn't last time either, but we'll still make good investments in those areas."[39]

Analysis

Turnout in Wisconsin Superintendent elections, 2001-2021

The following chart shows voter turnout in Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction elections from 2001 to 2021, the winner, and his or her opponent. Data was collected from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.[40]

Turnout in Wisconsin Superintendent elections, 2001-2021
Year Primary turnout General turnout Winner Opponent
2021 326,074 914,434 Jill Underly Deborah Kerr
2017 368,096 708,711 Tony Evers Lowell Holtz
2013 N/A[41] 796,511 Tony Evers Don Pridemore
2009 256,909 768,664 Tony Evers Rose Fernandez
2005 238,117 723,623 Elizabeth Burmaster Gregg Underheim
2001 251,328 741,203 Elizabeth Burmaster Linda A. Cross

Historical competitiveness in statewide races in Wisconsin

The following chart shows the vote totals for general election candidates in contested statewide races from 2012 through 2020. Although Wisconsin Superintendent elections are nonpartisan, liberal and conservative groups typically coalesce around specific candidates. In those cases, Democratic and Republican refers to the preferred candidate of each party.

Partisan vote totals in statewide races in Wisconsin, 2012-2020
Year Race Democratic Party Democratic Votes Democratic Party Democratic Percentage Republican Party Republican Votes Republican Party Republican Percentage Other Votes Other Percentage Total votes
2020 President 1,630,866 49.5% 1,610,184 48.8% 56,991 1.7% 3,298,041
2018 U.S. Senate 1,472,914 55.4% 1,184,885 44.5% 2,964 0.1% 2,660,763
2018 Governor 1,313,836 49.6% 1,284,786 48.5% 52,480 2.0% 2,651,102
2017 State Superintendent 495,010 69.9% 212,709 30.0% 992 0.1% 708,711
2016 President 1,382,536 46.5% 1,405,284 47.2% 188,330 6.3% 2,976,150
2016 U.S. Senate 1,380,335 46.8% 1,479,471 50.2% 87,539 3.0% 2,947,345
2014 Governor 1,122,913 46.6% 1,259,706 52.3% 27,698 1.1% 2,410,317
2013 State Superintendent 487,030 61.2% 308,050 38.7% 1,431 0.2% 796,511
2012 President 1,620,985 52.8% 1,407,966 45.9% 39,483 1.3% 3,068,434
2012 U.S. Senate 1,547,104 51.5% 1,380,126 45.9% 78,808 2.6% 3,006,038

Primary election media coverage

Explore the following media coverage for more detailed information on the primary candidates and issues.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Twenty-three of 72 Wisconsin counties—32 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Adams County, Wisconsin 21.92% 8.73% 18.35%
Buffalo County, Wisconsin 21.82% 2.93% 14.66%
Columbia County, Wisconsin 2.14% 13.58% 15.26%
Crawford County, Wisconsin 5.40% 19.98% 27.03%
Door County, Wisconsin 3.22% 6.99% 17.33%
Dunn County, Wisconsin 11.09% 4.97% 14.95%
Forest County, Wisconsin 26.58% 5.44% 15.16%
Grant County, Wisconsin 9.43% 13.77% 23.88%
Jackson County, Wisconsin 11.74% 15.01% 21.84%
Juneau County, Wisconsin 26.05% 7.03% 9.00%
Kenosha County, Wisconsin 0.31% 12.23% 18.06%
Lafayette County, Wisconsin 8.99% 15.37% 22.32%
Lincoln County, Wisconsin 20.60% 0.71% 12.48%
Marquette County, Wisconsin 24.09% 0.27% 5.28%
Pepin County, Wisconsin 23.08% 2.22% 12.89%
Price County, Wisconsin 25.00% 0.04% 13.40%
Racine County, Wisconsin 4.28% 3.54% 7.41%
Richland County, Wisconsin 5.50% 16.13% 20.63%
Sauk County, Wisconsin 0.35% 18.47% 23.04%
Sawyer County, Wisconsin 18.41% 0.49% 6.23%
Trempealeau County, Wisconsin 12.64% 14.08% 26.39%
Vernon County, Wisconsin 4.43% 14.73% 22.00%
Winnebago County, Wisconsin 7.34% 3.73% 11.66%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Wisconsin with 47.2 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 46.5 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Wisconsin cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 76.7 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Wisconsin supported Republicans slightly more than Democratic candidates, 50.0 to 46.7 percent. The state, however, favored Democrats in every presidential election from 2000 to 2012 before voting for Trump in 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Assembly districts in Wisconsin. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[42][43]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 43 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 34.1 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 36 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 34.6 points. Clinton won three districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 56 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 12.1 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 63 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 19.4 points. Trump won two districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.


Past elections

Wisconsin state government organizational chart

The department of public instruction is headed by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a nonpartisan, constitutional officer elected every four years.


About the office

Superintendent of Public Instruction

See also: Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction

The Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction is an elected position in the Wisconsin state government. The superintendent's responsibilities include providing leadership for Wisconsin's public school districts, providing the public with information about school management, attendance, and performance, licensing the state's teachers, and receiving and disbursing federal aid for schools.[45] The current officeholder is Carolyn Stanford Taylor. Taylor succeeded Tony Evers in the position after he stepped down following his election as governor of Wisconsin in 2018.

See also: Wisconsin State Legislature, Wisconsin State Assembly, Wisconsin State Senate

State profile

Demographic data for Wisconsin
 WisconsinU.S.
Total population:5,767,891316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):54,1583,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:86.5%73.6%
Black/African American:6.3%12.6%
Asian:2.5%5.1%
Native American:0.9%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.1%3%
Hispanic/Latino:6.3%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:91%86.7%
College graduation rate:27.8%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$53,357$53,889
Persons below poverty level:15%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Wisconsin.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Wisconsin

Wisconsin voted for the Democratic candidate in five out of the seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, 23 are located in Wisconsin, accounting for 11.17 percent of the total pivot counties.[46]

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Wisconsin had 21 Retained Pivot Counties and two Boomerang Pivot Counties, accounting for 11.60 and 8.00 percent of all Retained and Boomerang Pivot Counties, respectively.

More Wisconsin coverage on Ballotpedia

See also

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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ WKOW, "Spring Election: Profiling 7 candidates for state Superintendent," February 14, 2021
  2. ↑ Associated Press, "The race for Wisconsin schools superintendent," March 29, 2021
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 WISN, "'UPFRONT' recap: Candidates for state school superintendent clash on leadership, vouchers," February 28, 2021
  4. ↑ Deborah Kerr's campaign website, "Op-Ed: Let’s Resolve to Get our Kids Back to School," January 12, 2021
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 YouTube, "Candidate Debate for Wisconsin Superintendent for Public Instruction," March 17, 2021
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 Jill Underly campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed March 9, 2021
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Wasau Pilot & Review, "Meet the candidates for Wisconsin Superintendent of Dept. of Public Instruction," March 21, 2021
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Deborah Kerr campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed March 9, 2021
  9. ↑ Wisconsin Public Radio, "Tony Evers To Resign As State Superintendent After Governor Swearing In," November 12, 2018
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "State schools Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor won't seek re-election," January 14, 2021
  11. ↑ Madison 365, "Carolyn Stanford Taylor Will Not Run For State Superintendent in 2021," January 13, 2021
  12. ↑ Wisconsin Statutes, "115.28" accessed January 28, 2021
  13. ↑ In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Cap Times, "Editorial: Jill Underly has the experience and the vision to be a great Superintendent of Public Instruction," March 10, 2021
  15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named wcj
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Shepherd Express, "Shepherd Express Endorsements for the April 6 Election," March 11, 2021
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Wisconsin State Journal, "Jill Underly is best choice to lead Wisconsin schools," March 21, 2021
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Twitter, "Jill Underly on March 13, 2021," accessed March 16, 2021
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Twitter, "Jill Underly on March 31, 2021," accessed April 1, 2021
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Twitter, "Jill Underly on April 4, 2021," accessed April 5, 2021
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Deborah Kerr campaign website, "Endorsement: Alberta Darling," March 8, 2021
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Twitter, "Deborah Kerr on March 31, 2021," accessed March 31, 2021
  23. ↑ YouTube, "MPC Zoom Webinar featuring Candidates for State DPI Superintendent," April 1, 2021
  24. ↑ Twitter, "Deborah Kerr on April 1, 2021," accessed April 1, 2021
  25. ↑ Wisconsin Eye, "100 Black Men of Madison: State DPI Superintendent Candidate Forum," March 30, 2021
  26. ↑ YouTube, "Forum Friday - State Superintendent Candidate Forum," March 19, 2021
  27. ↑ YouTube, "Grassroots North Shore State Superintendent Forum 3.14.21," March 14, 2021
  28. ↑ YouTube, "A Conversation with Superintendent Candidates Deb Kerr and Jill Underly," March 11, 2021
  29. ↑ YouTube, "State Superintendent and MMSD BOE Candidates' Forum," March 9, 2021
  30. ↑ YouTube, "DPI Superintendent Candidate Forum 3-4-2021," March 5, 2021
  31. ↑ The Daily News, "Wisconsin’s superintendent candidates clash in virtual forum," March 5, 2021
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  33. ↑ Deborah Kerr’s campaign website, “Vision for Wisconsin,” accessed March 3, 2021
  34. ↑ Jill Underly’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed March 3, 2021
  35. ↑ Twitter, "Jill Underly on April 7, 2021," accessed April 14, 2021
  36. ↑ Wisconsin State Journal, "Jill Underly wins state superintendent election; vows to ensure all schools open in the fall," April 7, 2021
  37. ↑ Wisconsin Public Radio, "GOP Lawmakers Press Wisconsin Schools Chief On Federal Relief Funds," April 6, 2021
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Wisconsin Public Radio, "Evers Criticizes GOP Plans For Federal Relief Funds," April 9, 2021
  39. ↑ Wisconsin Public Radio, "GOP Lawmakers Cast Doubt On Evers' Plans To Boost School Funds, Legalize Marijuana, Raise Minimum Wage," February 18, 2021
  40. ↑ Wisconsin Elections Commission, "More Wisconsin Election Results," accessed March 23, 2021
  41. ↑ A primary election was not held for Wisconsin state superintendent in 2013.
  42. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
  43. ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
  44. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "2013 Spring Election"
  45. ↑ Wisconsin Statutes, "115.28" accessed July 20, 2012
  46. ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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