State superintendent candidates ramp up attacks amid education debate in Madison

 

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Just a day after the primary election, candidates for state superintendent are ramping up attacks on the campaign trail.

Incumbent State Superintendent Jill Underly and education consultant Brittany Kinser both advanced from Tuesday's primary election to go head-to-head on April 1.

Hours after the race was called, Kinser campaigned more aggressively on new controversial testing standards Underly implemented last year at the Department of Public Instruction.

"Jill Underly is unapologetic," Kinser said during a press call with reporters. "She lowered the standards for our children and claims to have no regret about it."

Underly has repeatedly defended the decision. Last year, DPI renamed the test score categories and lowered the benchmarks that measure students' academic performance on the Forward and ACT exam.

The state's report card used to categorize achievement levels as "below", "basic", "proficient" and "advanced." Now those categories are "developing," "approaching," "meeting" and "advanced."

On Wednesday, Assembly Republicans passed legislation to reverse the new testing standards to again align with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.

GOP lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers have been critical of the changes because it's impossible to measure test scores from previous years.

"If we have our own standards aligned to nobody else's, guess what? We can fool ourselves into thinking we are great," said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos during debate on the bill. "Because we have no ability to compare ourselves to anybody else."

Underly opposes the bill and argues reverting back to old test standards "threatens to undo the work and recommendations" conducted in standardizing testing this year.

Democrats voted against the measure along with a series of other education-related bills Republicans approved in the Assembly.

Underly also took shots at Kinser shortly after securing the most votes in Tuesday's three-way primary.

Underly knocked Kinser for backing the expansion of the school voucher program, which includes subsidizing the costs for lower-income students to attend private schools.

"I think the difference is very clear between me and Brittany, she's a voucher lobbyist advocating for policies I think would ruin public education," said Underly, who believes expanding vouchers would take millions in funding away from public schools.