State superintendent race: What to know about the candidates

 

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A nonpartisan race to become the state's top education official will be the only statewide contest on Tuesday's 2025 spring primary.

Three candidates are competing for state superintendent at the Department of Public Instruction. Incumbent State Superintendent Jill Underly is seeking a second four-year term. She faces two challengers, Brittany Kinser, an education consultant, and Jeff Wright, superintendent of the Sauk Prairie School District.

The top two vote-getters will advance to the April 1 election.

Kinser currently leads the field in fundraising with $301,316 during the pre-primary period, a significant edge over opponents due to major donations from GOP megadonors Dick and Liz Uihlein and Diane Hendricks, including support from the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Underly raised $81,773, with more than half of that coming from the state Democratic Party, while Wright collected $34,804 in donations.

While the race is nonpartisan, Underly and Wright are Democrats. Kinser calls herself a moderate but is backed by conservatives.

"We have to help all the kids and help partner with parents whether they are Democrat or Republican," Kinser said during an interview shortly after launching her campaign in January. "That doesn't matter."

School Vouchers

Expanding the state's school voucher programs is a top issue defining the race. The programs help subsidize the cost for lower-income students to attend private schools by using vouchers.

Lawmakers approved the largest funding increase for the voucher program two years ago in the 2023-2025 state budget.

Underly and Wright have criticized the move. Both believe the school choice program takes resources and funding away from public schools.

Kinser supports vouchers and has described herself as the only candidate to back school choice.

New Testing Standards

New statewide testing standards Underly implemented last year at DPI is one of the most controversial topics in the race.

Kinser and Wright have been highly critical of the move that lowered the benchmarks used to measure students' performance levels in yearly exams.

"That made it very difficult for schools to assess whether or not they had accounted for learning loss during the pandemic," Wright said during an interview with CBS 58. "I think it's important for us to create continuity, consistency over time… and that will require us to go back to the existing standards."

Underly has consistently defended the changes to how the state measures reading and math scores on standardized tests. The decision means Wisconsin no longer aligns national standards, which makes it impossible to compare to years prior.

"This way, by changing the outcome and aligning it to Wisconsin standards, we're able to tell where Wisconsin kids are performing," Underly said during an extended interview.

Kinser said she would "hold DPI accountable" to make sure "they're doing what's best for the kids."

Gov. Tony Evers and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have criticized the change by DPI.

Lawmakers have proposed legislation to revert back to the old testing standards, a bill facing a vote in the Assembly on Wednesday.

School Funding, MPS and Abolishing Education Department

Each candidate has expressed the desire to invest more in public education. Underly has asked lawmakers for a $4 billion increase in the upcoming state budget, which Republican and Democratic leaders have balked at.

Kinser and Wright also believe that's a big ask of the GOP-controlled Legislature, which currently has a projected $4.3 billion state surplus.

Holding Milwaukee Public Schools more accountable after failing to report their financial reports to the state, views on abolishing the education department and qualifications for state superintendent are other issues we've talked to the candidates about.

You can find full candidate interviews with Underly, Kinser and Wright on those topics and more.