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December 20th, 2024 Len’s Political Note #693 Jill Underly Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction
2025 April General Election
Let’s take a break. After examining the history and experiences of Trump’s terrible nominees, I felt a little unclean. I need the refreshment that comes from urging you to support a Democrat whose goals and values are worthy of support.
Jill Underly was elected Wisconsin’s Superintendent of Public Instruction in April of 2021. She will be running for reelection on April 1, 2025. Wisconsin believes certain kinds of positions should be non-partisan. Those positions, judges and justices of the supreme court and the state’s superintendent of public instruction, are elected in April instead of November.
The April elections are barely non-partisan, of course. State Supreme Court Justices and State School Superintendents are at the center of some of the country’s most bitter cultural disputes, some of the country’s most partisan issues.
Nevertheless, Wisconsin has these elections in April. We need to pay attention.
Jill Underly could serve as a representative of Midwestern nice. She was born and grew up in Hammond, Indiana. She got her BA from Indiana University at Bloomington and then taught history and social studies at high schools in Frankfort and Munster, Indiana. While teaching, she got a Master’s Degree from IUPU (That’s Indiana University/Purdue University in Indianapolis). She added another Master’s degree there, this time in school administration, so she could be credentialed as a school administrator.
The degree paid off. Jill Underly was hired as a Director and Consultant by the Wisconsin Department of Education. And she continued to go to school herself, now at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She earned her doctorate in education and was hired as an elementary school principal. A year later, she was hired as a school superintendent.
In that district-wide role for a rural school district, Jill Underly became something of a spokesperson for rural school districts throughout Wisconsin. These districts were trapped in a continuing financial crisis. Wisconsin’s school choice laws lured students away. State money was based on the number of students in the district. And, a particular problem for rural districts that had been parsimonious, tax increases were needed just to stay at previous levels of spending. And tax increases required referendums which were a challenge to pass.
Jill Underly had been superintendent for five years, an active voice in the state for those five years and an official in the state education department before that, when the State Superintendent of Public Instruction retired. Jill Underly announced her candidacy for the state-wide position, came in first out of seven candidates in the non-partisan primary, and defeated the second-place finisher in the primary to get the job.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Alan Borsuk, Jill Underly explained that “there is not that much the superintendent can superintend. You oversee teacher licensing and distribution of state money to schools and some compliance issues.” Beyond that, she said the Superintendent of Public Instruction makes suggestions to school districts that elect their own school boards for governance purposes. The legislature and the governor set the state budget.
Jill Underly has some advice to give. Public schools need more money. That is why so many school districts have resorted to referendums to raise taxes. Taxpayers agree, she said, which is why a substantial portion of the referendums were approved.
She points to two serious financial problems for schools. One has to do with special education. Though special education costs are creating deficits for school district after school district, the state budget for that purpose has increased modestly. Wisconsin covers only one-third of local school districts’ special education costs which is “among the lowest [percentages] in the country.” Taking into account the growing need for special education support, she could argue that, in effect, state support declined.
Her other point has to do with school vouchers. The private school voucher program has grown. The per-student payment for voucher payments to charter schools was increased by thousands of dollars. In comparison public schools received an additional $325 per pupil in the 2023 budget.
“The state,” she said, “cannot afford two school systems.” If she had her preference, she would stop the growth in the number of students in the voucher program.
In her annual address at the end of September, she called on the state to double the funds for special education and to fully fund mental health support for students. While addressing the legislature, she urged them to release funds that already appropriated for early literacy.
She has expressed disappointment that culture war issues have continued to divide voters at the state and local level. She criticized efforts to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and the targeting of LGBTQ staff and students.. For her part, she said “I’ve fought for kids and their teachers to be their true selves in school and stood up to ensure they see themselves represented in their curriculum and in their libraries,”
Another rural educator is challenging Jill Underly. Like Jill Underly, Jeff Wright is a Democrat. And like her, before she was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, he is a Superintendent of a rural school district.
Wright says he aligns with Jill Underly on a number of issues, but complains that she is not bringing people together. Wright suggests that not enough effort has gone into recruiting and retaining educators. He promised to make changes in standardized testing and decried the Department having lowered the proficiency threshold in tests
Wright promised to minimize partisanship by separating himself from the administration of the Democratic governor Tony Evers. By maintaining that separation, he says, everyone would feel the Department of Education listens to them, He argues that legislators of “all political stripes” would be more willing to speak with a Superintendent of Public Instruction who kept himself separate from the Democratic governor.
Jeff Wright was head of a private school in Chicago before returning to Wisconsin where he has earned recognition. The Wisconsin Rural School Alliance named him administrator of the year for 2024.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party has endorsed Jill Underly for a second term. The party chair, a candidate to chair the national Democratic party, says: “At every step, Dr. Underly has had the backs of our kids, standing up to attacks on public education, libraries and LGBTQ+ youth, and ensuring that partisan attempts to divide Wisconsin do not undermine our state’s fundamental and uniting commitment to great public schools, available to all… ”
Matt Moreno of Waukesha County west of Milwaukee said: “We stood with [Jill Underly] when she first ran, and in the years since she’s stood with us shoulder-to-shoulder as we’ve faced down far-right attacks on our public schools…Schools in Waukesha County have dealt with a number of issues in recent years including becoming the target of a bomb threat and a threatened school after a right-wing social media account publicized posts made by a local middle school principal”
Help Jill Underly stay as Wisconsin’s Superintendent of Public Instruction for a second term. She is an advocate for public schools as they should be. DONATE
The other April 1 Wisconsin race:
Wisconsin Supreme Court: Susan M. Crawford. DONATE See Len’s Political Note #684
Special Elections in Virginia. Elections are on January 7. The Senate District 32 vacancy exists because the State Senator was elected to represent Virginia in Congress on November 5. Before he resigned, Democrats had a 21-19 majority in the State Senate. Kannan Srinivasan represented District 26 in the House of Delegates. Before he resigned to run for the State Senate, Democrats had a 51-49 majority in the House of Delegates. Each of these races affect whether Democrats can keep their majority and can continue to minimize the damage that Glenn Youngkin, the Republican governor can do.
Virginia State Senate District 32. Ex Delegate Kannan Srinivasan DONATE See Len’s Political Note #686. The Democrat carried this district in November 2022 by a 61.1% to 38% margin.
Virginia State Senate District 10 Academic Jack Trammel. DONATE. The Republican carried this district in November 2022 by a 65.7% to 34.1% margin.
Virginia State Delegate District 26 Hotelier JJ Singh DONATE. Singh is running to replace Kannan Srinivasan. The Democrat carried this district in November 2022 by a 62.2% to 37.6% margin.
In the two Democratic districts, help Kannan Srinivasan and JJ Singh stay well above 60%. Help Jack Trammel hold his Republican opponent to below 60%.
Special Elections in Florida. Elections are on April 1
FL 01: Gay Valimont DONATE Len’s Political Note coming up
FL 06. There are three Democrats running; the primary is on January 28.
OPPOSE TRUMP NOMINEES. Not all of them. Call your Senator. Call a Republican Senator. You could explain (if you agree with what I am suggesting) you expect Trump to nominate Republicans; that you have no objection to Marco Rubio for Secretary of state for instance. But object to:
Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense – because he has a reputation for drinking and financial mismanagement and bad treatment of women and because he opposes women in combat
Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence – because she seems to support Russian positions more than American positions and because she is entirely inexperienced in the area of intelligence.
Linda McMahon for Secretary of Education – because, opposite of what good education should be, she made her fortune with a fake sport that encourages violence and because she winked at the sexual exploitation of boys by a senior figure in the organization.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr for Secretary of Health and Human Services – despite his support for choice on abortion, because he has strange views about the value of vaccination and other health issues such as fluoride in the water and because he gets so intense on a topic he can destroy an organization
Kash Patel for Director of the FBI – because he has announced his intention to use the FBI as an instrument of vengeance. It should be a law enforcement agency.
Billy Long for Commissioner of the IRS – because he opposes the income tax and would replace it with a sales tax. It would take a sales tax in the 23 to 30% range to raise the money we currently raise with income taxes,
Contact: Your senators. (google them, find their Washington office telephone number)
Contact the four Republican Senators who were willing to publicly oppose Matthew Gaetz
Mitch McConnell KY (202-224-2541) (A polio survivor, McConnell is critical of Kennedy for his opposition to vaccines)
Lisa Murkowski AK (202-224-6665),
Susan Collins ME ((202-224-2523, and
Congressman John Curtis who was is the Senator-elect from Utah (202-225-7751)
Contact any other Republican Senator you would like to contact,
