Underly Announces Transition Team
New state school superintendent promises “more offense, less defense."
Jill Underly. Photo courtesy of Underly for Wisconsin.
Incoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly has announced her transition team, a notably diverse group of people heavy on public school advocates.
“They represent a broad group of stakeholders and each bring a passion for public education and a commitment to helping our new administration fulfill our pledge to build a public education system where every child gets what they need to succeed, every day,” Underly, who will take office in July, said in a statement.
The transition team, composed mostly of volunteers, will meet periodically to provide advice to the new superintendent. Four of the members Underly announced are also members of the public school advocacy group Wisconsin Public Education Network — Chris Hambuch-Boyle, Marva Herndon, Kim Kaukl and Julie Underwood — and have been active advocates against school privatization and the increasing flow of taxpayer money from public schools into private school vouchers.
“I’m a public school advocate, I’m an educator and I’m a mom,” Underly told a gathering of public school advocates on Monday. “So I plan to take a different approach.”
That approach will be characterized by “more offense, less defense,” Underly said, and improvements in communication between the state’s education department and the public, including an upgrade to the department’s Byzantine website.
“Our goal with the transition is to kick off the administration the same way Superintendent-elect Underly plans to continue it,” said Erin Forrest, transition director and former executive director of Emerge Wisconsin, a nonprofit group that encourages and supports Democratic women to run for public office. “It’s absolutely critical that we engage a broad range of stakeholders with diverse perspectives. Dr. Underly is committed to getting every child what they need to succeed, every day. It’s a big goal and we’re all going to have to work together to get there.”
Members include:
Susie Crazy Thunder, whose Anishinaabe name is Giiwedinookwe (North Wind Woman), a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. She is the tribal outreach coordinator for Nicolet College and serves on the board of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association.
Angelina Cruz is a public school teacher in Racine and the president of Racine Educators United, a public educator union.
Troy Gunderson recently retired from a 35-year career in public education including seven years as a classroom teacher, 16 years as a high school principal and 12 years as a school district superintendent. Gunderson is currently serving as an adjunct professor in school finance at Viterbo University.
Dr. Shandowlyon Hendricks-Williams is a former teacher assistant, teacher, principal, district administrator, regional director and adjunct faculty in Milwaukee and served as director of the governor’s Milwaukee office
Marva Herndon is a member of the Milwaukee Public Schools Board, a community advocate, founder of her neighborhood association, and a member of the NAACP Education Committee, Women Informed, School & Communities United, Educators Amplified Radio Team and Wisconsin Public Education Network.
Kim Kaukl is the executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance who grew up in Richland Center, attended UW-La Crosse and UW-Madison and worked for 34 years as a teacher and school administrator.
Trish Kilpin is a Greendale School District school social worker. She was named the Wisconsin School Social Worker of the Year in 1997, and Wisconsin Teacher of the Year in 2021.
Scott Lenski is a librarian at the Whitefish Bay Public Library, where he is in charge of all adult programming. He received a master’s degree in library and information science from UW-Milwaukee and lives in Milwaukee with his husband and many pets.
Chai Moua serves on the Portage county board. She is a social worker and lives in Stevens Point with her husband Phong Vang and their four children.
Dr. Joan Wade is the executive director for the Association of Educational Service Agencies (AESA). A former library media specialist and elementary school teacher, she served as a state representative in the Wisconsin Legislature from 1998–2001.
Peggy Wirtz-Olsen is a high school art and English teacher currently serving as the vice president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council.
Julie Underwood, J.D., Ph.D. is the former dean of the School of Education at UW Madison. Her area of expertise is K-12 education law and policy. Prior to being dean she was the general counsel for the National School Boards Association. In 2018-2019 she served on the Wisconsin legislative Blue Ribbon Commission for School Funding. She is the current board chair for the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools, an advocacy group for public education.
Reprinted with permission of Wisconsin Examiner.
I am concerned about the use of volunteers rather than state staff for this. Here’s why: They have no accountability to the public, and their internal communication can be outside the reach of open meetings laws. In short, I worry they may be a danger to democracy. I hope the press and others are keeping an eye on this.