Underly Wins Second Term as State Superintendent

Jill Underly. Photo courtesy of Underly for Wisconsin.

Jill Underly won a second term as the head of the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Tuesday.

With more than 80% of the vote in, the Associated Press called the race for Underly, who had almost 53% of the vote at the time.

Underly defeated Brittany Kinser, a pro-voucher candidate that identified as a Democrat in the past, but who ran to the right of Underly, courting Republican voters and campaigning with conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel.

In a victory speech, Underly said her victory was a win for public schools and that upheaval at the federal level is creating new challenges and uncertainty for public school systems. “With the Trump administration hellbent on dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, our role in defending and advocating for public schools becomes even more critical,” she said.

The incumbent ran a campaign in support of greater investment in the state’s public schools and opposing the state’s voucher program, which provides taxpayer funding for students to attend private schools.

Her campaign worked to overcome criticism — including comments from Gov. Tony Evers — of recent changes to standardized testing, which included new terminology, scoring and even a new design for the test. Underly repeatedly defended the changes. Underly also faced charges of hypocrisy from school choice supporters for briefly sending her children to a private elementary school in Madison.

Underly, in a position frequently criticized by Kinser, also declined to appear at several public forums.

The state superintendent is a non-partisan office and up for election every four years. The superintendent serves as the head of the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI), overseeing 421 school districts and state and federal funding for schools. The agency also manages statewide curricula and standardized testing.

Underly was first elected state superintendent in 2021. She replaced Carolyn Stanford Taylor, who was appointed by Evers after he won election to the governor’s office in 2018 while serving as state superintendent; Taylor chose not to run for election to the post. Before winning state office, Underly had spent most of her career in public education, working as a teacher, principal and superintendent. She has also worked as a university administrator, an education consultant and an assistant director at DPI.

Underly’s opponent, Kinser, has varied education experience, including a stint as a teacher in Chicago public schools, as a principal of a Rocketship Charter School in Milwaukee and CEO of City Forward Collective.  Kinser faced criticism for lacking any active Wisconsin educational license: she has never held a Wisconsin teacher’s license, and her school administration license has lapsed.

For a state superintendent election, the race drew big campaign spending. The state political parties poured huge amounts of money into the race. By late March, the Democratic Party had provided Underly with $850,000, while Kinser received $1.1 million from the state Republican Party. Kinser also attracted donations from Republican billionaire campaign donors Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein and Diane Hendricks.

In a public statement following her loss, Kinser said she was proud of her “positive, clean campaign.” She also said Wisconsin students deserve a better education system and reiterated her commitment to raising reading proficiency to 95%. She is involved, through her consulting firm, in a reading initiative called Wisconsin 95 that claims the same goal.

Kinser also needled Underly one final time for the testing standards controversy.

“I hope that my candidacy has inspired conversations about the importance of restoring high standards and ensuring every child can read, write, and do math well, so they have the opportunity to go to college, secure a meaningful job, or master a trade,” Kinser said. “We know that our children meet expectations when standards are set high.”