Steven Potter:
Education has become a politically contentious topic. Why is that?

Brittany Kinser:
It has been very eye-opening, coming into running for office where it is very politicized. It needs not, it should not. We need to get politics out of education. I think that's why very few people have asked me about reading, and that's why I got into this, got into running, is because of our reading crisis, and the so few number of children who are reading. That's the true enemy, right? Is illiteracy, right? I think it's an American value we can all agree on, that all children should be able to read. That opens the door to opportunities and success, right? You can live a great life if you can read, and not a great life if you can't. And so with all the politics, it's all a distraction from what we really need to be focusing on, making sure our kids can read, write and do math — the foundations — so that they can think critically and get involved in other things they like to do.

Dr. Jill Underly:
Politics has always been in public education, but right now, it's just like we're very polarized on very certain issues. The issue here in Wisconsin seems to be more around school vouchers and funding private schools with public dollars, and so that has taken a central, been a central topic in this race. And when you look at the legislative backing of that, that does fall naturally, or unnaturally, I should say, between Republicans and Democrats, and it shouldn't. Public schools should be the funding — we should be funding public schools, because that is a system for all kids. I strongly believe that we shouldn't be using public dollars to fund our private schools, and so that has become one of the central themes in this race.