Superintendent Jill Underly on Wisconsin's Schools in 2024

Frederica Freyberg:

In education news, the time is now to boost special education funding in Wisconsin. That’s according to Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly, who in calling for an increase, cites the projected state budget surplus of more than $7 billion. Superintendent Underly joins us now. Thanks very much for being here.

Jill Underly:

Absolutely. Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

So you’re calling for an increase to the special education reimbursement rate to 60%, which would be about a billion dollars. Now, this was rejected by the Republican Legislature in the budget process. Why is it important for you to go around again on this now?

Jill Underly:

Because it’s important. We need to fund our public schools and special education reimbursement right now is so low that school districts have to transfer money from their general fund in order to pay for these services, which are required by law. So if we were to increase the reimbursement rate, they wouldn’t have to transfer as much money and we’re also serving kids and we’re able to then fund the other programs that schools desperately need to fund.

Frederica Freyberg:

This has been the case for so long.

Jill Underly:

Yeah, it has, and you see it. It’s having an impact. I mean, it’s been having an impact for decades. But when you look at the number of referendums that school districts have to go to, it’s because they need the funding. They’re not getting reimbursed. When you look at things they want to do, like raise teacher salaries or create music programs or art programs or including things, like, just general maintenance on their buildings, they’re looking for things to cut because they can’t fund their programs, and if we would reimburse special education at a higher rate, we can do that.

Frederica Freyberg:

This fall Wisconsin’s standardized tests in schools showed improvement over pandemic scores but still not recovered. Fewer than half of students statewide performed at or above proficient in math and language, and in Milwaukee, the numbers are lower, in the teens. What should these scores look like?

Jill Underly:

Yeah. So we want all kids to be successful. An assessment is one way to figure out where kids are and what kids need, but when we look at it, yeah, we’re not where we want to be, and so how do we approach that? Well, one of the things that we know is that poverty has a lot to do with how kids are going to test. And so that being said, assessment is just one piece of data, but if we could look at funding things like universal meals, mental health, making sure all kids feel safe and included in their schools, they’re going to learn better.

Frederica Freyberg:

One thing that stood out was the number of students absent from school. Again, in Milwaukee, 58% of students absent 10% of school days. What’s happening here?

Jill Underly:

Yeah, we do have a problem with chronic truancy and it’s certainly something that’s happening at a national level. Coming out of COVID, we noticed those rates increase, and again, it’s really looking at what are the underlying causes of this. Every situation is going to be a little different, every kid is a little different. Every situation for them is going to be not the same. So we need to look at what supports do they need in order to be engaged in school. Again, it’s not rocket science. Right? It’s looking to make sure that they are there, that they’re engaged, that they feel safe, they feel included, things like meals, things like connecting with staff members, making it seem that — making it so that kids feel safe and want to be in school is very important.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do we have special kind of efforts around this?

Jill Underly:

Yeah. DPI has been working on a cross-agency collaborative in order to address the issue. We have funded a program called the Graduation Alliance for school districts so that they can, without charge, access the information and supports and plans for kids who are struggling with chronic absenteeism.

Frederica Freyberg:

What’s the status on the shortage of teachers and teacher turnover?

Jill Underly:

Yeah. So that’s going to continue to be a problem. We know that, right now, it’s not so much that we don’t have people who don’t want to go into teaching; it’s people staying in teaching. So after five years, we only are retaining about two-thirds of those teachers and we have to, again, look at the underlying causes. A lot of it has to do with the politics that have been infused in education, looks at respect for teacher and the lack thereof for teachers. It’s also when you look at the pay for teachers and the fact that their skills are transferable to other industries and ultimately, we have to look at that work-life balance, because when we talk to teachers and they tell us why they’re leaving, it’s because it’s an impossible job.

Frederica Freyberg:

As a member of the UW Board of Regents, you were not able to be present for the vote that eventually resulted in DEI programs being cut in exchange for university salary increases and other funding. How would you have voted?

Jill Underly:

I would have voted against it, against cutting the DEI positions. My record has been very clear, again, on diversity, equity and inclusion as a fundamental tenet of public education and I am going to always fight to make sure that all our students have access.

Frederica Freyberg:

Finally, with the passing of former Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl, you remembered him as a champion for public education and school kids. How so?

Jill Underly:

He was the best friend that public schools had in Wisconsin. He funded countless programs, when you think about scholarships for teachers and students and principals. There was — I remember a banquet where he always, when he was there, he would always go up to and congratulate every kid and every parent for their scholarships and he funded back-to-school wish lists for teachers. I mean, we owe so much in the state to Herb Kohl when it comes to public education.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We leave it there. Jill Underly, thanks very much.

Jill Underly:

Absolutely.