Brother, can you sparadigm?

Jill Underly is Wisconsin’s superintendent of public instruction. The position is elected for four years on the Spring non-partisan ballot along with city alders and circuit court judges. We are one of only 12 states to elect them. 

One of Jill Underly’s predecessors was Tony Evers, now governor of Wisconsin. A Democrat. If there has been a conservative superintendent of public instruction in Wisconsin, it was long ago. Nonetheless, Jill Underly claims the position is non-partisan. She was endorsed by the teachers union, which gives all its campaign donations to Democrats. (Underly was good for $18,000.)

Thursday 09-21-23, Supt. Jill Underly gave her State of Education speech in the capitol. It was Woke boilerplate. The state’s chief school marm portrayed Wisconsin public schools as impoverished, even after the Republican legislature boosted education spending by $1.2 Billion dollars. Democrats wanted twice that. It’s never enough. Supt. Underly defended the Woke agenda. 

Our children’s communities – their classrooms – are also some of the most inclusive and equitable places in our state. … Affirming the lives of our black, Indigenous, and students of color matter is not political. It is a statement of fact.

— Jill Underly, State of Education

What does that even mean? How is a life “affirmed”? Ms. Underly’s prepared remarks used the word “diversity” (or some form thereof) 10 times, “equity” 4 times, “inclusion” 2. At the other end of the scale: “Discipline” 0, “responsibility” 0, and “achievement” 0.

Down with test scores! For good measure, Underly also dissed testing. “We need to teach students not to determine their self-worth based on grades and test scores,” she said in Thursday’s address.

→ “DPI teaches race and ‘disproportionality’” 

→ Critical race theory gurus Ibram X. Kendi (now being investigated by his school) and Robin DiAngelo are on tap. (Read & Weep.)

How about improving test scores? Oh, the state's school marm is opposed to tests. Figures, because they're getting worse.

Class, what did she leave out?

That’s right! Any mention of educational progress! Can our kids read or write? How are their math scores? Improving or declining? So the Werkes will fill in the blanks:

• Only 38.3% read at grade level — down from 41.5% in 2019.

• 40.5% are proficient in math — down from 44.0% in 2019.

• And Wisconsin continues to post the widest gap between black and white students in the nation. (Read & Weep.)

So much for affirming the lives of black students! 

Blaska’s Bottom Line: Amend the state constitution so that the governor appoints a secretary of education, who would sit in his cabinet next to secretaries of transportation, revenue, natural resources, corrections, agriculture, workforce development, etc.

Is anything more political than education?

and rightly so!