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State schools boss cheats on her tests
Will voters send Jill Underly home with a teacher’s note?
Let’s cut to the chase: Wisconsin’s superintendent of public instruction is guilty of cheating on her tests. Cooking the books. Skewing the numbers to hide the fact that more students under her watch are failing the basics.
Put aside prisons or potholes — it’s the biggest scandal in state government. Supt. Jill Underly has been jiggering student performance numbers to cover up her obsession with diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Republicans in the state legislature are trying to make her Department of Public Instruction “use the same test scores, score ranges, and corresponding qualitative descriptions that DPI used for report cards published in the 2019-20 school year.” Assembly Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. John Jagler (R-Watertown) and Rep. Bob Wittke (R-Caledonia), requires using the National Assessment of Educational Progress to gauge English and mathematics proficiency.
In Wisconsin statewide, among 4th-graders in 2022, 44.8% were found to be proficient at reading. The most recent results show 52.1% proficient … That’s a 16% improvement. But the National Assessment of Educational Progress test of Wisconsin 4th-graders found in 2022 that 33% were proficient in reading in 2022 and 31% are proficient now — a 6% drop.
But wait, there’s more
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin school superintendent candidate Jill Underly accused her opponent Deborah Kerr of being transphobic during a forum Thursday because Kerr supports prohibiting transgender students from playing girls sports. — Dr. Underly’s first election 04-01-2021
Jill Underly is one reason Wisconsin voted for this guy
Jill Underly is fighting those efforts
The incumbent accuses Republicans of “using schools and children as pawns to push their own ideological agenda.” Excuse us, who has the ideological agenda?
in 2024 DPI lowered the standards and cut scores for proficiency on WI DPI’s Forward Exam for the most recent academic year. Proficiency was previously tied to the National Assessment of Educational Progress test in reading and math—meaning that proficiency on the WI Forward Exam was comparable to national test. — WI Institute Law & Liberty
So under-achieving is Underly that Gov. Tony Evers opposes her re-election — and they’re both Democrats! Tony used to have Underly’s job. Yet, somehow, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is backing Underly — possibly because of her opposition to school choice and charter schools. Possibly because the party is as DEI as she is.
Early voting in the Tuesday, February 18 primary election has already begun.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: If it isn’t the kiss of death, we support Brittany Kinser, an independent education consultant; former president of City Forward Collective, a charter- and voucher-focused Milwaukee nonprofit; director of Wisconsin Rocketship schools, which are part of a national network of public charter schools; and an educator in Chicago public and charter schools.
11 responses to “State schools boss cheats on her tests”
Cornelius_Gotchberg
Even tiny Hurley (WI) School District officials complained that this If You Can’t Meet Standards, Lower Them ham fist on the scale made their students’ above average achievements appear mediocre.
The appropriately named UNDERly richly deserves to be banished to the same fresh hell of political obscurity as that soon to be occupied by L.A. Mayor Bass and Guvvy Gavvy!
The Gotch
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Cornelius_Gotchberg
Hurley School Board monthly meeting (12/16/2024) District Administrator Kevin Genisot (bolds/caps/italics mine):
“It’s important to note this: The state this year, before finalizing their final numbers of the state report card, CAME UP WITH A SET OF NUMBERS. They ran them and they said, ‘OH, THESE NUMBERS ARE ALLOWING TOO MANY DISTRICTS TO SCORE WELL. THAT WON’T LOOK GOOD.. LET’S ADJUST THESE NUMBERS‘ And that’s right from DPI telling you what they’re doing as they do the report cards.”
The Gotch
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Bob
Milwaukee public schools (MPS) scores 40 out of 40 large city schools. Black fourth grade English score at proficiency at 5%.. Jill Underly waits until after Nov. election which MPS gets a $252million referendum passed by 1700 votes to announce that MPS hasn’t reported mandatory financial reports to DPI.
Jill Underly should be sent packing in the primary for how worthless she has done her job.
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Balboa Lives!
Evers was a failure as well as head of DPI, he endorsed her previously so what changed since Evers left. Tony and Jill, continue to fail upwards with the old tired arguments we need to be paid like engineers, doctors lawyers then we will start educating kids. When maybe the opposite should be true, again do not see these kinds of problems and usually better outcomes in private schools where staff can be hired and fired when jobs are on the line.
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Cornelius_Gotchberg
“he endorsed her previously so what changed since Evers left.”
You sure about that? From neighborsnextdoor (THEY Report/YOU Decide!): “Evers won’t endorse anyone for his former job. He wouldn’t in the prior election either.”
Herr Google was of no help.
The Gotch
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Mordecai The Red
If they want to be paid like engineers, doctors, and lawyers, then they need to at least go through the educational rigors and produce the results that those professions do. In the private sector, you get paid based on the worth of your skill set and the products you put out. Seems like a lot of those in education just don’t get that.
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Gary L. Kriewald
Every accusation you make against Ms. Udderly is true and should make her unqualified to run … but that won’t prevent her from getting 95% of the vote in Madison. After all, she took a courageous stand against transphobia.
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Balboa Lives!
Since she has reached the pinnacle of failure in DPI, time for her to run for governor so she can fail the entire state like Evers has for Wisconsin.
[…] WI Superintendent of Public Instruction supports charters and vouchers. Denounces the incumbent for jiggering test scores to hide the dumbing down of our students under Jill Underly’s watch. And because Ms. Kinser is […]
[…] 27.4%. Wright was just as progressive as the Woke incumbent, but not burdened with Underly’s cheating on test results. Good to see Madison education reformer Kaleem Caire and Ms. Kinser hugging at her victory […]
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11 responses to “State schools boss cheats on her tests”
Even tiny Hurley (WI) School District officials complained that this If You Can’t Meet Standards, Lower Them ham fist on the scale made their students’ above average achievements appear mediocre.
The appropriately named UNDERly richly deserves to be banished to the same fresh hell of political obscurity as that soon to be occupied by L.A. Mayor Bass and Guvvy Gavvy!
The Gotch
Hurley School Board monthly meeting (12/16/2024) District Administrator Kevin Genisot (bolds/caps/italics mine):
“It’s important to note this: The state this year, before finalizing their final numbers of the state report card, CAME UP WITH A SET OF NUMBERS. They ran them and they said, ‘OH, THESE NUMBERS ARE ALLOWING TOO MANY DISTRICTS TO SCORE WELL. THAT WON’T LOOK GOOD.. LET’S ADJUST THESE NUMBERS‘ And that’s right from DPI telling you what they’re doing as they do the report cards.”
The Gotch
Milwaukee public schools (MPS) scores 40 out of 40 large city schools. Black fourth grade English score at proficiency at 5%.. Jill Underly waits until after Nov. election which MPS gets a $252million referendum passed by 1700 votes to announce that MPS hasn’t reported mandatory financial reports to DPI.
Jill Underly should be sent packing in the primary for how worthless she has done her job.
Evers was a failure as well as head of DPI, he endorsed her previously so what changed since Evers left. Tony and Jill, continue to fail upwards with the old tired arguments we need to be paid like engineers, doctors lawyers then we will start educating kids. When maybe the opposite should be true, again do not see these kinds of problems and usually better outcomes in private schools where staff can be hired and fired when jobs are on the line.
“he endorsed her previously so what changed since Evers left.”
You sure about that? From neighborsnextdoor (THEY Report/YOU Decide!): “Evers won’t endorse anyone for his former job. He wouldn’t in the prior election either.”
Herr Google was of no help.
The Gotch
If they want to be paid like engineers, doctors, and lawyers, then they need to at least go through the educational rigors and produce the results that those professions do. In the private sector, you get paid based on the worth of your skill set and the products you put out. Seems like a lot of those in education just don’t get that.
Every accusation you make against Ms. Udderly is true and should make her unqualified to run … but that won’t prevent her from getting 95% of the vote in Madison. After all, she took a courageous stand against transphobia.
Since she has reached the pinnacle of failure in DPI, time for her to run for governor so she can fail the entire state like Evers has for Wisconsin.
[…] WI Superintendent of Public Instruction supports charters and vouchers. Denounces the incumbent for jiggering test scores to hide the dumbing down of our students under Jill Underly’s watch. And because Ms. Kinser is […]
[…] This week, Republicans on the WI Assembly Education Committee voted to make the WI Dept of Public Instruction stop lying about test scores. […]
[…] 27.4%. Wright was just as progressive as the Woke incumbent, but not burdened with Underly’s cheating on test results. Good to see Madison education reformer Kaleem Caire and Ms. Kinser hugging at her victory […]