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Differences Between DPI Candidates Sharpen
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | March 12, 2021
From WisPolitics.com …
The state superintendent candidates disagreed during a forum last night on tying pandemic-related school funding to opening schools for in-person classes.
In a Public Education Network and League of Women Voters virtual event, former Brown Deer School District Superintendent Deb Kerr said she agrees with state GOP legislators who support tying school funding from pandemic relief bills to schools that reopen for in-person classes.
Pecatonica School District Superintendent Jill Underly said she opposes that policy.
Underly said the existing method to distribute the $75 million in funds using the Title 1 formula is a great way to make sure those funds primarily go to schools that need the most resources.
She said schools in higher poverty areas will get more funding that way and funds would be distributed whether schools opened for in-person classes or not.
However, Kerr said she agrees with GOP legislators who think those funds should be distributed primarily to schools that reopen to in-person education and DPI should offer more guidance on how to best distribute them.
“They want to make sure they’re putting their investment in the right places because this is a one-time opportunity,” Kerr said. “And if we don’t start using these funds wisely, we’re going to miss an opportunity.”
The election is April 6.
Kerr also slammed Dems for endorsing Underly and further politicizing the race.
“I am a Democrat, but I’ve also been very independent in my life as a superintendent,” Kerr said.
But she said she has been uninvited to some Dem-related events and politically attacked by her opponent. “And it’s really unfortunate that the Democrats have decided to make this a partisan issue,” she added.
“We need to work together, it doesn’t matter what color jacket you wear. At the end of the day our kids are about education and being successful,” Kerr said.
Kerr has received endorsements from several Republicans and donations from those who support pro-voucher candidates across the country.
Underly has received endorsements from multiple Dem officeholders and candidates.
She said every Wisconsinite deserves a good education and she will always advocate for public schools because of her background in public education and fight against voucher expansion.
“Making me partisan then, I guess I have to live with that and I’m happy to because I will always fight for our public schools,” Underly added.
However, they both said they wish the superintendent race was less partisan overall.
Underly also said she would back the freeze on school voucher programs Gov. Tony Evers proposed in his most recent budget.
Underly said voucher and private schools are taking state funds away from public schools and taxpayers should not be funding them because they are not held accountable to the same standards as public schools.
But Kerr said she does not support a freeze on funds because private and voucher schools help fill education gaps in communities across the state. While she does support private and voucher schools, she said she also supports public schools.
Kerr added state superintendents do not have the authority to impose such a freeze. But she said careful consideration over the cap for voucher program funding is needed soon.
“I want to remind all of you on this call tonight that these caps will be lifted in the next four years; that is the law. So I think we need to figure out how are we going to work together to support all of the kids of Wisconsin,” Kerr said.
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