Wisconsin, Where Education Goes To Die

What happened to Wisconsin? Until approximately a decade ago, when I thought of the state, I immediately thought of a tough midwestern state with staunch American values. I thought of cheese, bratwurst, beer, frozen custard, and the Green Bay Packers.

Two years ago, in March of 2023, I wrote a column about an upcoming election for the state Supreme Court. In that column, which was titled, “Don’t Do It, Wisconsin, Janet Protasiewicz Is A Plague That Your State Doesn’t Need,” I attempted to warn the citizens of exactly how liberal Protasiewicz was by highlighting some of the cases in which she severely under-sentenced sex offenders.

Less than five months later, I wrote another Column titled, “You Were Warned, Wisconsin, Protasiewicz Is Already Up To No Gouda.” I wrote this because,

unfortunately, Protasiewicz had been elected, giving liberals a 4-3 majority in the state Supreme Court.

With their new liberal cohort on board, what was the cabal’s first course of action? They secretly dismissed the director of the state courts, Randy Koshnick, without the knowledge of the other three justices.

That’s right; they never even consulted the other three justices. They took it upon themselves to dismiss Koshnick without cause, despite the fact that there had been no complaints against him. This action angered Chief Justice Annette Ziegler.

“The court’s action today violates the Wisconsin Constitution, which endows the chief justice with administrative authority. The authority of the chief justice is being undermined and eroded, unlike any time in this court’s history. This lack of respect for longstanding institutional process is reckless.”

There is another Wisconsin Supreme Court election tomorrow (4/2) that again pits conservative values against radical left views. Yet before that election, there is one taking place today that is equally important to the citizens of Wisconsin. Specifically, concerning the educational standards of the children in the state.

The incumbent, Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly, a Democrat, is running against Brittany Kinser, who is pro-school choice and backed by conservatives.

Under Underly’s guidance, Wisconsin schools have the LARGEST gap between white and minority students. 

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“In 2024, Wisconsin had the widest achievement gap in the US for math and reading scores between Black and white students, with Black fourth graders scoring 45 points lower in reading than their white peers, and Black eighth graders scoring 39 points lower.”

Underly, responded to this by attempting to protect her position. Instead of seeking the underlying cause, she lowered the standards to make herself look better.

The Department of Public Instruction introduced new testing standards in June 2024, describing the process as routine. The new standards have lowered the proficiency threshold on the Forward Exam state test, complete with aesthetic changes like replacing terms like “below basic” with “developing.”

Afterward, the percentage of Wisconsin students in grades three through eight who tested proficient in reading and math increased from less than 40 percent to nearly 50 percent. State Superintendent Jill Underly has argued that the new standards more accurately reflect what students should know at each grade level. However, critics such as Assembly Leader Robin Vos, R-Rochester, have accused Underly of attempting to “make it easier for failing schools to appear as if they are succeeding.”

The GOP then backed a bill to restore the standards to those used in 2019-20, which had been set by Evers’ Department of Public Instruction (DPI) the previous year. The bill passed both the Senate and Assembly on party-line votes.

The Wisconsin House passed the bill with a vote of 54 to 44, and it passed the Senate with a vote of 18 to 14. All Democrats voted against raising education standards, while all Republicans voted in favor. Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, despite voting in favor of raising the standards, vetoed the bill.

If you ever need another example of a Democrat sticking to a preset party agenda, rather than doing what is best for the public, this is a memorable one. Evers used to be a teacher and a past head of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for many years. So, you’d think he’d want higher standards for Wisconsin students, not artificially massaged results. Especially after learning that 31 percent of Wisconsin children can’t read at grade level and that black students consistently test at the bottom nationally in both reading and math.

Instead, you have a perfectly destructive educational storm being waged by Wisconsin Democrats. Underly lowers the standards and “softens” the test result wording, while Evers vetoes a bill to raise the educational bar, despite it passing the state assembly and senate.

It has also come to light that in 2023, Underly wrote a letter to DPI supporting the flawed idea of boys playing in girls’ sports. Her argument for that stance was asinine by any measure. In her letter, she claimed that allowing boys in girls’ sports and therefore their locker rooms, bathrooms, and showers will save lives.

Wisconsin has some major decisions to make today and tomorrow. Last year, they made a huge mistake by electing the dangerously liberal Protasiewicz. Hopefully, they have learned their lesson; we’ll know by Wednesday morning.

Good Luck, Wisconsin, Make The Right Choices.