The state superintendent of Public Instruction says public education requires all students to succeed, but says Wisconsin isn’t meeting that standard. State superintendent Dr. Jlll Underly delivered her state of education address last week, and appeared on AM 1170s Between the Lines program Monday. “Our public schools are funded by taxpayers and right now the state of education within our state is that we have greater inequity of opportunity based on where certain kids live,” Underly told WFDL news. “It’s depending on your zip code on how well things are going.” Underly says it’s our constitutional and community responsibility to eliminate the achievement gap. “We could close it. There has to be the will, I mean I think there is the will, but the political will is not there. Right now public education has been wrapped up in a lot of partisan fighting.” Many school district across the state are able to balance their budgets with the help of federal pandemic aid. Underly says the question is will the Republican controlled legislature restore state funding for education when that federal funding goes away in 2024. “I would love to put my faith in the legislature to be able to fund the system but it’s become so political and I think they (lawmakers) think the local taxpayers, if it’s important to them, which it is, they’re going to rely on local taxpayers to pass referendums and it shouldn’t be that way at all, It should be a statewide system,” Underly said. Last month Underly and Democratic governor Tony Evers unveiled a proposal to boost funding for K-12 schools by $2 billion in the next state budget by tapping into the state’s $5 billion budget surplus. It has slim chances of passing the Republican-controlled legislature.
