Wisconsin lawmakers Senator John Jagler (R-Watertown) and Representative Bob Wittke (R-Caledonia) have introduced legislation aimed at reversing changes made by the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to academic accountability standards. These changes, implemented without legislative input, have drawn criticism for masking stagnating student performance and lowering the bar for success in Wisconsin’s K-12 education system.
DPI’s Controversial Changes
Under State Superintendent Jill Underly, DPI has faced scrutiny for unilaterally altering performance metrics in ways that critics say obscure the true state of academic achievement. Key changes include:
- 2020-21: DPI lowered the cut points on school and district report cards, inflating ratings and reducing transparency.
- 2023-24: Performance categories on the Forward Exam were redefined, making comparisons over time less reliable.
- 2023-24: DPI further lowered the cut points on the Forward Exam, allowing students to achieve “proficiency” at lower scores.
These adjustments have raised concerns among Wisconsin pro education reform community that DPI is prioritizing optics over accountability, leaving parents and policymakers with an incomplete picture of school performance. Gov. Evers was also critical of Underly changes, and have publicly criticized her and has refused to support her campaign, a reversal from her first campaign.
What the Bill Proposes
The legislation introduced by Jagler and Wittke seeks to restore rigorous standards and ensure accurate reporting of student outcomes. The key provisions include:
- Restoring Previous Standards: DPI must use the same cut scores, score ranges, and performance descriptions that were in place for the 2019-20 school year in its school and district report cards.
- Adopting National Benchmarks: The Forward Exam for English Language Arts and Mathematics will align with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a respected national standard for student achievement.
- Consistency in College Prep Assessments: DPI will revert to the cut scores and performance categories used for the PreACT and ACT (including writing sections) in the 2021-22 school year, with clear categories such as “below basic,” “basic,” “proficient,” and “advanced.”
Superintendent Jill Underly’s Role
Superintendent Jill Underly, who has led DPI since 2021, has strongly defended the department’s approach to academic standards. However, her critics including her primary opponents Jeff Wright and school choice advocate Brittney Kinser argue that these changes have lowered expectations for Wisconsin students and undermined public trust in the state’s accountability measures. Both have endorsed the proposed changes in this bill. The legislation aims to address these concerns by ensuring that performance metrics reflect reality, rather than offering an artificially optimistic portrayal of educational outcomes.
Why Accountability Matters
Supporters of the bill emphasize that restoring rigorous academic standards is essential for Wisconsin’s schools to remain competitive and for families to have a clear understanding of school performance. High standards and honest reporting, they argue, are crucial for improving educational outcomes and maintaining public confidence in the state’s education system.
Ever since no Child left behind Wisconsin, and the rest of the United States, has become a laughingstock when it comes to our public schools and our kids being prepared to take the reins.
You really start need to get this data publish and out to the parents by mail podcast tv and radio as the school districts will deny this and not make it known. The power needs to get back to parents not school boards. Teachers or districts our poor kids are suffering
This is good to see, but Representatives John Jaglar and Bob Wittke must dig a little deeper. Wisconsin’s public schools are graduating students ranking nationally (in our school district in Sparta in the 14th percentile in Math and 23rd percentile in Reading) at a rate of 98%. Math, Reading and Graduation Rate are the only three metrics used to rank students and public schools nationally. (Convenient) You’re trading a flat tire for a used tire with little air in it, leaving it still unlikely to get where you want to go. These public school districts are and have been failing our children steadily and trending downward for decades! They are entrusted to our school Admins and BOEs for 13 years of thier lives and 86 out of a hundred cannot do simple Math and 77 out of a hundred can not Read and comprehend to save thier lives.
It is the perfect time for you to understand that a education system that settles for student performance this disastrous level beggs for fundemental change. Rewarding all students with a high school diploma whether they earn it or even show up for school is not the students fault when leadership fails them and, instead, takes time away from focusing on academics to teach Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is robbing our children of any meaningful hope for the future – and, our children ARE the future of Wisconsin.
Dr. Underly didn’t lower the bar for excellence in student achievement. She removed the bar altogether. There now are only three categories – ‘Meeting’, ‘Needs Help’, and ‘Not Meeting’. When school teachers are instructed to keep tweaking and adjusting grading / school work for each student until they are ‘Meeting’ achievement expectations – there is no bar anymore. Not even Evers would agree with Dr. Underly, and said he would not interfere either. That’s NOT leadership – not the leadership our state, public education and tax payers on down to the children MUST have to be successful.
If guidelines, expectations, standards and excellence are not emphasized, as with boundaries: children naturally will test them to see how little they can be expected to do. Our school district is even experimenting this year with three different grading systems in which one – automatically ‘gives’ 50% of grade, which in itself is Passing, to teach, then grade above that 50% on class room work and assignments towards the other 50% up to 100%. Leadership is fundementally lacking in a system that guarantees all students will graduate no matter if they even show up in classes!
Who the hell is in charge?!
What is clear is this: we need a Wisconsin State Constitutional Amendment Referendum to abolish and prohibit Social Engineering and Ideological Indoctrination Programs in our Public Schools.
The best public schools in America, laser focus on academic teaching students. Anything else is against thier mission statement. Cobb County School District in Atlanta is so successful with this they have created an office other districts across the US can contact to learn HOW they have attained such high student achievement, and, cut out the SEL, CRT, DEI and LGBTQ Agendas from thier schools curriculums!
Thank you
William M. Lasko
LogSmithy@gmail.com
1 608 487 6452