Brittany will restore high academic standards for Wisconsin kids. In her 25+ year career, one thing has become crystal clear to her: Kids rise to meet expectations set for them. Restoring high standards is a critical step to ensuring every Wisconsin child has an opportunity for a bright future.

Incumbent Superintendent Jill Underly, lowered academic standards for Wisconsin students in August 2024, masking poor performance and making it impossible to compare results to prior years. 

This is simple: We need to refocus education on teaching reading, writing, and math. These fundamental skills are the foundation of lifelong success, enabling students to pursue meaningful jobs, attend college, or master a trade. Wisconsin kids need an education grounded in the basics that they can build on to achieve their dreams.

Incumbent Superintendent Jill Underly has prioritized her personal political agenda over the important business of supporting academic achievement in Wisconsin schools, turning a non-partisan office into a bully pulpit.

Brittany supports school choice for Wisconsin families. Brittany wants DPI to be a resource and a partner for parents to help them choose the educational environment that is best for their child or children, regardless of income or zip code. In addition, she will support all schools in their efforts to improve parent engagement.

Incumbent Superintendent Jill Underly opposes parent choice, even though she sent her own children to private schools. She has created a culture of conflict when it comes to the K-12 education landscape in Wisconsin, despite widespread participation and public support for more options for all families. 

Brittany wants to fix the current funding formula and shift a greater share of the financial burden back to the state instead of local property taxes. She wants more funding to reach the classroom and reward great teachers, and supports increasing the reimbursement rates for special education and rural transportation. Brittany will work with the legislature and the governor’s office to modernize the school funding formula. Brittany supports “decoupling” funding for choice and charter students from local property taxes as modeled in Milwaukee, a solution that would benefit taxpayers and public schools.

Incumbent Superintendent Jill Underly’s proposed budget requested that the entire state surplus of $4 billion be used for K-12 education. This unserious proposal is but one example of her lack of leadership skills and inability to work with others to find solutions. Last session, Underly did not support a proposal to take all choice and charter students out of the school funding formula and lower property taxes by hundreds of millions of dollars even though her predecessor (current Gov. Tony Evers) successfully advocated to make that change years ago for Milwaukee.  

DPI must become a transparent, predictable, and innovative agency that truly partners with schools. Under Brittany's leadership, DPI will implement clear processes and best practices, foster innovation, and provide schools with the guidance and support they need to deliver quality instruction. Brittany will create a forward-facing DPI, with an online dashboard for public access to school finances and performance, and clear guidance for schools and school boards. She will bring a clean slate, a fresh start and a fundamentally new approach to K-12 education in Wisconsin.

On numerous occasions, incumbent Superintendent Jill Underly has withheld important information from the public. For example, her decision to lower standards was made with no public input. Additionally, DPI did not share with the public important information about ongoing non-compliance with regard to financial reporting prior to the April 2024 referendum. The agency currently has a reputation of being slow in responding to school or parent requests for information or support. Underly’s ability to lead DPI effectively has been called into question.