Brittany Kinser headshot. Photo: courtesy of campaign. State Superintendent Jill Underly speaking at a rally in the Capitol. Photo: Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.
Incumbent State Superintendent Jill Underly and education consultant Brittany Kinser, who are competing in the April 1 election to lead the Department of Public Instruction, will both participate in a virtual forum Wednesday evening. Kinser agreed to join the forum after initially declining, making a meeting of the two candidates appear unlikely ahead of the April 1 election.
Underly is running for her second term in office on a platform of supporting and investing more funding in public schools. She has the backing of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Kinser, an advocate for the state’s school choice program, says she wants to work to improve reading and math education and raise state testing standards. She has the backing of the Wisconsin Republican Party and financial backing from prominent GOP billionaire megadonors.
A direct conversation between the two candidates seemed unlikely as of last week as Underly declined three invitations and Kinser declined an invitation for a forum hosted by the Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN), the NAACP, the League of Women’s Voters and Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed. WPEN said in an email about the event that Kinser’s campaign changed its mind and confirmed her appearance “after clearing up some confusion and adjusting the timeline of the event.”
The event is being held online at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and will be moderated by Kevin Lawrence Henry, Jr., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at UW-Madison.
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.