In education news, the time is now to boost special
education funding in Wisconsin.
That's according to Superintendent of Public Instruction,
Jill Underley, who in calling for an increase cites the projected
state budget surplus of more than $7 billion.
Superintendent Underley joins us now, and thanks very much for being here.
Absolutely, thank you.
So you're calling for an increase to the special education
reimbursement rate to 60%, which would be about a billion dollars.
Now, this was rejected by the Republican legislature in the budget process.
Why is it important for you to go around again on this now?
Because it's important.
I mean, we need to fund our public schools and special education.
Reimbursement right now is so low that school districts have to transfer money
from their general fund in order to pay for these services,
which are required by law.
So if we were to increase the reimbursement rate,
they wouldn't have to transfer as much money.
And we're also serving kids, and we're able to then fund the other programs
that schools desperately need to fund.
This has been the case for so long.
Yeah, it has.
And you see it.
It's having an impact.
I mean, it's been having an impact for decades,
but when you look at the number of referendums that school districts have to go to,
it's because they need the funding.
They're not getting reimbursed.
When you look at things they want to do, like raise teacher salaries or,
you know, create, you know, music programs or art programs,
or including things like just general maintenance on their buildings.
They're looking for things to cut because they can't fund their programs.
And if we would reimburse special education at a higher rate, we can do that.
This fall Wisconsin standardized tests in school showed improvement over pandemic scores,
but still not recovered.
Fewer than half of students statewide perform at or above proficient in math
and language.
And I mean, walking the numbers are lower in the teens.
What should these scores look like?
Yeah, so we want all kids to be successful.
And assessment is one way to figure out, you know, where kids are and what kids need.
But when we look at it, yeah, we're not where we want to be.
And so how do we approach that?
Well, one of the things that we know is that poverty has a lot to do with how kids are going to test.
And so that being said, assessment is just one piece of data.
But if we could look at funding things like universal meals, mental health,
making sure all kids feel safe and included in their schools, they're going to learn better.
One thing that stood out was the number of students absent from school.
Again, in Milwaukee, 58% of students absent, 10% of school days.
What's happening here?
Yeah, we do have a problem with chronic truancy.
And that's certainly something that's happening at a national level.
Coming out of COVID, we noticed that those rates increase.
And again, it's really looking at what are the underlying causes of this.
Every situation can be a little different.
Every kid is a little different.
Every situation for them is going to be not the same.
So we need to look at what supports do they need in order to be engaged in school.
And again, it's not rocket science, right?
It's looking to make sure that they are there, that they're engaged, that they feel safe, they feel included.
Things like meals, things like connecting with staff members, making it seem, you know, that...
And making it so that kids feel safe and want to be in school is very important.
Do we have special kind of efforts around this?
Yeah, DPI has been working on a cross agency collaborative in order to address the issue.
We have funded a program called the Graduation Alliance for school districts so that they can without charge access to information and supports and plans for kids who are struggling with chronic absenteeism.
What's the status on the shortage of teachers and teacher turnover?
Yeah, so that's going to continue to be a problem.
We know that right now it's not so much that we don't have people who don't want to go into teaching.
It's people staying and teaching.
So after five years, we only are retaining about two-thirds of those teachers.
And we have to, again, look at the underlying causes.
A lot of it has to do with, you know, the politics that have been infused in education.
It looks at respect for teacher and the lack thereof for teachers.
It's also when you look at the pay for teachers and the fact that their skills are transferable to other industries.
And ultimately, we have to look at that work-life balance because when we talk to teachers and they tell us why they're leaving, it's because it's an impossible job.
As a member of the UW Board of Regents, you are not able to be present for the vote that eventually resulted in DEI programs being cut in exchange for university salary increases and other funding.
How would you have voted?
I would have voted against cutting the DEI positions.
My record has been very clear, you know, again, on diversity, equity, and inclusion as a fundamental tenant of public education.
And I am going to always fight to make sure that all our students have access.
Finally, what's the passing of former Wisconsin Senator Herb Cole?
You remembered him as a champion for public education and school kids, how so?
He was the best friend that public schools had in Wisconsin.
He funded countless programs.
When you think about scholarships for teachers and students and principals, there was a, I remember a banquet where he always, when he was there, he would always go up to and
congratulate every kid and every parent for their scholarships.
And he funded back-to-school wish lists for teachers.
I mean, we owe so much in the state to Herb Cole when it comes to public education.
All right, we leave it there.
Jill Landerly, thanks very much.
Absolutely.
It's pretty natural, you know, just like.
Yeah.
Okay, you didn't fall out of your chair or anything.
I know, but I just, yeah, I know that it's live and it's like rolling.