State legislators kicked off an audit Tuesday targeting the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s school report cards and testing benchmarks, spotlighting concerns over transparency and educational standards under State Superintendent Jill Underly.
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee, co-chaired by Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, and Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia, greenlit two investigations during a public hearing at the State Capitol. One zeros in on how DPI crafts its annual school and district report cards, while the other scrutinizes executive branch grant funding practices.
“No matter how Superintendent Underly or her DPI try to spin it, lowering standards instead of addressing Wisconsin’s literacy crisis is wrong, and parents are entitled to transparency. In the face of this literacy crisis, Superintendent Underly refused to appear before our committee to defend exactly why she lowered statewide testing standards.,” said Joint Audit Committee co-Chairs Senator Eric Wimberger (R-Oconto) and Representative Robert Wittke (R-Caledonia) in a joint statement. “Our schools and our children deserve better than testing standards that exist solely to paper over DPI’s failures. This audit will help us understand how and why DPI decided to lower its standards, rather than addressing the fact that two-thirds of our students cannot read at grade level.”
Lawmakers voiced alarm over recent shifts in testing standards, pointing to a disconnect between DPI’s rosy school ratings and dismal national literacy stats. The committee chairs criticized Underly’s unilateral changes to benchmarks as a move to “cover up DPI’s failing” rather than tackle the state’s literacy crisis head-on.
The audit push follows DPI’s overhaul last year of the Forward Exam’s performance thresholds and terminology, a move that sparked bipartisan backlash. Critics, including Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, argue the changes—lowering proficiency cutoffs and swapping terms like “basic” for “meeting expectations”—mask declining student outcomes. Meanwhile, DPI defends the revisions as a necessary alignment with state standards, not a watering-down of expectations.
This isn’t the first call for clarity. In January, the Dairyland Sentinel pressed DPI for records on the nearly 100 experts Underly cited as backing the benchmark shift. The outlet’s open records request, detailed in a letter to Underly and DPI’s records custodian, sought specifics: “Who were these experts? How are they chosen? Please provide documentation, including invitations and relevant discussions regarding the geographic and ideological diversity.” DPI has yet to fully comply, offering only a list of names sorted alphabetically by first name, fueling accusations of stonewalling.
Wimberger and Wittke tied the probe to fiscal responsibility, too, noting the state doled out over $44 billion in grant aid last budget cycle.
“The people of Wisconsin voted for reform in November, including more oversight into every area of government spending,” said Wittke and Wimberger. “Many of the state’s grant programs have never been audited by the Audit Bureau before. With billions of dollars involved in funding these initiatives, we owe it to Wisconsin’s hardworking taxpayers to ensure these funds are being used for their intended purposes.”
The audit’s scope extends beyond testing to DPI’s broader accountability framework. Despite DPI data showing 94% of school districts rated as “meets expectations” or higher in 2023-24, National Assessment of Educational Progress results reveal a nearly 20-point literacy gap compared to DPI’s adjusted figures. Lawmakers say this discrepancy demands answers.
Underly, facing a reelection bid against challengers Brittany Kinser on April 1, has stood firm. DPI’s deputy chief, Tom McCarthy, testified last month that standards haven’t dropped “one iota,” dismissing comparisons to national metrics as apples-to-oranges.
The audits, to be conducted by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, lack a set timeline but promise a deep dive into DPI’s decision-making. As Wisconsin’s education landscape braces for scrutiny, the findings could reshape trust in how student success is measured—and who’s held accountable.
