Schools chief race highlights state ballot
Five months after an unprecedented presidential election that featured a recount and other legal challenges in Wisconsin, voters will again head to the polls Tuesday during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state schools superintendent race between former Brown Deer School District Superintendent Deb Kerr and Pecatonica School District Superintendent Jill Underly is the biggest ticket item on the ballot.
But there are also many other contested school board judicial, legislative and municipal races as well as local referendum questions. Voters can see what’s on their ballots by going to myvote.wi.gov.
All polling places open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. An ID is required to vote. Acceptable IDs include Wisconsin driver’s licenses, state ID cards, military IDs, passports, tribal IDs, veterans IDs, certificates of naturalization and certain college IDs.
Unregistered voters can register at the polls with proof of residence, such as a driver’s license, utility bill, pay stub or other document. They will also have to provide their Wisconsin driver’s license number, if they have one, or the last four digits of their Social Security number if they don’t have a license.
If you’re in line at your polling place by 8 p.m., you’re allowed to vote.
Voters with disabilities can utilize the Disability Rights Wisconsin hotline, 844-347-8683 or info@disabilityvote.org, for help checking voter registration and polling place, information on accommodations, or assistance with any barriers to voting.
All polling places should provide curbside voting for anyone with difficulty entering the polling place due to a disability.
Those who have already received absentee ballots may be able drop their ballots in local drop boxes before 5 p.m. For Milwaukee voters, a list of drop box locations is at city.milwaukee.gov/election/Voter-Info/Absentee-Ballot-Drop-Off-Sites.
The only statewide race on the ballot is the superintendent of public schools, an office held by Tony Evers before he was elected governor. With Evers’ successor, Carolyn Stanford Taylor, choosing not to run for a full term, the race is for an open seat.
The new superintendent will craft budget proposals for education funding and may set guidance for districts on a number of issues, including pandemic safety, virtual learning, curriculum and teacher licensing.
Kerr, former superintendent of Brown Deer Schools, has been backed by former Gov. Scott Walker and other
conservatives, though she self-identified as a “pragmatic Democrat.” She has voiced support for voucher programs, called for immediate reopening of school buildings and proposed major restructuring of the Department of Public Instruction to move or rehire staff outside of Madison.
Underly, superintendent of the Pecatonica School District in southwest Wisconsin, has the support of many left-leaning groups and unions.
Underly has opposed expansion of voucher programs, disagreed with major restructuring of DPI, and proposed expansion of early childhood education.
Special interest spending in the race exceeded $1 million, mostly on attack ads, according to tracking by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
It’s more than has ever been spent on influencing a superintendent race in the state.
The previous high, according to WDC research director Mike Buelow, was $693,700 in 2009, the year Evers was first elected to the schools office.
Most of the special interest spending, $797,600, was by left-leaning groups supporting Underly. The American Federation for Children, a national group previously chaired by voucher advocate Betsy DeVos, spent $209,000 on online ads against Underly.