Restoring Credibility and Reforming the Department of Public Instruction

Reform is needed at Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Leadership failures have driven away long-time staff, strained relationships with the legislature and the governor, and left Wisconsin’s public schools without a clear vision for the future.

The DPI is meant to partner with Wisconsin’s school districts to advance our shared goals—improving student growth, increasing support for public schools, and ensuring the strongest cadre of educators. Without that leadership, it is all but impossible to advance K-12 public education.

Jeff Wright is a proven leader who is committed to restoring credibility and vision to the DPI. Leveraging his diverse experience, he will make sure the DPI has a clear and collaborative strategic vision built on solutions that bridge regional, economic and political divides. He has done this work time and time again.

Fixing the void in leadership at DPI won’t be easy but Jeff’s background, his record of results and his commitment to teamwork have him ready to usher in a new era of excellence for Wisconsin’s public schools.

Bringing a Record as a Nonpartisan Problem Solver to the DPI

Jeff has a proven record of working with everyone and anyone who is invested in finding ways to bolster our public schools. As a leader in one of the most politically diverse and “purple” regions of the state, he has consistently collaborated to win shared victories for schoolchildren and his community. That’s what matters! Under Jeff's leadership and with bipartisan buy-in his district has:

Installed world-class solar panels to reduce energy costs and create a model for scalable clean energy in the community
Opened a childcare center that will serve teaching staff and families in the community
Expanded mental health services through a significant five-year grant program
Partnered with community leaders to create apprenticeship programs that better prepare high school students for the workforce

Jeff is excited to restore this office to its nonpartisan status. He is ready to bring people together to achieve real solutions for our schools.

So, what are the priorities for 2025 and beyond?

Reducing Local Property Taxes by Fixing the School Funding Formula

Wisconsin communities want to invest in their public schools. They prove this year after year by passing referendums. This recent November election set records both for the number of districts (more than half!) with a referendum on the ballot and the total number that passed. Wisconsin's outdated school funding formula is failing our local districts.

While it’s great to see so many communities increasing their investment in public education, we shouldn’t have to be doing this. Our school funding formula is severely outdated. We still use the same approach that existed when Jeff was in high school!

Jeff Wright will have seats at the table for anyone interested in fixing this problem. He will bring together legislators from both parties to engage school leaders, community advocates, business partners and parents in developing a sustainable solution that adequately and realistically funds our public schools.

IT CAN BE DONE!

In fact, Jeff has already been doing this work. When the current Superintendent was asked not to testify to the Joint Finance Committee—the only department leader who didn’t participate in the budget process—the Republican senator in Jeff’s district sat down with Jeff to discuss the education budget.

At DPI, Jeff will find ways to realistically address the funding needs of schools statewide by prioritizing the voices of teachers, parents, school leaders, and invested community partners.

Reforming Testing Standards

During the summer of 2024, the DPI lowered the academic standards for Wisconsin’s required assessments. These new state cutoff scores imposed by the DPI took many educators by surprise and came at the worst possible time as districts were still assessing student progress post-COVID. The combined failure earned the current Superintendent a clear rebuke from Gov. Evers, who called these policies a mistake.

Jeff believes tests only make sense when they contribute to the growth of students. This means, using ongoing testing systems that track year-over-year student growth. Tests must provide actionable data that helps schools improve and help students and their families track progress. Jeff’s approach is more equitable and useful.

As a principal and superintendent, Jeff led his teams to challenge and support every student to ensure individual student growth every year. Timely assessments aligned to high standards help us gauge our progress toward this important focus.

Rebuilding DPI’s Relationship with Milwaukee Public Schools

Historically, the DPI has set regular meetings with Wisconsin’s largest school districts. These check-ins ensured strong communication that helped the DPI serve as a responsive partner to the largest education systems serving the greatest number of students. This open communication and partnership between the DPI and MPS needs to be restored.

Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is one of Wisconsin's most critical districts but its relationship with DPI has been broken by a near-total lack of communication, support, and collaboration. This has left the district and Milwaukee schoolchildren worse off.

Jeff understands the complexities inherent in these large districts. While he works in Sauk Prairie now, he was a principal in the Chicago Public Schools prior to moving back to Wisconsin. His experience at a large and historic high school on Chicago’s South Side, and also within the larger system that served it, gives him unique insight into the challenges faced by Wisconsin’s urban school districts. He will work tirelessly to advocate for MPS and ensure it receives the support it deserves.

Jeff will rebuild DPI’s relationship not only with MPS but with all large districts from day one. He will reestablish regular communication to serve as a better resource for these key district leaders. This regular communication will make him a better advocate in the legislature for MPS, Madison, and other districts. Through these strengthened partnerships, the DPI will work to elevate standards of excellence across all Wisconsin public schools.

Accountability and Transparency for Voucher Schools

Our current statewide voucher system is unaffordable and does not hold schools accountable. The system drains resources from public schools, undermining the investment needed to ensure all children in Wisconsin receive a high-quality education.

That said, until a reversal of vouchers is politically feasible, a smart Superintendent must do what’s best for Wisconsin students within the current political landscape. Jeff Wright will start by advocating for stronger accountability measures for schools accepting public funds through the voucher program. Any school that receives public funding should have to meet the standards we expect of all public schools. Without that, we have no way to ensure that our taxpayer dollars are used effectively to support student outcomes.

An immediate change Jeff will fight for is increased taxpayer transparency regarding voucher programs. Currently, property tax bills do not differentiate between the funds used by public schools and those allocated to the voucher program. For example, in Fort Atkinson, local property taxpayers pay more than $1.9 million for the statewide voucher program. This is not clear on property tax bills because it looks like this funding is going to the public school district - but this $1.9 in funding goes entirely to private schools. This is confusing and misleading. Taxpayers deserve to know that these funds are not going to their public schools, even though they are listed as such on property tax bills.

Want to see how much your district’s taxpayers are paying for the statewide voucher program? We did the math. Click here.

Addressing the Teacher Shortage Crisis

Wisconsin’s teacher shortage is at crisis levels, particularly in rural areas. Since Act 10, teacher pay, benefits, and morale have declined, making it difficult to attract and retain quality educators. Wisconsin has not done enough to address this issue. As the son of two public schoolteachers and a teacher himself, Jeff is committed to being the champion educators need.

Jeff supports the actions outlined by key educational stakeholders, including WASDA, AWSA, WEAC, and others, as part of the U.S. Department of Education's “Raise the Bar” initiative.

Many of these actions focus on attracting and retaining teachers early in their careers, but Jeff’s approach goes even further. He believes in creating additional pathways to attract career changers into the education profession. Whether it’s providing the training needed for educational assistants to earn licensure, creating strong support systems and mentor relationships for new teachers, or welcoming professionals with decades of experience from other fields, Jeff understands that our schools benefit from the diverse, lived experiences of adults from all backgrounds.

Jeff also recognizes that a key part of retention is empowering teachers to be creative in their classrooms. Many educators have expressed frustration with the growing trend of scripted, rigid curricula that limits their ability to personalize instruction. Jeff believes that educators should be trusted to design classrooms that reflect the unique needs and personalities of their students. This approach fosters a more positive and creative work environment, which in turn helps retain teachers. It is working. At all four elementary schools, every teacher that was teaching in Sauk Prairie in 2023-24 returned to teach in 2024-25. This is in large part due to the supportive and cooperative environment Jeff has built with his team in the district.

Supporting Rural Schools

As the 2024 “Administrator of the Year” selected by the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance, Jeff Wright is proud of the work he has done alongside other rural districts to expand educational opportunities and address the unique needs of rural communities.

While some argue for consolidation or closure of these small districts, Jeff knows that many small schools are the heartbeat of their communities. Rural districts face geographic challenges that make consolidation difficult, and their schools provide a vital center for education, social connection, and local pride.

One way to alleviate some of the budget pressures faced by rural schools is through collaboration. In Sauk Prairie, for example, students from smaller neighboring districts participate in programs such as CNA courses and business classes – both in person and virtually. Many rural districts share administrative, business services, and special education staff through regional CESA partners. These partnerships help rural districts expand their program offerings without duplicating resources.

To further support rural districts, Jeff believes legislative adjustments are necessary to address their unique financial challenges. Specifically, the formula for sparsity aid should be modified. Jeff supports expanding this aid to additional districts who serve students in sparsely populated regions of the state - a change that would increase funding to help with costs that exist no matter how many students are served.

Jeff will ensure that rural schools thrive. His experience and leadership in rural education is an asset as he works to strengthen the state’s public education system as a whole.

Student Mental Health Support

In 2023, under Jeff’s leadership, Sauk Prairie Schools received a $4.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support students through creating a hub of mental health services for the district. Jeff and his team secured the grant in part to be able to create a replicable model that can help school districts and agencies charged with supporting families all across Wisconsin. Now in its second full school year of implementation, the cross-agency team is successfully supporting students and families in new ways and with new partners across the region. There is a new hotline to refer concerns about students to a system that filters needs to the appropriate experts like school counselors, county social workers, teachers, and other community mental health professionals. Kids and families are getting the support they need whether in crisis situations or for ongoing concerns.

In alliance with Gov. Evers $300 million proposal to support kids’ mental health, Jeff will work with counselors, school social workers, teachers and families to increase training and assure there are accessible mental health services for all. This means identifying needs community by community and making connections between service providers so support can be efficient, sustainable and led by experts.

Restoring Respect for Public Schools

Finally, as State Superintendent, Jeff also will use his platform to push back against the negative national narrative surrounding public schools. Jeff will work tirelessly to restore pride in Wisconsin’s public schools, advocating for educators and celebrating the true art of teaching by sharing stories and giving voice to educators across the state. By rising above divisive rhetoric, Jeff will help foster an environment where teachers know they are respected, valued and supported.