HOLLANDALE — Dr. Jill Underly, Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, announced this week that she will be a candidate for re-election in the April 2025 Spring General Election. 

Underly was elected the State Superintendent in 2021, following service as a Pecatonica district superintendent in Blanchardville. She was previously a principal and a classroom teacher, and also worked as a state consultant to Title I schools in Milwaukee and across the state, and as a college academic advisor. 

“As the head of the Department of Public Instruction, I’ve focused on meeting the needs of every child, every day,” said Dr. Underly. “All kids belong in our schools, and deserve the support and resources they need to succeed. We also need to support our hard-working professional educators, and all the support staff and administrators who make Wisconsin’s schools go.”

Dr. Underly noted she’s fought for more resources for underfunded schools, and has highlighted the recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey, saying she’s working to support kids who are facing unprecedented mental health challenges, as well as emphasizing the need to improve nutrition in our schools. 

She also pointed to her work on literacy as an important priority. 

“I’ve helped reform literacy instruction so we can improve academic performance. Every child needs to learn to read, so they can read to learn,” she said.

Dr. Underly also addressed politicization of schools and decried efforts to make schools political battlegrounds.

“I’ve fought for kids and their teachers to be their true selves in school and stood up to ensure they see themselves represented in their curriculum and in their libraries,” Dr. Underly said. “In this campaign, and in a second term as Superintendent, I want to make sure we continue to make necessary investments in our kids, as well as continue to examine how we evolve education to meet the challenges of the future.”

In her announcement, Underly pointed to the need to be engaged in this fall’s election, but said she couldn’t wait to announce as organizing for the spring also needs to start now.

“This campaign is going to be people-powered,” Dr. Underly said.  

Dr. Underly lives in rural Hollandale with her husband and two children, as well as too many animals to count.