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Capitol Update: Joint Audit Committee Announces Proposed Audit of Assessment Benchmarks
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 26, 2025
From Wispolitics:
The co-chairs of the Joint Audit Committee say they are moving forward with an effort to review how the Department of Public Instruction created new benchmarks for standardized tests.
It’s one of two audits Sen. Eric Wimberger, R-Oconto, and Rep. Robert Wittke, R-Caledonia, said they will pursue at a Tuesday public hearing and executive session. They also want the Legislative Audit Bureau to review how grant programs are overseen at departments within the executive branch.
In announcing the effort, the co-chairs knocked state Superintendent Jill Underly, who revamped the testing benchmarks and is up for reelection April 1.
“Superintendent Underly’s unilateral standard changing to cover up DPI’s failing is absolutely unacceptable, and this audit will help us uncover exactly how and why these reporting standards were changed to stop future manipulation,” the lawmakers said.
Deputy State Superintendent Tom McCarthy knocked the move, saying the “newly announced ‘audit’ is not a desire to truly learn, but to lay a political hit on a state elected official in the middle of a campaign.”
McCarthy said the agency learned of the audit via the press release the co-chairs released late yesterday afternoon rather than directly from the legislators. He also again defended the changes to testing benchmarks, saying the effort was vetted by nearly 100 education experts.
“The Wisconsin Legislature’s request for an audit into DPI’s adjustment of cut scores is nothing more than a political stunt, based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how assessments and accountability works,” McCarthy said.
A notice for the public hearing and executive session can be found here. Information related to the proposed audits is available on the Legislative Audit Bureau’s website at www.legis.wisconsin.gov/lab. The hearing can be viewed through WisconsinEye coverage available at https://wiseye.org/.
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