Jay Weber Show transcript 4-21-25
I’m assuming that ‘at some point’ the UW Madison administrators are going to end up in the crosshairs of the Trump administration for trying to hide their DEI programs.
I’ve just assumed that fight is coming-at some point.
And now we can add ‘a showdown’ with the state of Wisconsin’s education department, as well.
Our dangerously dumb and inept dpi head- Jill Underly- says she’s rejecting the federal dept of education’s request to sign a letter certifying that Wisconsin’s k-12 schools are complying with the trump administration’s DEI restrictions.
And no, Underly and Evers aren’t the first blue-state democrats to do this.Neither of them is smart enough, bold enough, or dedicated enough to lead. On anything. No.
But they’re joining about 20 blue states, now, whose leaders are doing the same thing:
I don’t think most listeners will see the rhetorical dodge that she’s making here:first- trump’s education department is asking for a verification that our schools are following ‘a specific law and the changes this president has made to title nine compliance’...etc.
But we have underly saying.... generically...oh, our schools follow federal law.
And second...she’s suggesting. We even have signed assurances...on file...ensuring this. So, use that as proof we are complying.
Well, when were those documents signed? Back in the Biden era- before trump’s changes were made. Correct?
And so- saying you’ve been ‘following the law’.... really means.... we’ve been complying with Biden-era federal law...
Underly is playing semantical games, here. And she’s jeopardizing federal funding to wi k-12 schools in the process. Wisconsin gets about 850 million in funding from the Feds which is about 8 percent of all k-12 funding.
In fact- in her next breath-she said the dpi is exploring the possibility of legal action if federal funding is cut off...which really means ‘we will just copy the work of Maine, and Illinois, and other states who are already suing’...
Because...again. Evers, Underly, Josh Kaul. They aren’t smart enough, bold enough, or dedicated enough to ‘do their own work’.But if they can hop on someone else’s coattails, they will-
And that’s what Underlay’s response is...to the Trump Ed Depts ‘request’.
Name a blue state-and the leaders there are already threatening lawsuits over this. Vermont, New York, Maine, Illinois.
This was always going to be a fight. It was always going to take time to shift k-12 schools and universities away from DEI and so...this was all anticipated. There will be the ‘title nine’ lawsuits brought by Maine and Illinois and the few blue states whose leaders are dumb enough to fight the highly unpopular idea of forcing girls to compete with boys- in girls’ sports...
And then there will be lawsuits over DEI programs and discriminatory scheming and teaching in the classrooms and curricula itself.
Wisconsin has already caved on the ‘boys in girls sports’ issue.But Underly’s not caving on the DEI issue. At least not for now.
I’m not surprised that Illinois became the latest state to sue over -by god-forcing boys into girls sports...but I’m a little surprised that tubby Pritzker has decided this is a hill he wants to die on-
Given that he is champing at the bit to run for president in 2028.
He really wants this on his political resume. When 80 percent of the country said they wanted to protect girls’ sports and locker rooms... I stood up and said.... Boys make the best female athletes and if a girl must see a weiner while she undresses for gym class.... or be ogled by a sex predator...in the shower...well. Then tough.
I don’t even think taking that stance will help Dem candidates in the primary- two years from now.
So-republican lawmakers in Illinois are encouraging the Illinois high school association to buck Pritzker’s decision and ban boys in girls’ sports, anyway, and they are calling on individual k-12 districts across the state to buck the left too, and comply with the president’s title nine order, anyway.
And I know everyone calls Illinois a blue state. But when you get out from around the Chicago area-it votes mostly republican. Especially in the rural areas. And so, if a movement got underway to buck Pritzker on this one- it would create a splash.
Maine is a smaller state--but at least one local district in Maine has voted to defy their own state govt-and governor- to ban boys from girls’ sports in their district-
And it’ll be interesting to see if this is the next move in this standoff between trump and blue state governors on their trans bullying.
Trump’s team and ‘we on the right’ anticipated all this push-back and legal wrangling. It’s going to take time to force compliance and/or work all of this out- on DEI in schools and trans bullying in the locker rooms....
Which is why it’s so important to follow up four new years of trump...with four more years of republican control. All of these leftist educators and blue state bureaucrats are motivated to fight trump right now...believing that they can dig in and hold out for 4 years. But if a republican wins in 28. it’s going to be very deflating and disheartening...and they’ll be far more likely to abandon these efforts ‘for now’. Which hopefully turns into ‘permanently.’
photo credit: Fox 6 News/Milwaukee
audio version of the segment here > Showdown with the State of Wisconsin’s education department