Political Campaign Season: Curse or Opportunity?

I don't know about you, but I am receiving an increasing number of unsolicited phone calls, texts, and emails from candidates for federal and state offices. While this can be quite an annoyance, it is also a reminder that we can take advantage of campaign season to affect the future of gifted education in Wisconsin. While our members of Congress play the greatest role in federal policy for gifted education (Javits grants and national research center funding), our state Assembly and Senate members control a great deal of what happens in education, both public and private, in Wisconsin.

The election for all 99 of our Assembly members and half (17) of our 33 state Senators is November 3, 2026 (the week of the NAGC convention in Milwaukee), but the primary is August 11, just six weeks from now. There have been several retirements and there will probably be quite a turnover in the Wisconsin State Legislature this fall, and candidates are actively courting your vote.

We have encountered many legislative staff members who benefitted from some advanced programming in their own K-12 schooling. Many of them had no idea that so many students across Wisconsin are not so lucky. You can direct them to Wisconsin statute and policy here, but also let them know that accountability for our state mandate to educate gifted students is sorely lacking. We are also at the bottom in the funding level of the approximately 25 states that fund gifted and talented education, and we lack appropriate policies and practices that benefit many of our surrounding states.

You can find your current Assembly representative and state Senator here – just enter your home address in the box under "Who Are My Legislators?" Check your local news to see if they are running again and if there are challengers. Email them, call their offices, or attend a campaign event to ask them for their position on gifted education and talent development. Let them know what you think is working and what needs improvement in your local schools in order to provide an appropriate challenge for students. This issue should be of concern not just to legislators who are interested in K-12 schools, but also to those who care about broader childhood issues, higher education, and workforce development.

The next time you receive one of those annoying calls or emails, reply by asking about the candidate's position on gifted/advanced learning!

- Pam Clinkenbeard, WATG Past President and Government Action Committee member