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News from the State Superintendent Campaign
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | February 28, 2017
From WisPolitics.com …
State Superintendent Tony Evers is going up on TV next month with his first buy of the campaign, according to two sources.
The sources pegged March 21 as the start date, and one said it included Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee and Wausau.
Evers’ campaign acknowledged it is doing a statewide buy that includes the Milwaukee market, but declined comment on details.
“We’ve placed ads statewide, and will be aggressively communicating our message to voters,” said Evers campaign spokeswoman Amanda Brink.
Candidates for state superintendent at a WisPolitics.com forum in Milwaukee yesterday disagreed about Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to make a proposed boost in per-pupil school aid contingent on compliance with Act 10.
Walker’s plan would increase per-pupil aid by $200 the first year and $204 the second year of his budget, but schools would have to comply with Act 10 provisions such as requiring teachers to pay 12 percent of the cost of their health plans.
“That to me is a significant overreach by the state,” Evers said during the forum, held at UW-Milwaukee’s Zilber School of Public Health.
He noted Monona Grove teachers were paying 12 percent, but achieved savings by switching plans and subsequently reduced the amount staff had to contribute.
“Is that right as a state to say: ‘Well, you shouldn’t be doing that?'” Evers said.
Evers’ challenger, Lowell Holtz, likened it to having to follow the speed limit.
“You have to follow the letter of the law,” Holtz said. “You can’t have … fully independent districts that don’t follow the law.”
Holtz, who recently retired as superintendent of the Whitnall School District, praised Walker’s education budget overall, particularly provisions to help rural districts with transportation issues and to move to lifetime licensing for teachers.
Holtz said as a principal some of his best teachers were those with lifetime licenses.
“When you give teachers the opportunity to do what they do best, which is teach, they fly — they do a great job with our kids,” Holtz said.
Evers also praised the budget’s increased per-pupil investment in K-12, but said rather than the funds be given equally to districts, those like Milwaukee and elsewhere with students who have greater needs should get a larger share.
“Usually if kids need an extra lift, they need some extra resources,” Evers said.
Evers said lifetime licensing is something that needs a deeper look, but expressed some reservations, noting that licensing now carries professional development requirements.
But he noted some districts that have lifetime licensing are doing well.
“I’m not sure that’s a statewide issue,” Evers said. “I need to think about that.”
The two also expressed different views about new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Holtz said he was hopeful President Trump and DeVos would follow through on giving states more control over education.
“I welcome that with open arms, because I don’t want D.C. dictating what we’re doing in Wisconsin,” Holtz said. “I want Wisconsin to choose their path moving forward, and I do think that she’s going to help us with that.”
Evers, who noted DeVos is a proponent of voucher schools, said he was “fearful” about how she will use her “bully pulpit” as secretary.
He said if DeVos comes to Milwaukee to visit a high-achieving voucher school, she should also visit public schools.
“She better go to both,” Evers said. “And she better talk about both in a positive way. She represents all kids, all 680,000 public school kids in the state of Wisconsin, and we need her to be an advocate for those kids.”
The two shared common ground, however, on wanting to repeal a law backed by the tourism industry that prohibits schools from starting before Sept. 1.
“I would like to see the schools have the flexibility to do more year-round types of school programs,” Holtz said, noting some students regress over a long summer.
“There are so many creative things our schools can do when they have local control,” Holtz said. “We have great instructional leaders, great superintendents and great teachers. They can come up with a plan where they’re going to increase learning opportunities for kids.”
Evers also said he he would like to see the law repealed, noting he proposed in his budget request Milwaukee Public Schools be exempt from the requirement. He said Walker did not include that exemption, but that DPI found ways to exempt high schools in Milwaukee from the law.
“I have to tell you it makes absolutely no sense if we want our districts to be as flexible as we can,” Evers said.
He said he will continue to advocate for repeal and look for ways to help other districts get around the requirement where possible.
Following the forum, Evers called for an investigation into Holtz’s use of his school district email account for campaign purposes.
“The people of Wisconsin should be concerned that someone in a position as Lowell Holtz is would be using his email to kind of plan and plot strategy,” Evers told reporters.
Emails released last week by the liberal One Wisconsin Now show Holtz used his district email account to send a note to his wife with a draft of a letter seeking campaign advice. The text of the letter, which was addressed to “Diane,” did not include the full name of the person to whom the it was to be sent.
He also used his district email in a November 2015 discussion with former GOP state Rep. Don Pridemore.
He also sent a separate email in January 2016 that showed he expected Pridemore’s “reform group” would assist him should he decide to run.
Holtz said today he is unsure whether he violated any campaign regulations, “but if I did, I really am the kind of person who’s willing to name it, own and fix it.”
He noted Evers had his own trouble with campaign regulations, which he said the media should cover.
Evers in 2009 had paid a $250 fine for sending an email to an education official’s work account asking him to plan a fundraiser.
Evers noted he used his personal email and inadvertently sent the message to the wrong account.
“I paid a small fine and learned a lesson on how to press the right button,” he said.
See more on Holtz’s emails to Pridemore here.
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