Superintendent Candidates Make Their Cases At Madison Forum

With just weeks to go before the April election, the two candidates for state superintendent are outlining their priorities if chosen to lead the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Incumbent Tony Evers and challenger Lowell Holtz took part in a candidate forum Wednesday in Madison hosted by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards.

The two reiterated themes they’ve brought up throughout the campaign, with Evers defending his eight-year tenure as superintendent and Holtz calling for a change at the DPI.

Evers: ‘You Know Me, And I Know You’

Evers pitched himself as the candidate who can best work with school boards across the state, saying he’s worked with liberal, conservative and moderate board members over his career.

“You know me, and I know you, that’s the important thing,” Evers said in his opening statement at the forum.

Evers said the state’s schools are on the right track — student achievement is trending up, he said, while school suspensions are down — but he said Wisconsin can do more to improve education.

Evers said the number of cities and towns that have approved referendums on school funding proves the state hasn’t done enough to provide for public education. And he added that the state has “lost an entire generation of teachers” because those considering entering the field feel teachers “have a target on their back.”

Evers blamed Gov. Scott Walker’s Act 10 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for teachers and other public workers.

If elected to a third term as superintendent, Evers said he would work to narrow funding gaps between wealthy and less-affluent school districts. He also said he wanted to emphasize the importance of mental health care for students, and stressed the need for educators to consider students’ social and emotional development along with academics.

Holtz: ‘Chores’ Are Keeping Teachers From Teaching

While Evers highlighted what he called “success stories” during the forum, Holtz painted a very different picture of Wisconsin schools.

Holtz, a former superintendent for Whitnall and Beloit schools, told members of the Wisconsin Association of School Boards that DPI under Evers’ control has failed school districts, especially in low-income districts and areas with large numbers of minority students.

He called Evers and other DPI employees a “bureaucratic bunch” and said the state had saddled educators with “burdensome administrative chores.”

“They spend hours, sometimes many hours in a single day, on tedious administrative tasks and inputting data that keep them from their mission, educating our kids,” Holtz said. “No one wins when our teachers are not teaching.”

Holtz proposed a four-point “teachers’ bill of rights” that he said would empower teachers, parents and local school districts.

In addition to reducing what he called a “strangling bureaucracy,” the plan calls for increasing safety in the classroom, giving schools more local control and creating a committee of teachers to advise DPI.

Evers replied to Holtz’s accusations and said the DPI has removed barriers for school districts and teachers during his tenure.

Dispute Over School Vouchers

The two candidates outlined very different approaches to Wisconsin’s school voucher programs.

Holtz, who supports expansion of the private school voucher program, said good schools “have nothing to fear from competition” and parents should be able to judge for themselves whether a school is meeting students’ educational needs.

Evers, who largely opposes voucher programs, said expanding school choice programs must not take resources from public schools. He said the state must ensure private schools in the voucher system are providing a quality education.

“We have to have the same accountability system, it’s as simple as that,” Evers said. “If they’re getting public money, they need to be held to the same accountability that we are now.”

Asked if he favored raising the income limits for voucher programs, Holtz said it was up to lawmakers to decide that question, while Evers said the limits should not be raised.

A Complaint Dismissed

The forum took place shortly after the Wisconsin Elections Commission rejected a complaint against Holtz alleging he offered a bribe to another candidate to get out of the race.

Liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now filed the complaint against Holtz after primary candidate John Humphries alleged Holtz offered him a $150,000 DPI job if he withdrew from the superintendent race prior to the primary.

The elections commission said the alleged wrongdoing did not violate state laws on bribery.

Holtz said he wasn’t surprised the complaint was dismissed.

Later, he called on Evers to “reject the politics of personal destruction practiced by his hit squad at One Wisconsin Now,” though Holtz added he believes Evers is involved with the group.

Evers said his main concern was not the alleged bribe, but that Holtz was also discussing a plan to take over control of the state’s five largest school districts, which he called the “scariest part of the whole thing.”