Superintendent of PUBLIC Instruction - Tony Evers

By Jeff Simpson

Milwaukee County Board member, turned far right assembly Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, has come up with another really bad idea, in a long list of Wisconsin Republican bad ideas.

Sanfelippo, mad that the people in WI keep overwhelmingly electing someone to be the Superintendent of Public Instriction who actually cares about our schools, has decided he has had enough of democracy and it is time for more crony capitalism in the public schools.

Joe has taken over the stupid quote of the year by a politician(and the competition is heavy) Sanfelippo embarrased himself and his ancestors with this one:

Sanfelippo said the state's students should not be "held hostage" for four years based on the winner of a "popularity contest."

Says the person who claims a mandate because he gets elected in a gerrymandered district.   I will pause and let you bang your head against the wall a few times.

(Pause)

A quick look at the Superintendent's duties and how we got here:

Duties[edit]The superintendent's responsibilities include providing leadership for Wisconsin's public school districts; provide the public with information about school management, attendance, and performance; licensing the state's teachers; and receive and disburse federal aid for schools.^[4]In the case Thompson v. Craney, 199 Wis. 2d 674, 546 N.W.2d 123 (1996), the Supreme Court of Wisconsin declared that theGovernor of Wisconsin could not reallocate or diminish the powers of the state Superintendent of Public Instruction by appointing a new Secretary of Education in charge of a Department of Education.^[5][6]

The Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes referred to as the State Superintendent of Schools, is a constitutional office^[1] within the executive branch of the Wisconsin state government, and acts as the executive head of the Department of Public Instruction. The superintendent is elected by the people of Wisconsin in a nonpartisan statewide ballot during the Spring primary of the same odd-numbered years that voters select members of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. The superintendent serves a term of office of four years. The incumbent is Tony Evers.^[2] Superintendents have been elected in non-partisan elections since 1902; before that, superintendents were elected by party like other state executive officers.^[3]

For those of you scoring at home, it is a nonpartisan position, it has been an elected position since 1902 and it has been affirmed in the pre corrupted Wisconsin Supreme Court that the Governor can NOT diminish the superintendent's duties.

Case closed for some, but not for the power hungry extremists running our state.

They must have had this in mind for sometime, because as soon as Mr Sanfelippo introduced the bill, right on cue, Michael Grebe employee Rick Esenberg was out defending it with his "expert legal opinion":

The Wisconsin Supreme Court held in Thompson v. Craney (1996) that because this duty of supervision is vested in the superintendent it cannot be given to another “superior.” More specifically, the Thompson decision held that it was unconstitutional for the Legislature to create a Department of Education – with its own Secretary of Education to be appointed by the governor – and to take away the superintendent’s duty of supervision. However, a broad reading of Thompson suggests the view of the superintendent as the “governor” of education is equally unwarranted. 

Of course Esenberg makes "broad interpretation" of a false narrative and that justifies ending democracy for cronyism? Find me anywhere that Mr. Evers has said he was "Governor of education". I wont wait because it is not there.  

Tony Evers is simply ELECTED to lead the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI).   I know many of our friends on the right have no idea what the DPI is or stands for, so let me help:

The Department of Public Instruction is the state agency that advances public education and libraries in Wisconsin.It is headed by the state superintendent of public instruction, a nonpartisan, constitutional officer elected every four years. State Superintendent Tony Evers, elected in 2009 and again in 2013, is working for a Wisconsin with Every Child a Graduate, College and Career Ready. Evers is the 26th person to hold the office.The agency was created in 1848, the year Wisconsin attained statehood, when the state constitution provided for the establishment of local school districts and a free education for all children in the state.

One of the most hilarious "perspectives" came from our old friend Kevin Binversie. In it, he listed a few reasons why Mr. Evers needs to be appointed by the Governor:

While WILL is correct in its reading that the superintendent is not “governor” of education,” DPI under Evers has clearly acted as if that were the case. As head of DPI, Evers has opposed Act 10, sued over the governor’s ability to rewrite DPI’s administrative rules, called the voucher program’s expansion “morally wrong,” and established a kangaroo court to punish schools with Native American mascots they deemed offensive.  

 Obviously, Kevin has no idea what the "PUBLIC", in Department of PUBLIC Instruction stands for.  Anyone who cares about our public schools, and understands whta is happening in them on a daily basis also adamantly opposed all of these other Walker power grabs.  

To be part of public instruction leadership and NOT oppose these things would be a serious dereliction of duty.   

Tony Evers was elected by the people to make sure that our children have the best education possible, not to line Scott Jensen and Jim Bender's bank account.  

The problem in Wisconsin, is that the Republicans in charge do not look to Democrats as someone to work with, they look at them as someone to punish for opposing them.  

One last funny line of his article, proving why he is mostly behind the scenes:

 If anything, the amendment is needed just so the state has one clear, concise voice on education policy; not one where bureaucratic back-stabbing is the norm.  

Yes this is the absolute clear concise voice we need speaking up for our children:

Maybe we can find a way to build a wall around DPI so no one can get out.  #Canadawall

“Boy, they made you sound so stupid!”

By Jeff Simpson 

I thought that Scott Walker calling a wall along the Canadian border the dumbest thing I had heard in politics, but the reality is, the fact that Scott Walker now says he never said it, is the dumbest thing I have ever heard in politics!

If you believe he never said, what he actually said on the biggest stage in politics, then maybe you are the problem.

But those efforts come with a risk: He keeps saying things that get him into trouble — like when he was asked late last month whether the United States should build a wall along the 5,525-mile Canadian border, and he respondedby calling it a “legitimate” idea.
By the time Walker’s campaign made clear more than a day later that he did not actually want to construct such a wall — and that the governor was instead raising concerns about security on the northern border — the notion had already been ingrained in people’s minds. As Walker arrived in Plymouth on Sunday evening, a black Jeep sped by and a man shouted: “Build that wall around Canada, Scott! Build that wall! That’s a great idea!”
“It’s terrible what they’re doing to you,” Brenda Cameron of Dover, N.H., told Walker during the Pink Cadillac visit Monday. She blamed fellow conservatives for pinning the crazy idea on him, but he told her it was the media’s fault.
“Boy, they made you sound so stupid,” she said.
Walker nodded along at the ridiculousness of a northern wall and said: “I’ve never said that, nor would I. . . . When they say things like that, you just have to laugh and roll your eyes.”

One other take away from this article:

A reporter from Wisconsin asked Walker whether his lack of clear stances on recent issues is hurting him in the polls as voters opt for Trump’s clarity. The governor — who is typically unflappable on the campaign trail — cut the reporter off.

You would think when the local reporters bend over backwards to make him look good, that he would treat them with some more respect!