Tony Evers challenges Lowell Holtz's integrity in Marquette debate
In one of their final debates before Tuesday's election, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers challenged the integrity of challenger Lowell Holtz over an alleged quid pro quo, floated during the primary, that would have given Holtz authority to dismantle the state's five largest school districts, including Milwaukee Public Schools.
Holtz continued to distance himself from the proposal during the noonday debate at Marquette University Law School.
"False. False. False. ... There's nothing nefarious here, Tony," Holtz said during the harshest exchange in the hourlong program. "Those weren't my words. I don't believe in imposing programs from the outside. I'm exactly the opposite of that."
But Evers was not convinced.
"I never thought this race would be about integrity, folks. I've run two races successfully against two very conservative Republicans, and I never once doubted their integrity. Never once," Evers said. "If that's your position," he told Holtz, "you advocate for that publicly. You don't do it on the back of a napkin in a restaurant."
A staunch public education advocate, Evers is seeking a third term, against Holtz, a school choice proponent who supports the expansion of state-funded vouchers for private schools.
Evers' campaign has far outpaced Holtz's in fundraising, raking in more than $373,000 in 2017, or almost four times as much as Holtz's $97,932, according to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission.
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Though the post is officially nonpartisan, Evers has traditionally aligned with Democrats, drawing support from public school advocates and teachers unions. Holtz has been supported by Republicans looking to unseat one of the last remaining left-leaning statewide elected officials in Madison.
The two sparred on a number of fronts Tuesday, including vouchers; the Trump administration's proposed cuts to education; and how best to turn around failing schools.
Holtz has maintained throughout the campaign, and again Tuesday, that he has no intention of taking over failing schools in Milwaukee or elsewhere. But critics believe a memo that surfaced in February suggests otherwise. It describes a proposal Holtz pitched to candidate John Humphries that called for Humphries — if he won — to hire Holtz at $150,000 a year, provide him a driver and give him authority over the state's five largest districts. Humphries lost in the primary.
Holtz said the ideas were a “rough draft” and came from a business leader that both he and Humphries have refused to name.
Holtz said Tuesday that he would work collaboratively with MPS to improve its failing schools.
"The first thing you do is you work with the people who are there," said Holtz, who insisted he would not remove MPS' elected school board.
"You work with the schools to find out what are the things you'd like to try that you haven't tried before? Where could you use more support than you've had in the past?" he said.
"That sounds just like what we're doing," Evers countered. "It's exactly what we're doing, Lowell, and I'm glad you've come around to my point of view."
