Evers and Fernandez faced off before

Mike Dean and the First Freedoms Foundation, in the latest FFF newsletter, give the history of the last time State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidates Rose Fernandez and Tony Evers squared off. If you are interested in supporting the work of the First Freedoms Foundation, please visit their website.


Tuesday Primary for Superintendent of Instruction Includes Foes in Virtual School Fight

On Tuesday, February 17, five candidates will face off in the primary election in the race to succeed outgoing Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elizabeth Burmaster. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Tony Evers
Rose Fernandez
Lowell Holtz
Van Mobley
Todd Allen Price

The two who receive the highest vote totals will oppose each other in the general election on April 7.

For Tony Evers and Rose Fernandez, however, Tuesday's election won't be the first time they've squared off. In 2004, WEAC (the state teachers union) sued to close Wisconsin Virtual Academy ("WIVA"), an innovative charter school operated by the Northern Ozaukee School District. WEAC also sued Superintendent Burmaster, demanding an injunction to prevent her from paying state reimbursements to the District for students enrolled in WIVA. Assistant Superintendent (and current candidate) Tony Evers was Burmaster's "point man" in the suit.

WEAC's main complaint was that WIVA parents were too involved in teaching their children because parents were not "licensed" to teach in a public school. When Burmaster and Evers "switched sides" and supported WEAC in 2005, First Freedoms Foundation intervened on behalf of state representative Mark Gundrum, his family, and nine other families whose children attended WIVA.

Rose Fernandez' children were also enrolled in WIVA, so she organized a support group, the "Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families." The Coalition filed a briefarguing that parents helping teach their own children did not violate state law.

The trial court granted judgment for the District and parents, and WEAC appealed. First Freedoms submitted a brief arguing that the only rational way to read state certification statutes was as a standard for minimum qualifications and performance by classroom teachers employed by school districts - that certification is a "floor" prohibiting certified teachers from doing too little, not a "ceiling" prohibiting parents from doing too much. The Coalition also filed a brief supporting parents' rights to assist in their children's education.

During the trial phase, attorneys for First Freedoms Foundation and the District had conducted an extensive deposition of Dr. Evers. First Freedoms' brief included numerous statements by Evers where he admitted that even though there were no standards providing how much certified teachers must actually teach, it was still his opinion that WIVA was illegal because parents were teaching too much.

The Superintendent's opening and reply briefs echoed Evers' position - even though there were no standards prescribing minimum performance by certified teachers, parents were still doing too much.

Unfortunately, the court of appeals decision overturned the trial court, and ordered the Superintendent to stop paying reimbursements to the district. The order to "defund" WIVA would have killed it, so First Freedoms and the District immediately appealed.

While the appeal was pending, however, Fernandez led the Coalition in a successful effort to pass legislation approving WIVA's method of operation, 2007 Wisconsin Act 222. The new law saved WIVA and several similar virtual schools across the state.

If Evers and Fernandez emerge the winners from Tuesday's primary, the April 7th general election could well be a statewide test whether Wisconsin voters favor Fernandez' philosophy of greater innovation and involvement by parents and non-certified persons or, instead, favor Evers' view that children are best served by restricting teaching exclusively to certified teachers.

Time to enroll in virtual schools approaching

The Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families has a primer for those interested in enrolling their children in virtual schools, including information about the enrollment cap.

The total number of students who can enroll in virtual schools statewide through the open enrollment process each year is capped at 5,250.

If more than 5,250 students want to enroll in virtual schools in a given year, the ones who will be allowed to do so will be selected at random.

Students who are already enrolled in a virtual school are guaranteed a spot in the succeeding year.

Siblings of current virtual school students are guaranteed spots.

Enrollment in full-time virtual schools through the open enrollment process was approximately 2,500 for the 2007-08 school year. (This is not the total number of students enrolled in full-time virtual schools, because students who enroll in virtual schools in their home districts rather than enrolling through the open enrollment process are not included in this count.)

Final official figures are not yet available for enrollment in full-time virtual schools through the open enrollment process for the 2008-09 school year.

Rose Fernandez expected to announce for Wisconsin DPI on Wednesday

Rose Fernandez, President of Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School families is expected to announce her candidacy for Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction on Wednesday, December 17th, according to a new Twitter identity she has set up. The site indicates an announcement is expected on December 17th, and her bio says,"Soon to be candidate for Superintendent of Wisconsin DPI."

Fernandez is best known for her role in forcing the legislature and the governor to act when an appeals court ordered virtual schools to stop operations in Wisconsin. She marshalled enough support for her cause from around the state to pressure normally WEAC-sympathetic members of the legislature to agreeing to change the law to allow the virtual schools to remain open.

Fernandez has also launched a new website with the slogan, "Let's Change DPI." The website also promises Fernandez will make her candidacy official on the 17th and gives her supporters a place to download her nomination papers for circulation.

I previously wrote about a probable Fernandez candidacy in the Waukesha Freeman in October.

Better, Better Believe in Not Evers

(It's a long time between now and April so headline suggestions will be appreciated.)

When the bad news of November trickles in early, a young man's thoughts turn to the spring. Elizabeth Burmaster will not be seeking re-election as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This means education reformers* in Wisconsin have a real opportunity to elect to this position a state-wide leader for reform.

The first declared candidate, Deputy Superintendent Tony Evers, is not the one. As I point out in today's Waukesha Freeman, Burmaster's hand-picked replacement has been a defender of the status quo during Burmaster's time in office. Another puppet of the education establishment and teachers unions is not what Wisconsin needs.

Towards the end of the column I drop the name of a possible candidate, Rose Fernandez, president of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families.

She already has a statewide following, including many union teachers. Fernandez is a media-savvy veteran of fighting the education establishment.

And she’s a winner, having defeated the Wisconsin Education Association Council and the Department of Public Instruction to save Wisconsin’s virtual schools. This is a rematch the teachers union, the Democrats in the Legislature and education bureaucrats do not want to have.

Another person considering a run is Dr. Van A Mobley, a professor at Concordia University, who thought my analysis Tuesday of the likely race was "spot on." He recently wrote at length about a possible candidacy for superintendent.

I am not going to make a decision on whether or not to challenge Ms. Burmaster until after the November elections. She has a hard job. Wouldn’t it be nice if she did it – or voluntarily got out of the way? Clearly, somebody must do this job. If Ms. Burmaster continues to demonstrate that she won’t or can’t do it I will ask the people of Wisconsin for their confidence and support as we take on, and accomplish, the hard but critical task of reforming Wisconsin’s education system.