Jan

Why Van’s the Man

Anyone needing proof of my contention that Wisconsin conservatives ought to back Van Mobley for DPI superintendent need look no further than today’s Appleton Post-Crescent story on the race:

Three candidates — current deputy Tony Evers, Beloit Supt. Lowell Holtz and National-Louis University professor Todd Price — agree that the so-called “qualified economic offer” needs to be repealed.
Only one candidate, Concordia University professor and longtime Republican Party operative Van Mobley, opposes repealing the QEO. The fifth candidate, Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families president Rose Fernandez, said she wasn’t prepared to take a position on it.
In place since 1993, the QEO has effectively capped teacher raises by precluding teachers’ unions from going to arbitration as long as they are offered 3.8 percent increases in salary and benefits.
Critics say the QEO has held down teacher salaries because most of the increase is eaten up by benefits. Some supporters of repealing the law, including Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, are wary about allowing schools to exceed revenue caps, which limit how much they can collect from property taxes and in state aid.
Without increases in aid from the state, schools likely would have to make cuts to afford the higher teacher salaries or be forced to ask voters for more money from property taxes.
Mobley said, given the recession, this is not a good time to remove the QEO or revenue limits.
“We’re all in the same economic crisis together,” he said.
The powerful teachers’ union, which has yet to make an endorsement in the race, supports repeal of the QEO and opposes revenue limits.

With a five-way race, making the top two slots is anyone’s ball game.

Last 5 posts by Daniel