Tony Evers is the state Superintendent of Schools. Every year, the person in that job gives a kind of “state of the schools” address. It’s normally a pretty mundane affair. This year, Tony Evers decided to use his official office to ramble on about all sorts of things that have nothing to do with schools, like transportation, Medicaid, etc. It’s clearly a political speech on the taxpayers’ dime. There isn’t much recourse for it since Evers is in a constitutional elected office, but it’s worth noting that Evers has little regard for separating his office from his campaign for governor.
State Superintendent Tony Evers on Thursday blasted the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Scott Walker for not significantly increasing school funding in recent years, refusing to take federal money to expand Medicaid and for the condition of the state’s roads.
Evers, who announced last month he is challenging Walker in 2018, took aim at his future opponent and the Republican Party on several issues during his annual “state of education” address at the state Capitol — remarks typically focused on K-12 education, which he oversees as the head of the Department of Public Instruction.
Quoting President Teddy Roosevelt throughout what verged on a political stump speech, Evers told the Capitol rotunda full of school superintendents, lawmakers and other state officials that Roosevelt “is calling us to stand tall in the face of adversity.”
Hatch act violation?
Time for a John Doe prosecution.