This makes for two interesting races this spring, then

by folkbum

As I said to Jane Hampden on "Lake Effect" back when she was doing that "Wisconsin Bloggers" series, every time I think about quitting this gam, there's always one more election on the horizon that I want to be in mix of. This spring, there's two (statewide; there's a school board race here in town). First, Wisconsin State Supreme Court, and now State Superintendent:

Elizabeth Burmaster, state superintendent of public instruction since 2001, said Monday that she will not seek a third term as the state’s highest ranking kindergarten-through-12th grade education official.

Tony Evers, Burmaster’s deputy since she first took office, said he will run in the election in spring, and Burmaster threw her support behind him.

I'm very curious to see who else lines up in this race. I anticipate the race will be about just one or two things--with some variation depending on how quickly the Obama administration makes adjustments to No Child Left Behind. One will be the state funding formula for public schools. There are enough districts (MPS is hardly the only one) for whom adequate funding is no longer a given in any particular year. The second will undoubtedly be MPS itself.

The article also drops this out of nowhere: "There has been some speculation that Burmaster wanted to run for governor in 2010 if Gov. Jim Doyle does not seek re-election." Perhaps I do not mingle in the right Democratic circles, but of all the names I've heard, Burmaster's is not among them. If Doyle is offered an takes a position in an Obama administration, there will be a primary in 2010, and Burmaster's hardly the frontrunner for that job right now.

Our local media, pt. 1

by Bert

Since I was rambling by, I thought I’d drop in for a couple of rants.

The scion of Milwaukee’s right-wing belly-achers, Charlie Sykes, routinely insults his listeners' intelligence. Take, for example, his defense offered more than once this past week of the crooked behavior of state Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler. Ziegler has presided as circuit court judge over civil cases involving banks where her husband works.

Charlie was outraged. And he snarled at media outlets for writing about Ziegler when reporters are not blasting a similar salvo at politicians such as Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster for the influence that the teachers union exerts on her decisions.

If you’re cocking your head right now like a confused dog and saying “huh?”, you’re right in being befuddled. It's apples and oranges.

I may not relish the influence that organizations -- through their lobbying and their campaign contributions -- exert on politicians, but that sort of influence is an ingrained element of our government. Ziegler’s worst iniquity could not be more different. If Burmaster were a judge, or if she were ruling on whether her son or daughter should be given a diploma, or whether her agency should locate a new state building on land her husband owns, then we might be comparing apples to apples.