Superintendent Evers should welcome greater accountability at (his Department of Public Instruction), not dodge it,” Evenson said in his email. “It’s not politics, it’s the law.”
The lawsuit centers on the powers of Evers. It was brought Monday by two teachers and members of the New London and Marshfield school boards, represented by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
The group filed its case directly with the state Supreme Court, which last year ruled Evers had more power and independence than the heads of other state agencies.
The group argues the Department of Public Instruction is ignoring a new law that its backers say is meant to keep rules written by state agencies in check. The law, which took effect in September, says state agencies must run the scope of state rules past Walker’s Department of Administration before putting them into place.
Such rules are written to carry out state laws and include more details than the laws themselves.
Evers’ department issued rules this fall without first going to the Department of Administration. That’s because a divided state Supreme Court ruled last year that Evers did not have to abide by a similar law governing administrative rules because he is an independently elected official under the state constitution.
The latest lawsuit essentially asks the state’s high court to revisit that earlier ruling.
Much more on Wisconsin DPI Superintendent Tony Evers, here.