Being superintendent was a pretty low profile matter for much of the last 166 years, but no more.
Here are three reasons why:
Vouchers: DPI oversees administration of the private school voucher program. Evers and his two predecessors were big advocates of the conventional public school system.
Voucher advocates generally regard all of them and the DPI as a whole as foes.
Common Core: In 2010, Evers signed up Wisconsin to be part of the Common Core effort to create consistent standards across the nation for what children should learn.
Didn’t seem like such a big deal then. Now, of course, it’s highly unpopular, especially among Republicans.
State tests: Evers signed Wisconsin up to be part of a multistate consortium developing tests aligned to the Common Core.
The resulting test had its first full run last spring. There were big problems with the launch and the Legislature killed that test. New tests are coming, but controversies over testing remain.