» Crash sentence:
He will work part time while running
Sean McNutt, 25, a Milwaukee drug dealer, is sentenced to prison for a fatal hit-and-run crash.
John Humphries, one of two candidates looking to unseat Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, resigned his $94,000-plus-a-year post in the Dodgeville School District effective Dec. 31, saying he wanted to insulate his political activities from his professional duties.
But Humphries, who oversees the district’s state and federal programs, will continue at least some of his duties part time through June unployees. a consulting contract approved by the local school board the same day he submitted his letter of resignation.
Under the terms of the agreement approved Dec. 12, Humphries will be paid $650 a day for up to 60 days of work between Jan. 1 and June 30, for a total of up to $39,000. In addition, the district would pay none of his benefits during that time, and would not have to withhold state and federal taxes or carry workers’ compensation for him. And it offered no guarantee that he could return to his after the campaign.
Humphries’ campaign spokesman, Brian Schupper, said he is not expected to work the entire 60 days.
Humphries’ full-time salary had translated to about $364 a day, plus benefits.
The consulting contract calls for Humphries to supervise and assist with the coordination of state and federal programs, including Title I and Title III — federal laws governing funding for low-income students and English language learners — special education and those aimed at improving educator effectiveness. Schupper said some of Humphries’ duties have been transferred to other district emder Humphries said there is nothing inappropriate in the deal and that he has contracted with other districts and state CESA, or Cooperative Education Service Agencies, over the years.
“I resigned to spend as much time campaigning as possible and to have a clean break between my professional and political activities,” Humphries said in an email to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“Running for office is quite challenging if you are not independently wealthy, and I am making a very serious composition
mitment to this effort while also trying to sustain my family,” he said.
Dodgeville Administrator Jeff Jacobson said the contract is a “money saver” for his district.
“We’ll come out ahead,” said Jacobson. “We wanted to support him in this. He’s very committed to this campaign ... and he was willing to give up some compensation to make it happen.”
Because of the complexity of the position, which requires extensive knowledge of state and
federal law and procedures, an outright resignation by Humphries would have left the district in a difficult spot, Jacobson said.
The contract is with Humphries’ consulting firm, BrainDance LLC.
He told Jacobson in a Nov. 28 email outlining the proposal that it would “allow me to handle my professional duties as a contractor who has a job to complete, without worrying about hours of employment, etc.”
He had initially sought $800 a day, for a maximum of $48,000, saying other consultants would charge between $750 and $1,500 a day, depending on the duties and expertise required.
Humphries’ opponents, Evers and retired Beloit Superintendent Lowell Holtz, offered no opinion on the contract.
“It’s a local decision,” Evers said.
The left-leaning advocacy group One Wisconsin Now called it “sleazy.”
“John Humphries is putting his political ambitions before kids,” Executive Director Scot Ross said in an email to the Journal Sentinel.
“Humphries has fixed it so he can campaign and keep getting paid by taxpayers, with no oversight for how he spends his days. All the while promoting selling out our public schools to chase campaign cash from the private school voucher industry and the billionaires that support it.”
Humphries and Holtz, both of whom support state-funded vouchers for private schools, say their campaigns are drawing interest from school reform advocates across the country.
Humphries called Ross’ remarks “unfortunate.”
He said there would be oversight through regular meetings with district officials, that he would be paid only for days worked and that the invoices would be available for public review through the state open records law.
The primary is Feb. 21. The top two finishers will face off in the April 4 general election.