By Collin Roth

On Thursday night, Fox 6 News in Milwaukee aired an investigative report by Brian Polcyn showing a group of 4th grade students being encouraged to participate in an anti-Walker protest held at the Capitol. The video shows the students from Portage, Wisconsin attending the Capitol on a field trip when the they encounter the daily “Solidarity Sing-Along” in the rotunda.

The shocking story elicited outrage from many, and raised serious questions about the judgement of the teacher involved and the conduct of the superintendent who was uninterested in seeing the video.

Some parents and taxpayers in the Portage Community School District upset with the handling of this situation might be interested to know that Superintendent Charles Poches earned $135,221 in salary with $39,581 in fringe benefits as of 2010.

In March, Superintendent Poches helped shepherd through a union contract with the Portage Education Association, choosing not to utilize the tools of Governor Walker’s Budget Repair Bill. Poches told the Portage Daily Register it was important to “continue our tradition here in Portage to work together in a consensus manner towards a solution.”

In June, Poches and the Portage School Board walked a political tightrope of endorsing a “Save Our Schools” proposal from Democrat Rep. Fred Clark without endorsing it as a School Board. Clark’s proposal would have utilized much of the $636 million in additional revenue for school aid to offset budget cuts. The “Save Our Schools” proposal was not adopted and the extra revenue was used to pay down the budget deficit.

Poches’ attempt to cover-up the involvement of Portage 4th graders in a political protest showed poor judgement. From stonewalling Fox 6 and refusing to see the video, to acknowledging that students were involved but claiming ignorance on behalf of the teacher, to waiting 22 days to send a letter to parents detailing the incident, the parents and taxpayers of Portage deserve answers from Poches about why he conducted himself the way he did when confronted with an obviously inappropriate action with students and teachers from his district.