2 in schools runoff vastly different

Voters will choose from two vastly different Republican candidates in the runoff election for the state's top schools job.

Mick Zais, the top vote-getter in the state superintendent of education race, is a retired Army brigadier general and president of Newberry College. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and has a doctorate from the University of Washington. His children attended and graduated from public schools.

His platform centers on three areas: ensuring that every classroom is safe and orderly, expecting every child to make academic progress annually, and accounting for every dollar spent and connecting that money to classrooms.

Runner-up Elizabeth Moffly is the owner of Moffly Construction and Real Estate. The Awendaw resident, who didn't finish college, home-schools two of her children.

Her key platform issues are increasing the types of diplomas offered by the state, reducing the number of credits required to graduate from high school, giving students a better foundation for reading, writing and math, and changing the state's grading scale from a 7-point system (for example, 93-100 is an A) to a 10-point system.

Whoever wins June 22 will face Frank Holleman, a Democrat and former U.S. deputy secretary of education, in the November election.

During the next couple of weeks, Zais said he plans to continue emphasizing his education experience, his leadership skills and his track record of turning around an institution. Everyone agrees changes need to be made, and it's going to require a number of different initiatives to improve outcomes, he said.

"I feel good about the runoff," he said. "I'll have a fight on my hands in the general election but my record is strong and speaks for itself."

Moffly said her message has been well-received, and she's going to stick to her platform.

She said her ideas are research-based, best practices that could be implemented by changing the state's policies, and no other candidate has specific plans or solutions to improve the state's system. She said she understands public education because she had children in public schools for 15 years.

"I feel very confident," she said. "I have a plan and I have a message, and I don't see much changing with (Zais')administration."

Zais has raised $191,514 since he began campaigning, with $100,000 coming from a loan taken out by his campaign.

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Moffly hasn't turned in the most recent campaign finance report that was due 15 days before Tuesday's election, and Herbert Hayden, executive director of the State Ethics Commission, said she will be sent a letter this week because of her failure to file the required information. She will be penalized with a $100 fine, and if she doesn't submit that information within 10 days of the letter, she could face steeper fines.

Her campaign report from April shows she's raised $117,282 with about $83,000 of that coming from loans she and her husband have made to the campaign.

Moffly said she thought her campaign staff had taken care of filing the reports. She said she will make sure that the filing is taken care of today.

Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com.