State House showdown: Senators vs. Superintendent Zais

COLUMBIA, S.C.(WOLO) — To say the least there was a showdown at the State House, Thursday. One one side, senate Democrats claiming Education Superintendent Zais has taken entirely too much time off work. They even went so far as to say he should pay back the money he was paid for that time, to the people who elected him, the people of South Carolina. This, all while Zais was standing in the very same lobby listening. Moments later Zais took to the podium calling the allegations, outrageous. “It is an example, a continued example of playing by a different set of rules,” says Senator Phil Leventis, D-Sumter Thursday, senate Democrats gave the South Carolina Education Superintendent Dr. Mick Zais a truancy notice. “Between mid-January and mid-November, Superintendant Zais missed 35 days,” says Leventis. “If a teacher missed 35 days, it wouldn’t even take that, they would be fired long before then,” says Senator Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg. But the senator’s allegatoins did not go without a response. “It’s clear that I’m not going to be intimidated by these blatent, partisan political attacks,” says South Carolina Educations Superintendent, Mick Zais. “You may see or try to see this as a partisan issue, but it’s not, the facts speak for themselves,” says Leventis. “Did I take sick time, yes, did I take time off for my son’s wedding, I sure did, did I take time off when my grandaughter, my first grandchild was born, you bet ya,” says Mick Zais. But senators say there were other absences. “Meetings with people like Rick Perry, Mr. Grover Norquist, clearly not a friend of public education,” says Leventis. “In the 9 months in question, I visited 51 schools,” says Dr. Zais. “He should at the very least, pay back the money to taxpayers, to the people of South Carolina,” says Hutto. Superintendent Zais took the allegations personal. “Since they couldn’t come up with ways to reform education they resulted in a personal attack against the person who is trying to make those reforms,” says Dr. Zais. But Democrats say it’s about the people. “The people elected a full time Superintendent, not a part time Superintendent,” says Hutto. Senate Democrats also sighted attendance requirements for students, saying they could miss no more than 10 days or they would be held back. In regards to his absences, Dr. Zais says, “You can’t run an office from behind a desk.”