The two candidates vying to lead the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction quarreled over property taxes, school choice, teacher compensation and even the role of the superintendent within state government Thursday during an hour-long debate at the Madison Club.

In a matchup between the two top vote getters in Tuesday’s primary election, incumbent Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster and state Rep. Gregg Underheim, R-Oshkosh, found little on which to agree. Although the state superintendent is a non-partisan office, moderator Jeff Mayers warned the audience the debate would feature partisan overtones — and Burmaster and Underheim did not disappoint.

The two drew a stark contrast over the continuation of the state’s Qualified Economic Offer, a compensation package that has restricted teacher salaries throughout the last decade.

Burmaster labeled the law a “roadblock to reform,” arguing Wisconsin will have difficulties in recruiting and retaining quality instructors unless the QEO is repealed.

“It has singled out teachers as the one group of public employees that we now have put caps on salaries,” Burmaster said, adding the state’s teacher salaries are below the national average.

Underheim said Burmaster’s stance on the QEO is a clear sign she is nothing more than a puppet to the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers’ union. He called the QEO an “effective tool in controlling education costs.”

“The DPI for too long has been the public relations arm of WEAC,” said Underheim, a former teacher.

Turning to the Milwaukee school choice program, Underheim called for the enrollment cap to be raised and indicated support for expanding the program to troubled school districts throughout the state.

Burmaster showed far less support for the choice program, saying greater accountability measures would be needed before lifting the cap is considered.

“My primary responsibility as state superintendent is to ensure the accountability, equity and quality of all education systems that use taxpayer dollars,” she said.

Underheim repeatedly stressed fiscal discipline, arguing all educational funding decisions must be made in the broader context of the state budget. Wisconsin currently faces a $1.6 billion deficit in the 2005-7 fiscal biennium.

As such, Underheim said he could not definitively say whether the state should restore two-thirds funding to school districts.

“You cannot be demanding all the resources in one specific area, particularly in a time of tight budgets,” he said.

Burmaster, in turn, questioned whether Underheim’s job as state legislator had obscured his vision of what the superintendent is supposed to do: advocate the state’s education system. The incumbent supported two-thirds K-12 funding, a part of Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget proposal.

“An investment in education right now is one of the best investments we can make, especially in tough (economic) times,” said Burmaster, a former principal of Madison West High School.

Burmaster, who was elected to the superintendent post in 2001, claimed 61 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, while Underheim took 26 percent. The two will meet again in the general election April 5.