Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz has been fighting her school board ever since she defeated Tony Bennett in 2012.
The latest in the childish drama of Ritz versus her close-minded, uncooperative Board of Education unfolded Thursday as she delivered a speech to the Indiana House of Representatives, chastising them for backing legislation that would essentially strip her of her power as the ?chairwoman of the Board.
The proposal, produced and supported by Board Republicans, recommends that the chairperson of the State Board of Education be elected by the members themselves rather than being automatically filled by the Superintendent of ?Public Instruction.
According to the Indianapolis Star, “the bill passed the Republican-controlled House Education Committee and now heads to the full House, where the GOP also has a commanding majority.”
In other words, the outlook is getting bleaker by the moment for Superintendent Ritz, a passionate public servant who ran on a platform of positive, necessary reform for Indiana public schools, which have been ravaged by the careless neglect of former Superintendent Bennett and conservative governors Mitch Daniels and, now, Mike Pence.
Despite the election of the hyper-conservative Pence, who continues to mishandle this — and every — situation by refusing to expand funding for Indiana’s public school systems, we were hopeful that Ritz would clean up the extensive damage done by Bennett and improve the quality of public and private education in Indiana for teachers and students alike.
But, of course, the Republicans have another idea.
One of the many reasons Ritz has struggled in vain against this debilitating bill is that it is so vigorously backed by Gov. Pence himself.
When he announced in December that he was dissolving the Center for Education and Career Innovation, an agency of his own invention that Ritz opposed, he included a threat to back legislation of this bill’s nature to usurp Ritz’s authority and cripple her ability to govern or make any semblance of positive change.
Even lawyers who have weighed in on the situation recognized this bill as “bad public policy,” which were the words of Joe Hand, an Indianapolis attorney who specializes in ?educational law.
He confirmed for the Star legally what is apparent rationally: this is comparable to the governor bypassing the legislature, and it also strips power from every voter in the state by removing their opportunity to elect a chairperson for the Board of Education.
“Let’s get beyond the politics,” was Ritz’s mantra to her aggressors Thursday.
Based on their past partisan intolerance and refusal to compromise, it seems as though state Republicans are once again all too eager to hurl us backward and undermine everyone’s ?chances at a brighter future.
sbkissel@indiana.edu
