Glenda Ritz: Governor’s team intentionally misrepresents my leadership

As superintendent, my sole focus has been on creating an education system of equity and high quality. The 2013 General Assembly trusted me and the State Board of Education to embark upon improvements to our standards, assessments and accountability system. This has resulted in the adoption of the highest academic standards in Indiana’s history, and we are in the process of modernizing the ISTEP assessment. Additionally, we are bringing much-needed transparency and common sense to Indiana’s A-F system.

I have worked with the State Board of Education to accomplish these important educational tasks. Why then is there the perceived conflict between the State Board of Education members and me? One answer: Gov. Mike Pence’s Center for Education and Career Innovation.

One year ago, Gov. Pence used an executive order to create CECI. It was created without any consultation or conversation with the Department of Education and was created without legislative action or public input. When CECI was announced, I criticized the decision.

Since CECI’s inception, the State Board of Education now has its own staff and money, creating an environment of the board vs. State Superintendent Ritz. Through the board, Gov. Pence’s CECI staff continually mischaracterizes and intentionally misrepresents my leadership, criticizes the work of the department, and encroaches on the role of the superintendent and the department in implementing education policy.

Last fall, CECI advised the governor that his goal should be to remove the superintendent of public instruction as chair of the State Board of Education. Because they feared the legislature would not support such a change, CECI stated that it would attempt this move through the bureaucratic process of changing board operating procedures. CECI continues to lead the charge to re-define and reduce the role of the superintendent as the statutory chair of the board through the board operating procedures as recent as the Aug. 6 meeting.

Education policy should not be political. However, I fully expect the governor and his CECI agency to work through the board and the legislature over the next two years to put crucial public education decisions in the hands of bureaucrats who are not accountable to the voters.

This will erode the office of the superintendent and the Department of Education’s responsibilities with CECI taking over the execution of contracts with professional educational service firms, allocating funds to local schools, and implementing education policy. Finally, it will allow CECI to supplant the department as Indiana’s education agency.

The Department of Education is the only agency with the expertise to oversee Indiana’s education system and has served the needs of its diverse student population for over 150 years. We do not have a moment to waste on combating politics when it comes to serving our children. Indiana deserves better.

Ritz is Indiana superintendent of public instruction.