There’s some room to hope that Gov. Mike Pence and Indiana Schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz are finally going to act like the leaders Hoosiers expect them to be.
It’s long overdue.
The public feud between Pence and Ritz has put their names into the headlines at the expense of Indiana students. We simply cannot understand why two people who allegedly have children’s interests at heart have refused to find common ground.
This week, though, brought some progress. The two issued a statement Wednesday. According to that statement, they have agreed to have the National Association of State Boards of Education help mediate a talk among Indiana State Board of Education members regarding roles, responsibilities and the operations of the board.
That’s not a trivial issue.
Ritz, a Democrat, chairs the board. She was elected, in part, by people who rebelled against her predecessor, Tony Bennett, and the changes he put in place for Indiana’s school system.
But Pence, a Republican, has power to appoint 10 of the 11 board members. And many board members are committed to following the road Bennett paved.
It’s gotten so bad that Pence has, in essence, created a second education department, the Center for Education and Career Innovation. A couple of weeks ago, Ritz walked out of a State Board of Education meeting when a board member appointed by Pence tried to transfer some student assessment powers from Ritz’s office to that new department. A couple of days later, Pence asked the national school boards group to step in. Ritz said that would be meaningless unless the governor first dealt with her.
Apparently the two have reached some sort of accommodation — enough that they both are on board with having the national organization help. Both issued prepared statements Wednesday.
“I also appreciate the superintendent’s willingness to work with members of the Indiana State Board of Education and NASBE to resolve differences that have arisen on the board,” Pence said.
“Since the last meeting of the State Board of Education, I have said that the governor and I needed to work together directly to address recent issues that have arisen. Yesterday’s meeting was a first step towards that goal. I believe the governor now has a clearer understanding of my concerns regarding the CECI, but much work remains to be done.”
We remain disappointed that so much time, resources and people power have been devoted to a power struggle between the governor and his supporters on one side, and Ritz and her supporters on the other. We believe most Hoosiers want high-quality schools with the resources to tackle the hard task of education. We believe most Hoosiers want fair and simple assessments of educators and students. And we believe most Hoosiers expect their elected leaders to work together toward those goals.
It’s sad an outside agency has to help our leaders do the jobs we elected them to do. But we hope this marks the beginning of the end of this unfortunate period in Indiana education.