Imagine that decades ago, Indiana had changed its constitution to allow governors to appoint their own state superintendent of public instruction.
Quite possibly, Tony Bennett would still be in charge of Hoosier schools.
Instead, Indiana voters resoundingly removed Bennett from office in the 2012 election. That’s because the state constitution gives voters the power to choose the person to oversee their kids’ schools, and Hoosiers — displeased with Bennett’s criticism of teachers and his determination to push through one untested reform after another — said, “Enough.” Voters veered from this conservative state’s political trends and picked a Democrat, largely unknown Glenda Ritz, over Bennett, a star of the national school reform movement.
That outcome infuriated Indiana’s Republican governors — the outgoing incumbent Mitch Daniels, and the newly elected Mike Pence. Ritz had become the lone statewide official from the rival party. Pence, at the time, said he supported the policies forwarded by Bennett and would oppose Ritz’s attempts to undo them. As governor, Pence did so, circumventing her authority by creating an agency parallel to the Indiana Department of Education that Ritz oversaw, taking away the superintendent’s traditional role as automatic chair of the Indiana State Board of Education, and pulling the plug on the state’s application for up to $80 million of federal funds for pre-kindergarten.
Throughout the constant obstruction, Ritz understandably lost her cool on occasion, which did not help her cause.
That is all old news now. Ritz lost her own re-election attempt to Republican Jennifer McCormick. Pence has gone back to Washington to become Donald Trump’s vice president. Bennett is out of public office. Daniels serves as Purdue University president. And Eric Holcomb is Indiana’s new Republican governor, who seems less partisan and ideologically rigid than his predecessor.
Still, the situation in 2012 remains relevant. Holcomb wants state legislators to consider making the superintendent’s job a governor appointment beginning in 2021, ending its longtime elected status. Emphasizing his respect for and optimism about McCormick, Holcomb said governors and state superintendents should “be aligned to work truly together.”
Already, state Sen. Eric Bassler, a Republican from Washington, has proposed a bill to give governors the power to appoint their own superintendent. Republicans tried a similar bill during Ritz’s term, but it was wisely thwarted because of its obvious political motivation.
Regardless of the past problem, Hoosier residents should remain in charge of choosing the state superintendent. The dysfunction between Pence and Ritz was not caused simply by their failure to collaborate. The situation occurred because the governor refused to collaborate with the voters’ will. Voters disapproved of the policies forwarded by Bennett and wanted a change; Pence did not.
Legislators should not manipulate the Indiana constitution to fit the current atmosphere of polarized politics, of which the Pence-Ritz feud was a prime example. Governors and superintendents of different parties managed to work effectively in the past and can continue to do so, if they choose to, just as average Hoosiers must do in their daily workplaces. Also, an election campaign for superintendent forces the public to pay closer attention to education issues.
Most important, the leader of Indiana K-through-12 education should be directly accountable to those hard-working Hoosiers, and if the citizens want to make a change, they can, at the voting booth.