Republican lawmakers frustrated with state Superintendent Glenda Ritz will get their first chance on Thursday to discuss a bill that would effectively remove her as the leader of the Indiana State Board of Education.
The House Education Committee will take up House Bill 1609, authored by Rep. Jud McMillin, R-Brookville, which makes good on Gov. Mike Pence’s promise last month to seek a change in state law that would allow the state board to elect a replacement for Ritz as its chair. State law currently dictates that the state superintendent, who is elected statewide, will chair the board. Ritz is the only Democrat holding statewide office in Indiana.
In a speech announcing his legislative agenda last month, Pence pitched a trade of sorts: he pledged to shut down the Center for Education and Career Innovation and said in return Ritz should give up her guarantee of being chairwoman.
While Ritz complained frequently that CECI undermined her work, describing it as effectively a shadow education department, being chairwoman is one of the few tools she has to affect decision making by the 11-member state board, which was appointed entirely by Republican governors. At Pence’s order, CECI is closing down by next month.
Ritz and her supporters have not been enthusiastic about what she would have give up if state law were changed.
Ritz and her fellow board members have frequently been at odds over procedures, as Ritz has occasionally used her role as chairwoman to block votes or prioritize the agenda as she preferred it. While she has argued that managing the board meeting is part of her job, other board members have countered that the chairwoman role should be more ceremonial. The board has taken several steps over the past year to limit Ritz’s ability to make decisions about what is placed on the agenda or when votes are taken.
Republicans have responded with several bills that would change the duties of the state superintendent or the role of the state board. A total of eight bills have been filed that would change the state board in one way or another.
In the Senate, Sen. David Long, R-Fort Wayne, has assigned three such bills to the rules committee, where he said he would shepherd them. Long, who is Senate president, has endorsed the general approach of Senate Bill 1. It also would select the chair of the state board by a vote of its members, but Long said he is open to adding in other ideas for changing how the state board operates.
The House Education Committee meets at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday in Room 156-C at the Statehouse.
In other action on education bills today, the full House passed three bills, sending them to the Senate where they will be considered in March:
- Transfers for school employees. House Bill 1056 requires school districts that have space to permit the children of their employees who live outside the school district to transfer into the district’s schools. The bill applies even to districts that have policies against transfers. In addition, the bill says district must accept transfers for children who attend private schools within their boundaries but live in a different school district, again if they have space available. It passed the House 95-0.
- Teacher mentors. House Bill 1188, authored by Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, would prevent teachers from serving as mentors to student teachers unless they are rated effective by their school districts. It passed 97-0.
- Adult charter high schools. House bill 1438 is primarily aimed at giving adult charter high school networks, like Goodwill’s Excel Centers or Christel House’s Dropout Recovery Schools, the ability to manage funds collectively rather than separate dollars into different accounts for each school. Other charter school networks were given that flexibility by the legislature last year. The bill passed 95-0.