Public education reform uncertain

Ousted Indiana education chief Tony Bennett leaves a bevy of reforms in his wake, changes his successor said she will try to rescind.

Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction-elect Glenda Ritz won the Nov. 6 election after promising to roll back or repeal reforms made during Bennett’s current term. Ritz has said some of the problems with Bennett’s reforms are that they created a culture of blaming teachers and reliance upon faulty standardized tests.

David Harris, CEO of education policy research center the Mind Trust, said Ritz’s election was a surprise.

“Tony seemed like someone who was well-positioned,” Harris said. “He was a big loss for education reform.”

Neither Ritz or Bennett could be reached for comment.

Now that she has won the odds are slim that Ritz will roll back any reform, State Board of Education member James Edwards said.

“The board is very deeply committed to the agenda of the past four years,” Edwards said.

The superintendent doesn’t legislate policy but rather implements it, and one function of the State Board of Education is to approve the rules for that implementation. The governor appoints members to the board, and Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Edwards in 2008. Gov.-elect Mike Pence said at a press conference last week that he too is committed to the path of reform set during the past four years.

However, Ritz will be chairwoman of the board as superintendent and a full-voting member. By influencing the rules by which she implements policy, Ritz can change the impact reforms have on public education.

But Edwards said that because the general assembly is dominated by Republicans who are committed to Bennett’s reforms, Ritz’s powers might be limited.

Instead of trying to change laws and policies, Ritz will most likely focus on improving conditions for teachers and other educators, said Vic Smith, a board member of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education. The coalition is composed of volunteers who supported Ritz throughout her campaign in the interest of resisting privatization of public schools.

“We’re better off with her there than her predecessor,” Smith said.

People should be pleased Ritz won because Bennett ignored the concerns of teachers and families in his zealous pursuit of reform, said Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute.
“What made Tony Bennett unpopular was policy,” Skinner said.

He said Ritz plans to deploy community outreach specialists to school districts so that her implementation of policy will align with the needs of specific communities. That’s enough for her to out-qualify Bennett, he said.

“I think Glenda Ritz has 10 times the capabilities to run the Department of Education than Tony Bennett did,” Skinner said.