If the Indiana superintendent of public instruction was a position appointed by the governor, Tony Bennett would likely still be running the Hoosier schools system.
That situation would not reflect the will of state residents. Instead, it would reflect only the will of the governor, his party and their special-interest supporters.
That is precisely why Indiana should leave the state superintendent as an elected office, selected by the voters, just as it’s been since the constitution was crafted in 1851.
The definitive example of the wisdom of the constitution’s design came in 2012. More than 1.3 million Hoosiers voted for Glenda Ritz to become their new leader of Indiana schools, ousting Bennett after one blustery term. With then-Gov. Mitch Daniels’ blessing, Bennett shoved a smorgasbord of reforms — mostly untested experiments — through a largely compliant Legislature. He also damaged morale among teachers, principals and district superintendents with repeated references to “failing schools” and “bad teachers,” while only quietly acknowledging that the vast majority of educators and schools teach our children well.
So, Hoosiers — including thousands of Republicans — chose Ritz, a Democrat, to replace Bennett.
Since then, Daniels’ fellow Republican and replacement, current Gov. Mike Pence, has steadfastly backed nearly all of the same policies and reforms promoted by Bennett and rejected by the voters in 2012. Pence sparked the unending tension between himself and Ritz by creating an agency — the Center for Education and Career Innovation — that duplicates the responsibilities of the Indiana Department of Education overseen by Ritz. Pence and the Republican-led Legislature have chipped away at her authority.
Now the Indiana Chamber of Commerce wants the lawmakers to make the superintendent’s office a position appointed by the governor, beginning in 2016. The idea is to put the superintendent and the governor on the same philosophical page.
That was exactly the circumstance from 2008 to 2012 when Bennett ran the schools. Bennett and Daniels were like-minded. The voters stepped in and changed things. Had they not possessed that power, Bennett likely would have remained as superintendent when Daniels passed the gubernatorial baton to Pence.
With the 2015 session of the General Assembly due to begin next month, Statehouse leaders rightly want to see the dysfunctional relationship between Ritz and the State Board of Education (all governor appointees) repaired. House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) warned the bickering must end “or the General Assembly will take action and it will probably be action nobody will like,” as the Indianapolis Star reported. Senate leader David Long (R-Fort Wayne) added, “We wouldn’t be having this dysfunction right now if [the superintendent] was an appointed position.”
No, the dysfunction wouldn’t be happening now if the governor, his hand-picked State Board, and the legislative super majority would abide by the will of Hoosier voters and let Ritz do her job. Purging Ritz from the superintendent’s role might please the Chamber and give the governor’s will a clear path, but the will of the people would be erased.