As classes open today in Munster, and either already began or will soon in other communities, students are expected to get along with each other. If only that were the case with Indiana's education leaders.
Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz's op-ed today lays out her side of the story in the squabble between her agency, the Indiana Department of Education, and the State Board of Education and its agency, the Center for Education and Career Innovation.
Ritz is a Democrat. Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, created CECI. And Pence, along with predecessor Mitch Daniels, appointed the State Board of Education members.
From a political lens, it's a battle between Republicans and Democrats for control of education policy in Indiana. And a messy battle it is, with Indiana's schoolchildren, as well as local educators, caught in the middle.
The battlefield has spilled over into the Indiana General Assembly, where Republican legislators repealed Indiana's participation in the Common Core State Standards initiative begun by Republican governors and state education leaders after President Barack Obama's administration supported Common Core.
So now Indiana is switching to its own standards this year, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars over what Common Core would cost, and the easy comparison with peers nationwide disappears.
Most disappointing in this tug-of-war for control of education is that students have a bad example set by the politicians who are fighting for political gain, using education policy as their weapon.
Indiana must depoliticize education policy. A truce is long overdue.
Instead of warring with each other, Ritz and the State Board of Education must become partners.
Together, they should lock in standards for consistent comparison of students with their peers across the school district, across the state and across the nation.
But don't use so much standardized testing that students spend too little time learning and too much time being evaluated.
And by all means, let educators have their say. Listen to teachers and principals who see more clearly the impact of decisions made by the state superintendent and State Board of Education.
Indiana schools are opening this month in an environment of political warfare over education. That cannot continue.
For the children's sake, end the political squabbles and focus on what's truly going to help students learn.