HOW TO ELIMINATE CHOICE FROM SCHOOL CHOICE Indianapolis Star 01/04/2015, Page A11 After Ritz, appoint state’s top educator Aproposal to appoint rather than to elect Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction could be one of the more contentious issues to blow up during the General Assembly’s ready-to-launch 2015 session. That’s because it’s been seen by many Democrats as yet another attempt to undermine the authority of the current occupant of the office, Glenda Ritz. But a Republican state senator from Kokomo, Jim Buck, has introduced a bill that separates the personalities from the policy and shifts the discussion back to where it should be — what’s best for Indiana’s students? In Senate Bill 24, Buck proposes allowing the governor to appoint the superintendent, whose responsibilities include leading the state Department of Education. But not until after Jan. 10, 2021. By then, Mike Pence would have vacated the governor’s mansion, and Ritz, if re-elected in 2016, would have completed two full terms. So the change from elected to appointed status would start in all likelihood with two new leaders and be somewhat separated from the political turmoil that has engulfed the superintendent’s office in recent years. Granted, the superintendent, unlike the governor, doesn’t face a two-term limit. Suellen Reed — Tony Bennett’s predecessor — served in the position for 16 years. But Ritz told me in October that she doesn’t expect to stay in office past a second term (she had announced a re-election bid for 2016 a couple of days before we talked). In any case, delaying such a change until 2021 undermines the argument that it’s all about piling on Ritz, who’s a lonely blue planet in a galaxy of Statehouse red. Still, is it good policy to transform an elected position into one appointed by the state’s chief executive? A decade or so ago, it was a staunch Democrat, Susan Williams, who made the case for appointment. She ran against Reed, by then an institution in the office, in 2004 with a unique promise. If elected, Williams vowed to resign so that the governor could choose the person he wanted for the position. The basic argument for appointment, then as now, is that the state’s top elected leader and the top educator should be aligned on education policy. Education, after all, is state government’s highest priority, one that consumes more than half of the budget. On the federal level, of course, the president appoints the secretary of education, and other Cabinet members, so as to foster teamwork and alignment on priorities. Imagine if Barack Obama had to contend with a Republican elected to lead the Department of Education? It likely would be a train wreck. The same holds true in state government. Yet, amid the endless fighting between Ritz and Republicans over the past two years, any move to change how the job is filled has been seen, understandably, as a dirty play worthy of the Detriot Lions’ Ndamukong Suh. Which is why Jim Buck’s proposal to change the law, but delay its implementation for five years, makes such good sense. For her part, Ritz argued this fall that Hoosiers should continue to elect the superintendent because it’s a more direct way for ordinary people to have a say on education policy. A governor may be popular or unpopular for a variety of reasons, but for the superintendent, it’s all about the schools. Perhaps. But Williams had the better argument a decade ago — ensure alignment via appointment, and hold the governor accountable for the performance of Indiana’s schools. Indiana’s governor should be expected both to lead and to deliver the results on state government’s chief responsibility. ✭ Email Swarens at tim.swarens@indystar. Follow him on Twitter:@tswarens.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 16:27:15 +0000
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