Bills targeting Ritz advance in House and Senate
02/10/2015
ACTION: Please contact your representative and senator and tell them that you oppose efforts to diminish both the election and role of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
A pair of bills aimed at removing Superintendent Ritz as chair of the State Board of Education have progressed further this week.
The full House voted 58-40 Monday to approve HB 1609, which advances to the Senate.
Supporters of HB 1609 attempted to tie the ISTEP testing issue into the debate over who should chair the state board. While Gov. Pence declared his executive order seeking to shorten the ISTEP, a tense discussion of HB 1609 filled the House chambers as the bill moved to final passage in the House.
Some House Democrats spoke passionately in opposition to the bill. House Minority Leader Scott Pelath (D-Michigan City) referred to HB 1609 as “one of the most troubling bills of the session” and urged that Ritz was elected to slow down the education reforms pushed from Washington, D.C. and outside interests under former Superintendent Tony Bennett.
Pointing to the underlying issue of Monday’s ISTEP events, Rep. Terri Austin (D-Anderson) reminded the House that it was in fact the legislature that caused the chaos by passing HEA 1427 last year – the bill that voided Common Core and put Indiana’s waiver in jeopardy in the first place, as well as required a fast-track process to adopt new college- and career- ready standards and assessments. Superintendent Ritz has been unduly blamed for the ISTEP problems, and Monday’s events simply mark yet another example of how political agendas are harming students.
SB 1 is an accompanying bill to HB 1609 in the Senate. The Senate Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee met Tuesday and approved the bill 9-4, sending it to the full Senate for a vote as early as next week.
ISTA President Teresa Meredith attended the committee hearing to testify in opposition. In her testimony, Meredith said:
I believe I am speaking for educators across the state when I say we have grown so tired of the education policies offered, one after another, that include moving around adults, creating new bureaucracies, shifting power and resources, yet have little to do with improving student learning.
As these bills continue on their paths in the legislature, it’s time to let all 150 members of the General Assembly, as well as Gov. Pence, know that your voice matters.