What are the motives of the Governor's CECI?
07/10/2014

 

At yesterday’s very contentious State Board of Education meeting, we were struck by the audacity of Governor Pence’s duplicate shadow education agency, the CECI.

 

As the Indianapolis Star’s, Eric Weddle, pointed out:

 

Claire Fiddian-Green, Pence's education innovation special assistant, said federal education officials asked CECI to provide comments on any items in the waiver that were not compliant with state statutes.

 

But the state Department of Education provided emails to The Indianapolis Star from U.S. Department of Education staff that said they were unaware of the request.

 

This leads us to ask, who’s telling the truth?

 

And regardless, why is the Governor’s CECI sending a critique of DOE’s waiver application—which, by the way, the state board, CECI and DOE worked on together?

 

Indiana’s Department of Education is the SEA (State Educational Agency) to the US Department of Education (USDOE)—period.

 

The waiver submission is a contract between Indiana’s Department of Education and the USDOE—period. 

 

And the CECI’s latest “treatise” constitutes an intrusion of and an interference with the work of the Department of Education—period.

 

Questions abound.

 

What are the motives of the Governor’s CECI?

 

How much more taxpayer funding will this state be willing to throw at a shadow entity whose purpose is as dubious as was its creation?

 

Is the Governor committed or not committed to having Indiana’s NCLB waiver granted by the USDOE?