Pence wants Ritz removed as Chair of state board, expand charter schools and broaden private school voucher program
12/04/2014

 

Governor Pence announced his legislative agenda today for the upcoming legislative session. The governor’s agenda is largely education based concentrating on expanding corporate education reform ideas. The controversial proposals were accompanied by the Governor’s decision to dissolve his duplicate education agency CECI.

 

Much of the Governor’s agenda will further divert tax dollars from traditional public schools to private religious and charter schools. Among his top priorities are:

 

Charter Schools: The governor calls for a policy he is calling “Freedom to Teach” which he claims will allow schools to bypass laws and regulations in the name of “innovation.” The schools will be granted waivers for the program by the Governor’s State Board of Education. Additionally, he calls for increased funding for charter schools to further stimulate charter growth around the state.

 

School Vouchers: The governor is asking for a dramatic expansion of Indiana’s already broadest in the nation private school voucher program. He is calling for the lifting of caps put on the program, as well as increasing the dollar amounts private schools would receive.

 

Takeover schools: The governor calls for his State Board of Education to establish its own turnaround unit and take control of federal education funds currently being sent to the DOE. The state board’s new turnaround unit would also begin taking over schools sooner by changing the trigger for takeover from six straight years of a grade of F to just four years of D or F grades. The changes would also permit the state to takeover entire school corporations, should they be deemed low performing.

 

Remove Ritz as Chair: The Governor asks that the legislature take action to have his appointees on the State Board of Education to elect their own Chair, rather than the Superintendent of Public Instruction be the board’s leader.

 

Rather than focus on divisive and controversial policies, some of which have proven not to improve student learning, ISTA hopes that the legislature will instead focus on elevating the teaching profession that will result in the improvement of student learning and increase funding for Indiana’s community-based public schools.

 

ISTA will release its own positive legislative agenda for Indiana’s children and educators on January 8.