Online Petition: Governor Pence, Let Ritz Do Her Job
An online petition asking Governor Pence and his State Board of Education appointees to stop interfering with state superintendent Glenda Ritz’s duties gained almost 500 signatures over the weekend.
Claire McInerny/StateImpact Indiana
Governor Mike Pence and state superintendent Glenda Ritz co-chaired the Education Roundtable meeting in June.
The College Democrats of Indiana filed the petition on change.org with a goal of 1,000 signatures. So far the petition has 478.
The group cites Wednesday’s state board meeting as the final straw leading them to draft this petition. During the meeting, the board proposed and passed two resolutions that took away Ritz’s complete authority in planning meetings and overseeing the continuance of the No Child Left behind waiver.
In a letter to Pence included in the petition, the CDIN say,”You and your appointed allies on the State Board of Education have made it part of your mission to block Superintendent Ritz at every turn.”
They go on to say if Pence wanted to run the Department of Education and State Board of Education he should have run for Ritz’s position in 2012.
Sentiments similar to the language found in the petition were heard during public comment periods at Wednesday’s meeting, with members of the American Federation of Teachers and Indiana State Teachers Association encouraging the board to let Ritz act as chair and stop passing resolutions that prevented her from doing so.
