Ritz Roundup: A Superintendent’s Run For Governor & Other Links
As we reported last week, state superintendent Glenda Ritz is running for governor.
The announcement didn’t come as a surprise, but it did raise questions about the educator’s experience outside school policy and her ability to appeal to voters on those other topics.
- Glenda for Governor: Politics and PoliciesEducation is expected to be a major part of the governor’s race in 2016 with State Superintendent Glenda Ritz entering the race…but Ritz says she plans to address a wide range of issues…not just those relating to schools and education policy. StateImpact Indiana’s Rachel Morello explains how Ritz’s role as an educator will likely play into the race as her campaign gets off the ground.Download
A supporter holds his sign supporting state superintendent Glenda Ritz during her announcement she will run for governor in 2016. (Photo Credit: Rachel Morello/StateImpact Indiana)
Ritz has two years under her belt as Indiana’s schools chief – the 2015-16 school year marks her third at the helm. A lot has happened since she took office: Indiana left the Common Core and wrote new academic standards, the ISTEP+ changed (and will soon change again), and schools will soon be graded under a new A-F accountability model.
As you might expect, we’ve done a lot of reporting about Ritz’s involvement in those and other school-related subjects, as well as her responses to big news that happened outside Hoosier classrooms. So as she makes her run for the state’s top post, refresh yourself and get caught up on where the politician stands.
On testing
- From the beginning of her 2012 campaign for superintendent, Ritz has made it clear she is not in favor of high-stakes testing – particularly IREAD-3.
On accountability
- In the 2012 race vs. Tony Bennett, Ritz alludes to A-F overhaul, saying under her leadership “there would be no A-F grading system for schools, school districts or universities as currently designed.” In May, the previous SBOE and Ritz approved new rules for the A-F system that incorporates a student’s growth from on year to another in the schools letter grade.
- One of the accomplishments Ritz touts as her finest on the job is deploying outreach coordinators throughout the state to help struggling schools get up to speed.
On pulling out of the Common Core
- A newly-inaugurated superintendent Ritz got to work quickly, voicing her support for a pause and review of Common Core State Standards when they came into question in early 2013. The official made it clear she was not advocating for getting rid of the standards.
- When the pause went into effect, the superintendent championed “adaptive assessments” as a good alternative for Indiana, to replace the ISTEP+: “An adaptive model has a huge bank of questions,” Ritz said. “If you get an answer wrong in reading, it gives you an easier reading level question.”
On working with her opponents
- Following tensions with fellow members of the State Board of Education, Ritz not only walked out of a 2014 board meeting, she also filed suit against board members for violating the state’s open meetings law.
- Ritz made it known that she was opposed to Gov. Mike Pence’s creation of the Center for Education and Career Innovation, which she referred to as a “shadow agency” to her own Department of Education.
On spending
- Ritz’s requested an increased budget, near $200 million, for the 2016-17 biennium. Her requests reflected the IDOE’s priority on new standardized tests, allocating $65 million for testing and remediation.
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