CECI Plans to Remove Superintendent Ritz as chair of State Board of Education

The job of the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction is being threatened!

Daniel Altman, press secretary for the Indiana Department of Education posted the following on the DOE web site today:

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Indiana Department of Education Releases CECI Roadmap

Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Daniel Altman
Press Secretary
(317) 232-0550
daltman@doe.in.gov

INDIANAPOLIS – In response to a reporter’s question about attempts by the State Board of Education and Governor Pence’s Center for Education and Career Innovation (CECI) to remove her power, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz today reaffirmed her position that the CECI is seeking to have her removed as Chair of the State Board and lessen her authority.

Below is a document that was sent from a CECI attorney regarding the CECI’s plans to remove Superintendent Ritz as chair. Section five of the document details those plans. The document is CECI’s roadmap to:

-Remove the elected Superintendent as chair of the State Board;

-Continue the corporatization of public education to the detriment of public education in our state;

-Transfer and erode local control over school facilities; and

-Take away authority statutorily given to the Department of Education.

“Last year, I was elected to lead the Indiana Department of Education and chair the State Board of Education,” said Superintendent Ritz. “This document shows that the CECI is attempting to change a governing structure that has worked for over 100 years, under both Democrats and Republicans.”

Also below is a preliminary draft of a bill that was circulated at an interim summer study committee that would take away authority from the Department of Education over carefully protected student privacy data.

“As an educator and a parent, I know that the protection of student information is one of the key roles of the Department.

“I am committed to ensuring that the elected Office of the Superintendent continues to serve as chair of the State Board while preserving the authority of the Department to protect the voice of the voters and the integrity of public education in Indiana."

A copy of the documents can be found here.

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