Pence insisted that “politics has no bearing on my opinion that the Democrats and Republicans on the board should be allowed to elect their chair.” POLITICO Pro Mike Pence's (latest) education power play The Indiana governor wants to strip his Democratic schools chief of power.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence wants to strip his Democratic schools superintendent of power — and both Democrats and Republicans say it is a telling example of the aggressive style of this potential 2016 presidential contender.

Pence and state Republicans have quickly moved to change state law to boot state Superintendent Glenda Ritz from her post as board of education chairwoman and allow other board members — most of whom Pence appointed — to elect a new leader. Ritz could still run the state education department but would have much less say in setting the policy that governs the agency.


The state House passed its version of the bill about a month into the legislative session. The Senate passed a variation on Tuesday, despite a rally of about 700 people Monday at the state capitol in support of Ritz.

“I stand with you,” Ritz yelled to the crowd. “It’s about the voters who elected me to do what I put in my platform. It’s about less testing and more time to teach.”

Pence insisted that “politics has no bearing on my opinion that the Democrats and Republicans on the board should be allowed to elect their chair.”

“I just think this is a common-sense reform,” he said, noting that state boards in about three dozen other states elect their own chair.

But the move is the latest in a series of actions that show that when Pence doesn’t get his way, he comes out swinging, Democrats say. It follows Pence’s creation of his own education agency in 2013 to carry out his agenda without Ritz’s input. Other observers say Pence’s actions show he’s simply willing to do whatever he can to restore function, stop corrosive fighting on the board and carry out his own priorities, like expanding what is already the nation’s largest school voucher program — and they predict it will be a political win for him in the long run.

“It shows that he’s willing to fight, and I think that might play well in a Republican primary,” said Michael Petrilli, president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Indiana House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, a Democrat who opposes the bills, agreed.

“It will probably look good when he’s talking to Iowa caucus voters or make him a plausible No. 2 on a national ticket,” he said. “It’s hard not to see some of his educational decisions through that prism.

“But you don’t have to completely strip someone of their elected duties to get your way,” Pelath added.

Pelath said Ritz was elected because “she represents a lot of people who are very uncomfortable with the education experiments happening in Indiana.” Ritz ran on a platform against overtesting, among other issues, while Pence supports test-based accountability.

When asked if he is considering a run for president, Pence said he’s focused on his education priorities in the budget and legislative session.

“My future will take care of itself,” he said.

State Superintendent Glenda Ritz is shown. | AP Photo

Ritz was elected in 2012, the same year as Pence, in an unexpected victory over the Republican incumbent. Democrats are quick to point out that she earned more votes than Pence in 2012 — Pence won nearly 50 percent of the vote, enough to win in a four-way race, while Ritz tallied nearly 53 percent of the vote in a two-way contest.

“If you wanted to try to demonstrate that this isn’t a personal vendetta against Glenda Ritz, you might wait until her term is over and then go for an appointed state superintendent,” Petrilli said. “That would be a way to show good faith with the voters more so than what [Pence] is doing right now.”

“But a crisis is also the time when there’s more will to act,” he added.

Ritz clashed with Republican-appointed board members from the start. They’ve accused her of ignoring them and refusing to add their items to meeting agendas. She sued them when they exchanged emails that intentionally excluded her. (A judge threw out her lawsuit.)

Ritz slammed Pence when he set up the Center for Education and Career Innovation, which he said was intended to expand his administration’s policies. And in November 2013, Ritz famously walked out of a board meeting over a maneuver to have Pence’s center examine math and English standards alongside her department.

In December 2013, Pence brought in a mediator to try to smooth relations between Ritz and the state board. But that effort disintegrated, with Ritz accusing Pence and board members of trying to remove her as chairwoman.

Any attempts at mediation became moot with the center’s creation, said Kristina Frey of the Washington Parent Township Council in Indiana. Frey testified before a Senate panel, opposing the legislation to remove Ritz.

“If you can’t deal with situations when they get dicey because of genuine differences in policy … you’re going to have disarray whether it’s Indiana or the United States of America,” she said.

Betsy Wiley, president of Hoosiers for Quality Education, said Pence exhausted every avenue possible to improve his relationship with Ritz.

“After trying, I believe, every way publicly and privately to work together, he’s been left to no other alternative,” she said. “He’s at a point now where it can’t continue. … We have our state superintendent walking out of meetings because she’s not getting her way on an agenda item.”

Late last year, Pence signed an executive order to dissolve his education agency. Dissolving it was “a good faith step toward restoring trust and harmony,” Pence said. But at the same time, he called on state legislators to come up with a change to state law that would remove Ritz as board chair.

”There’s never been a cross word between us,” Pence said, adding that he has worked with Ritz on a variety of issues and he’s confident they can work together to shorten the test.

Pence and Ritz have agreed on one thing in recent days: The state’s standardized test is too long, about 12 hours for many students. They’ve agreed to cut the test by about three hours and are working with the state legislature to get changes made before testing season begins.

When Indiana’s House Education Committee debated the bill that would strip her of the chairmanship, Ritz noted in testimony that the person elected state superintendent has also been board chair for more than 100 years. A shift amounts to a “political power move,” she said.

“The political climate of my election has caused power struggles among the governor’s appointed state board of education, the department of education, and the superintendent because the roles of each are not clearly defined in law,” she said, urging state lawmakers to devote a summer study committee to defining the roles. (Ritz’s office deferred to her House testimony instead of answering questions from POLITICO.)

The state Senate bill passed Tuesday would change the composition of the board of education, shrinking it to nine members from 11 and allowing the governor to appoint four members, state lawmakers to appoint four members and retaining the state superintendent as a member. The board would then elect its own chair. The house bill would keep the composition of the board as is, allowing members to elect their own chair.

State lawmakers will have to decide which version to send to Pence.

Petrilli noted that power wars are to be expected in some places with an elected superintendent. About a dozen state education chiefs are elected. Most of the others are appointed by governors or elected by state boards of education. Only two state education chiefs serve the dual role of state superintendent and state board chair: Ritz and Oklahoma’s Joy Hofmeister.

Former Wyoming Superintendent Cindy Hill went to war with state legislators who, in 2013, tried to strip her of her power, and she took them to court. The state Supreme Court ultimately ruled in her favor. And this month, elected Arizona Superintendent Diane Douglas attacked Gov. Doug Ducey for overturning her decision to fire two members of the state board of education. Both are Republicans.

Petrilli would prefer that all superintendents be appointed by the governor so states can pursue education agendas in a logical way.

If passed, the House legislation would take effect July 1. State lawmakers tweaked it earlier this month so it wouldn’t kick Ritz out of her board chair position immediately.

The extra time was built in to allow Ritz, Pence and the board members to work on their relationship.