Wright laments bill reducing role of elected Supt. of Public Instruction

For immediate release:
April 16, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. Melanie Wright today issued the following statement regarding the passage of Senate Bill 1 by the Indiana House of Representatives yesterday (Wed., April 15):

“This week, the Indiana House passed Senate Bill 1, which takes another step toward taking control of education policy in our state away from the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction and into the hands of appointed members on the state Board of Education. If this becomes law, the superintendent will no longer chair the Board of Education meetings.

“The advocates of this legislation continue to maintain that bill is all about improving process. Politics has nothing to do with it, they claim.

“But what we are doing is placing control of education policy with a centralized board of appointees, who are beholden to those who have appointed them…not the people of Indiana.

“The real shame here is that the constant focus on disputes between the state board and Superintendent Glenda Ritz take away from what we need to be discussing in Indiana: our kids’ education. Nothing in Senate Bill 1 helps us improve our classrooms and advance the lives of those who populate those classrooms.

“Even though I have been your state representative for a very short time, I have been here long enough to know that there is a growing tide of people—Republicans and Democrats alike—who are getting fed up with the constant infighting over education.

“The time is coming when that view will be our guide in the state of Indiana…and that is when we will start seeing a growing, vibrant school system in our state.”