Legislation to remove Glenda Ritz as chair of the State Board of Education may expand to address other tension points between the board and the superintendent.
Senate President David Long says House and Senate negotiators have talked with Ritz‘s office while seeking what he calls a "holistic fix" to the turf battles which have plagued the board.
"There's only one thing people focus on and that's the chairmanship," says Long. "But for the board to work effectively it must have the information it needs on our outcomes out there to help guide the policy."
The original bill changed the makeup of the board while ending the superintendent‘s automatic chairmanship. Long says legislators are looking at other issues, such as complaints the superintendent has balked at providing data on topics ranging from student test scores to bid specs for the redesigned ISTEP exam.
The Democratic superintendent has clashed frequently with the board, which is required to be bipartisan but was appointed entirely by Republican Governors Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence.
Disagreements over what items would be placed on meeting agendas and even when meetings would adjourn prompted Pence to call for elimination of Ritz‘s authority to run those meetings, by having the board elect its own chair.