GOP Bill Would Eliminate Election Of State Schools Leader Sooner

Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 8:45 AM

By Mike Perleberg @mikedup84

Currently, Indiana voters elect the state superintendent of public instruction, but that could end as soon as 2020.

Indiana Statehouse

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Statehouse Republicans are looking to move up the date for the Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction to be changed from an elected position to an appointed one.

The House Education Committee voted 10-1 Wednesday to change the leader of Indiana’s public education system to an appointed position starting in 2021. The

Back during the 2017 legislative session, lawmakers had originally scheduled that change to take place in 2025, with the position to be renamed Secretary of Education.

The date move legislation authored by House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) is thought to be fueled by current GOP State Superintendent Jennifer McCormick’s announcement last year that she will not run for a second term in 2020. McCormick blamed a governance structure that is getting in the way of doing “what’s best for kids.”

GOP legislators pushed for eliminating the state superintendent position as an elected office after numerous policy differences between former Republican governor Mike Pence and Democratic superintendent Glenda Ritz in 2012-2016.