Education will be front and center in next year’s race for governor in Indiana. State superintendent Glenda Ritz will run for governor next year in an attempt to unseat incumbent Mike Pence.
She will face John Gregg, a former lawmaker from Indiana who has run for governor before.
Ritz, a Democrat, has union support as she’s firmly against charter schools and vouchers. She’s also against “school and teacher accountability,” which likely means she doesn’t enjoy the stringent rules that surround how teachers and schools are evaluated.
Each subject–accountability, charter schools, and vouchers–received heavy support from Governor Pence.
According to WSJ.com, Ritz will run on a platform of making education accessible for everyone.
“Education is a catalyst for the advancement and improvement of our economy. We need an education system of equity and high quality throughout the state that will produce a well-education and well-paid workforce.”
While Ritz will likely have huge support from the left as Governor Pence isn’t the most popular politician in the state at the moment, she’ll have to clearly define her position on other issues, such as the economy.
If Ritz wants education to receive more support and change the direction of it in the state, simply staking out positions of what you’re against may not be enough to entice voters to head to the polls on your behalf.
Ritz is still finding her way politically and it is wonderful that education will play a starring role in her campaign. But she’ll need to carve out an area of what she supports and how she plans implement the changes needed to truly push education forward in Indiana.
