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Jennifer McCormick says Glenda Ritz's education department is disorganized and disconnected from schools
Yorktown Community Schools Superintendent Jennifer McCormick announced today she is running for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction at a kickoff event Thursday Jan. 28, 2018 at the Indiana Statehouse. Eric Weddle / WFYI
A small town GOP school superintendent is challenging Democrat Glenda Ritz in her reelection bid for state superintendent in the 2016 general election.
Yorktown Community Schools Superintendent Jennifer McCormick is entering the superintendent's race on the Republican side. If elected at the Republican party's state convention in April, she would take on the incumbent Ritz, who’s tenure thus far has been marked by political fights with Statehouse Republicans, including Governor Pence.
McCormick made the announcement today, vowing to make the the state department of education a "great partner" and make a credible statewide test system.
She also said political squabbling must be kept out of the race.
"We have kids on the line, my own child is one of them," she said of her senior son. "Politics have got to be taken out. It is time to move forward. It's time to collaborate, communicate and play nice,"
Later adding that accusations of who was "for" or "against" teachers had to end, and instead focused on "who can lead and who is not leading."
McCormick has been superintendent for six years in Yorktown -- part of the Muncie Metropolitan area. Before that she was assistant superintendent and an elementary school principal in the district, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She touted her experience in the classroom and as a school leader and said she understands how many educators are frustrated with the ISTEP and the past three years of education policy and management in the state.
McCormick said she was a member of the teacher's union while a teacher and that she has not always been a Republican.
"Indiana was once a leader in the nation -- today we are not," she said. "Today we have a department of education that is disorganized and disconnected from schools. They are also unaware of the local impact this has on schools."
McCormick also said professional development for teachers needs improved and more effort put towards attracting and retaining top teachers.
McCormick is not the only Republican seeking the state's top education post.
In September Dawn Wooten, a long time educator from Fort Wayne, filed to run for State Superintendent of Public Instruction as a Republican.
Indiana’s next superintendent will face a complex and ever-changing education policy landscape.
Lawmakers and educators are calling for the end to the annual standardized ISTEP exam; some would like to see a different type of student assessment used.
The recent reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act scales back the No Child Left Behind Act. The next state superintendent will oversee how Indiana adapts to a reduced federal role in its public schools.
Ritz, a former Indiana State Teachers Association board member, rode a grassroots campaign in 2012 to oust former state Superintendent Tony Bennett, a Republican, with 52 percent of the vote. The same year Republican Mike Pence was elected governor.
Bennett championed the adoption of the Common Core academic standards and other reforms such as teacher evaluations and state-takeover of chronically failing schools. Ritz said her win was a referendum on Bennett's policies.
Political fighting and accusations between Ritz and Pence has become a hallmark of both their first terms.
In November 2013 Ritz accused Pence of "not seeking a power-grab, but rather a complete takeover” of state education policy. The reason? Pence formed a new education agency to support his appointees on the State Board of Education by executive order.
The two sparred over the length of the 2015 ISTEP. Pence criticized Ritz's leadership during a press conference before the two found common ground on shortening a new version of the statewide math and English exam.
Then during last year’s legislative session, Republican lawmakers attempted to reduce Ritz's education oversight through various bills.
Last June Ritz began a challenge against Pence in the 2016 gubernatorial election but bowed out two months later to focus on re-election as the state superintendent.
]McCormick has an undergraduate degree from Purdue University and advance degrees from Ball State and Indiana State universities, according to Yorktown Schools. She is married to a teacher in the district and they have one child who attends school there.
Asked to comment on McCormick characterization of Ritz's dpartment, Ritz 4 Education campaign manager Annie Mansfield, just said that Ritz is focused on strengthening all schools.
"In her first year in office, Superintendent Ritz created the Outreach Division of School Improvement, which hired staff in nine different regions throughout the state to serve as a direct line of communication with the department," Mansfield wrote in an email.
About Yorktown Community Schools
McCormick's Yorktown Community Schools corporation is made up of four schools with a total enrollment of 2,466 students this school year.
The district is rated A on the state’s A-F accountability scale. Last year 96.9 students graduated -- the lowest rate in the district of the past four years.
Like most other schools across the state, Yorktown saw a major drop in the pass rate of the 2015 ISTEP -- a decline of 22.4 percentage points to 62.3 percent.
District enrollment is majority white at 87.6 percent and 34 percent of student receive free or reduced price meals.
Teachers is the district were rated: effective, 64.4 percent; highly effective, 31.9 percent or not evaluated, 3.7 percent.. No teachers were rated ineffective or required improvement, according to the most recently available state data.
This report will be updated.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated Jennifer McCormick was the first to enter the Republican field for State Superintedent. She is not. Dawn Wooten filed paperwork with the state in September 2015.
Contact WFYI education reporter Eric Weddle at eweddle@wfyi.org or call (317) 614-0470. Follow on Twitter: @ericweddle.
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