Another state's education power struggle

Learning Curve

ALEC, the corporate-controlled legislative group promoting a systemic destruction of public education, has released its annual report card. Indiana, ALEC's poster child for destructive reform, earns a B+ on the dubious roll and ranks it first in the May 9, 2013

Bad news for voucher supporters

A different state, a different decision. Louisiana's Supreme Court has ruled the funding mechanism for the school voucher program violates theMay 7, 2013

Online testing's 'bumpy' path

If Indiana lawmakers had cold feet about the Common Core State Standards a week ago, they should have been totally chilled by the state's online testing fiascoMay 3, 2013

It will be the end of the legislative session before Indiana voters know exactly what Republican lawmakers did to marginalize Glenda Ritz, newly elected superintendent of public instruction. But chances are it can't be worse than what the Wyoming legislature and Republican Gov. Matt Mead have done to Cindy Hill, the GOP schools chief.

Education Week's Andrew Ujifusa writes of the ugly intra-party stand-off at his State EdWatch blog. He cites a Casper Star-Tribune report that the governor has signed legislation effectively removing the superintendent of public instruction from overseeing Wyoming public schools. The bill transfers her duties to a new director he appointed this week.

Hill isn't going down without a fight. She showed up at the governor's press conference with an attorney to serve Mead with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of his decision.

If Indiana lawmakers want a preview of what a power struggle with the duly elected state superintendent might look like, they can look to Wyoming.

Public sentiment, by the way, seems to be running with Cindy Hill, who today announced she will challenge the governor in 2014.