State Superintendent Glenda Ritz will have a new partner managing the Indiana State Board of Education next month, and it might be a board member who often disagrees with her.
A push by several members of the board could make Sarah O’Brien, a first-grade teacher from Avon, the vice chairwoman next month, a new position created by the legislature that will share some powers with Ritz.
Cari Whicker, a board member and teacher, told Chalkbeat today that a majority of board members agree that O’Brien’s longevity on the board and experience could make her a good match for vice chairwoman.
“Sarah will be a great fit for that position,” Whicker said. “And I’m optimistic we can put her in that position because she’s had a lot of history on the board. She’s a fellow teacher on the board, and obviously I’m supportive of that, and she’s always calm and respectful and poised and obviously would do a good job in this role.”
If elected by a majority of the state board, O’Brien would lead the board if Ritz is absent. Ritz and O’Brien would be equally responsible for compiling meeting agendas and taking recommendations from other board members, according to the new law.
Whicker said the position also would relieve pressure on Ritz and future board leaders to be present at every meeting where the board might need to be represented, such as a public hearings. Giving board members more opportunities to lead is better for everyone, she said.
“I think we better serve the board, too, because it’s an awfully big position, and if we can spread it out, it helps everybody out,” Whicker said.
But Ritz has strongly opposed the suggestion that she should share her power to lead the board.
Senate Bill 1, a focal point of this year’s legislative session, sparked rollicking debates over who should lead the state board. Ritz and other critics of the bill asserted it was a way for the Republican-led legislature to oust Ritz from a position of power, but supporters said it was both common and logical for a board to elect its own leader.
The bill, signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence last month, will let Ritz finish out her term as state superintendent and board chairwoman. When a new state superintendent is elected in 2016, that person won’t automatically lead the board — the group will instead vote for a leader from among its members.
Whicker said she believes a majority of the board will support O’Brien for vice chairwoman, based on conversations with others on the board. O’Brien’s father is state Rep. Bill Fine, R-Munster, who backed the bill to create the position of vice chairwoman.
“Certainly more than most are supportive of her,” Whicker said. “And so it would be nice to feel like that’s a consensus when we go into that meeting and not have any contention there in selecting somebody.”
The board met for the first time with newly appointed members last week, and the meeting was absent much of the tension that had been present among some of the outgoing board members.
At last month’s meeting, new board member Lee Ann Kwiatkowski was selected to represent the board on a data recording committee with members of the Indiana General Assembly, and board member Gordon Hendry was picked to remain as leader of the board’s strategic planning committee.
