Last fall, educator Glenda Ritz trounced Indiana state superintendent Tiny Bennett, who outspent her 10-1.
Ritz collected more votes than newly elected Governor Mike Pence.
Ritz is a Democrat, meaning that Pence and the legislature want to nullify her election. Controlling the state board of education was not enough.
Pence announced today the creation of a new state agency–the Center for Education and Career Innovation–ansorbing some of the functions of the Department of Education and reducing Ritz’s authority.
This is disgraceful. Democracy is not war, where one side obliterates the other. Democracy requires a respect for the rule of law and the will of the people. When your side loses, you accept the loss and try to win next time.
Mike Pence, in his lust for power, has spit in the voters’ eye and showed his contempt for democracy.
For shame.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
There are no words…only DISGUSTING!
CPS principals get merit bonuses despite layoffs :
http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/22093100-418/cps-principals-get-merit-bonuses-despite-layoffs.html
This is the new shell game all over the country. Snydely Ricklash pulled the same end-run around the Board of Education in Michigame with his Education Achievement Authority (EAA) and of course his entourage of Emergency Managers.
The massive money moguls who bankroll Tiny Tony Bennett, Mr. Plutocrat Pence and the loyal cadre in OH, NC, TN, IL and beyond, do not believe in democracy and intend to obliterate it as it contradicts their motto: Profits at the Expense of Everyone.
The “austerity” that arrives in these states, does so after years of plundering the public pockets for private gain. This is not rhetoric, it is real and it is a national emergency of moral and social proportions.
Wonder where the $$ for the new “state agency” came from.
Nothing surprises me when talk involves the elite who run the world. They are so detached from the subtleties and harmony of the group behaviour that humans thrived in for centuries that they are virtually incapable of caring for the masses. This is when money and power cauterize the mind. What is deeply sad is that democracy reflects balance and all gain more than the rich will lose.
Money or harmony?
Which would you choose.
This is a reminder that oligarchies don’t just exist in “those other countries.” Hopefully, Americans will wake up to the power grab that is spreading across our country and do something about it.
The right wingers and libertarians hate democracy. The far right crazy Rep. Steve King proudly proclaims that America is not a democracy and thank God for that. He says that the US is a republic (true) and not a democracy ruled by the mob. A republic is a form of democracy, a republic is a representative democracy; yes, we are a republic and yes we are a democracy, not an absolute democracy ruled by a mob. Some of these libertarians hate democracy so much that they want to repeal the 17th Amendment which allowed for ordinary citizens to vote for senators. The Seventeenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1913, provided for the direct election of U.S. senators by citizens. Until 1913 state legislatures had elected U.S. senators. Sometimes the state legislatures became so stalemated, they might not select a senator for years at a time. Funny, the libertarians hate government so much and yet some of them don’t want the people voting for senators, they would rather leave that up to the state legislatures.
Scary.
Not only did he end run around the voters…he didn’t even tell Superintendent Ritz that he was doing it. She found out about it through news reports!
http://www.doe.in.gov/news/statement-indiana-department-education-response-governor-pence’s-announcement
How did we get this guy? Are those who voted for Pence embarrassed yet????
I’m not from Indiana, but, in fairness, it’s not like he had opposition. The only thing going for his opponent was his hat. Even given the lack of a decent opponent, the race was very close – apparently a lot of people preferred a hat over Mike Pence.
BTW, it’s always worth reminding people of Mike Pence’s claim to fame. While in Iraq, wearing body armor, surrounded by 200 U.S. troops and covered by 4 helicopters, he declared that the Iraq market was as safe as any market in Indiana. The following day over 75 people from that market were found dead. I’m thinking I don’t want to go to any Indiana markets.
Did Rep. Steve King really say that the United States is not a democracy and “thank God for that?” If so, he is incompetent and should resign. The United States is a republic, which is a representative democracy. Anyone who does not know that is not qualified to be in any elected office.
A Democratic Republic. Not a direct democracy where everyone votes on everything. The man is a KOOK!
Yes, disgraceful, ugly, tyrannical, gov. at all levels is inventing new overnight structures to reposition its power and to diminish opposition, to nullify elections and rule of law–two pillars of constitutional democracy–like Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg did in forcing himself an illegal 3rd term in NYC despite TWO popular referenda in favor of 2-term limits. Now, in NJ, right-wing Gov. Christie, in league with compliant Democrats, is renaming educational offices, inventing the title of “Chief” so that his Broadie State Educ Chief Cerf can appoint district officials not meeting state cert. reg’s. Power and wealth undermine law, elections, precedents, opposition. The extreme lengths to which current govt. and corp. go to capture wealth and power suggests to me that a “stealth coup” is underway in America, not a military takeover like we typically see, as in Egypt, but rather a steadily advancing society-wide nullification of the Constitution and democratic rights/practices/dissent, enabled by the corporate monopoly of the mass media, billionaires with vast sums in hand, along with the militarization of the police bringing illegal mass arrests like we saw in NYC ’04 GOP Convention and the violent demolition of Occupy Wall Street by riot police Nov. ’11.
Democracy is an example of balance in human endeavours. Equality is another example – a sore matter both here in the UK (which has the highest rich/poor ration in Europe apparently) and in the US – the greater the disparity, the more EVERYONE suffers – a paradox lost on those seeking ever more riches. The republican concept seems to go against the concept of balance – entrust the elite with power and you enter dangerous ground.
For more on this matter, read ‘The Spirit Level’.
Linda: A few years ago, I was watching a hearing ( I was hearing a hearing, too) on CSPAN of which Steve King was a member. One of the Democratic members of the panel casually mentioned that the US was a democracy. When it was King’s turn to speak, he was quite offended and quite aggressive in stating that the US was not a democracy and thank God for that. Sorry, I can’t find, a site for the quote to confirm what I heard a few years ago, maybe 5 or 6 years ago. But I have had Internet debates with libertarians who vehemently assert that the US is not a democracy and how dare I even suggest such a silly notion. You should read some of the other crazy things that Steve King says, it’s a laundry list – he is proudly incompetent and he should resign if he had any shame, which he does not. Link to King’s craziness: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/199988/30-of-congressman-steve-kings-greatest-quotes/
King praised Joe McCarthy as “a great American hero.” http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2008/03/08/20152/steve-king-record/
He’s a nut. He is referring to a direct democracy. I wish it was because I’m sure the idiotic ideas he proposes would be stopped by the people
I suppose he’d rather call the US a “republic” which is perfectly correct because we do not vote on issues directly but through representatives, and moreover representatives chosen by each state. Do you think that’s what he meant? I don’t think he was just being picky. We live in a federated republic. It would not be inaccurate to say we live in a “democratic republic.”
Why the whining? Is Mike Pence doing anything different that our president? Despite the criticism Pence is acting within the law.
While Ritz may have won an election, so did Pence.
On a different note, consider how Common Core was “adopted”, WITHOUT a vote in legislatures across the country.
We may like how the sausage (governance) is created, but it sure is tasty when it arrives on our plates. ajbruno14 gmail
First, to the extent our president may be doing the same thing (and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is, but I can’t think of a specific example off hand), that doesn’t excuse Pence from doing it.
Second, what law gives the governor the right to create a non-elected position to override the authority of an elected on?
Third, what do you have against democracy (or democratic republicanism, as the case may be)? For all your griping that the U.S. DOE can’t/shouldn’t be overriding the authority of the states, it seems awfully convenient that you support this move by Pence. Seems your concern about overstepping boundaries is rather relative.
AJ Bruno, What is “tasty” about the suspension of democracy and deliberate acts to nullify elections?
A downside to a lack of democracy is that corruption is more likely.
And the DEFORMERS continue with the help of the POTUS!
Anyone as sick of double talk as me? Bet more than ever.
The pro-individual nature of the American way is at odds with the collective voting of democracy, so maybe it can never really be democratic.
What could be more individual than democracy? Certainly not monarchy, oligarchy, plutocracy, fascism, or anything similar.
This will backfire. It’s already backfiring in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
School reformers continue to get around regulation and oversight. There’s an enormous amount of public money changing hands. Corruption is inevitable. These state boards are rubber stamps, riddled with conflicts and captured by the interests they’re supposed to be regulating. We’re seeing it in Columbus and we’re seeing it in Cleveland here.
We’ve seen lots of corruption and self-dealing with the weak regulatory and oversight schemes now in place as far as public money going to privatized schools.
It will explode as reformers lobby to remove oversight altogether.
Pence is using his new “career Center” as a way to defund the Indiana Department of Ed. Check the article and you will find the three entities that must cough up (with blood, I suspect) the initial $5 million to run the new Center.
Why don’t the people of Indiana form groups to protest and create an outcry?
As soon as I left my classroom on election night in November 2012, I tuned in to the election returns as soon as I got home. Glenda Ritz beat Tony Bennett fair and square. And she also received more votes than Governor Pence himself. Indiana is such a red state that it surprised many that any Democrat could win anywhere. (Bennett was the biggest upset; I think the only other candidate who lost Indiana with fewer votes was President Obama. Joe Donnelly was the other Democratic winner when he beat Richard “rape is what God intended” Mourdock for US Senate.)
Pence himself won by a slender majority. He didn’t get an overwhelming mandate in an overwhelmingly GOP state.
With that said, I was surprised to discover that Glenda Ritz is a registered Republican–something I didn’t find out until election night. She never caucused with the Democrats. She switched parties to run against Bennett. Why would Pence treat Ritz this way? Is it because she doesn’t follow lockstep with his harmful policies?
Dienne, Pence’s opponent, John Gregg, had more than a hat. Read Brian Howey to see why it is important to talk to our elected officials. I’m so glad he talked to John Gregg all those years ago! Otherwise the Bennett emails would never have seen the light of day! http://howeypolitics.com/main.asp?SectionID=10&SubSectionID=21&ArticleID=8970
It was reported on our local Indiana news today, that Mike Pence is being encouraged to run for president. God help us all!
So far Pence’s governorship has vacillated between lackluster and abusive (abuse of power). During campaign season, Mr. Pence said creating jobs would be his top priority. Well, he seems more interested in creating bureaucracy rather than jobs by forming this ill-advised education panel.
Some of the less charitable remarks about Pence are “empty-suit” (regarding his current job as governor) and “political back-bencher” (regarding his time in congress).
Even though it does not relate to education and ed-reform, a group of citizens opposed to Pence’s attempt to write a no-gay-marriage amendment into the state constitution formed a website and called it “Pence-orship,” a very cute play on words.
Pence clearly has his OWN agenda. His arrogance against PUBLIC wishes is disgusting! Less government that was a Republican ideal is now gone. Instead, government by privatization, ie. government from his back pocket……….
“Democracy” is indeed the fundamental criterion of legitimacy in this society, but only “republican” or “representative” democracy. It is democracy constrained by state and national constitutions to protect the minorities. Many progressives think democracy is a winner take ALL game. The President is one of those, implied by his remark “I won the election.” It is not surprising that Pence would do this given the general intransigence and UNWILLINGNESS to compromise of the progressive left, as in President Obama’s major actions so far, many of which violate the spirit of the federal constitution. It SHOULD work both ways for both sides. If you win you win, but that doesn’t mean the opposition goes away.
You can already see what his administration’s policy is with respect to the PK-12 public schools. He just last week was trying to get his hands on higher education. Neither is in the spirit of the federal constitution, but he is trying to take over the economy, bit by bit, health care, the banking system, contract law in the saving of GM and Chrysler, and now education, nationally. Just because he won, doesn’t me everyone has to lie down and become his plank road.
There is a remedy to this effort of the progressives over the last 100 years to take over the entire government and society. Each state is permitted by the constitution to call for a constitutional convention to propose amendments to the constitution to reverse the most egregious of the power grabs under President Obama. Check out Article V. The states (i.e. the people) can override Congress and the President and the Supreme court by proposing new amendments and then securing their ratification by 3/4 of the states.
In a way it looks like Pence is trying to pull the same kind of administrative power grab that Obama is. He should know better and live with more grace. However, given the relentless attacks on minority educational rights by the progressive left, perhaps there is a defense for his actions.
I thought Republicans were for “smaller government.” Ironic, isn’t it?
What has troubled us about Governor Pence is that he refuses to ever even question the fully documented violation of Indiana law, criminal computer tampering, we have no doubts was committed by “bully” Plymouth superintendents. This is despite our exhaustive appeals for his, former Governor Daniels’, and the IDOE’s assistance in addressing this disturbing matter, including the costly SECRET investigation by the IDOE of two public school educators without their knowledge, or opportunity to refute the slander against them promoted by the IDOE. Of course, these wrongs were “protected” by the PCS attorney, Governor Pence’s (and Daniel’s) good friend and former campaign manager—at public expense of over $25,000 for this attorney’s unethical legal fees covering up Indiana public school superintendents’ malicious crimes. It is frightening when political leaders, and law enforcement, are not held accountable to uphold our laws—but instead, escalate those laws’ violations by their chosen silence .
This should be given to the press. They would be all over it like a cheap suit if they had the marbles to pursue it.
Wow (Jaw on the floor)! How is this even legal??
Indiana is becoming more of a dictatorial state than a democratic state. What Tony Bennett did was no different than payola. Just a horse of a different color. The newly created center for education is predominatly republican which is not fair to the people of and sdafundermines Glenda Ritzs job..