Indiana voters oust union-backed, anti-school choice state superintendent Glenda Ritz

EAG:

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s union-backed Democratic Superintendent of Public Instruction was swept out of office Tuesday in an election dominated by Republican victories.

Glenda Ritz, darling of the Indiana State Teachers Association union, lost her re-election bid to Republican Jennifer McCormick, a reform-minded candidate who cast herself as a teacher-friendly Republican, the Indianapolis Star reports.

According to the Indiana Election Division, McCormick topped Ritz 1,352,073 votes to 1,188,789.

“People understood that leadership was needed, that partnerships were a problem in Indiana,” McCormick told Chalkbeat.org. “They understand the assessment piece is a mess. So people understood. They heard our message and obviously agreed with it tonight. But it also helped too we had a very successful night for the whole Republican ticket.”

Ritz, who won an upset victory in 2012 against popular education reform superintendent Tony Bennett, spent most of her time in office attempting to repeal the progress made by Bennett in linking teacher accountability to student performance and greatly expanding school choice in the Hoosier state.

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