Although Democrats and the teachers unions are cheering the victory of Glenda Ritz over Republican Tony Bennett, they might want to be mindful of the old adage of be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.
Ritz pulled a major upset last week, defeating Bennett 53-47 percent. There were a number of reasons for her victory: a good ground game by teachers and the unions using social media. There was a tea party backlash against Common Core, the federal education standards Indiana was using. Richard Mourdock’s comments didn’t help matters much at all, and massive turnout in Marion County helped Ritz as well.
A good friend of mine pointed this out on his Facebook page and I thought the points were worth repeating.
– House Republicans and Speaker Brian Bosma, which actually passed all of Indiana’s school reform legislation – majority extended to quorum-proof numbers.
– Senate Republicans and President Pro-Tem David Long, which also passed all of the legislation – quorum proof majority maintained.
– Rep. Robert Behning, chair of House Ed Committee and author of much of Indiana’s school reform legislation – re-elected (easily).
– Sen. Dennis Kruse, chair of the Senate Ed Committee and Behning’s counterpart – re-elected (easily).
– Sen. Scott Schneider, member of the Senate Ed Committee and one of the core leaders on school reform – re-elected despite being the most hotly contested legislative race in the state.
– Gov-Elect Mike Pence, who made continuation and expansion of reforms a core focus of his campaign –elected (easily).
– Todd Huston, former chief of staff to Tony Bennett – elected (without opposition) to the House.
– IPS school reform candidates – re-elected (easily) and now in the majority.
– Mary Ann Sullivan, Democrat House member and school reformer who challenged an ISTA-backed incumbent for the Senate – lost, but greatly outperformed in this heavily Republican district.
– Reps. Ed Clere, Rhonda Rhodes, Jeff Thompson, Dave Frizzell, Kathy Heuer, all members of the House Ed Committee and leaders of the reforms – all re-elected (most of them with ease).
– Sens. Carlin Yoder, Luke Kenley and Jean Leising, members of the Senate Ed Committee and additional leaders of the reforms – all re-elected (easily).
Upon Ritz’s win, Democrats and teachers were declaring victory and the era of school reform was over. Some of them even went so far as to make YouTube videos equating Bennett’s loss to Hitler’s defeat in World War II.
Stevie Wonder can see reform is not going to stop. Both the incoming and outgoing governors of Indiana, House Speaker Bosma, Senate Pro Tempore Long, and a number of members of the State Board of Education have told me the reforms are staying in place. And there are a number of behind the scenes moves being made to limit Ritz’s ability to stifle progress.
And while us pro-reform advocates may have lost an ally in Tony Bennett, by looking at the above list, we definitely won the war.
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is an attorney, political commentator and publisher of IndyPolitics.org. You can email comments to him at abdul@indypolitics.org.
