Glenda Ritz, Indiana’s Democratic state schools chief, lost her bid for re-election Tuesday to Republican Jennifer McCormick, a superintendent in Yorktown, Ind., according to the Associated Press.
Ritz had shocked the state in 2012 by ousting Tony Bennett, a Republican school choice and accountability darling. She had a lot of support from the union and was skeptical of the Common Core.
While in office, Ritz chaired a blue-ribbon committee to reverse a rolling teacher shortage and helped convince legislators to place a moratorium on using scores from the state’s standardized test in grading teachers and schools.
But she was blamed for a series of technical scoring glitches regarding the state’s standardized test known as iStep and for haphazard communication from her department to local superintendents and the media.
McCormick campaigned on a promise to increase school choice, continue to use test scores in teacher evaluations, and get rid of the state’s A-F school accountability system.
Also Tuesday, the state’s Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb beat out John Gregg, who worked with Ritz on a common education platform.