Public Education in Indiana, if We Can Keep it

New to the battle to save public education in Indiana?  Looking for information on the State Superintendent Race Between Tony Bennett and Glenda Ritz?

Here is your program for a self-guided, Internet tour of an election that will determine if Hoosiers will maintain public education or see it dismantled.  The sites below go beyond the basic campaign sites and media outlets.

Blogs and websites concerned with public education in Indiana:

Indiana School Matters

Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education

The Battle for Indiana Public Education

Indiana Coalition for Public Education

The Huntington Teacher

Save Art Education

Live Long and Prosper

A Teacher's Fight

Doug Martin on FDL

Facebook pages and groups:

Parents and Educators against Daniels Bennett Ed Deform (3,895 likes)

Educators against Tony Bennett (1,463 likes)

Education Forum of Indiana (306 members, not one post supporting Tony Bennett)

Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education (222 likes, Endorsed Ritz)

Hoosier Moms say no to Common Core: (197 likes, Tea Party/Republican based, against Bennett’s Common Core initiative)

Hoosier Educators in Support of Public Education (69 likes, has a Ritz4ed header)

Opt Out of the State Test (60 likes, supports resistance to all high-stakes testing)

Republicans for Ritz (79 likes, just launched)

If you are familiar with these sites or have browsed through them, you will realize not one supports current superintendent Tony Bennett.  I have not purposely excluded any state websites or groups supporting Bennett.  There are no sites in the state of Indiana that support Tony Bennett.

Bennett’s only support has come from huge corporations buying out education.  In an attempt to disguise their interests, they “donate money” to bogus education reform groups, such as Stand for Children [sic], which then endorse a candidate such as Bennett who is the willing hand-maiden to their corporate takeover.

The battle for Ritz supporters this election is not “us vs. them.”  Bennett has very few supporters because his positions are indefensible.  Still, running as a republican, Bennett will win this election if uninformed voters do not hear how he is dismantling public education.   Too many republican voters may unwittingly pull the lever for a candidate they would not choose had they known any facts.

Ritz supporters, our battle is against silence. It will take years to fix the damage Bennett has wreaked on Hoosier schools.  Four more years of Tony Bennett’s policies and the damage may well be irreversible. Bennett has negotiated with the lives of children for far too long.  We cannot let silence win. 

From now through election day, we must speak loud and clear in our support for Glenda Ritz and public education today.  Be sure to email, call, and talk to everyone you know to get out the message to vote for Glenda Ritz.