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Opinion: For Emperor Mike Pence, Learning Is Everything

By John Dodge

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Emperor Mike Pence, the Supreme Leader of the great state of Indiana, has impeccable timing when to comes to how he learns things.

First, consider his loyal lieutenants' plans to develop a state-controlled news service. His servants toiled for months, crafting the clever title "JustIN" and naming a "managing editor" and "editorial board." The goal was to provide important propaganda information to the under-served populace.

Once the news broke, Mr. Pence said he "first learned" of the details by reading about it the Indianapolis Star. He then heroically swooped in and crushed the idea.

Now, consider the issue surrounding the ballooning controversy over the length of the student assessment examination, known as ISTEP.

Pence "first learned" in the past few days that the testing time had exploded from about five or six hours last year to 11 or 12 hours this year.

The most-recent news accounts on this issue, date back to late in January. Parents and educators have also been painfully aware that the practice ISTEPs were taking five or six hours alone.

Pence must be rather selective when it comes to his newspaper reading.

School superintendents have been telling lawmakers for months about the problem. Did this issue not come up in the governor's meetings with legislative leaders?

Pence's press secretary, Kara Brooks, said the governor first learned of the issue from concerned parents and teachers sometime in the past week.

The emperor is a brilliant political tactician, however.

"I have here for the parents, children and teachers," he said.

On Monday, shortly after "learning" of the burden on the children, Pence got out in front of the issue, signing an executive order, which would free all of the state's resources to shorten the test.

Actually, what that means is that the governor's office is paying consultants to make test-shortening recommendations to State Superintendent Glenda Ritz.

See, the emperor has a lot of power. He enjoys a massive, lock-step majority in both houses of the state legislature and full authority to appoint members of the State Board of Education. He is even trying to usurp Ritz's authority.

Just after the supreme leader's testing announcement, his foot soldiers in the State House of Representatives passed a bill that would allow the members of the State School Board to appoint their chairman.

That person is currently Ritz, legitimately elected to the position by the people. Come this summer, when the bill goes into effect, she won't have that role. (Technically, the bill still needs to pass in the Senate, where Republicans enjoy a super-majority.)

Voters? Screw them.

Despite all of that loyalty and power, the emperor himself cannot order changes to the test.

Pence spent some rare quality time with the media (those folks he wanted to circumvent with JustIN) in Indianapolis yesterday to express his outrage over the testing situation.

He needed to move quickly. Show decisive leadership. Be the hero. The decree was issued, and the emperor placed blame squarely at the feet of his political nemesis, Ritz.

It's her fault, he said. We met last week, he said. She said nothing about the 12-hour testing death march. She's in charge of the test. She blew it.

Pence also acknowledged that his wife, Karen, a veteran educator, reminds him all the time that he is no expert in education.

Are the royal subjects of the Hoosier state to believe that Mrs. Pence never discussed assessment issues with her husband? Or perhaps there was some selective listening on the part of the governor.

Actually, that would make sense.

The test this year is twice as long as last year because there wasn't enough time to vet the exam and reduce the number of questions.

The new test was needed to assess children against the state's new, more rigorous standards.

However, test developers needed more time to make sure the questions were accurately testing a student's knowledge.

The state asked the federal Department of Education for more time. That extension was denied.

Basically, this test is like a rough draft of a book before it is edited.

Now, the state has just a few weeks to chop the test in half.

Experts say that timetable is insane. Children were to start taking the exams next month. Pence said it can be done, which is why he took "decisive action" on Monday.

The test in any form is now suspect.

Now, a doubly unreliable test will be used to judge the quality of teachers' work in the classroom and ultimately the grade issued to the school district.

Why doubly unreliable? Because the ISTEP does a poor job of grading teachers.

Plus, the fate of entire towns--quality schools attract future residents, increase home values and drive business--are placed in the hands of small children, armed with No. 2 pencils and, maybe, computer mouses.

The only solution is to suspend the test this year. That would mean losing $200 million in federal funds because the state didn't comply with the test-happy bureaucrats in Washington.

Brooks said Pence did not consider canceling the test.

The governor said, "Our administration is committed to maintaining accountability within our schools and ensuring the best possible education for each and every Hoosier child."

Emperor Pence could easily tap the state's reserve to make up the difference and continue to blame, rightly or wrongly, everybody else for the mess.

However, he either can't, or won't.

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