INDIANAPOLIS – One day after a news report found that staff at the State Board of Education manipulated an “independent” review of the ISTEP exam, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody urged Governor Mike Pence to fire the board’s executive director in order to restore the public’s trust.

“Any way you look at it, Mr. Snethen manipulated what was supposed to be an independent report to strike out information damaging to his boss, Governor Pence. This clearly crosses a line. It violates the public trust, it’s unethical, and it’s grounds for termination,” said John Zody, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman. “Mike Pence needs to do the right thing here – terminate this individual and explain to the public how this happened. If he doesn’t, Hoosiers should begin to question the governor’s direct involvement here.”

This call comes as Mike Pence has continued to politicize education and harm the overall well-being of Indiana schools, all while withholding vital information from the public. From trying to strip the powers of Glenda Ritz to declining an $80 million grant that would have helped establish a statewide Pre-K program, to the attempted creation of a state run media outlet and consistent refusals to release information to the public, Mike Pence’s ideology continues to cause the state to fall behind the rest of the nation.

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