INDIANAPOLIS – Is Mike Pence trying to grade his own homework? Last week, Pence appeared to be talking out of both sides of his mouth when it came to the “independent” evaluations of ISTEP and HIP 2.0, key policies affecting the overall well-being of Hoosiers.
After a report found that the executive director of the School Board of Education manipulated an “independent” review of the ISTEP exam, Gov. Pence defended his appointee by saying he had “confidence in the integrity” of the SBOE. However, when asked about an independent review on the Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 – which receives its entire funding from the Affordable Care Act – Mike Pence said he had “no confidence” in the evaluation.
So when an evaluation is done with the help of his appointees – it’s A-OK. But when an evaluation is done by a third party, then there’s a problem? Not only is Mike Pence’s out-of-touch ideology getting in the way of common sense, but this sounds like double-speak from the Pence Administration. The Governor seems to only want biased results to help his political future.
SHOT: “Gov. Mike Pence has accused the Obama administration of hiring a biased contractor to evaluate Indiana’s HIP 2.0 program.” [Indy Star, 2.20.16]
“Pence has accused the administration of hiring an evaluator that is biased against Indiana’s approach.
“We have no confidence in any result that would be generated by that evaluation,” Pence said during an interview while attending the National Governors Association’s winter meeting in Washington, D.C.”
CHASER: “Indiana official had say in independent ISTEP report” [Associated Press, 2.16.16]
“A report summarizing what was billed as an independent investigation into Indiana’s new, unpopular standardized student exam includes edits and suggested changes by a state administrator hired by Gov. Mike Pence’s State Board of Education who altered language that reflected poorly on Republicans’ decision to substitute the exam for one based on national Common Core academic standards.
A Microsoft Word file obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request contains multiple edits and drafts of the report, including the final version, which was ultimately submitted by consultants hired by the state Board of Education but not yet released to the public.”
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