Tuesday, August 30, 2016

September Storm - Happy Birthday Glenda Ritz


Thursday, September 1 is Glenda Ritz's Birthday. Hoosier Voices is hosting a twitter storm to celebrate this day by sharing Glenda's accomplishments. Join us by tweeting all day using #istandwithritz #ritz4edand showing your support for her re-election bid.

In order for this storm to be effective it should follow some simple guidelines and run continuously from 7:00am through 8:00pm.

1. Posts should be supportive of Glenda and highlight her accomplishments
2. Posters should post on both Twitter and Facebook
3. Posts should be shared by one's self as well as "re-tweeted" and "shared"
4. Posts by teachers should NOT be made during school time or on school technology; however, posts can be scheduled for twitter using TweetDeck This is a simple site and multiple posts can be written and scheduled hours (even days) in advance.  This will allow those who work during the hours of the STORM to post LEGALLY by having their posts scheduled in advance so they will post during selected time frames. 
Image result for tweetdeck
TweetDeck













5. Posts should contain #istandwithritz and #ritz4ed along with any other desired hashtags (#NoTonyClone #NoTonyCrony #HappyBdayGlenda #istillstandwithritz)

SUGGESTED TWEETS/POSTS

It would be fun if everyone would start with this post at 7:00am

Happy Birthday Superintendent of PUBLIC Instruction Glenda Ritz #HappyBDayGlenda #istandwithritz #ritz4ed


#istandwithritz because we need fair funding for PUBLIC schools

#istandwithritz because she respects teachers and their profession

Glenda has always put students before politics, that's why #istandwithritz

Glenda knows that students are more than test scores #istandwithritz #studentsRmorethanscores #ritz4ed

Superintendent Ritz knows that teaching is more important than testing #istandwithritz

We need someone who will stand up for PUBLIC education, which is why #istandwithritz

More time for teaching, less time for testing #istandwithritz

PUBLIC schools need an advocate in state office #istandwithritz #NoTonyClone #ritz4ed

ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
Point to these accomplishments in posts or summarize into tweets.

-Replaced a political agenda with an education agenda

-Replaced a “school takeover” agenda with a “school outreach” division

-Improved 103 schools in a single year, by increasing direct support to schools and educators through her innovative Division of Outreach.

-Led the effort to end the ISTEP and is working across the aisle to replace it with a test that is less time-consuming, less costly, and more informative

-Travels 2-3 days every week to local schools to listen to their needs

-Hosted Indiana’s first statewide teacher recruitment conference to encourage high school students to pursue teaching as a career.

-Created a list of Promising Practices found in Indiana schools to improve the visibility of how educators change lives every day

-Achieved a 95% graduation rate for CTE students, by providing more high-quality Career and Technical Education opportunities

-Trained more than 1,700 new school safety specialists and created the IDOE Response Team to better serve schools during a large-scale crisis.

-Meets with education stakeholders every week, including state agencies, non-profit groups, legislators, chambers of commerce, mayors, and more.

-Created the Student Advisory Council to get input from students on education policy

Imagining 2020: In the next four years, Superintendent Ritz will

-Make high quality Pre-K available in every school corporation in the state for every parent who wants it

-Continue to provide more time for learning and less time for testing

-Work towards achieving a 91% graduation rate for all students, the highest in the nation, training them to enter living wage careers or post-secondary education

-Propose fair and adequate funding for all public schools

-Treat our teachers like professionals, including them in the process to end the teacher shortage and increasing opportunities for professional development

To learn more about what Glenda Ritz has accomplished, visit: the Ritz4Education website

We need four more years of Glenda Ritz’s leadership

- another four years giving teachers more time to teach
- another four years reducing costly, high-stakes testing
- another four years expanding a bottom-up outreach program to schools
- another four years building a statewide literacy initiative
- another four years increasing wraparound services for our most vulnerable students
- another four years advocating for the recruitment and retention of quality educators
- another four years advocating for more money to go to public education



The Story of Why Glenda Ritz Ran for Office

In 2012, a third-grade student walked into the library and I asked her if she would like to check out a book. She replied, “Mrs. Ritz, I don’t need to check out a book, because I just passed my iRead3 test.” I thought to myself, “What are we doing to these kids? They think the only purpose of reading is to pass a test.”
That’s when I decided to run for Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction.
I had never run for office before; I am an educator, not a politician. But federal and state politics had entered our schools pushing high stakes testing, demeaning the teaching profession, privatizing public schools through state takeover, and worsening the fight for funding and resources. I could no longer stand by and let out-of-state special interest groups and their political agenda continue to harm our students, educators, schools, and communities.