Jennifer McCormick visits WISH-TV studio after winning election for Indiana schools chief

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH/AP) — Republican Jennifer McCormick has been elected Indiana’s state schools superintendent of public instruction, defeating Democratic incumbent Glenda Ritz.

McCormick is now superintendent of the Yorktown Community Schools near Muncie. She ran a campaign critical of Ritz’s management of the Education Department and maintained she could work better with the Republican-dominated Legislature.

Ritz was the only Democrat among Indiana’s elected state officeholders for the past four years. She clashed frequently with Republican Gov. Mike Pence and GOP lawmakers over issues such as administration of the A-F school ratings system and expansion of the state’s private school voucher and charter school programs.

McCormick will be involved in upcoming debates over the state’s selection of a new standardized exam to replace the much-maligned ISTEP and the push for expansion of state-funded preschool programs.