INDIANAPOLIS (AP): Democrats sharply criticized Indiana Gov. Mike Pence following an Associated Press story revealing an administrator for Pence’s state board of education altered a report summarizing an independent investigation into the unpopular ISTEP exam.
Former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg, who is running for governor against Pence, called the findings “disturbing” and said Wednesday that Pence puts ideology ahead of the state’s best interests.
The AP obtained documents through a public record request showing State Board of Education Executive Director John Snethen made edits and requested changes to the report.
Some passages he asked to change had reflected poorly on the decision by Pence and his GOP allies to adopt last year’s exam after dropping national Common Core standards.
A spokesman for Pence hasn’t responded immediately to a request for comment.
UPDATE AT 4:30 PM: Indiana Gov. Mike Pence says he has “confidence in the integrity” of a State Board of Education administrator despite findings by The Associated Press revealing the administrator altered a report detailing an independent investigation into the unpopular ISTEP exam.
Pence said Wednesday that he hadn’t viewed the final version of the report or the edits that were made. But he added that the document will be used to show why the state should rethink how student performance is measured.
