The Indiana Chamber of Commerce wants to have the Superintendent of Public Instruction be an appointed position instead of an elected position. The current officeholder, Glenda Ritz, received 1,332,775 votes from the citizens of Indiana. By contrast, Gov. Pence received 1,275,424 votes. (Our incoming Secretary, Treasurer, and Auditor of state all received somewhat less than 800,000 votes.) Superintendent Crouch received that convincing vote total in a surprise upset of the previous occupant, Tony Bennet. If someone like Mr. Bennett had been appointed rather than elected, the citizens of Indiana never would have had the opportunity to give him the bounce, regardless of how strong the sentiment was.

The Chamber has apparently been on the side of making the position appointed for some time. I can’t say that their reasoning is simply sour grapes because Bennett couldn’t hang on to the job. However, in some quarters, the ostensible reason for legislating Ritz out of a re-election bid is because the discord between her and Gov. Pence’s appointees on the State Board of Education is unseemly. Reducing the Governor’s influence in Board composition doesn’t seem to be under consideration. For example – just off the top of my head – maybe it would be a good idea to group school districts into regions and have a number of regional representatives on the school board.

Also, just by the way, it seems at least slightly odd for the Chamber of Commerce to be having a significant influence (if they do) on educational policy. Maybe a little like having the rail roads weigh in on highway policy. Sure, the railroads rely on the highways for various things, but maybe they wouldn’t design the system in a way that was best for all of us.

The AP is reporting that Sen. Brent Steele thinks Indiana needs a law addressing decapitations. Now, obviously Indiana has a law on the books against murder. And there are aggravators to enhance sentences and even the death penalty for some situations. But, Sen. Steele sees a need to address decapitation specifically:

The chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee says Indiana needs stronger penalties for decapitation.

Republican Sen. Brent Steele of Bedford cites a gruesome beheading in Oklahoma last month as the reason for the change. He has asked staff to draft legislation that would add decapitation or attempted decapitation to the crimes punishable by life without parole or the death penalty.

Actually, the real problem is that somehow under the current law decapitation is not regarded as mutilation or dismemberment subject to the enhanced penalty.

I get that beheading is viscerally more shocking to a good many people. Personally, I see dead as dead. As a victim, I’m not sure I’d care if the person killed me by cutting my throat enough to make me die versus cutting my throat clean through to the back of my neck.