Endorsement: Wood for education chief
Richard Wood is right. Earlier this month, the Democratic nominee for State Superintendent of Public Instruction told an Indiana newspaper that the state’s traditional job market used to leave Hoosiers with viable options without a high school diploma. Now, in the 21st century the high school diploma is life’s prerequisite, but the mindset is still there.
“For many years, Indiana was not a place where you necessarily had to graduate or go beyond high school. You could go out and get a pretty good job that would pay a fair wage, but those days are long gone,” Wood told the News and Tribune in Southern Indiana earlier this month.
Wood, with 36 years of experience, has the innovative ideas that fit the individual student, not the system. He said he will think “outside of the box” when it comes to helping this all-important rate.
His willingness to explore possible including redesigning the curriculum and offering more dual credit courses with Ivy Tech Community College shows he wants to make the office an important player in the education process. In addition he’s showed more of a willingness to change things if elected, such as reducing the class size.
It’s not that Republican Tony Bennett isn’t qualified. He is, but he said he views the office as a resource. On his Web site he said the office should provide the resources to public schools.
Because Richard Wood believes the office should become that resource, The Franklin endorses Richard Wood for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
