VINCENNES — Local school superintendents gave a snapshot of issues in Knox County during Wednesday’s “State of Education” luncheon hosted by the Knox County Chamber of Commerce and sponsors in the Fort Sackville Room of the Beckes Student Union at Vincennes University.
The program is one in a series of “State of” luncheons planned to highlight segments of the community in Knox County.
While the program specifics at each school were different, with Dr. Darrel Bobe of North Knox highlighting welding, culinary arts, and social media initiatives and Greg Parsley of Vincennes Community School Corporation highlighting the P Tech program — the overall focus is the same. School leaders said they work to meet students where they are, as they enter school with a wide variety of goals, interests, learning styles and socio-economic backgrounds that all need to be addressed for the learning environment to be a successful one — especially as the state continues to move more toward project based learning.
Common concerns were the role of standardized testing, bullying, the rising cost of higher education, the housing issue in Knox County, and a teacher shortage.
Bobe said fewer people are entering education as a career. “People are not going into that field, and that’s about to be a cliff that we’re going to fall off of, and we are all going to hurt from that,” he said.
Bobe said he’s concerned that years down the road, students will see more virtual teaching from an educator who may be teaching at multiple schools through technology. “...That is not a great situation, and I think that we’ve got to be able to promote school and that it’s a great place.”
Among possible solutions, superintendents said the State Legislature supporting funding that would allow school districts to increase starting pay scales for new teachers is an avenue that will be necessary.
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