EDITORIAL: State looks to enlist vets for classroom

Democratic State School Superintendent Glenda Ritz and Republican State Sen. Susan Glick (LaGrange) announced the bipartisan program in which military veterans working toward degrees in K-12 education at Indiana universities would receive scholarships and college credits for their military training and experience.

The idea is that veterans who gained management experience in the service would be better equipped to manage a classroom. In return for the assistance, they would be required to teach in an Indiana classroom under the bill proposed for the 2014 Indiana Legislature, reported the Associated Press.

According to the report, Indiana already has the Combat to College law that Glick moved through the legislature. It requires Indiana colleges with at least 200 veterans enrolled to provided them a centralized location for college services. Ritz has also announced a new literacy program, Boots for Books, in which National Guard members would work to help children learn to read by the third grade.

As for “Second Service,” Ritz said, “Veterans have the skills, experience and work ethic needed to manage a classroom. They understand what it means to serve theuir community, and I can’t think of a group of individuals who are as dedicated to the mission of service as veterans.”

Neither can we. This is a good and just cause for Ritz and Glick to pursue.