EDITORIAL: Governor should pick education head

It didn't have to be this way, and a bill pending in the Indiana General Assembly deserves strong consideration so fierce infighting between these two offices never happens again.

Nearly all states leave the appointments of top education officials to the governor.

It makes sense. As the elected executives, governors should have both the power and the accountability to shape education policy.

But Indiana currently elects its state education superintendent, setting the stage for partisan gridlock in one of the state's most important functions.

Setting policy and tone for the quality of our children's education is too important to leave to such gridlock.

Indiana Senate Bill 179 would allow the state's governor to begin appointing the top state education official beginning in 2021, if expected amendments go through.

It wouldn't disrupt the term of recently elected Superintendent Jennifer McCormick, whose term expires that year.

The Indiana Constitution currently leaves the mode of selecting state education superintendents up to the General Assembly.

SB 179, sponsored by Indiana Sen. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo, is an appropriate way of eliminating potential political gridlock hovering over education policy.

Contrary to what opponents of the bill would argue, it doesn't take power out of the hands of voters.

It simply places ultimate education policy authority in the hands of the state's highest elected official — the Indiana governor.

The legislation is the most logical step forward for setting the state's education policies while maintaining accountability.