Jennifer McCormick Will Be Indiana’s Last Elected Schools Chief

Lawmakers in the Senate gave final approval on a bill Tuesday to make Indiana’s next schools chief an appointed one. Now the bill heads to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk for his signature.

The General Assembly changed state law in 2017 to replace Indiana’s elected superintendent of public instruction, with an appointed education secretary by 2025.

The move came shortly after current Superintendent of Public Instruction Jennifer McCormick took office, and left room for her to run for a second term. But McCormick announced last year she won’t seek re-election, prompting lawmakers to speed up the timeline.

This year’s push for the change is a welcome one for Holcomb – he included the bumped up appointment timeline in his Next Level Agenda.

After the appointment change goes into effect, Indiana will join 10 states where the governor and policymakers appoint both the top school official and all members of the state board of education.

In a statement this afternoon, current superintendent McCormick says,“While politics has been interjected into our education, at the end of the day the question should not be, ‘what side of the aisle are you on,’ but ‘are you on the side of kids?’ The 2020 gubernatorial race will deserve greater attention as our students’ futures are dependent upon it.”