INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick on Monday denounced an ongoing high school diploma redesign as “dismantling” educational rigor in favor of filling positions at Hoosier companies facing worker shortages.
The state officials’ plan would let students fill more graduation requirements with work-based learning — internships, apprenticeships, military experience, and more — while dialing down other academic mandates. Leaders of some public institutions have said the redesigned diplomas wouldn’t meet their admissions requirements, WFYI reported.
“If we are forcing kids into internships, those are just jobs — that should be temporary, low-paying, low-skill jobs,” McCormick told reporters during a virtual news conference.
McCormick, Indiana’s last elected public schools chief, said she understood the “pressure” lawmakers face to help employers fill roles. And she acknowledged interest in “flexibility,” particularly for math.
“But as a state, we don’t want to say, ‘Hey, we have encouraged 14-year-olds to take the minimum required amount of academics,’ send them to the workforce and hope for the best,” McCormick added.
She asserted that the redesign “is going backward” and pushed state officials to maintain academic rigor.
“If (students) want to be a welder, let them be a great welder with transferable skills. If they want to be a doctor or a teacher, we’ve got to provide the rigor so we give kids options,” McCormick said.
“This is not just about filling the jobs of today. A high school redesign should be about a rigorous look at transferable skills to prepare kids for four to five decades,” she continued. “They’re going to have to be communicators, they’re going to have to be great problem solvers, (and) they’re going to have to be critical thinkers.”
Read the complete Leslie Bonilla Muñiz story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
