Photo: Dan Goldblatt/WFIU-WTIU News
The bill passed the House 58 to 40. It now moves to the Senate.
State lawmakers approved legislation Tuesday that significantly relaxes the job requirements for school superintendents.
Legislation authored by Representative Todd Huston (R-Fishers) allows local school boards to hire a superintendent who does not hold either a superintendent’s license or a teacher’s license. Huston notes that his bill does not prevent school boards from requiring the licenses.
“This bill in no way demeans current superintendents, most of whom I know and I have great respect for,” Huston says. “It’s simply an option for the locally elected school board the opportunity to throw the net as wide as possible for their best leader.”
But House Minority Leader Scott Pelath says the bill is not about providing greater local control.
“This bill exists because we don’t like school superintendents,” Pelath says. “We don’t like the public education community. We’re upset about some of the decisions that the voters made in the recent elections and we have to get back at them somehow.”
The bill passed the House 58-40. It now moves to the Senate.
