House GOP leader wants to ‘reinvent’ high school in next legislative session

House Speaker Todd Huston (R-Fishers) said his caucus wants to “reinvent high school” to make it more relevant to the 21st century economy.

Legislative leaders discussed the upcoming session at an Indiana Chamber of Commerce event on Monday.

Huston said comprehensive changes to secondary education could include more course options — like, instead of numeracy, teaching personal finance. He said he would also urge the business community to provide more workplace learning opportunities.

“You can’t tell us how important it is and not give high school and college kids the opportunity to come to your companies to do internships, to have opportunities to see what’s going on,” said Huston.

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Senate Democratic Leader Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis) said the state should encourage education after high school — whether it’s college or vocational training and certification.

“But we haven’t solved the problem yet and the fact that our children continue to lag behind the rest of the country in academic achievement,” Taylor said.

Legislative priorities for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce include two proposals to increase the level of post-secondary education. Each eligible Hoosier student would automatically be enrolled in the 21st Century Scholars program. The other would create a “diploma plus” that allows students to obtain a post-secondary diploma at the same time as their high school diploma.

The session begins in January.

Contact reporter Brandon at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.