INDIANAPOLIS (July 29, 2005) -- Governor Mitch Daniels and Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Suellen Reed today announced their appointments to the Indiana Education Roundtable.

Twenty-eight people have been named to the Roundtable, including 24 joint appointments by Daniels and Reed and four legislative appointments. The Roundtable was created six years ago.

“Suellen and I are grateful these individuals are willing to serve,” said Daniels. “We want to build on the solid foundation laid by the Roundtable in prior years. This group should be a place to lift up best practices by those working in the field, from the classroom to resource management. We hope to think together about how best to provide our youth with the education they need for life, work and citizenship.”

“The Roundtable has been an important forum for consideration of P-16 policy decisions affecting what our students need to learn to be prepared for further learning, life and work in the 21^st Century,” said Dr. Reed. “The Governor and I are ready to extend its work from the standards, assessments and accountability into a new phase, focused on the challenges remaining before us, such as of dropouts and graduation rates, the redesign of our high schools, allocation of available resources and other similar matters of urgency and opportunity.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Garton and Speaker of the House Brian Bosma appointed the following legislators to the Roundtable:

§         Teresa Lubbers, chair of the Senate Education Committee

§         Earline Rogers, ranking minority member of the Senate Education Committee

         Robert Behning, chair of the House Education Committee

         Greg Porter, ranking minority member of the House Education Committee

Below are appointments by the governor and the superintendent of public instruction.

Representing education:

         Vince Bertram, principal of Lafayette Jefferson High School

         Judy Briganti, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association

         Stephen Gabet, history and government teacher at Leo Junior/Senior High School

         Dr. Jo Ann Gora, president of Ball State University

         Victor Lechtenberg, vice provost for engagement at Purdue University

         Robert Marra, associate superintendent, exceptional learners, Indiana Department of Education

         Dr. Russell Nichols, president of Hanover College

         Patrick O'Rourke, president of Hammond Federation of Teachers

         Wendy Robinson, superintendent of Ft. Wayne Community Schools

         Thomas Thornton, business manager of the Vigo County School Corporation

         Darren Washington, president of the Gary Community School Corporation School Board

Representing business and community:

         Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce

         Kevin Burke, mayor of Terre Haute

         Christel DeHaan, chair, Christel DeHaan Family Foundation

         Steven Dwyer, chief operating officer of Rolls Royce USA

         Tiffany Olson, president and chief executive officer, Roche Diagnostics Corp.

         Bishop Gerald Gettelfinger, bishop of the Diocese of Evansville

         Thomas Hefner, retired chief financial officer of Duke Realty, Inc.

         Donald Henderson, president of the Pendleton Town Council

         Patrick Kiely, President of the Indiana Manufacturers Association

         Ben Ramsey, executive director of the Indiana State Building & Construction Trades

         William Stanzcykiewicz, president and chief executive officer of the Indiana Youth Institute

         Ronald Stiver, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development

Individuals appointed to the Roundtable are from throughout Indiana, including Elkhart, Evansville, Ft. Wayne, Gary, Hammond, Hanover, Indianapolis, Lafayette, Leo, Muncie, Pendleton, Terre Haute and Westfield.

Dr. Reed said the work of the Roundtable would extend beyond its formal meetings.

“We already have many active items, from the legislature's instruction to focus on dropouts and the parallel effort on redesigning our high schools, to the need to be as efficient and effective as possible with taxpayer dollars. We will continue to use work groups on these and other matters to support the meeting activity of the Roundtable itself,” said Dr. Reed.

The next meeting of the Roundtable will be held in September.

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