Decision that could change lives

The news may not have been earth-shattering. But it was good news just the same.

Ball State University and Ivy Tech Community College have reached agreement on a program that could put more Jay County individuals into local classrooms as elementary school teachers in the years ahead.

For decades, Ball State has held firm that to earn a teaching degree one needed to travel to its campus. Countless would-be teachers have clocked thousands of miles back and forth between here and Muncie to earn their credits and win a classroom job.

Many times, that student has been a young mother, trying to better herself and the lives of her family. Some of the best teachers in the history of the Jay School Corporation have taken that path.

Finally, the process is going to be a little more student-friendly.

Ball State and Ivy Tech signed an agreement Tuesday that allows students to earn an associate's degree in elementary education at Ivy Tech then transfer up to 62 of those credits to Ball State en route to an elementary education bachelor's degree.

Working adults will also be able to take their final two years of classes at Ball State on-line.

Suddenly, with the stroke of a pen, it becomes easier and more practical for local students to carve out a path toward a career as an elementary school teacher. The first two years of classes could be taken via Ivy Tech and John Jay Center for Learning, with lower tuition costs and far less commuting.

The second two years might also be possible using John Jay's on-line and distance learning capabilities.

That's not the sort of news that wins big headlines, especially when competing with health care reform, the economy, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But it is exactly the sort of news that changes lives. - J.R.[[In-content Ad]]