From: Jean Marr Wilkins
Columbus
On Aug. 6, county Democrats had a well-attended picnic at a local farm. It was a perfect day with delicious food, comfortable seating and an atmosphere of abundant friendliness.
In addition to the short talks given by our local candidates, we were lucky enough to have as our special guest Glenda Ritz, our current state superintendent of public instruction, now running for re-election.
Ritz’s speech was informative and her display of knowledge impressive. Especially memorable was her story of a recent high school graduate, the valedictorian of a high school rated “F” by the Pence administration. This young woman in her commencement speech, titled “We are not F,” described the uphill battle she will likely face in getting admitted to the college of her choice and securing a scholarship simply because her school — not she herself — had been given a failing grade.
We wish more people could have heard Ritz’s moving talk. And it really is too bad that The Republic did not send a reporter to our gathering so its readers could have read the superintendent’s words for themselves in our newspaper’s pages.
