One gauge of how well public schools are performing in Indiana should be each school district's graduation rate. And in some districts -- including here in Northwest Indiana -- the performance is abysmal.

Indiana graduates students from high school within four years at an average rate 76.5 percent. So nearly 1 in 4 students in Indiana's public schools don't succeed at this bare minimum level.

Yet in Indianapolis and Gary, fewer than half of the high school students graduate within four years.

This situation, and other measurements of lackluster performance by Indiana schools, calls for heavy intervention. And that requires a state Superintendent of Public Instruction ready and eager to make big changes.

Suellen Reed, the incumbent, is stepping down after serving in that capacity for 16 years.

Voters have two newcomers to choose from -- Republican Tony Bennett and Democrat Richard Wood.

Wood is a retired school superintendent with years of experience. He recognizes the Indiana Department of Education has to retool and reorganize to provide the state intervention provided under the state Public Law 221 and federal No Child Left Behind accountability rules.

Wood suggests using recent retirees as inexpensive consultants to help with both the duties jettisoned as the state assumes this new coaching role and for some of the new coaching as well.

Bennett also recognizes the need to streamline the state agency he would head. But he offers a business approach to the task.

Deregulation has not fared well in the financial markets, but it could work to make public schools more nimble. "Let's remove the handcuffs," Bennett said.

An example is a school librarian in the Kokomo area. The librarian has a master of library science degree, which is good for the public use of that library, but it doesn't meet state standards for school licensing. That needs to change.

Bennett also wants to use private sector philosophy to improve quality and reduce costs. "I am a strong, strong proponent of competition," he said. Monopolies stifle innovation, which public schools need.

That's good philosophy that needs to be put into practice.

Wood would be an able superintendent, but he seems bound by tradition and isn't as eager to make radical changes.

Bennett doesn't have the experience his opponent does, but his eagerness to reform education earns our endorsement.