Hansen, Wojack list education as highest priority

By Hanna LoPatin

Daily Staff Reporter

Democrat John Hansen admits that two years ago he knew little about what to expect when he was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in the 52nd District.

Now, Hansen says he not only knows the workings of the Legislature inside and out, but his colleagues regard him as an authority on education issues.

In his bid for a second term in the House, Hansen faces Republican candidate Scott Wojack, a 31-year-old recent graduate of Eastern Michigan University and newspaper carrier.

Both Hansen and Wojack put education at the top of their list of issues.

"That's where I've spent my life," said Hansen, who served as superintendent of the Dexter school system for 14 years before joining the Legislature in 1998.

Falling into the semi-standard party division lines, Wojack supports school vouchers while Hansen is against them.

"It would allow alternative models of education to be tested out," Wojack said.

And Wojack has many alternative models that he wants to try out, such as requiring every sixth-grader to be bilingual by 2008, "by broadening teacher certification."

Wojack also said he wants to shorten primary education. "Our educational system has served its purpose in the industrial age," he said. "This is the information age ... We don't need 12 years anymore. We could do it in 10 or eight." Wojack proposes internships and work-study programs to fill up the last two years.

There is some agreement between the two candidates on the education issue.

"That movement (to make high school 8 or 10 years) is underway on its own," Hansen said, pointing to dual enrollment of high school and college.

Hansen said he agrees with Wojack's internship proposal, but added, "It's likely to happen in an evolutionary manner."

Environmental issues also get a high priority in both candidates' agendas.

Simulating a program currently in progress in Illinois, Wojack said he hopes to provide "the ability for homeowners and businesses to move off the power grid and become self-sufficient in the energy generation."

A big issue for Hansen is putting a cap on urban sprawl. He supports a state program that lets farmers sell their developing rights to the state to ensure the land will not be redeveloped.

Perhaps the biggest difference between the two candidates is experience, but Wojack said his lack of political experience shouldn't matter. "I meet the age qualifications, I'm a citizen and I live," he said. "I bring lots of vision. I'm talking about ideas that you don't normally hear."

Meanwhile, Hansen is well-known in the area and has developed strong connections with the University - his alma mater - by providing a desk in his office for a University student.

Although he noted that the 52nd District is a historically Democratic area, Hansen is not discounting his competition and said that inexperience is not necessarily a drawback for Wojack.

STATE HOUSE 52nd DISTRICT

John Hansen Party: Democrat Incumbent: Yes Occupation: State representative Residence: Dexter

Scott Wojack Party: Republican Incumbent: No Occupation: Newspaper carrier Residence: Ann Arbor