John Carey may not be a teacher by trade but he has had a strong role in education during his years of public service, making him a good fit as the new chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents.

The appointment was announced by Gov. John Kasich earlier this week and Carey will get started pretty much immediately. His focus will be to ensure that higher education priorities and job creation efforts are aligning in a way that gets as many Ohioans as possible to work.

During his 17 years in the House and the Senate, Carey served on the chairman of the primary and secondary education subcommittee. Most recently he worked at Shawnee State University as assistant to the President for Government Relations and Strategic Initiatives

This background coupled with his overall intelligence, work ethic, experience in drafting job-creating legislation and the desire to move Ohio forward should serve citizens well.

Access to higher education and the ability to then translate those skills directly into employment is vital for all Ohioans who choose to go that route.

John Carey will have the opportunity to continue the type of work he did as a lawmaker by leaving his imprint on higher education and moving the state in the right direction.