Here’s how Indiana’s GOP candidates for governor say they would change education

Indiana Governor Candidates’ Education Priorities

When Indiana voters head to the ballot box in November, they will select a leader to replace outgoing Gov. Eric Holcomb and take control of the state’s education priorities.

The next governor will oversee a state budget with nearly half the funds directed to K-12 schools, and have the power to appoint a secretary of education who operates the Department of Education and sits on the policy-making State Board of Education.

Ahead of the May 7 primary, WFYI asked all Republican candidates for governor five questions about topics from early childhood education priorities to leadership of the Department of Education. Read responses from the sole Democratic candidate for governor here.

They all have different plans for educating the state’s children. Here’s how they responded.

Answers were limited to 200 words and edited for length and clarity.

If elected, your office could change the Department of Education’s direction, and even its leader. If necessary, how would you alter its path?

• U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.)

  As Governor, I will look at every department on how it can be run more efficiently. I will ensure the superintendent has the same passion for making the necessary changes to increase reading proficiency and better prepare our students for life after graduation.

• Brad Chambers

  We’ll build a department of education centered on the priorities outlined in our “Learn More, Earn More” plan — a department that will address our educational challenges with urgency and aspiration so we can maximize the potential of every Hoosier student.

• Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch

  It is past time for us to have an honest and critical discussion about how we are going to educate our children in the 21st century, and to do that we need to reform education. By reforming, I will take the five agencies that deal with education and workforce development and reduce them to one. We will concentrate the state’s efforts to prepare children for enlistment, enrollment, employment, or apprenticeship. By modernizing education, we will implement efficiencies and cost savings that will help offset any additional costs associated with educational choice. The investment will be worth it. My secretary of education will help lead these efforts.

• Eric Doden

  As governor, every department head in our administration would have to reapply for their job, including the state superintendent. At the Department of Education, there needs to be a leader who believes in our vision for excellence in education for Hoosier kids: We need to keep leading on school choice. Parents have told me that they want curriculums to be completely transparent so there can be more accountability. We need to retain and recruit great teachers – by increasing their pay. Finally, we need vocational education and flexibility for high schoolers and universal pre-K. At the end of the day, every Hoosier shares a belief in our moral, and constitutional, obligation to provide our kids with a great education.

• Curtis Hill

  The Department of Education is a bloated bureaucracy that will be streamlined into data-driven support for Indiana schools. We are motivated to identify successes and failures and produce answers so we don’t have to wonder every legislative session.

• Jamie Reitenour

  I’ve chosen my Superintendent of Public Education to be Paige Miller, a 30-year veteran teacher. Miller leads Hamilton County’s chapter of Moms for Liberty. Miller not only brings a successful teacher’s perspective to developing high quality educational policy, but she has witnessed, firsthand, the decline of quality and outcomes when school improvement plans and other goals include non-academic ideologies like social and emotional learning and critical race theory. Under Miller’s direction, a Reitenour Administration Department of Education will root out those peripheral teachings, curriculums, and programs that undermine parental rights and distract student academic learning. We will incentivize teachers through their students’ academic achievement, but also provide the tools, monitoring, and support necessary for them to be successful in this pursuit. Our Department of Education will not be the top-heavy, bureaucratic agency that it has become under establishment Republican administrations, but will provide boots-on-the-ground support to school districts and teachers for quicker identification and resolution of challenges and concerns in schools.

Gov. Eric Holcomb along with state lawmakers launched educators into an overhaul of how children learn to read. Holcomb set a goal to have 95 percent of third grade students pass the state’s reading test by 2027. Under your administration, what literacy initiatives would you support?

• U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.)

  Braun said Indiana spends over 50 percent of the state’s budget on K-12 education. But lawmakers earmark 47 percent on K-12 education for the current two-year budget. We need to make sure our children both read and write and support this effort to have our third graders pass a basic reading test.

• Brad Chambers

  It’s unacceptable that one in five Hoosier third graders lack foundational reading skills because we know they’re four times more likely to drop out of school altogether. In a Chambers administration, we’ll push for the adoption of new technologies so we can individualize education and teach our students in a way best suited for them and place a focus on combating chronic absenteeism to ensure our students are in the classroom learning. We’ll also ensure our struggling students have access to

  SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

  SDGs	Targets	Indicators
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes	Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people (a) in Grade 2 or 3; (b) at the end of primary education; and (c) at the end of lower secondary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.2 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education	Indicator 4.2.1: Proportion of children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university	Indicator 4.3.1: Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.4 By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship	Indicator 4.4.1: Proportion of youth and adults with information and communications technology (ICT) skills, by type of skill
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations	Indicator 4.5.1: Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.6 By 2030, ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy	Indicator 4.6.1: Percentage of population in a given age group achieving at least a fixed level of proficiency in functional (a) literacy and (b) numeracy skills, by sex
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.a Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all	Indicator 4.a.1: Proportion of schools with access to (a) electricity; (b) the Internet for pedagogical purposes; (c) computers for pedagogical purposes; (d) adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities; (e) basic drinking water; (f) single-sex basic sanitation facilities; and (g) basic handwashing facilities (as per the WASH indicator definitions)
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.b By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries	Indicator 4.b.1: Volume of official development assistance flows for scholarships by sector and type of study
  SDG 4: Quality Education	4.c By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States	Indicator 4.c.1: Proportion of teachers in: (a) pre-primary; (b) primary; (c) lower secondary; and (d) upper secondary education who have received at least the minimum organized teacher training (e.g. pedagogical training) pre-service or in-service required for teaching at the relevant level in a given country

  1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

  • SDG 4: Quality Education

  2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

  • Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes
  • Target 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
  • Target 4.3: By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
  • Target 4.4: By 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship

  3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

  • Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics
  • Indicator 4.2.1: Proportion of children under 5 years of age who are developmentally on track in health, learning, and psychosocial well-being
  • Indicator 4.3.

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    Fuente: wfyi.org

     

    

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