Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick announced her “Common Sense Education Plan” on Thursday, promising investments in the largest portion of Indiana’s budget.
McCormick, a former Republican who was Indiana’s last superintendent of public instruction, and her nominee for lieutenant governor, Terry Goodin, both claimed their opponents viewed education as an expense rather than an investment.
Her plans seek a $60,000 minimum annual salary for teachers, which now sits at $40,000. She also wants to turn pre-K universal, protect teachers’ bargaining rights and strengthen academic requirements for both students and teachers.
About early education, McCormick said her administration would expand affordable childcare throughout the state, where she said many deserts still exist. The Herald Times in 2022 reported on a shortage of high-quality childcare options in Monroe County, leaving preschool inaccessible for some families.
“We still have an enormous amount of Indiana that does not have access to quality childcare,” she said.
McCormick said her administration would address concerns about literacy and math attainment in schools. Recent IREAD data showed slight improvement in literacy among third graders, with about 82.5% of students passing.
That point came into controversy this summer as state education officials proposed new diploma requirements.
Higher education institutions statewide were anxious about the original diploma proposals, which included cutbacks on math and social studies requirements in place of work experience. Purdue University said the diplomas would not reach its minimum admission requirements.
In response, the education department scrapped the proposal earlier this month, in place of plans major universities said they would accept.
The revised proposal operates on a two-tier system with multiple diploma options, with more requirements for work experience and academics on increased tiers. In the bottom tier, there are no world history requirements or necessary math classes past Algebra I. Higher tiers require more math classes and more work experience. It will be officially adopted later in the fall, set to impact the class of 2029.
McCormick said that emphasis on transferrable skills is crucial for education, saying that schools should have more autonomy on the local level to implement curriculums.
She also promised regulation of school choice, which she included as part of her plan for “accountability.” Schools accepting state funding, including charter and private schools, would be held to similar fiscal and academic standards under her plan.
“We’re a school choice state and there are no quality guardrails on that system,” she said.
McCormick said she would re-emphasize post-high school education, which she feels the state has shifted away from. Indiana’s college-going rate has decreased over the last decade and stayed stagnant, sitting around 53% in 2022.
She also said she would protect tenure, which Indiana has much stronger oversight of now.
Gov. Eric Holcomb signed Senate Enrolled Act 202 earlier this year, which prohibited faculty from receiving tenure or promotions if they were deemed unlikely to foster free inquiry and expression, or unlikely to offer students learning material from a variety of standpoints.
Faculty and administrators statewide opposed the bill. IU President Pamela Whitten said in a statement before passage that the university is “deeply concerned about language regarding faculty tenure that would put academic freedom at risk.”
Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun hasn’t released any comprehensive education policy, but his campaign website claims many high school graduates aren’t prepared for the workforce after getting diplomas.
He supported the Indiana Department of Education’s diploma overhaul proposals.
