Holcomb education plan would expand pre-K, defend vouchers

Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, the Republican candidate for governor, laid out an education plan Monday that would continue many of Gov. Mike Pence's initiatives and expand others.

Holcomb, who replaced Pence as the Republican candidate for governor in July, said he would expand state-funded pre-kindergarten education for low-income families, provide incentives to outstanding teachers and defend GOP-led expansions of the state's private school voucher program and the growth of charter schools.

Speaking before an Indiana School Board Association conference at the Indiana Convention Center, Holcomb also expressed support for shortening Indiana's K-12 standardized student test, aligning educational programs with employer needs and maintaining the state's A-F school accountability system while making it more transparent.

“This plan is meant to be much more than words on paper," he said. "This plan is my to-do list. It’s a list of action items that will guide me and that I will personally work with the General Assembly on to make sure these ideas become more than just talking points, that they in fact become reality.”

Holcomb did not provide specifics about the size and costs of the proposals, saying he would work with state lawmakers as they hash out a two-year budget during the 2017 legislative session that begins in January.

As with an economic plan Holcomb announced last week, his education agenda would carry over many of the priorities espoused by Pence, who left the governor's race to become Republican Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate.

Pence ushered in the state's first publicly funded preschool program, a $10 million-a-year pilot that serves about 2,300 low-income students in five counties. But demand has far outstripped available spots, and Pence angered many early childhood education advocates two years ago when he declined to pursue an $80 million federal grant that could have dramatically expanded the program.

Pence  changed direction in June and announced his administration was now interested in seeking the federal grant money.

Pence also has been a champion of private school vouchers and charter schools, overseeing expansions of both. Supporters argue those programs give parents and students better educational options, while critics say they funnel badly needed money away from traditional public schools.

Holcomb's Democratic opponent, John Gregg, has accused Pence of putting politics and ideology ahead of students. The former Indiana House speaker and Vincennes University president also spoke at Monday's conference, where he reiterated education plans he announced back in June alongside Democratic state schools chief Glenda Ritz.

Gregg wants to make universal preschool access an option for all 4-year-olds and has called for abandoning the state's A-F school accountability system in favor of what he calls a more comprehensive, accurate school performance measurement. He also has said he wants to scale back the state's private school voucher program and would not support any further expansion of charter schools.

"When my running mate and I win, that is the moment the war on public education ends," he said Monday.

Despite its unpopularity among many public school educators, Holcomb said he supports the A-to-F system so that parents and students can see how their school's performance stacks up. But he does support increasing transparency around how those A-to-F grades are calculated, he said.

Holcomb's support for the A-to-F system appears to be at odds with his own party's candidate for state superintendent of public instruction, Jennifer McCormick.

McCormick, a school superintendent from Yorktown, said last week she wants schools rated on a broader report card, instead of a single A-to-F grade. She also wants the state to consider removing the mandate that teacher evaluations be tied to high-stakes test results.

But Holcomb, a former adviser to then-Gov. Mitch Daniels, whose administration implemented many of those policies, defended the current accountability system.

"Parents and teachers and students need to know how their school is performing," he said. "Now, how we attach a letter grade, maybe there’s multiple layers to how you arrive at that, and that ought to be known. But we can’t go back to the days where we simply don’t know, where it’s a question mark."

Holcomb announced his education plans just one day before squaring off against Gregg in the first of three face-to-face debates before the Nov. 8 election. The debate at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Lawrence North High School will focus on education issues and take place before an audience of students, teachers and school administrators.

IndyStar reporter Chelsea Schneider contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.