Education:
Limited State mandates, more local control by parents and teachers…
Indiana Constitution , ARTICLE 8. Education. Section 1. Knowledge and learning, generally diffused throughout a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement; and to provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.
As an elected official, I will be sworn to uphold the Indiana Constitution. Article 8, Sec. 1 is clear and the section explains itself. In implementing this provision, I believe it important to remember that children and communities have different needs, and nobody knows these needs as well as parents and teachers. Put another way, parents and local teachers know that a mandate for Indianapolis may not be useful in Princeton. Accordingly, I think that the best education policies recognize parental choice and local freedom. I support policies that encourage a robust diversity of successful public and private schools, including home schools, where decisions are made by local parents and teachers. I still hold that while education is to be encouraged by the State, it is still foremost a matter of parental and local concern.