GOP gubernatorial candidate Braun's education plan covers vouchers expansion, teacher pay

Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) released an education plan Tuesday that includes key policy proposals and addresses hot-button conservative talking points. Braun wants to expand school vouchers, decrease cell phone distractions during school hours, and boost teacher pay, among other things.

The plan was written in coordination with Hoosiers for Opportunity, Prosperity and Enterprise, Inc., a non-profit based in Terre Haute. A press release said Braun partners with HOPE, Inc. to develop policy proposals.

Braun’s education plan has seven main pillars: universal school choice, better teacher pay and benefits, a stronger teacher pipeline, increased school safety, improved academic standards, student success beyond high school, and protecting parent rights.

Universal school choice

Indiana’s voucher program is currently capped for families with incomes higher than $220,000 per year. Braun’s plan proposes universal school choice, which would remove the income cap altogether.

“School choice programs put parents in the driver’s seat, allowing them to choose schools that prioritize their children’s needs. Providing universal school choice will ensure every Hoosier family has the same freedom to choose their best-fit education,” the plan document said.

Jennifer McCormick, Braun’s Democratic opponent, said in August that she wants to halt the expansion of Indiana’s voucher program.

Additionally, Braun proposed doubling the size of Indiana’s Education Scholarship Account program for students who have disabilities and their siblings, and boosting the program’s funding.

Teacher pay and benefits

The plan also emphasized raising teacher salaries and improving their benefits. Braun does not specify what he thinks the base salary for teachers should be, but his plan said teachers in “high-need content areas” should have higher pay.

Braun also proposed paying high-performing teachers more based on student outcomes.

In 2020, Indiana House Republicans made it a legislative priority to decouple teacher pay from student standardized tests. The law passed nearly unanimously through both chambers with support from Republicans and Democrats.

The current base pay for teachers in Indiana is $40,000 a year. McCormick said teachers’ base pay should be raised to $60,000.

Braun’s plan said every teacher in Indiana should be eligible for parental leave. It also proposed a state-funded liability insurance plan and allowing teachers to choose between a local health insurance plan and the state employee health plan.

“If the state employee health plan is less expensive, allow teachers to capture the savings in their paycheck or their defined contribution retirement account,” the plan said.

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Teacher pipeline

Braun said he wants to invest in Indiana’s Transition to Teaching program to fill teaching shortages. His plan also said Indiana should cut red tape and leverage data to recruit additional teachers by diverting state resources toward areas and districts with severe shortages in high-need positions.

He also said Indiana should expand certification reciprocity and license portability between states.

Finally, Braun proposed developing accountability metrics for educator preparation programs so the state can partner with successful programs and reform underperforming programs.

School safety

Braun wants to develop the Indiana Office of School Safety to coordinate school safety measures between the Indiana Department of Education, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security and the Indiana State Police. The office would be led by someone with “experience in emergency response and the K-12 environment.”

Braun also said he will increase funding available to school districts through the Secured School Safety Grant Program, which allows schools to employ school resource officers and buy safety equipment and software.

Improved academic standards

Braun said schools should continue to focus on reading and math instruction in early grade levels. He also proposed accountability measures for schools based on student outcomes and providing transparent, actionable feedback.

Additionally, Braun’s plan would expand on a recently-enacted cell phone ban during instruction time to further reduce distractions in school, develop “safeguards” against “divisive, non-curricular materials like critical race theory and gender identity” from being taught in Indiana schools.

Braun’s education plan also said it would direct the Indiana Department of Education to study long-term learning loss and mental health effects from school lockdowns and mask mandates.

Success beyond high school

Braun’s plan involves rewarding schools whose students graduate with readiness seals in various pathways with more funding and providing additional incentives for schools whose students graduate with honors plus seals. He proposed adding that model into Indiana’s school funding formula.

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Additionally, he also plans to continue investing in Indiana’s Career Scholarship Accounts.

Parental access in education

“Parents are the best advocate for their child’s wellbeing, and are the decisionmakers in their children’s lives, education, and upbringing,” the proposal said. “The rights of Hoosier parents to participate in their children’s education, safeguard their wellbeing, and protect them from divisive ideologies should never be in doubt.”

Braun said parents should have access to their children’s curriculum, assigned reading, test scores and information about their progress toward a diploma or readiness seals. He said schools could post that information on existing apps and websites.

He also said parents have rights to information about students’ physical and mental health and said the state must enforce a law that requires schools to tell parents when students request to change their names and/or pronouns.

Finally, Braun said the state should ensure compliance with a law that prevents transgender girls from participating in girls’ sports.

Gov. Eric Holcomb had initially vetoed the ban, saying the Indiana High School Athletic Association already had a process to respond to concerns about transgender students playing sports.

A lawsuit brought by on behalf of a then 10-year-old transgender girl to participate on her school softball team was dismissed in 2023 because she moved to a charter school. A federal judge had narrowly halted the law's effect, saying it violated recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent protecting transgender Americans.

Kirsten is Indiana Public Broadcasting's education reporter. Contact her at kadair@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @kirsten_adair.