Thursday, July 14, 2016

Trump picks school-choice supporter Mike Pence

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (center) is pictured in his office on November 16, 2015,
with several Oklahomans who were on a school-reform fact-finding trip to Indiana.  

The New York Times reports that Donald Trump's campaign is signaling that Indiana Gov. Mike Pence will be Mr. Trump's running mate. If Gov. Pence is indeed chosen, there will be two school-choice supporters on the GOP ticket.

You may recall that Mr. Trump, noting that the existence of a public school monopoly should "set off antitrust alarm bells," is on record saying parents deserve more choices. "Education reformers call this school choice, charter schools, vouchers, even opportunity scholarships," he said. "I call it competition—the American way."

Gov. Pence also supports school choice, including vouchers and tax credits. "Let’s open more doors of opportunity to more Hoosier families by lifting the cap on the dollar amount that choice schools receive for students and raise the cap on the choice scholarship tax credit program," he said in last year's State of the State address.

In a meeting in his office on November 16, 2015, Gov. Pence discussed education reform with several Oklahomans who were on a fact-finding trip to Indianapolis sponsored by the Oklahoma Educated Workforce Initiative and the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs. Gov. Pence spoke openly about school choice, including Education Savings Accounts. (Contrary to the claims of state Rep. Jadine Nollan, who says Gov. Pence advised Oklahoma lawmakers not to enact ESAs in a difficult budget year, what he actually said—as I and several others who were in the meeting can attest—is simply that it's more difficult to do it in a down budget year.) 

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