Pence State of the State highlights

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Gov. Mike Pence on education

K-12 goal: “With more than 100,000 kids in underperforming or failing schools, we must make it our goal in this session of the General Assembly to have 100,000 more students enrolled in high-quality schools by the year 2020. To achieve this goal, we must fund excellence, expand choices and ensure that education in Indiana works at the highest levels. That’s why I proposed more state dollars for K-12 education than ever before, increasing tuition support by $200 million over the next two years.”

Prekindergarten pilot: “Building on the historic first step we took last session, we in this session will invest $10 million a year to fund scholarships for our new pre-K pilot, because every Hoosier child deserves to start school ready to learn.”

Vocational emphasis: “By providing $20 million more a year to create more career and vocational opportunities and improving the way that we fund those courses, we will dramatically increase the number of students who graduate career-ready and increase — by a factor of five — the number of students who graduate with an industry-recognized credential by 2020.”

Pence on other topics

State budget plan: “Last week, I submitted my recommended budget to the General Assembly. It’s an honestly balanced budget that holds the line on spending, maintains strong reserves (and) funds our priorities with no new debt. Now fiscal discipline has been the hallmark of the past decade of Indiana governance. Our balanced budgets have led to economic growth, lower tax rates and job creation.”

Job expansion: “Unemployment has fallen faster here than almost anywhere in the country. When I was elected governor, unemployment was over 8 percent. Today it’s 5.7 and falling. We added more than 100,000 private-sector jobs in the past two years, and we are on track to have more Hoosiers going to work in this state than ever before.”

Funding for roads: “Let’s invest in this coming budget another $300 million in new funding for roads. And let’s give our cities and towns new resources to plan regional strategies for growth.”

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