GOP Governor’s Debate: How should Indiana be involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion programs?
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Five Republican candidates hoping for the job of Indiana governor debated live for 90 minutes Wednesday night from the historic Madam Walker Legacy Center on WISH-TV.
The five invited candidates were Mike Braun, Brad Chambers, Suzanne Crouch, Eric Doden, and Curtis Hill.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs received a great deal of attention after the death of George Floyd in 2020. More recently, the programs have faced growing criticism with major companies pulling back.
News 8 asked the candidates: What should Indiana’s role be in DEI programs?
Hill says Indiana should do more. He says Indiana needs to train more students for vocations and military service at an earlier age. “This idea that everyone goes to college, it’s really sad,” and leaves people with debt.
Chambers says his “learn to earn” policy could look at vocational — “construction, electric, plumbing” — trades, civic trades, and life sciences trades. “It’s more about wages and jobs.”
Crouch says she wants to enhance workforce training by putting five state agencies that address it under one umbrella for students seeking all types of job opportunities. “Our education should be preparing our children for the jobs of the future, and those are advanced manufacturing and bioscience, cybersecurity defense, health care orthopedics, and life sciences.”
Doden says more creativity and partnerships need to happen. He says businesses going into high schools and inviting students to see and learn jobs is a positive action. He also likes using artificial intelligence to help students learn about jobs that interest them. He also says parents need to know about opportunities available to children.
Braun says only about one-third of the jobs pushed by the Indiana Department of Education require a four-year degree, and more high school courses are needed to allow students to go to jobs that don’t require degrees. He says students also need courses to learn “better skills sets” including how to balance checkbooks. He said that “higher ed has stigmatized those pathways. Our guidance counselors won’t mention them, and, until you’re ready to shake that up, you can do a lot of talking about it, but you’re not going to get anything done. We need the perfect balance. Most of that’s going to be in real skills that everyone benefits from … high-demand, high-wage jobs … parents need to see that so they know where to spend the money for their kids.”