Governor Mike Pence says he will seek money in next year‘s budget to support his push for more vocational education in Indiana schools.
Last year, legislators unanimously enacted Pence‘s call for a state career council to coordinate school curricula with the job market, and added regional councils to tailor lesson plans to local needs.
Pence told an Indiana Youth Institute conference of guidance counselors the next step is to make sure those industrial arts and technical education programs are available in Indiana schools.
Pence says there‘s been a national trend away from once-common technical education and toward preparing all students for college.
He says college should still be the first option for Hoosier students.
But, he says parents and teachers have embraced his insistence that both tracks should be equally valid, depending on what suits an individual student.