BEDFORD — Indiana Gov. Mike Pence responded Thursday to a question about whether he plans to run for U.S. president in 2016 by saying he plans “to stay 100 percent focused on the people of the state of Indiana,” while letting his future “take care of itself.”
Pence said he is humbled when he’s asked about possible presidential aspirations, but he told Mike Wright, who posed the question during a town hall meeting Thursday, “I think it has more to do with the progress of the state of Indiana than it has to do with me.”
“We’re leading the nation in manufacturing jobs,” Pence said to the crowd of about 50 people who attended the session at Stone Gate Arts & Education Center. Pence pointed to the various gains Indiana’s economy has made. “When I became governor, our employment was a little bit over 8 percent. It’s 6 percent today,” he said.
He referred specifically to capital investments made in Lawrence County and pointed to those made by General Motors, which announced plans in August to invest $48.4 million in its Bedford Manufacturing Operations to support new Ecotech engine components. He said seeing a company like GM “not only invest but reinvest” translates into the company having confidence in the community.
In his pledge to focus on the people of the state, Pence emphasized his administration’s commitment to preparing young people for the workforce. He further stressed that the state’s high schools should prepare students for college, but also should work to prepare all students for jobs, including those who don’t want to attend college.
“We’re going to make career and vocational education a priority in every high school in the state of Indiana,” he said.
Pence, earlier in the day, met with students at Bedford North Lawrence High School. He said he was impressed by the North Lawrence Career Center’s presence on the BNL campus. “That’s another way that Bedford is ahead of the curve,” Pence said.
“We ought to recognize that all honest work is honorable,” he said.
In another matter related to education, Pence responded to a question about his conflicts with Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz.
“I have a great deal of respect … for the superintendent of public instruction,” Pence said, while adding that the two of them have differed on policy. He referenced accomplishments that he believes have emerged in his administration despite policy disagreements. Among them was the state’s tackling the task of rewriting its own educational standards after having been the first state to ever drop out of the national standards.
He said graduation rates and test scores have improved in Indiana. “The kids are doing well,” Pence said. “I’m very proud of all the progress we’ve made.”
In a matter related to the nation’s veterans, Brad Bough, Lawrence County veterans service officer, spoke to Pence about disparities that exist in terms of educational benefits for veterans. Bough explained that the disparities relate to when a given veteran’s period of service took place.
“We’ve signed a number of bills to open jobs an opportunities for our veterans,” Pence said. He then requested that Bough continue to communicate with him because the issue merits further discussion. “We owe no Hoosiers a greater debt of gratitude than to the men and women who have been in uniform in the United States,” he said.