U.S. Senator and Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun visited the James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home in Greenfield on Wednesday afternoon.
After a short visit from Greenfield mayor Guy Titus, Braun took a tour of Riley’s childhood home. Throughout the tour, Braun was quick to ask questions on the Riley family, ranging from the dynamics of the family during the Civil War to the specific wood of various parts of the building and artifacts within the museum, stating that the museum “oozes” history.
Following the tour, Braun said he’s grown more appreciation for history such as that on display in the museum and says that the Riley home has been well-maintained. When asked how he planned to help support historical projects such as the museum within the state should he win the governorship, Braun said the state needed to support local organizations in order to keep preservation and maintenance “timely,” but declined to give any specifics.
Braun, who was elected to the Senate in 2018 and is now approaching the end of his first term, says the trip was part of his annual visit to every county in the state, going on to mention that his schedule for doing so has become tighter with his run for governor in addition to his duties as senator. He won the Republican primary earlier this year as one of six candidates who made it to election day, taking the nomination by nearly 18 percentage points.
Throughout the tour, museum staff referenced school groups that visit the museum several times. Braun stated in March that he was a proponent of school choice and of refocusing Indiana schools toward career readiness, the latter of which was justification for controversial changes to Indiana diplomas, which several colleges within the state said in a letter do not prepare Indiana students that want to go to college, with Purdue and IU-Bloomington saying that the new diploma standards would not meet their admission requirements.
Those standards were updated by the state board of education on Wednesday morning, including options for students pursuing postsecondary education such as honors and honors, plus seals for college enrollment as well as employment and enlistment/service. The presidents of Purdue, Indiana, Ball State and Ivy Tech, as well as the directors of the Indiana Association of Public-School Superintendents, Indiana Association of School Principals and Indiana School Counselor Association expressed their approval of the new proposal.
Despite the pushback and ultimate changing of the standards, Braun did not change his tune when it came to the emphasis on career readiness.
“I want to make sure that … parents and kids have full information on high-information, high-wage jobs,” Braun said. He did not reference higher education beyond the fact that the state spends 15% of its budget on postsecondary education.
Braun continues his travels through the counties of Indiana ahead of the general election, which will be on Nov. 4.
