Scheffel mentioned to Pence the “political agendas that may influence the curriculum, the nature of assessment, [and] the way the instructional minutes are spent,” leading to “compromised outcomes in education.” She asked the former second lady, “What would you say about how we can defeat some of that?”
“First of all, I just want to say, the whole time Mike [Pence] has been in office, I’ve always said nobody voted for me, nobody appointed me,” Pence replied. “And so I’ve shied away from speaking politically, even about education. But I can speak to you today as a mom, as a grandmother, as a teacher.”
“I think we all are hearing more and more about these school boards,” she continued. “They have so much power.”
Pence explained that it’s important for people not to complain about what is going on in schools if those concerned are not willing to take action. “We can’t sit back and complain about it if we’re not going to step forward and get involved,” she said, “and parents need to get involved, they need to run for the school board. And I feel like with my friends and colleagues, they’re starting to wake up to the fact that a lot is happening at that school board level.”
Noting that many Christian educators see their jobs as a type of ministry, Renfrow asked Pence, “How can we prepare, support and encourage our Christian educators to, not only survive, but thrive in public schools?”
“It isn’t going to be easy and you are going to face opposition,” Pence answered. “You just need to be ready and be ready when you go in. You know, Christ, he faced opposition, and if he can do it, we can do it. He’s alongside us and he’s with us.”
“You know,” she added, “you also can face opposition when you’re in a Christian school. So wherever you teach and really wherever you work, I think it’s important to have that support system.”
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Pence shared that when she taught in public school, she started a Bible study for other teachers that took place before school started for the day. “I think you have to have that support group underneath. You have to have other Christian educators that you can collaborate with and get support from,” she said. “Know who they are in your building to just go and say, ‘Ok, I’m really having a rough day. Can you pray with me?’”
Given all the changes taking place in society that make teaching more challenging, Hogue asked Pence, “Why would somebody want to go into teaching?”
“You know, that’s a great point,” Pence answered.
“Why would anybody?” she asked as the audience laughed. “You know, why would anybody run for Congress?”
