The final decision

Jill Long Thompson (D)

Create a public-private partnership to provide free books to all Indiana children until age five.
Reduce high school dropout rates by making schools more flexible and personal.
Make college credit more available and transferable for high school students at no additional cost.
Expand the 21st Century Scholars Program to include more lower- and middle-income families.
Create a higher education foundation to use billion of dollars from philanthropic aid, as other municipalities have done, to expand the 21st Century Scholars Program.

Mitch Daniels (R)

Ask Indiana General Assembly to require school corporations to work through Indiana's Department of Administration to buy goods and services, saving millions of dollars.
Increase school corporations' spending on student learning making discretionary state grants and programs conditional for school districts that meet minimal efficiency standards for spending.
Ask General Assembly to approve Hoosier College Promise, a program that makes higher education more affordable for students from families who earn $60,000 or less by giving two years free tuition at Ivy Tech Community College or $6,000 to use for the first two years at another college or university.
Tax credits for teachers who buy school supplies with their own money.
Ask General Assembly to increase state funding to make possible full-day kindergarten.

Jill Long Thompson (D)

Make health insurance affordable for small businesses so more people have coverage. Use a portion of the 2007 cigarette tax increase to give incentives to businesses that provide insurance for their employees.
Establish the Hoosier Health Connector which will give employers and employees information to compare health plans and buy the best plan for them through the Connector.
Make quality health care more available, especially to the low-income population, by reviving the loan forgiveness program for medical, nursing and counseling students who practice in understaffed communities.
Restructure vocational and community college curriculums to include the field of medicine.
Promote health plans that cover young adults on their parent's health plans.

Mitch Daniels (R)

Continue with initiatives from his previous terms.
Signed the Healthy Indiana Plan in 2007 which provided 132,000 people with access to things like health screenings, prevention services, smoking cessation and provides tax credits for small businesses who create wellness programs. Expand capacity of plan to help more people get affordable health services.
Created INShape Indiana, which helped thousands of people lose weight and get healthy.
Proposed bill allowing Indiana people to waive coverage for pre-existing conditions, making health insurance more available to more people.
Developed a reporting system for medical errors based on national standards with results available to the public.

Jill Long Thompson (D)

Attract thousands of jobs in industries like manufacturing, agriculture, health care and corporate services.
Work with state and local government to develop a tier system of the state's economic development efforts. Divide Indiana's 92 counties into three tiers based on several factors and give tax incentives based on the tier to create more jobs across the state.
Reinstate collective bargaining for public employees to improve relations between workers and government.
Review Governor Daniels' privatization contracts with a bipartisan committee and determine their effectiveness.
Ensure Indiana businesses have chances to work with the state so Indiana workers build the state's infrastructure.
Oppose any legislation that will send Indiana jobs overseas.

Mitch Daniels (R)

Continue efforts of his previous terms.
Indiana has 70,000 new, well-paying jobs since Daniels took office.
Keep promoting the state to businesses and improving the atmosphere for businesses.
Continue to balance Indiana's budget. He has done so every year he's been in office.
Keep Indiana's highest ever credit level. Standard & Poor's raised it to AAA during Daniels' time in office.
Continue leading the way in foreign investments with companies that can bring jobs to the state.
Allow people to keep more of their money by putting a one percent cap on property taxes.

Jill Long Thompson (D)

Push for Indiana's involvement in the Climate Registry, a voluntary system that tracks and reports greenhouse gas emissions.
Take advantage of new technologies to use cleaner and renewable energy sources like clean coal, natural gas, wind or solar.
Give incentives, such as tax credits, to employers for developing well-paying, green jobs.
Use half of the $35 million in funding from 21st Century Research & Technology for grants to start-ups that partner with Indiana colleges and universities to develop new technology and conduct energy and environment research and development.
Use $10 million a year from existing economic development incentive programs to create a Clean Energy Fund. The fund will match federal funds and private donations to invest in clean technology and renewable energy projects.

Mitch Daniels (R)

Finish construction on the nation's largest wind power plant that will power more than 200,000 homes.
Continue to install E85 pumps. Indiana has the third most in the nation with 100. The state had none in 2005.
Help to establish the nation's first E85 corridor from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico.
Begin construction on Indiana's first clean coal plant.
Mandated that all new public buildings be designed to achieve maximum energy efficiency.
Give tax credits for people who purchase EnergyStar-rated appliances starting in 2009.
Continue to decrease the percentage of the population living in areas that exceed the ozone standard.

Sources: HoosiersForJill.com and MyManMitch.com

With 79 percent of students planning to vote in the state and local elections, it's important to know where your gubernatorial candidates plan to take Indiana, and of course, your education