Civics Lesson
Our legislators are plowing their way through this short legislative season. 
Committee sessions are over. Senate and House are reviewing the last batch of bills.
Whatever gets passed goes on to the opposite chamber for review, amendments, and approval. What's approved finally goes to the governor's desk for his final stamp of approval. 

Per the master calendar, the deadlines this week are as follows: 

Monday, February 5, 2018: Last day for 3rd reading of House bills in House 

Tuesday, February 6, 2018: Last day for 3rd reading of Senate bills in Senate 

Call to Action
First, please note that some bills being heard this week require action. Please contact your legislators. 

Against
SB33 Houses of worship and firearms. Guns have no place near children and schools. Need we say more? You can read more here. 

SB387 Teacher licensing. Yet another last minute amendment (come on now, legislators...) by our state legislators. This amendment would allow public schools to fill up to 10 percent of staff with unlicensed teachers. Why is this necessary? Because some school districts are struggling to hire faculty in the face of teacher shortages. Why are there shortages? Because laws regarding teacher evaluations, tenure and collective bargaining have made the field less attractive. You can read more here. 

*** 2/5 UPDATE on SB387- Thank you to everyone who made the calls and emails about the licensed teacher amendment to SB387. It was removed today (2/5) from the bill.  HOWEVER, SB33 still remains. They vote on it tomorrow. Please continue to voice your opinion on the matter.

*** Both bills are on the schedule to be heard Monday by the Senate. ​

MONDAY
Education Bills to be Heard by the Senate on Monday 2/5 at 1:30 p.m.

SB33 Second Reading - amended, ordered engrossed
Houses of worship and firearms. Permits a person who may legally possess a firearm to possess a firearm on school property if the person possesses the firearm: (1) with permission of the house of worship located on school property; (2) as an employee or volunteer of a house of worship located on the school property; or (3) while attending a worship service or religious ceremony conducted at a house of worship located on the school property.

SB43 Second Reading - ordered engrossed
Racial balance levy and fund. Repeals provisions regarding the racial balance levy and the racial balance fund. Provides that any money in a school corporation's racial balance fund on January 1, 2019, must be transferred to the school corporation's operations fund.

SB50 Second Reading - amended, ordered engrossed
Workforce development; career and technical education. Establishes the college and career funding review committee. Requires the review committee to study certain issues and to submit a report to the governor and the legislative council concerning the results of the study. Provides that the governor shall appoint a secretary of workforce training. Provides that if an employer has entered into an agreement with the IEDC for EDGE credits, the IEDC may enter into an additional agreement with the employer to also provide tax credits to individuals who relocate to Indiana to become employed by the employer in a new high demand, unfilled job, if the corporation determines that the jobs are not likely to be filled by current Indiana residents. Provides that the IEDC may enter into an agreement with an employer to provide tax credits to individuals who relocate to Indiana to become employed by the employer in an existing high demand, unfilled job, if the IEDC determines that: (1) the existing high demand, unfilled job has been unfilled for at least 180 days due to a lack of qualified job candidates; and (2) the job is not likely to be filled by current Indiana residents. Specifies that a taxpayer may not claim these credits for more than two taxable years. Establishes a state income tax credit for expenditures and donations made on behalf of an employee or student to meet the requirements for portable workforce credentials that are required or beneficial for targeted employment identified by the department of workforce development. Applies to taxable years beginning in 2019 through 2021. Requires the board for technical education to identify workforce training programs that are underperforming and request that the budget agency reduce allotments for the program for the state fiscal year and limits the amount of tax credits in that state fiscal year to the amount the allotments are reduced. Requires the state board of education (state board), when establishing an apprenticeship as a graduation pathway requirement, to establish as an apprenticeship program only an apprenticeship program registered under the federal National Apprenticeship Act or another federal apprenticeship program administered by the United States Department of Labor. Provides that the state board shall establish the real world career readiness program (program) to provide a real world career readiness student with career and technical education credentials necessary to transition from school to the workforce. Provides that a real world career readiness student may attend an authorized program for a period of not more than one school year after the student's cohort's expected graduation year in order to obtain an industry recognized certification, credential, or postsecondary degree. Specifies criteria for a student's participation. Provides that not later than July 1, 2019, each school corporation or charter high school, either solely, or in a cooperative or consortia with one or more school corporations or charter high schools, must participate in an authorized program beginning with a cohort with an expected graduation year of 2023. Provides that an eligible pupil, for purposes of calculating state tuition support, includes a student enrolled in a program. Provides that the secretary of career connections and talent shall with the assistance of the department of workforce development establish and coordinate a career coaching program to: (1) connect employers to local school corporations and schools to create collaborative partnerships that benefits the community; and (2) provide information and support to high school students and their parents to encourage and assist students in successfully enrolling in and completing postsecondary career and technical education or obtaining a high demand job after completing high school. Requires all high schools in Indiana to participate in the program. Provides that the IEDC may award grants from the skills enhancement fund to the department of workforce development to carry out the career coaching program. Establishes the board for technical education (board). Specifies the membership of the board. Provides that the general purposes of the board are the following: (1) Plan for, coordinate, and make recommendations regarding Indiana's system of career and technical education. (2) Review appropriation requests of specified career and technical education providers. (3) Make recommendations to the governor, the budget agency, or the general assembly concerning career and technical education programs. (4) Perform other functions assigned by the governor or the general assembly. Provides that the board shall review the: (1) establishment of any new career and technical education program by a state provider; or (2) the offering of any proposed or existing career and technical education program leading to a certification, credential, or other indication of accomplishment. Requires the board to develop and update a long range plan for career and technical education. Requires the legislative services agency to: (1) conduct a systematic and comprehensive review, analysis, and evaluation of the twenty-first century scholars program and the Frank O'Bannon grant program; and (2) submit a report to the college and career funding review committee and the legislative council before October 1, 2018. Requires the secretary of career connections and talent to schedule, organize, and conduct a summit to assemble state government officials, Indiana employers, trade groups, and officials from Indiana institutions of higher learning to do the following: (1) Identify barriers and disincentives to employment and career advancement in Indiana. (2) Identify multiple training and development pathways for employers and employees. (3) Develop recommendations regarding the enhancement of employment opportunities.

SB177 Second Reading - ordered engrossed
The Indiana high school diploma. Requires the state board of education (state board) to establish one Indiana diploma for individuals who successfully complete high school graduation requirements. (Current law establishes four different diplomas.) Provides that each Indiana diploma must include one of the following designations: (1) General designation. (2) Core 40 designation. (3) Core 40 with academic honors designation. (4) Core 40 with technical honors designation. Requires, in adopting Core 40 curriculum models, the state board to consider math course requirements other than Algebra II. Allows the state board to adopt rules to establish: (1) math course requirements; and (2) science course requirements; for the Core 40 curriculum models. Repeals provisions that: (1) require the state board to design a high school diploma for the high school fast track program; and (2) establish a subcommittee to make recommendations regarding diplomas and certain course requirements and develop the requirements for a career and technical education diploma.

SB235 Second Reading 
Tax credit for education contributions. Provides for an adjusted gross income tax credit for donations to: (1) a public elementary school or public secondary school; or (2) a public school foundation. Provides that the maximum individual taxpayer credit is $1,000 in the case of a single return or $2,000 in the case of a joint return. Provides that the maximum corporate taxpayer credit is the greater of 10% of the corporation's total adjusted gross income tax liability or $10,000.

SB297 Second Reading - ordered engrossed
Employability skills curriculum. Provides that the department of workforce development will establish standards that provide students with career and college planning resources under the Indiana career explorer program and standards. (Current law provides that the department of workforce development will establish curriculum under the Indiana career explorer program and curriculum.) Provides that, not later than July 1, 2019, each school within a school corporation shall include interdisciplinary employability skills standards established by the department of education (department), in conjunction with the department of workforce development and approved by the state board of education, in the school's curriculum. Provides that, if the department determines that the pilot program for instruction in and use of the Indiana career explorer program and standards should be extended, the department, in consultation with the department of workforce development, must increase the number of schools involved in the pilot program by at least 15 additional schools, if possible based on the interest from schools. Provides that the state board of education, in consultation with the department and the department of workforce development, may approve an alternative Internet based system and standards (Current law provides that the department, in consultation with the department of workforce development may approve alternative Internet based system and standards.) Establishes the work ethic certificate program (program) and fund. Requires the department of workforce development to administer the program.

SB303 Second Reading - ordered engrossed
Various education matters. Amends dates for the following: (1) The submission of reports regarding the number of full-time equivalent students enrolled in an alternative education program. (2) Student enrollment and attendance and grant distributions regarding alternative education program grants. (3) A school corporation's count of pupils in homebound programs. (4) The submission of reports to the department of education (department) concerning scholarships awarded by a scholarship granting organization in the previous school year. Requires the commission for higher education, in collaboration with the state board of education, to establish a uniform online system of certain staff performance evaluation data. Amends requirements and defines "appropriate vehicle" with regard to the types of vehicles a school corporation may use to transport homeless students to a school of origin. Provides that the same requirements apply to the transport of students in foster care to a school of origin. Amends the conditions that must apply for an original school corporation and a transitional school corporation to be required to enter into an agreement concerning the responsibility for and apportionment of the costs of transporting a foster student to and from a school of origin. Provides that, to drive a school bus, an individual must have a depth perception of at least 80% or 48 seconds of arc or less angle of stereopsis. (Current law requires an individual to have a depth perception of at least 80% or 33 seconds of arc or less angle of stereopsis.) Provides that certain students who are eligible to receive a tuition and fee exemption because the students are children of a veteran must maintain at least a cumulative grade point average that the eligible institution determines is satisfactory academic progress, which may not be less than a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 grading scale or its equivalent as established by the eligible institution. (Current law requires the student to maintain at least a cumulative grade point average that the eligible institution determines is satisfactory academic progress.) Removes a provision that requires school corporations to conduct an additional cumulative count of pupils in homebound programs for informational purposes.

SB387 Second Reading - amended, ordered engrossed
Teacher licensing. Provides that at least 90% of the individuals who teach full time in a public school must hold a license or be in the process of obtaining a transition to teaching license. Provides that the department of education (department) may grant an initial practitioner license to an individual who: (1) took the content area examination twice and did not pass; (2) received a score that is not more than 10% lower than the passing score for the examination; (3) has been hired by a school corporation; and (4) meets certain other requirements. Provides that a school corporation may, for open teaching positions in the school corporation each school year, hire not more than 10% of individuals who meet the requirements to be eligible for an initial practitioner license without passing the content area examination. Requires a school corporation to notify the department if the school corporation hires an individual who is eligible for an initial practitioner license without passing the content area examination. Requires an individual who receives an initial practitioner license without passing the content area examination to participate in and successfully complete the Indiana mentor and assessment program. Establishes requirements for renewal of an initial practitioner license for an individual who did not pass the content area examination. Provides that, to be eligible for a workplace specialist I license or a workplace specialist II license, an applicant must intend to be employed in the areas of science, technology, engineering, math, special education, career counseling, or any other career or technical area. Provides that the department may not grant a workplace specialist I license or a workplace specialist II license to an applicant for certain areas unless a superintendent or principal of a school at which the applicant intends to teach requests the department to issue the workplace specialist I license or a workplace specialist II license for the applicant. Provides that an applicant may not obtain a proficient practitioner license unless the applicant has passed the approved content area examination in the subject matter area in which the applicant intends to teach. Provides that, for school years beginning after June 30, 2018, a school corporation may provide a supplemental payment to a teacher in excess of the salary specified in the school corporation's compensation plan if the teacher: (1) is a special education teacher; or (2) teaches in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Provides that the supplemental payment is not subject to collective bargaining but must be discussed. Requires the department to post on the department's Internet web site the pass rate of the content area examination for each postsecondary educational institution.

SB295 Third Reading - passed; Roll Call 139: yeas 36, nays 12
School property and religious institutions. Prohibits a sex offender from attending a house of worship located on school property while classes, extracurricular activities, or other school activities are being held.

Read more here.
​
Education Bills to be Heard by the House on Monday 2/5 at 10:00 a.m.

(These are all 3rd readings)

HB1016 - Third reading: failed for lack of constitutional majority; Roll Call 173: yeas 47, nays 46
Student journalism. Provides freedom of speech and freedom of press protections for grades 7 through 12 and state educational institution student journalists. Requires each school corporation and charter school to adopt a policy concerning student journalist protections. Requires a student media adviser to, each school year, supervise student journalists in grades 7 through 12 in the creation of certain school sponsored media policies. Provides that a public school or school corporation may not suppress school sponsored media unless certain conditions apply. Provides that public schools, school corporations, and state educational institutions are immune from civil liability for any injury resulting from school sponsored media produced by a student journalist, except for acts or omissions that constitute gross negligence or willful, wanton, or intentional misconduct.
 
HB1316 - Third reading: passed; Roll Call 162: yeas 70, nays 20
Bullying. Provides that a school corporation is not required to report the number of incidents of bullying in the school corporation's annual school performance report. Provides that information reported by a school corporation relating to the number of incidents of bullying that occur may not be used in calculation of a school's annual school improvement grade. Provides that the department of education (department) must annually send notification via electronic mail or a letter to each school corporation explaining: (1) the school corporation's obligation to submit a report to the department containing the number of bullying incidents involving a student; and (2) that the department may conduct an audit of the school corporation to ensure that bullying incidents are accurately reported. Provides that the department may conduct an audit of a school corporation to ensure that bullying incidents are accurately reported. Provides that the department must report discrepancies of an audit on the department's Internet web site. Requires the department to conduct a statewide survey concerning the improvement of school corporation reporting of incidents of bullying involving a student to the department. Requires, not later than November 1, 2018, the department to submit a report to the general assembly. 
 
HB1399 -  Third reading: passed; Roll Call 152: yeas 91, nays 0
Elementary school teacher content area licenses. Provides that, not later than July 1, 2019, the state board of education shall adopt rules to establish one or more elementary school teacher content area licenses that must, at a minimum, include an: (1) elementary mathematics specialist license; and (2) elementary mathematics and science teacher license. Establishes requirements to be eligible for an elementary mathematics specialist license and an elementary mathematics and science teacher license. Requires the department of education (department) to develop an incentive program to assist and reward teachers who pursue and earn an elementary school teacher content area license. Provides that the department shall make recommendations to the general assembly regarding ways to accomplish the goals of the incentive program.
 
HB1420 - Third reading: passed; Roll Call 149: yeas 92, nays 0
Various education matters. Makes changes relating to how parents of students are nominated and approved to be members of the commission on seclusion and restraint in schools. Provides that a student with special needs who has a service plan or a choice scholarship education plan may be admitted to the Indiana School for the Deaf. Provides that a student who is withdrawn from enrollment from a virtual charter school for failure to participate in courses pursuant to the school's student engagement policy may not reenroll in that same virtual charter school for the school year in which the student is withdrawn. Defines "education records". Requires an organizer of a charter school that is closing for any reason to establish a charter school protocol that explains to a parent of a student enrolled in the charter school the procedure that the charter school uses to transfer a student's education records. Provides that a Cambridge International course may be used for the following purposes: (1) As the basis for a supplemental payment to a teacher who teaches a Cambridge International course. (2) As one of the assessments that a student in grades 10 through 12 voluntarily plans to take. (3) As an additional curriculum model available to high school students. (4) As a replacement for certain high school courses on a student's high school transcript. (5) For a student's receipt of credits toward graduation by demonstrating proficiency in a course or subject area. (6) To place a student who is a child of a military family in the appropriate course when the student transfers to a new school. (7) For purposes of determining eligibility for various higher education scholarship and awards programs and amounts. Provides that each student who enrolls in a Cambridge course may take the accompanying Cambridge International examination to receive high school credit for the Cambridge course. Requires the department of education and the state board of education to provide that a successfully completed Cambridge course is credited toward fulfilling the requirements of an Indiana diploma that contains the Core 40 with academic honors designation. Subject to certain conditions, provides that an individual or entity must: (1) notify a public school regarding an alleged violation of law; and (2) indicate a proposed remedy; before the individual or entity may file a civil action or an administrative proceeding against the public school. Provides that after receiving a notice from an individual or entity, a public school may take the following actions: (1) Remedy the alleged violation or violations. (2) Make a written offer to settle a dispute. Provides that a proposed remedy offered by an individual or entity must include the following: (1) A specific request for relief. (2) An opportunity for the public school to offer the individual or entity the relief requested before the individual or entity initiates a civil action or administrative proceeding against the public school. Specifies that if an individual or entity does not notify the public school before filing a civil action or administrative proceeding, a court, administrative law judge, or hearing officer shall dismiss the civil action or administrative proceeding without prejudice. Urges the legislative council to assign to an appropriate interim study committee the task of studying the impact of litigation on school corporations and charter schools. Provides that an issuing officer shall issue an employment certificate to a student who attends a nonaccredited nonpublic school after receiving: (1) proof of age; and (2) proof of prospective employment. Provides that a child who attends a nonaccredited nonpublic school who is seeking an employment certificate from a school the child does not attend must also present to the issuing officer an attestation from the student's parent that the student is enrolled in school. Provides that a written statement may be submitted to the issuing officer via facsimile or electronic mail. Provide that the student may not work more than three hours on a school day other than a Friday. Repeals a provision concerning the transfer of student records. Makes conforming amendments. Resolves a conflict between P.L.217-2017 and P.L.250-2017.
 
HB1421 - Third reading: passed; Roll Call 148: yeas 92, nays 0
School discipline. Provides that the department of education's (department) model evidence based plan for improving student behavior and discipline must: (1) reduce out-of-school suspension and disproportionality in discipline and expulsion; and (2) limit referrals to law enforcement or arrests on school property to cases in which referral to law enforcement or arrest is necessary to protect the health and safety of other students or school employees. Provides that, beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, the department, in collaboration with parent organizations and state educational institutions, shall, upon a school corporation's request, provide information and assistance to the school corporation regarding the implementation of the school corporation's evidence based plan to ensure that teachers and administrators receive appropriate professional development and other resources in preparation for carrying out the plan. Urges the legislative council is urged to assign to an appropriate interim study committee the task of studying the use of positive student discipline and restorative justice practices by elementary and secondary schools. Requires the department to conduct a survey of school corporation school discipline policies to determine the extent to which positive discipline and restorative justice practices are being utilized.
 
HB1426 - Third reading: passed; Roll Call 147: yeas 84, nays 5
Education matters. Urges the legislative council during the 2018 through 2020 interims to assign to the education interim study committee the task of studying issues relating to a school corporation's ability to provide adequate career counseling to students. Requires the state board of education (state board) to establish one Indiana diploma for individuals who successfully complete high school graduation requirements. (Current law establishes four different diplomas.) Provides that each Indiana diploma must include one of the following designations: (1) General designation. (2) Core 40 designation. (3) Core 40 with academic honors designation. (4) Core 40 with technical honors designation. Requires the state board to create an alternate diploma for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Requires, in adopting Core 40 curriculum models, the state board to consider math course requirements other than Algebra II. Allows the state board to adopt rules to establish: (1) math course requirements; and (2) science course requirements; for the Core 40 curriculum models. Repeals provisions that: (1) require the state board to design a high school diploma for the high school fast track program; and (2) establish a subcommittee to make recommendations regarding diplomas and certain course requirements and develop the requirements for a career and technical education diploma. Provides that, for each school year beginning after June 30, 2019, a high school shall administer as part of the statewide assessment a nationally recognized college entrance exam. Eliminates the requirement of end of course assessments to be administered as part of the statewide assessment program. Provides that a high school shall administer science as part of the statewide assessment. Resolves a conflict in a provision that requires the state board to develop guidelines to assist secondary schools to identify students likely to require remediation. Eliminates a requirement that a student must take a college and career readiness examination if the student is identified under the guidelines developed by the state board to likely be in need of remediation. Provides that certain statewide assessments must use a scale score that will ensure the statewide assessment scores are comparable to assessment scoring used as part of the ISTEP program, before its expiration. Provides that a student may receive a waiver from the postsecondary readiness competency requirements that are part of the graduation pathway requirements if the student meets certain conditions. Provides that the state board of education may authorize the use of the graduation examination as a graduation requirement for cohorts that graduate before July 1, 2023. Adds a provision to the list of purposes for which a charter school may limit new admissions to the charter school. Makes conforming amendments. 

Read more here. 
​

TUESDAY
Education Bills to be Heard by the Senate on Tuesday 2/6 at 10:30 a.m.

SB33 Third Reading
Houses of worship and firearms. Permits a person who may legally possess a firearm to possess a firearm on school property, unless prohibited by the house of worship, if the person possesses the firearm: (1) as an employee or volunteer of a house of worship located on the school property; or (2) while attending a worship service or religious ceremony conducted at a house of worship.

SB43 Third Reading
Racial balance levy and fund. Repeals provisions regarding the racial balance levy and the racial balance fund. Provides that any money in a school corporation's racial balance fund on January 1, 2019, must be transferred to the school corporation's operations fund.

SB50 Third Reading
Workforce development; career and technical education. Establishes the college and career funding review committee (review committee). Requires the review committee to study certain issues and to submit a report to the governor and the legislative council concerning the results of the study. Provides that the governor shall appoint a secretary of workforce training. Provides that if an employer has entered into an agreement with the IEDC for EDGE credits, the IEDC may enter into an additional agreement with the employer to also provide tax credits to individuals who relocate to Indiana to become employed by the employer in a new high demand, unfilled job, if the corporation determines that the jobs are not likely to be filled by current Indiana residents. Provides that the IEDC may enter into an agreement with an employer to provide tax credits to individuals who relocate to Indiana to become employed by the employer in an existing high demand, unfilled job, if the IEDC determines that: (1) the existing high demand, unfilled job has been unfilled for at least 180 days due to a lack of qualified job candidates; and (2) the job is not likely to be filled by current Indiana residents. Specifies that a taxpayer may not claim these credits for more than two taxable years. Provides that the aggregate amount of EDGE credits awarded in a state fiscal year under these provisions and under existing law for projects to retain existing jobs in Indiana may not exceed $10,000,000. Establishes a state income tax credit for expenditures and donations made on behalf of an employee or student to meet the requirements for portable workforce credentials that are required or beneficial for targeted employment identified by the department of workforce development. Applies to taxable years beginning in 2019 through 2021. Requires the board for technical education to identify workforce training programs that are underperforming and request that the budget agency reduce allotments for the programs for the state fiscal year and limits the amount of tax credits in that state fiscal year to the amount the allotments are reduced. Requires the state board of education (state board), when establishing an apprenticeship as a graduation pathway requirement, to establish as an apprenticeship program only an apprenticeship program registered under the federal National Apprenticeship Act or another federal apprenticeship program administered by the United States Department of Labor. Provides that the state board shall establish the real world career readiness program (program) to provide a real world career readiness student with career and technical education credentials necessary to transition from school to the workforce. Provides that a real world career readiness student may attend an authorized program for a period of not more than one school year after the student's cohort's expected graduation year in order to obtain an industry recognized certification, credential, or postsecondary degree. Specifies criteria for a student's participation. Provides that not later than July 1, 2019, each school corporation or charter high school, either solely, or in a cooperative or consortia with one or more school corporations or charter high schools, must participate in an authorized program beginning with a cohort with an expected graduation year of 2023. Provides that the secretary of career connections and talent shall with the assistance of the department of workforce development establish and coordinate a career coaching program to: (1) connect employers to local school corporations and schools to create collaborative partnerships that benefit the community; and (2) provide information and support to high school students and their parents to encourage and assist students in successfully enrolling in and completing postsecondary career and technical education or obtaining a high demand job after completing high school. Requires all high schools in Indiana to participate in the program. Provides that the IEDC may award grants from the skills enhancement fund to the department of workforce development to carry out the career coaching program. Establishes the board for technical education (board). Specifies the membership of the board. Provides that the general purposes of the board are the following: (1) Plan for, coordinate, and make recommendations regarding Indiana's system of career and technical education. (2) Review appropriation requests of specified career and technical education providers. (3) Make recommendations to the governor, the budget agency, or the general assembly concerning career and technical education programs. (4) Perform other functions assigned by the governor or the general assembly. Provides that the board shall review the: (1) establishment of any new career and technical education program by a state provider; or (2) the offering of any proposed or existing career and technical education program leading to a certification, credential, or other indication of accomplishment. Requires the board to develop and update a long range plan for career and technical education. Requires the legislative services agency to: (1) conduct a systematic and comprehensive review, analysis, and evaluation of the twenty-first century scholars program and the Frank O'Bannon grant program; and (2) submit a report to the college and career funding review committee and the legislative council before October 1, 2018. Requires the secretary of career connections and talent to schedule, organize, and conduct a summit to assemble state government officials, Indiana employers, trade groups, and officials from Indiana institutions of higher learning to do the following: (1) Identify barriers and disincentives to employment and career advancement in Indiana. (2) Identify multiple training and development pathways for employers and employees. (3) Develop recommendations regarding the enhancement of employment opportunities.

SB177 Third Reading
The Indiana high school diploma. Requires the state board of education (state board) to establish one Indiana diploma for individuals who successfully complete high school graduation requirements. (Current law establishes four different diplomas.) Provides that each Indiana diploma must include one of the following designations: (1) General designation. (2) Core 40 designation. (3) Core 40 with academic honors designation. (4) Core 40 with technical honors designation. Requires, in adopting Core 40 curriculum models, the state board to consider math course requirements other than Algebra II. Allows the state board to adopt rules to establish: (1) math course requirements; and (2) science course requirements; for the Core 40 curriculum models. Repeals provisions that: (1) require the state board to design a high school diploma for the high school fast track program; and (2) establish a subcommittee to make recommendations regarding diplomas and certain course requirements and develop the requirements for a career and technical education diploma.

SB297 Third Reading
Employability skills curriculum. Provides that the department of workforce development will establish standards that provide students with career and college planning resources under the Indiana career explorer program and standards. (Current law provides that the department of workforce development will establish curriculum under the Indiana career explorer program and curriculum.) Provides that, not later than July 1, 2019, each school within a school corporation shall include interdisciplinary employability skills standards established by the department of education (department), in conjunction with the department of workforce development and approved by the state board of education, in the school's curriculum. Provides that, if the department determines that the pilot program for instruction in and use of the Indiana career explorer program and standards should be extended, the department, in consultation with the department of workforce development, must increase the number of schools involved in the pilot program by at least 15 additional schools, if possible based on the interest from schools. Provides that the state board of education, in consultation with the department and the department of workforce development, may approve an alternative Internet based system and standards (Current law provides that the department, in consultation with the department of workforce development may approve alternative Internet based system and standards.) Establishes the work ethic certificate program (program) and fund. Requires the department of workforce development to administer the program. 

SB303 Third Reading
Various education matters. Amends dates for the following: (1) The submission of reports regarding the number of full-time equivalent students enrolled in an alternative education program. (2) Student enrollment and attendance and grant distributions regarding alternative education program grants. (3) A school corporation's count of pupils in homebound programs. (4) The submission of reports to the department of education (department) concerning scholarships awarded by a scholarship granting organization in the previous school year. Requires the commission for higher education, in collaboration with the state board of education, to establish a uniform online system of certain staff performance evaluation data. Amends requirements and defines "appropriate vehicle" with regard to the types of vehicles a school corporation may use to transport homeless students to a school of origin. Provides that the same requirements apply to the transport of students in foster care to a school of origin. Amends the conditions that must apply for an original school corporation and a transitional school corporation to be required to enter into an agreement concerning the responsibility for and apportionment of the costs of transporting a foster student to and from a school of origin. Provides that, to drive a school bus, an individual must have a depth perception of at least 80% or 48 seconds of arc or less angle of stereopsis. (Current law requires an individual to have a depth perception of at least 80% or 33 seconds of arc or less angle of stereopsis.) Provides that certain students who are eligible to receive a tuition and fee exemption because the students are children of a veteran must maintain at least a cumulative grade point average that the eligible institution determines is satisfactory academic progress, which may not be less than a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 grading scale or its equivalent as established by the eligible institution. (Current law requires the student to maintain at least a cumulative grade point average that the eligible institution determines is satisfactory academic progress.) Removes a provision that requires school corporations to conduct an additional cumulative count of pupils in homebound programs for informational purposes.

SB387 Third Reading
Teacher licensing. Provides that the department of education (department) may grant an initial practitioner license to an individual who: (1) took the content area examination twice and did not pass; (2) received a score that is not more than one standard error of measure lower than the passing score for the examination; (3) has been hired by a school corporation; and (4) meets certain other requirements. Provides that a school corporation may, for open teaching positions in the school corporation each school year, hire not more than 10% of individuals who meet the requirements to be eligible for an initial practitioner license without passing the content area examination. Requires a school corporation to notify the department if the school corporation hires an individual who is eligible for an initial practitioner license without passing the content area examination. Requires an individual who receives an initial practitioner license without passing the content area examination to participate in and successfully complete the Indiana mentor and assessment program. Establishes requirements for renewal of an initial practitioner license for an individual who did not pass the content area examination. Establishes eligibility requirements for a career specialist permit. Provides that an applicant may not obtain a proficient practitioner license unless the applicant has passed the approved content area examination in the subject matter area in which the applicant intends to teach. Provides that, for school years beginning after June 30, 2018, a school corporation may provide a supplemental payment to a teacher in excess of the salary specified in the school corporation's compensation plan if the teacher: (1) is a special education teacher; or (2) teaches in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Provides that the supplemental payment is not subject to collective bargaining but must be discussed. Requires the department to post on the department's Internet web site the pass rate of the content area examination for each postsecondary educational institution.

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Compiled by Meghann Goetz and Keri Miksza

Speech by Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer
January 27, 2018
Muncie, Indiana
 
          Good morning. My name is Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer and I am here as a (new) board member of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education’s state organization (ICPE). I am also the chairperson of the ICPE of Monroe County. I am also the mother of 4 children who now range in age from 13 to 23. And it is in this capacity, Mom, that I have joined with other parents, and grandparents, retired and current educators, and spent the last several years speaking out against the very intense efforts to privatize our Indiana public schools.

           It’s an important voice, I think, to speak as a mother or parent supporting public schools. There are a lot of things being said about what we parents want. If you listen to Betsy DeVos, our U.S. secretary of education, she will tell you that it’s about a parent’s right to choose the school that is best for his or her child. She says parents know best about what schools are the best FIT for their child. But the thing about “school choice” is that it is NOT about parents choosing, it’s about schools choosing. And many times, if your child has behavior problems, is learning English as a new language, or has some serious special needs—your child may not be the right fit for their school. And this is the problem.

            As a mother, I don’t really want lots of choices. I want well-resourced, excellent schools for my children. I think we all do. And, actually, it’s not just about my child—this is about all of our children.

           We want schools with teachers who are experienced and educated in how children learn and best practices. We want schools with certified gym, music, and art teachers. We want teacher librarians with well-stocked libraries and media resources. We want electives, extracurricular activities, and clubs for our kids: marching band, sports, Science Olympiad, robotics, photography, AP classes, and world languages. And, most of all, we want our kids safe and cared for. These are the things that all parents would choose if they could. But it was really never about giving parents choice. Instead, it was about giving some parents a choice. It’s about taking funding in the form of vouchers and charter schools away from the whole to give to a select few and it’s about the destruction of our public education system.

            I began my involvement about 8 years ago. Our school system, like many others across the state, was in a bit of crisis. Then-governor Mitch Daniels had cut $300 million from our public education budget. ($300 million, by the way, which they have never given back). That meant about 72 teachers and precious programs were cut in our local schools in Monroe County. Our community then came together, from all walks of life, and put a referendum on the ballot in the fall of 2010, and we passed it. This entire experience, however, was a wake-up call for many of us.

           A lot of us were suddenly paying attention. I had, like you all, heard about “failing public schools.” I certainly had my own critique of our schools and public education. The elephant-in the-room fact is that we have never fully committed ourselves to equity. We have never fully funded our schools to account for the poverty of some of our communities and we have never completely addressed the institutionalized racism that exists in our educational system. We have never committed ourselves in full to the integration of our schools and to their democratic purpose. And that inequality made public education ripe for the picking for the uber-wealthy and the zealots of free markets.

            So, in 2011, in the name of the poor inner-city child, our state legislature passed a slate of laws that dramatically changed my kids (and yours) educational environment. Ideally, legislation comes from the people through our elected officials—we find a problem we want to address and our representatives introduce it into the statehouse and create laws that make our lives and communities better. But these education policy laws were written by a kind-of front group for the wealthy and corporate interests called the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC.

            We first heard about it when Trayvon Martin was shot and the newspapers exposed the fact that the Stand Your Ground law was written by ALEC (in the interests of the gun lobby, etc.). ALEC is made of corporations and uber-wealthy business people like the Koch brothers, the Walton family of Walmart, or even organizations associated with Betsy DeVos who stand to make a LOT of money off of the destruction and privatization of public education. The testing companies, the profitable charter schools management organizations, the online education groups, and the hedge fund managers are all raking in our public tax dollars.

            ALEC pays for conferences to woo legislators into adopting their model legislation back home. ALEC is a bill-mill and here in Indiana. They have been very successful. There’s even a reform package of model legislation on the ALEC website named after us!  Our former governor Mike Pence has written the introduction to the ALEC “Report Card on American Education.” Many members of our education committee are or were ALEC members. Our House Education Committee Chairman, Rep. Bob Behning, was at one time the state chairman himself. We win the “reformy” prize here in Indiana.

            What laws were these? The A–F grading of schools, teachers’ loss of voice in advocating for kids through the loss of collective bargaining, the draconian 3rd grade reading law which started the IREAD-3, vouchers and charters creating a competition for funding, a rigid 90-minute block of literacy instruction, tying teachers’ jobs and salaries to kids’ test scores, REPA3 which deprofessionalizes teaching by allowing anyone with a 3.0 GPA and a bachelor’s degree in anything…who passes a test… to be a teacher. These are all ALEC laws. They were not backed by research of what are best practices in teaching. These policies were not created by educators. These policies are about what’s in the best interests of corporations and the 1%.

            Seeing the writing on the statehouse wall, some retired educators got together in 2011 and created ICPE to fight vouchers and the defunding of our public schools. They understood the threat—where parents like me were just driving carpool unaware. But it has taken the last several years, the closing of our children’s schools, the growing class sizes, the stress of high-stakes testing, and the complete disrespect of our teachers, for parents like me to wake up and GET INVOLVED. And we are doing just that. Mama bears and papa bears are pretty fierce when it comes to our kids—and we won’t let Betsy DeVos… or anyone funded by her…harm our young.

            There is a feminist saying: “The personal is political.” A lot of people for a long time have been saying, “I don’t do politics.” Or, “I don’t want to get political.” But politics is not about Republican or Democrat; politics is about your relationship to power. Our public schools, and the teachers and children within them, are caught in the middle of a massive power struggle. We MUST get political.

            And this brings us to today. It’s been 7 years since Indiana started this grand experiment of letting the money “follow the child” away from our neighborhood schools and into other public schools or private, voucher, or privately-run charter schools. It’s been 7 years of children throwing up in stress over test scores that determine the future of their teacher’s jobs and the schools’ existence.
 
            Since its inception in 2011, we’ve spent something like half a billion dollars on vouchers alone. Some of my ICPE friends have been looking at the data available on the Indiana Department of Education website about charter schools and, since 2011, it is well over a billion dollars in total that we have spent toward that experiment. But almost one in five charter schools have closed over the past several years and the total number of dollars going to those charters now defunct is something like $142 million!

           Public-to-public transfers are also destabilizing our public schools. Even though a student leaves with the per pupil funding that would otherwise go to the neighborhood public school, you can’t stop paying for the lights, the building, the teacher—it adds up.

           My friend Steve Hinnefeld writes an education blog called “School Matters.” He recently did a post on the money leaving Gary and Muncie. He notes “Muncie’s general fund, the part of the budget that pays educator salaries and most operating expenses, was reduced from $55.4 million to $42.5 million over the past six years, according to figures from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. That’s a 23 percent cut.” And it’s not just you’ve lost enrollment since 2011 to 2017 (about a quarter of the enrollment in that time!). Steve also points out, “The legislature has also adjusted school funding to direct less money to urban schools and more to growing suburban schools. Gary Community Schools get over 20 percent less, per pupil, now than they did in 2011.

           Muncie also took a hit in per-pupil funding and only recently returned to its 2011 levels.”
The rewriting of the funding formula that saw more money going to suburban schools and away from urban schools was chaired by Rep. Tim Brown of the Ways & Means Committee. Rep. Brown said, during those proceedings, “Did Mary’s mother get arrested the night before? Did Johnny not come with shoes to school? Those to me are not core issues of education.” But they are…
           Our kids have a constitutional right to a free public education. It says: “Knowledge and learning, … being essential to the preservation of a free government; it should be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage … and provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.” It doesn’t say Indiana children have the “option to choose” or “a good education-- if you can get it.”

             Charter schools—some of them are very good, some much worse, but as a whole, almost the same as public schools—require there to be someone in the child’s life looking for options, filling out forms for a waitlist, providing transportation. Do we want kids to have excellent public schools only if they win the lottery?

             Why are we destabilizing public community schools who lose funding and often engaged families to give a few kids a separate education? Do we have the money to fund separate systems of education adequately?

              Research is showing that this school choice movement is segregating us further as a society. The National NAACP has called for a moratorium on charter schools recognizing that when there is little to no transparency in the budgets of charter schools, we often don’t know where the money goes and they are often not held to the same accountability standards as public schools. With no publicly elected boards like public schools, parents have no political power and no voice in decision-making at charters schools.

               In our county, there is an ideological bubble of a charter school whose authorization ICPE tried to stop. Our local community public schools are very well-resourced and performing very well. The founders of the charter school wanted to be away from the public schools and wanted their niche, classical school paid for.

              They were turned down twice by the Indiana Charter School Board and then they did what only a few states allow charter schools to do: they went authorizer shopping. In the end, they were authorized by a private, religious college, 2 and a half hours away—Grace College and Seminary. We had no ability to stop it. We filled the meeting room with local parents and community members begging them to not take the funding away from the whole to give to a few. If you want more classics taught in school, push your school board and administration for it.

             They got their ideological school. Last summer their charter school’s board of directors spent about 45 minutes trying to decide whether girls should be allowed to wear pants. “We are in the business of teaching girls to be ladies,” one of their members said. He wasn’t sure they could learn this without wearing a skirt!

             This school took $300,000 from a tiny school district in our area—helping seal the nail in the coffin of a beloved community elementary school that had low attendance and was expensive to keep open. Crying community members who had attended that school for generations, begged for it to stay open. Their school board didn’t feel it was sustainable.
​
             The harm of siphoning public funds to private or charter schools is like a death by a thousand cuts to the whole. The choice for a few is taking choices away from the whole.

             And what about vouchers? A voucher goes to the family to attend a private, almost always religious school. It doesn’t always cover the cost and, unlike how they were sold to us in the beginning, most voucher recipients have never set foot in public school and likely never intended to do so. They are also increasingly wealthy since the program began. You can make $90.000 for a family of four and qualify for a partial voucher.

            Voucher schools are also legally able to discriminate and choose who attend. In my town. there is a Christian school that says they will not accept LGBTQ students because their “lifestyle” is prohibited by the Bible. If a student’s “home life” violates biblical rules, the school can deny them admission or expel them.

            Many voucher schools have great freedom over the curriculum. There are schools like this one that received $665,000 in vouchers that would otherwise go to public schools, that teach from the Bob Jones or Abekah textbooks. In these texts they call Malcom X a “black supremacist” and refer to “Radical environmentalists” who “don’t just appreciate nature, but they ‘worship” it. In a pursuit of preservation, “environmentalists advocate for laws that hinder the advance of technology.” OR there’s this: “Satan did not want people worshipping God, so in the late 1800s, Satan hatched ‘the ideas of evolution, socialism, Marxist-socialism (Communism), progressive education, and modern psychology’ to counter America’s increased religiosity.”

            About 4,240 Indiana students received over $16 million in scholarships to attend schools that use the Abeka or Bob Jones curriculum, according to 2016-2017 figures from the Indiana Department of Education.

            If you take public money, should you be able to discriminate? Public schools’ mission is to educate all children.

​            The primary justification for corporate education reform is found in the narrative of “failing public schools”—schools where there are usually the lowest test scores. Whenever we hear about this, you can almost guarantee that they are the schools with the highest concentration of students in poverty.

            What is the number number-one factor associated with standardized test scores? It’s the educational and economic background of the child’s family. That is not to say that kids in poverty cannot learn. It is to say that a child who spent the night in his family car last night does not care about long division in the morning. That children whose basic needs are not met, have a harder time concentrating on learning. And that learning does not happen in a vacuum.

             As parents, we do want more than what is reflected on a test. We want our kids to follow their interests, be passionate and curious. We want our kids to be kind, to be creative, to think outside the box, to be able to resolve conflict, to persist. And, none of these are reflected on a bubble test.
             Do we need to think about this ever-moving target of test scores and the scarlet letters they slap on our schools that correlate with free and reduced lunch percentages? It does not help me as a mother to know the magic that is going on inside those schools and what kids are learning and creating. But it does feed the idea of competition. And these policymakers/legislators are all about believing that free markets will be the answer to anything. The thing about competition is that there are winners and losers. And no 6-year-old should be on the losing end of equal educational opportunity.
              When I ask legislators about this competition of helping kids out of “failing schools” and ask how it helps kids “left behind” in these supposedly “failing” schools, I hear, “Well, the public schools will just have to WORK HARDER.”
 
Think about that:
 
Work harder?
 
While the number of dollars in teachers’ paychecks are actually going down in some places and certainly not going up?
 
Harder?
 
While the number of kids in each class goes up?
 
Harder?
 
While the number of things that teachers have control over in the classroom goes down?
 
Harder?
 
While child poverty and the opioid crisis goes up?
 
Harder?

While the number of dollars due to money following the child right out of the community public schools goes down?
 
              This competition is a farce. Comparing schools is like comparing apples to oranges. And it’s a diversion because our teachers cannot solve the ills of society alone. They cannot cure poverty.

              Our legislature is shirking their responsibility to care for the most vulnerable of our society while blaming schools, teachers and kids for not trying hard enough to succeed.

               Poverty is a societal problem and it will take all of us as a community to work together to solve. It’s an economic problem that involves economic development solutions. And, at the center of a solution to a community problem must be real power by including voices that have been marginalized and joining together all voices to effect change.

               Democracy is messy and government can be disappointingly imperfect. But the answer is not to give up our power.

               I am from Michigan where the state legislature took over their schools and their cities. It happened in Detroit, Flint, Muskegon Heights—places where the majority of the population is people of color. And what happens when you don’t have that public accountability through a vote? There are areas of Detroit where parents have little to no choice. There are no well-resourced neighborhood schools in their areas. Or they have no car to get their kids to where there is such a school. Choice? On top of that, when you have someone whose job it is to cut costs and there are no checks & balances with the community, you have the possibility of dire effects: look at children drinking poison in Flint.
 
              We must get informed, organized, and vote.
 
              Accountability in a democracy is found in the voting booth.
 
              Schools are not businesses or factories; they are places where our children learn what they need to be citizens of this country. It’s where they come together with people who are different than they are and learn to respect and celebrate those differences. Now more than ever we need this in our country.
 
              Public schools’ purpose is democracy. They are reflective of our democracy and they are the heart of our community. Our fellow citizens, community members, who are accountable to us, not those who appoint them—are what puts the “public” in public education. Public schools are part of the common good.
 
               Please join ICPE and help us defend public education.
 
              "Our schools are being starved into failure in order to justify mass privatization” Timothy Meegan, Chicago Sun-Times
 
               In the end, it’s not about my child, my choice. It’s about all of our children, it’s about the future of the country and our democracy.
 
               John Dewey said it best: “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children. Any other ideal for our schools is narrow and unlovely, acted upon, it destroys our democracy.”
 
Thank you.