Worthy bills were filed this session--bills that that would get rid of the third-grade reading test (IREAD), increase charter transparency and accountability, and increase teacher pay. Those bills did not get heard by committee. However, in response to the Red for Ed activism, legislators are moving to decouple teacher evaluations from test scores and to hold schools and districts harmless from the harm imposed on them by a poorly made state standardized test, ILEARN.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand explains: Starting on Monday, most bills that are still alive will switch from their chamber of origin to the opposite chamber (House to Senate or Senate to House). All bills get assigned to a committee in the second chamber and go through the full committee hearing process just as they did in their chamber of origin.

Please contact education committee members (contact info is given at the bottom of this post) as well as your own state senator or representative about the following bills. If you don't know who they are, you can find your reps here. This is not a comprehensive list; there are other bills to be concerned about. But it's a place to start.


OPPOSE
House Bill 1003 (to be heard by the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 12), among other things, would let a school or group of schools apply to the State Board to waive compliance with certain statutes or rules, including on restraint and seclusion, bullying prevention, suicide awareness, discipline policy, and training on child abuse and neglect. We oppose this part of the bill.

Message: Let the study committee established by the bill do its work and make recommendations about how to reduce the administrative burden on schools. Statutes should apply equally to all. It’s not transparent to have exceptions to the rules for some. That undermines the whole idea of a system of common schools. Please amend House Bill 1003 to remove the part that would enable a school or group of schools to apply for a waiver to some state statutes.

Address to: Senate Education Committee and/or your state senator

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OPPOSE 
House Bill 1066 (to be heard by the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 12). We oppose the part of this bill that would extend voucher eligibility to foster children.

Message: We spent $161 million on the voucher program last year. This program is draining funds from the public schools that most foster children attend. Also, most foster children already are eligible for vouchers through income guidelines. We are losing public school teachers, and enrollment in Indiana’s teacher training programs dropped by 55% between 2010 and 2018. Don’t add another path toward a voucher. Eight paths is enough. Please remove the vouchers-for-foster-children provision in House Bill 1066.

Address to: Senate Education Committee and/or your state senator

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OPPOSE
House Bill 1153. Provides that the governor’s workforce cabinet shall make a strategic plan to align education policy with workforce training and employer needs. 

Message: While we all want students to be prepared for jobs, education should be much more than job training. Education should develop our kids’ potential in many directions--including as citizens, scientists, and artists. It should be designed by people who are knowledgeable about child development--educators. The needs of Indiana’s employers should not dictate the education of our children. Vote no on House Bill 1153.

Address to: Senate Education Committee and/or your state senator and Governor Holcomb

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SUPPORT  
HB 1002. Removes the requirement that teacher evaluations be based in part on student test scores.

Message: Across all school types, test scores reflect family income. Evaluating teachers and schools according to test scores punishes those who serve students in poverty. It also pressures teachers to teach to the test, narrowing the curriculum and discouraging creative and innovative educators from persisting in the profession. Vote yes on House Bill 1002--and don’t stop there. Next year, get rid of the punitive, test-score-based A-F system for grading schools.

Address to: Senate Education Committee and/or your state senator and Governor Holcomb

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Senate Committee on Education and Career Development members:
Chair: Senator Raatz, 317-233-0930, Senator.Raatz@iga.in.gov,
Crane, 317-232-0084, s24@iga.in.gov,
Buchanan, 317-234-9426, Senator.Buchanan@iga.in.gov
Donato, 317-234-9488, s18@iga.in.gov
Freeman, 317-232-9400, senator.Freeman@iga.in.gov
Kruse, 800-382-9467, Senator.Kruse@iga.in.gov
Leising, 317-232-9493, Senator.Leising@iga.in.gov
Rogers, 317-234-9443, Senator.Rogers@iga.in.gov
Spartz, 317-232-9400, Senator.Spartz@iga.in.gov
Melton, 317-232-9491, s3@iga.in.gov
Mrvan, 317-232-9847, s1@iga.in.gov
Niezgodski, 317-232-9491, s10@iga.in.gov
Stoops, 317-232-9532, s40@iga.in.gov 
  
House Committee on Education members:
Chair: Representative Behning,  800-382-9841, h91@in.gov 
Cook,  800-382-9841, h32@in.gov
Burton, 800-382-9841 h58@in.gov
Clere, 800-382-9841, h72@in.gov
DeVon, 800-382-9841, h5@in.gov
Goodrich, 800-382-9841, h29@in.gov
Jordan, 800-382-9841, h17@in.gov
Lucas, 800-382-9841, h69@in.gov
Thompson, 800-382-9841, h28@in.gov
Smith, 800-382-9842, h14@in.gov;
DeLaney, 800-382-9842, h86@in.gov
Klinker, 800-382-9842, h27@in.gov
Pfaff, 800-382-9842, h43@in.gov

Mailing address for Governor Holcomb and state senators and representatives:
Indiana Statehouse 
200 W. Washington Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2786

Thank you for your attention to education bills in this fast-paced short session!

--Jenny Robinson and Keri Miksza

January 20, 2020

UPDATE: Friends pointed out to us that HB 1002 removes the requirement that teacher evaluations be based, in part, on objective measures of achievement. This has been passed by the full House and is now in consideration in the Senate. Please contact your state senator to encourage them to vote in favor of it. (Reasons include those given below.)

CALL TO ACTION

Message: Hear SB 59, Teacher evaluations (sponsored by Senator Leising), in committee!

What SB 59 does:
It limits the use of state test scores in teacher evaluations. Provides that objective measures of student achievement and growth, including student results on a statewide assessment, may not account for more than 5% of the total performance evaluation score or result.

Why SB 59 is needed:
Tying scores to teacher evaluations is harmful because:

• They are unfair. Test scores track income level across all school types, whether public, charter, or private. Using test scores to evaluate teachers punishes teachers who work in high poverty schools.
• It increases pressure on teachers to narrow the curriculum and teach to the test instead of providing hands-on learning, projects, and exploration by students.
• The tests are stressful to kids and send the wrong messages about education.

For these same reasons, we should get rid of the A-F system of grading schools and districts, which is based on test scores. But this bill doesn’t do anything about that.

Where SB 59 is in the process: SB 59 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development, but has not been heard.

Who needs to hear from us about SB 59: Members of the Senate Committee on Education and Workforce Development:

Please call the committee chair, Senator Raatz, at 800-382-9467, and ask him to hear this bill in committee. Also, you can email committee members at the addresses below.
 
Republicans: Raatz, Crane, Buchanan, Donato, Freeman, Kruse, Leising, Rogers, Spartz
Democrats: Melton, Mrvan, Niezgodski, Stoops

Senator.Raatz@iga.in.gov, s24@iga.in.gov, Senator.Buchanan@iga.in.gov, s18@iga.in.gov, Senator.Freeman@iga.in.gov, Senator.Kruse@iga.in.gov, Senator.Leising@iga.in.gov, Senator.Rogers@iga.in.gov, Senator.Spartz@iga.in.gov

s3@iga.in.gov, s1@iga.in.gov, s10@iga.in.gov, s40@iga.in.gov    

Thanks for advocating for kids and teachers!