Education Bills to Be Reviewed on Wednesday, 3/29

The following bills are to be reviewed and voted on by the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development on Wednesday, 3/29

HB 1003 - Student assessments. Replaces the ISTEP test program after June 30, 2018, with a new statewide assessment program to be known as Indiana's Learning Evaluation Assessment Readiness Network (ILEARN). Provides, beginning after June 30, 2017, that a high school must administer an end of course examination in the subjects of: (1) English/language arts; (2) science; and (3) algebra I. Repeals a provision defining the ISTEP program. Makes conforming amendments.

HB 1382 - Charter schools. Changes the definition of a charter school organizer. Requires each authorizer to establish a charter school Internet web page. Makes changes to the minimum standards for renewing a charter. Makes changes to the procedure for suspending an authorizer from authorizing a charter school. Provides that an authorizer is considered a state education authority within the meaning of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Provides that a charter school located in a county containing a consolidated city must determine which students may attend the charter school by using a publicly verifiable random selection process. (Current law provides that a charter school must determine which students may attend the charter school by use of a random drawing at a public meeting.) Makes changes to information that an education service provider must provide to a charter school. Provides that an authorizer must provide notification of acceptance or rejection of a proposal to establish a charter school within 75 days unless the authorizer and organizer agree to an extension of time. (Current law provides that notification must be provided within 75 days.) Provides that an organizer shall immediately inform the authorizer if its tax exempt status is questioned, modified, or revoked by the Internal Revenue Service or if its nonprofit corporation status is questioned, modified, or revoked by the state. Makes changes to the information an authorizer is required to report to the department. Changes procedures for relating to the renewal of a charter. Requires a charter school organizer to submit a statement of economic interest for each organizer board member. Requires an authorizer that is a state educational institution to assign authorization responsibilities to another entity. Makes changes to a provision relating to the qualifications of full-time teachers. Makes changes to a provision relating to the distribution of state funds to a charter school that does not have its charter renewed or terminated. Makes changes to the definition of a virtual charter school. Requires a virtual charter school to adopt a student engagement policy. Provides that the organizer's constitution, charter, articles, or bylaws must contain a clause providing that an authorizer may require the removal of a board member of the organizer in certain circumstances. Makes changes to which innovation network schools can receive a grant from the innovation network school grant fund. Provides that a governing body may enter into an agreement with an organizer to reconstitute certain schools as a participating innovation network charter school or to establish a participating innovation network charter school at a location selected by the board within the boundary of the school corporation. Provides that a participating innovation network charter school may be eligible for innovation network school grant funding. Repeals a provision that provides that the state board of education may require an authorizer to appear at a hearing conducted by the state board if the authorizer has renewed the charter of or failed to close a charter school that does not meet the minimum standards in the charter agreement. Repeals a provision establishing the charter school review panel.

HB 1383 - Elementary school teachers. 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 a content area license in the subject matter of math and science.

​This bill makes no sense. Why would a general elementary teacher have a content area license? 

HB 1384 - Various education matters. Provides that in the case of a high school student who has not attended the same school within the school corporation for at least 90% of a school year, the department shall assign the student to the high school at which the student was enrolled for the greatest proportion of school days during the school year for purposes of calculating a school's graduation rate. Provides that before July 1, 2018, the state board of education (state board) shall establish a definition of a high mobility school for schools with a high concentration of mobile students. Provides that, after June 30, 2018, the state board shall, in addition to placing a school in a category or designation of school improvement, assign a school grade for a high mobility school. Provides that the grade calculated is for informational purposes only and may not be used to calculate a school's category or designation of school improvement. Provides that $50,000 is the maximum grant a school corporation or charter school may receive under the dual language immersion pilot program. Provides that appropriations to the department of education to provide grants to school corporations for high ability students must be for expenditures beyond those for regular educational programs. Provides that the state board may accredit a nonpublic school that enters into a contract with the state board to become a freeway school at the time the nonpublic school enters the contract. Provides that a choice scholarship school may submit a request to the state board to waive or delay certain consequences if it is placed in the two lowest categories or designations of school improvement for a particular school year. Provides that the state board may grant a request to an eligible school that requests a delay or waiver if the choice scholarship school demonstrates that a majority of students in the eligible school demonstrated academic improvement during the preceding school year. Requires a school corporation to issue, upon request of a parent, a posthumous diploma to a student who: (1) dies while enrolled in grade 12 of a school in the school corporation; and (2) was academically eligible or on track to meet the requirements for the diploma at the time of death. Makes changes to the composition of the board of trustees for Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. Makes technical corrections.

Read this article about the concerns of HB 1384.

HB 1386 - Competency based education. Establishes the competency based education pilot program (pilot program). Provides that the department of education may award grants under the pilot program for competency based education programs from the innovation network school grant fund. Makes conforming amendments.

HB 1449 - Teacher induction pilot program. Makes changes to who may submit a plan to participate in the career pathways and mentorship program. Establishes the Indiana new educator induction program (program) to give new teachers, principals, and administrators mentoring support. Provides that grants for the program may be made from the system for teacher and student advancement grant fund. Provides that, not later than July 1, 2018, and each July thereafter, the state board of education shall submit a report to the governor and the general assembly regarding the status of the program. Establishes the Indiana educator residency pilot program. Urges the legislative council to assign the issue of teacher residency programs to the appropriate study committee. Urges the legislative council to assign to an appropriate study committee for study during the 2017 legislative interim the topic of whether it is appropriate to require teachers to participate in a new educator induction program before being eligible to receive a practitioner license.