General Education Bills in the General Assembly

This is a list of the general education bills that are scheduled to be heard by the General Assembly at some point during the 2011 legislative session.  Bills listed as "SB" originate in the Senate, while bills listed as "HB" originate in the House.  Each bill will have a summary of the bill's text followed by my commentary on some of the bills italicized in blue.  I will highlight the important aspects of lengthier bills.  You can see all these bills in .pdf format on The Senate's website. 

• SB 0001: Teacher Evaluations and Licensing: This was referenced in the governor's State of the State Address.  It appears to be one of the most important education bills in the 2011 session, as it will directly impact the futures of Hoosier teachers.  I will follow this bill very closely.  This bill is quite large and entails several different components:
• Eliminates the advisory board of the Division of Professional Standards in the Indiana Department of Education
• Requires at least 50% of the teachers in a charter school must be licensed by the State Board of Education
• The Department of Education must revoke the license of any licensed school employee that is convicted of a felony or comparable offense in another state
• Teachers must undergo a yearly performance evaluation where his or her effectiveness is rated on a scale of "highly effective," "effective," "improvement necessary," or "ineffective."
• Teachers falling in the "improvement necessary" or "ineffective" categories are prohibited from receiving a raise for the following academic year.
• SB 0371: Penalties Imposed by Public Access Counselor: Creates an education fund to train and educate public officials on their responsibilities under Indiana's public access laws.  Would also create the position of a Public Access Counselor who would be authorized to assess civil penalties against any official or agency in violation of those laws.  Any penalties collected would be deposited into the education fund.  I really don't see how this has anything to do with education, except perhaps for the fact that the proceeds collected from these penalties would provide additional education funding.  It was listed on the General Assembly's website under "education," but I probably won't follow this bill very closely.
• SB 0428: Lottery Proceeds for Reggio Emilia Schools: This bill would establish a fund from which Early Childhood programs adhering to the Reggio Emilia philosophy would be allowed to apply for grants.  This is interesting because the state wants to use lottery proceeds to promote a fairly new early childhood educational philosophy in public and private schools.  Bloggers and advocates in the Reggio Emilia community think that the state is taking quite a bit of initiative in proposing this bill.  Click on the link above to learn more about the Reggio Emilia philosophy.
• SB 0446: Use of Public School Property by Charter Schools: This bill would allow charter schools to have access to unused school buildings owned by public school systems in order to conduct their own classes for Hoosier students.  The governor also referenced this request in his State of the State Address.  This bill would make it easier for charter schools to conduct business in Indiana.
• HB 1416: Credit Time for Approved Correspondence Courses: Requires that any correspondence courses taken for high school credit by inmates incarcerated by the Indiana Department of Correction must be pre-approved by the Department of Correction prior to being taught in prisons.