SB 294 & SB 575

I was watching the video coverage of the Senate proceeding on 2/22/11 and saw 2 bills be passed of particular interest to new teachers:

1. SB 294: Essentially mandates that school corporations hiring teachers who had not previously held a teaching license in another district must enter into a 60-day probationary contract with that new teacher.  After 30 days, the teacher must be evaluated and must meet with the principal.  After 60 days, if the teacher's performance is not acceptable, the district has the right to terminate the teacher's contract without the due process afforded to tenured or non-probationary teachers. You can see the Senate debate this bill on the video link from 1:03:00 to 1:24:00.  Senator Lanane, (D)-Anderson, sums up my general opinion of the bill when he notes, "I'm sure glad they didn't come in after one week and judge me," to which the author of the bill, Senator Holdman, (R)-Markle, replied, "Well that's why you're a lawyer, son" (1:22:00).  That is, despite the opinion of a principal interviewed by Senator Holdman noting that teachers can be judged after one week, I don't feel that 60 days is not enough time to give a probationary teacher.  As a pre-service teacher, the fact that this bill passed the Senate really scares me.
2. SB 575: This bill greatly hinders teachers' collective bargaining powers over their contracts and limits the power of teachers' unions.  This bill can be seen on the video from 2:36:00 to 3:13:00 and was ultimately passed in the Senate.  Senator Rogers, (D)-Gary, does a good job of explaining that unions not only fight for teachers' rights but also fight for quality conditions, such as low class sizes, advanced technology, and reasonable building conditions - all of which students need to learn in the classroom.

Status of Bills Advocated by Governor Daniels

I have listed below the major education-related topics directly advocated by Daniels in his State of the State address and the bills that those topics manifested into.  I will discuss whether or not each bill has died or progressed through one or both bodies of the General Assembly.

1. Teachers should earn tenure by proving their ability to help kids learn - and not simply through seniority (SB 001).  PASSED SENATE 2/22/11 - CURRENTLY PROGRESSING THROUGH HOUSE.
2. Students who complete high school one year early should be permitted to apply the funding that would have been used on their fourth year of high school toward the tuition of a post-secondary institution (SB 497).  PASSED SENATE 2/22/11 - CURRENTLY PROGRESSING THROUGH HOUSE.  
3. Charter schools should have the right to utilize vacant public school buildings if they are in need of room for expansion (SB 446).  PASSED SENATE 2/14/11 - CURRENTLY PROGRESSING THROUGH HOUSE.
4. Parents should be allowed to choose where to send their children to school - even if it means allowing the use of their child's state funding in a non-government school (SB 496/HB 1250).  SB 496 PASSED 2/22/11 - CURRENTLY PROGRESSING THROUGH HOUSE.  HB 1250 HAS STALLED.

House Democrats Flee the State to Stall Republican-Supported Bills

I just read an article explaining that 37 of the 40 House Democrats have fled Indiana in order to stall a series of Republican-supported bills up for vote, including the private school voucher bill that would allow parents to use vouchers to send their children to private schools using public funds.  3 Democrats remain in Indianapolis: The Democrat Caucus has rotated 2 representatives to stay in Indianapolis to insure that Republicans do not progress without quorum.  Representative Stemler of Jeffersonville has also stayed in Indianapolis because he does not feel that stalling House business is the right answer. 

A two-thirds majority is needed to maintain quorum in the House, and a quorum is required to conduct any  House business, including voting on bills.  7 democrats would have to be in Indianapolis to maintain majority, but House Minority Leader Pat Bauer of South Bend notes that meeting this quorum would be unlikely.  Republicans have adjourned the House until Monday in hopes that Democrats will return after the weekend.

The article I read on this topic can be read on the Louisville Courier Journal's website. 

Lobbying Groups Interested in Ed Bills

Here are a few major lobbying groups that have been actively supporting/opposing education legislation in front of the General Assembly.  Many of these groups' sites have lists of all of the ed bills that are in front of the Assembly (many more extensive than mine).  The Indiana Association of School Principals also has a link to an excel file that lists that organization's opinion on all of the ed bills still in front of the Assembly.


Indiana State Teachers' Association: http://www.ista-in.org/dynamic.aspx?id=308

The Indiana Association of School Principals: http://www.iasp.org/dppLegislative.html

Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents: http://www.iapss-in.org/page.php?pid=270

House Bill 1002

I was reading an article in a newspaper from home today and saw coverage of teachers from across the state protesting against the passing of House Bill 1002, which provided additional state support to charter schools.  Teachers argued that passing this bill would take funding away from public schools in order to provide them to charter schools.  This bill was very contentious, sparking over 2 hours of debate and the sound of teachers in the lobby chanting "no" as the final vote was taken.  I can see why there is so much debate over this bill because, on one hand, charter schools provide additional opportunities for students in successful and failing districts, while on the the other hand, charter schools do take away desperately-needed funding from school districts.  The bill was ultimately passed in the House by a vote of 59-37.

The final text of the bill can be seen on the House's Website
The video of the House's final hearing on the bill can be seen on the House's Website from 2:17:00 to 4:27:00.

Senate Bill 171

As I was watching the General Assembly proceedings from last week, I noticed that SB 171 slipped through the cracks of the bills I reviewed.  This bill, proposed to the Senate by Senator Delph, (R)-Westfield, proposed that state law would prohibit public schools from starting prior to Labor Day and would mandate that schools would no longer be able to end after June 10.  This bill was highly disputed by Senator Rogers, (D)- Gary, who argued that the reasons for state control over school calendars would actually be better-decided by local districts.  Additional senators, however, argued that corrupt school systems, particularly around Indianapolis, took too much advantage of their power to adjust school calendars.  Senator Leising, (R)-Oldenburg, argued that coordination between school districts as well as increased summer utility costs warrant a state-synchronized school schedule.  After an almost 45-minute debate on local control involving interesting discussion with a number of senators, the bill ultimately failed the Senate, with 23 yeas and 25 nays.

The full text of the bill can be seen at the Senate's website.
Video of the Senate hearing on the the bill from 2/3/11 can also be seen on the Senate's website starting at 1:09:00 and ending at 1:55:00

Proposed Bills Pertaining to the Indiana DOE, School Boards, and Superintendents - Part 3

HB 1429: Textbooks and Other Curricular Material: Expands the definitions of "textbook" and "curricular materials" to include applicable hardware, software, and other digital materials.  Removes the State Board of Education's authority to publish a list of approved textbooks, instead requiring individual districts to decide which textbooks their teachers will use.  However, the Board of Education must review a series of textbooks and publish reviews evaluating the level to which different textbooks correspond with Indiana curriculum standards.  This is interesting because this bill reinforces the value that Indiana places on local control regarding education-related decisions.  This bill appears to strike a good balance between state and local control in deciding which texts can be used by Indiana students, with the DOE evaluating different texts, but still leaving the final decision with individual districts.

HB 1369: Pay to Performance Program for School Administrators: Requires the DOE and individual districts to collaborate in setting goals for standardized testing, retention and graduation rates, fiscal performance, and administrator professional development.  Creates a performance incentive grant for districts that are able to meet these guidelines and provides for a reduction in funding for districts that are unable to meet these guidelines.  I think the thought process behind this bill is strong, as districts should be required to not only maintain high standards of academic achievement, but also maintain a high level of fiscal responsibility and professional development.  However, I feel that punishing districts not meeting these goals by reducing funding will simply not work.  Doing this only makes the learning atmosphere in already poor districts even worse than before.  I would agree with this bill if they would find some other way to hold failing districts accountable for their actions.

HB 1118: K-12 School Building Plans: Requires that districts use standardized plans and specifications in construction projects, but also provides an appeals process that districts can use if they feel that a different series of plans constructs buildings in an equally-efficient manner as the standardized plans.

SB 0408: Education Concerning Child Abuse: Requires the DOE to collaborate with organizations specializing in child sexual abuse to develop educational materials and response and reporting policies regarding child sexual abuse.

HB 1521: Fee for Disposible Carryout Bags: Requires that retailers providing disposible carryout bags to customers collect a ten-cent fee for each bag a customer uses.  Additionally, these retailers are required to provide reusable bags for customers to purchase should they wish.  25% of the revenue from these fees would be appropriated to the Green Industries Fund of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation while 75% of this revenue would be appropriated to the DOE to be used in for any lawful purpose.  On a non-educational note, I am a big fan of this bill for the work it does to improve the status of our environment and amount of trash produced by Hoosiers.  However, this is another bill that has little to do with education other than to appropriate more money to the DOE.  On the other hand, this bill does seem to wisely appropriate the funds from this fee.

HB 1283: Minority Procurement: Makes changes to Indiana's laws concerning minority and women's business practices in that it includes state educational institutions and construction managers within the bounds of these laws and encourages the use of qualified minority and women's businesses in the state's small business preferences.

HB 1580: School Improvement Plan: In schools run by the Department of Correction, the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the School for the deaf, employees' associations are required to demonstrate support for any professional development program before that plan can be approved by the DOE.  This bill demonstrates the value placed in teachers' unions, or "employees' associations," by the General Assembly and extends this value to state-operated schools.

SB 0482/HB 1340: Adult Education: Introduces several different requirements of the DOE regarding the use and appropriation of federal funds for vocational education:

• Requires the DOE to coordinate secondary vocational and technical education on a regional and statewide basis and accordingly produce budget requests for state and federal funds for these purposes
• Removes the State Workforce Innovation Council and Department of Workforce Development's jurisdictions over secondary technical education.
• Assigns the State Workforce Innovation Council jurisdiction over administring the general education diploma (GED)
• Removes the DOE's jurisdiction over administering the GED
• Assigns responsibility for adult post-secondary technical education to the State Workforce Innovation Council and the Department of Workforce Development and allows them to accordingly produce budget requests for state and federal funds for these purposes
• Does away with the Commission for Career and Technical Education
• Removes responsibility for post-secondary technical education from the Commission for Higher Education

The difference between secondary and post-secondary technical education must be highlighted in order to understand this bill.  Essentially, this bill wants to place the power over secondary, or high school, technical education into the hands of the DOE.  Further, they want to take the responsibility of administring the GED out of the hands of the DOE.  Finally, they want to place responsibility over post-secondary, or college-level, technical education into the hands of the Department of Workforce Development.  It should also be noted that this bill seems to be moving faster than most bills in the General Assembly, as the House version came out of committee and was heard by the entire House on 1/25/11.  However, the Senate version is still in committee.  Overall, I feel that this bill does a good job of appropriately assigning responsibility for different aspects of technical education to the appropriate departments.  However, I do disagree with taking the GED out of the hands of the DOE, because the GED is supposed to be an equivalent to the high school diploma, and I feel that the DOE is much more qualified than the State Workforce Innovation Council to determine whether or not the requirements of a high school diploma are met.

HB 1190: Ballots and Voting Systems: Requires that school board vacancies be listed under a non-partisan title on ballots.  Removes the requirement that sample ballots be identical to actual ballots and requires that sample ballots be altered so marks on a sample ballot cannot be counted as actual votes.  Also provides county election boards with the option to place unique ballot numbers on individual ballots, removing a previous requirement for this.  While this bill really does not have that much to do with education, I feel it is a wise decision to emphasize that school board positions be non-partisan, because school boards should reflect a representation of the communities they represent and should not be subjected to partisan politics like other public offices.  Also, this bill was completely passed in the House on 1/31/11 and has progressed to the Senate.

HB 1268: Combat to College Program: Provides for several requirements regarding the treatment of veterans by state post-secondary institutions:

• A centralized location for admission, registration, and financial aid services must be formed for veteran students
• Reasonable accomidations must be made for students who are disabled American veterans, particularly in a school's fitness facilities
• Programs must be created specifically for providing academic guidance for veteran students
• Counseling services must be provided for veteran students suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Job search programs tailored to veteran students must be provided
• State educational institutions must create a program coordinator for veterans' affairs
• State educational institutions must establish a hiring preference for veteran students
• State educational institutions must provide credit for military training if the American Council of Education recommends that post-secondary credit be provided for such training.

Proposed Bills Pertaining to the Indiana DOE, School Boards, and Superintendents - Part 2

SB 0547/HB 1480: Selection of Superintendent of Public Instruction: Provides that the Superintendent for Public Instruction be appointed by the governor.  Also removes the residency and term limits currently imposed by that position.  Currently the Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected by the citizens of Indiana, and is not appointed by the governor.  To compare, the U.S. Secretary of Education is appointed by the president, but is also confirmed by the Senate.  It is debatable whether or not this position at the state level should be an elected one.  However, if it is deemed that this position should be appointed by the governor, I think there should be some type of confirmation premise that should  occur within one or both houses of the General Assembly.  This bill hasn't gotten a lot of visible press, but I still think will be very interesting to pay attention to.

HB 1403: English Immersion Programs: Requires the DOE to establish pilot programs targeting at risk children in preschool and elementary settings in schools where non-English speakers are present.  Specifically, these programs should target immersing non-English speakers with the English language.

HB 1152: Concussions and Head Injuries in Student Athletes: Requires that the DOE consult with relevant organizations to compose a series of informational forms that athletic coaches must provide to parents and athletes.  Parents and athletes must sign these informational forms before the athlete will be allowed to participate in athletic activities.  Athletes suspected of incurring a head injury must be immediately removed from play and must be cleared by a qualified physician prior to readmission into any athletic event.  Such physicians who volunteer to perform these evaluations for an athletic team are also cleared of any civil liability that could result from omissions from these evaluations, provided their actions are not grossly negligent.

SB 0317: Kindergarten: Requires that children enroll in school no later than the fall term in which they turn six years of age (the current law requires that children enroll no later than seven).  Requires that a student must be five years old by 9/1/12 for the 2012-13 school year, 10/1/13 for the 2013-14 school year, or 11/1 for all subsequent years in order to enroll in school for that term.  Also removes provisions allowing school superintendents to make judgments regarding whether or not children first enrolling in school should enter kindergarten or first grade.

HB 1305: Farm to School Plan: Requires the DOE to develop a plan to bring locally-produced foods into the schools for breakfast, lunch, and snack programs.  This is interesting because child obesity is becoming a prevalent issue among policy leaders today, and bringing local foods into schools both provides students with healthier foods and brings revenue to local farmers and businesses.

HB 1566: School Absenteeism and Dropouts: Requires school districts to identify factors causing absenteeism and create plans to reduce absenteeism in their schools.  Urges the education roundtable to spur reforms in early childhood education programs.   Requires school districts to share data regarding schools with high absenteeism rates with the DOE and the Family and Social Services Administration.  Allows school districts to collaborate with public and private organizations to provide professional development opportunities to teachers in order to help them understand factors that cause absenteeism.  Also allows districts to contract with non-profit organizations to start school-based clinics from which students can benefit.

HB 1479: School Performance and Turnaround Academies: Schools remaining in the two lowest performing categories for a fifth year are to become turnaround academies.  The State Board of Education holds jurisdiction to set goals for these academies.  These academies can be operated by a special management team.  If an academy meets its assigned goals, it can become an independent school corporation.  See proposed SB 0496/HB 1250 for more information on performance categories that it is proposed that schools be required to meet.