Eight bad bills – update
03/08/2016
At the beginning of the legislative session, we began tracking a list of eight bad bills. If you ever doubted the power of the collective voice on behalf of students and educators, then review this list. Your willingness to work these bills demonstrated clearly the relevance you have to legislators when working through your professional association.
SB 10 – Teacher Salary Supplemental Payments
Sen. Jeff Raatz, R – Richmond
In its original form, SB 10 would have allowed teachers with fewer than 10 years of teaching experience to factor up to 58 percent of the calculation to determine a teacher’s salary increase or increment. For teachers with at least 10 years of experience, it would become 33 and one-third percent. The bill would have decoupled experience from educational attainment providing an additional factor for salaries. ISTA supported the original bill.
However, the bill was significantly amended in committee to give administrators the authority to pay certain teachers more, at the expense of every other teacher. As amended, salary bonuses could be handled in executive session—obscuring that information from the public’s knowledge at the school board’s discretion.
After weeks with no movement, this bill was brought back to life once the Senate made clear that they were killing a similar bill, HB 1004. Thanks to the outpouring of support from teachers, administrators and public school advocates, this bill was killed on the House floor on the last day it could be heard.
STATUS: Dead.
SB 379 – Individual Teacher Contracts
Sen. Pete Miller, R – Avon
SB 379 would have given a teacher licensed in STEM subjects the option of individually negotiating a separate contract, negating the collective bargaining unit within a school and pitting teacher against teacher.
Thanks to advocates who contacted Senate Education Committee members opposing the bill, SB 379 was never heard in committee.
STATUS: Dead.
HB 1004 – Stipends for a Few/Defined Contribution Plan
Rep. Bob Behning, R – Indianapolis
HB 1004 would have allowed school administrators, unilaterally, to offer extra pay to certain teachers. The extra pay would have come out of the pockets of every other teacher as the bill did not include funding.
HB 1004 also would have included a new 401(k)-style defined contribution teacher retirement program as an alternative to the existing defined benefit pension/annuity plan.
The Senate killed this bill after hearing from ISTA, administrators and public school advocates that the agenda of offering sweetheart deals at the expense of the majority of teachers would enflame the teacher shortage, hurting students.
STATUS: Dead.
HB 1005 – Career Pathways
Rep. Dale Devon, R – South Bend
Allows a school administrator and two teachers to create a “career pathway and mentor” program that would include differentiated pay based upon additional responsibility. Following State Board of Education approval, the differentiated pay would not be collectively bargained but instead would be a subject of discussion. The program could also include a mentoring component.
The bill was amended to include a grant and program supporting what is commonly referred to as TAP (a system for Teacher and Student Advancement) that, as well, includes multiple career paths, ongoing growth, and performance-based compensation. ISTA’s opposition to HB 1005 centers on the provision that excludes the differentiated pay rates from being bargainable. These are clearly salary and wage items and should be bargainable.
Career pathways may sound familiar, because it was originally enacted last session as a pilot program under Innovative Network Schools. Now, less than a year later with zero data garnered from that pilot, HB 1005 seeks to roll this agenda out statewide.
STATUS: House dissented from Senate Amendments and is now in a conference committee.
HB 1311 – Education Savings Account Program
Rep. Tim Brown, R – Crawfordsville
HB 1311 would have established an education savings account granting parents of eligible students the ability to access public tax dollars diverted from school corporation funding to seek out private education service providers for education expenses—a widespread expansion of voucher-like entitlements to virtually any student statewide that meets income and certain other eligibility requirements.
This bill never made it out of the House Education Committee.
STATUS: Dead.
HB 1325 - Early Retirement
Rep. Wes Culver, R – Goshen
The bill would have replaced the rule of 85 with the rule of 95, thus ending early retirement options for most eligible employees in Indiana’s public retirement system. The bill would give public employees, including teachers, until July 1 (six months) to retire under the current Rule of 85.
Many emails were sent to legislators opposing this bill, prompting the committee chair to pull it from consideration.
STATUS: Dead.
HB 1394 - Education Matters/Expansion of Innovation Network Schools
Rep. Bob Behning, R – Indianapolis
The bill would require an Innovation Network School (charter school) to give preferential treatment for admissions to students who live within the attendance area. A school board is authorized to contract with a charter school to reconstitute a community-based public school as an Innovation Network Charter School. The original bill before amendment would have allowed essentially any school to reconstitute as an Innovation Network School and have the clock reset for purposes of A-F grades and consequences.
ISTA successfully lobbied to add language mandating that a charter school may not suspend or expel a student from a charter school for the purpose of forcing that student to transfer to another school. The amendment clarified disciplinary action that is allowed by charter schools so as not to discriminate against students.
Thanks to advocacy efforts, this bill has improved significantly.
STATUS: Passed the Senate, 50 – 0. Awaiting House decision to accept or reject Senate changes.
HB 1395 - ISTEP Matters
Rep. Bob Behning, R – Indianapolis
This bill originally, among other things, would have required ISTEP to be rescored, again, at a cost of up to $10 million. This merely would have given a veil of legitimacy to a flawed test.
After hearing from ISTA and education advocates, this bill has been dramatically changed to address various ISTEP matters.
Currently, HB 1395 sets an expiration date for ISTEP on July 1, 2017. A panel would be established to study alternatives to ISTEP and to make recommendations for replacing the ISTEP program.
The bill would also require test scores to be reported to the State Board of Education no later than July 1 of the year in which ISTEP is administered. The Indiana Department of Education would be required to release sample essay questions to show best student responses.
Thanks to advocacy efforts, this bill has improved significantly.
STATUS: House dissented from Senate Amendments and is now in a conference committee.