Remaining education bills in final week of legislature
03/07/2016
The General Assembly is due to end the 2016 legislative session on Thursday this week. With the session coming to an end, these are the remaining education-related bills that we’re following.
SB 334 – School Voucher Expansion
This bill would provide an expanded window to apply for a voucher in the Spring Semester; currently, vouchers are distributed only for the start of the school year.
The non-partisan Legislative Services Agency estimates the fiscal impact could be $2.1 million in its first year, assuming 1,000 students took advantage.
The rhetoric around the bill has centered exclusively on the needs of those few students who are in an educational emergency situation (students at-risk of dropping out or expelled students). However, the language of the bill does not make this distinction and is simply a second opportunity for any student who qualifies to take a voucher mid-year.
ISTA opposes the broad voucher language and supported attempts to restrict the second voucher window to those extreme situations in which students in need could apply.
The bill also includes language to restrict situations in which education employees with direct access to children who have substantiated claims against them with the department of child services can be reemployed with another school district. The concern has been that these individuals choose to resign from one district and can—because of gaps in information-sharing—get a job in a second district.
ISTA worked with Sen. Merritt on this language and believes it protects children and those employees who would be victimized by accusations that are not substantiated.
The Senate has dissented with changes made to SB 334. It is now in a conference committee.
HB 1161 & SB 333 – 13th Check for Retirees and Pension Stabilization Fund Deposit from Tax Amnesty
HB 1161: This bill would provide a “13th check” in 2016 for PERF/TRF members and specifies the manner by which revenue from the tax amnesty program will be districted, which includes $20.7 million deposited to the pension stabilization fund (PSF). ISTA supports the 13th check and the PSF deposit.
SB 333: This is a road funding and regional cities program bill on which ISTA has not taken a position, but also includes the $20.7 million deposited to the PSF.
Both bills are in conference committees.
HB 1002 – Next Generation Hoosier Educators Scholarship
The House version of this bill would create a framework to provide up to 200 awardees scholarships of up to $30k each to become teachers. Certain stipulations were included in the program, including a requirement that the awardee maintain a certain GPA and teach for at least 5 years. ISTA testified in support of the bill.
The Senate amended the bill that would require the commission for higher education to prepare a report concerning scholarship programs and other incentives for high achieving students who intend to enter the teaching profession. In the Senate Appropriations Committee, ISTA testified in support of the House version, but the Senate moved forward with the amendment to move from awarding scholarships to studying scholarships and other incentives.
This bill is in conference committee. We urge the committee to restore the House version of HB 1002.
HB 1005 – Career Pathways & TAP
This bill would allow 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.
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.
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.
This bill is in conference committee.
SB 93 – Omnibus Provisions/Study Committees
This bill has grown to include a multitude of education-related provisions, including provisions that would:
- Require every school building be supplied with safe, potable water and that every two years the water shall be tested;
- Provide that a charter school is a “school corporation” for purposes of federal and state funding.
- Provide that a charter school authorizer must conduct a public hearing in the school district in which the charter school is located. If the location is not known, requires the public meeting with public notice be done in the county in which the charter school will be located.
- Provide that a charter school organizer must establish certain requirements for the distribution of funds or assets of the charter school that ceases operation.
- Set up certain public notice if a school district or charter school fails to timely pay its FICA taxes.
- Include certain school bus driver safety provisions and safeguards.
- Urge the creation of several interim study committees, including:
- School calendar impact in response to employers needing to hire summer help and how the school calendar impacts this human resources issue.
- Graduation rate calculation.
- Methods to ensure opportunities for high school students to earn college credits while in high school and provide incentives for teachers to obtain the necessary coursework to teach dual credit courses in response to regional college accrediting body’s dual credit policy change.
- Feasibility of Individual teacher contracts (response to SB 10/HB 1004).
- Issues related to the establishment of special education scholarship accounts and a special education scholarship account fund in response to SB 397 giving individual parents an account of funds that includes 100% of their eligible special education student’s state tuition support and special education funding to be used by the parent to provide for the education of the student.
ISTA opposes some of the policies under consideration in this bill for summer study. Indiana’s Legislative Council sets the topics for summer study and is not required to establish a committee whether set in a bill or not.
ISTA does not oppose SB 93.
This bill is in conference committee.
HB 1394 – Education Matters/Omnibus Bill
Like SB 93, this bill has also grown to include a multitude of education-related provisions, including provisions that would:
- Require that an innovative network school, which is reconstituted as an innovative network charter school, enroll students who live in the attendance area.
- Provide that an innovative network school may use student growth to determine its category of school improvement for a period of three years.
- Provide that, if a teacher’s contract is canceled, the teacher may request a conference with the superintendent or the superintendent’s designee (current law says superintendent only).
- Require a 30-day notice for a teacher to accept a job with another school district after the school year has begun.
- Require a charter school to establish and disseminate written discipline rules.
- Prohibit a charter school from expelling or suspending a student or requesting that student transfer to another school based on certain characteristics.
- Determine costs associated with a feasibility or cost study to determine the cost of a controlled project as contracted for by the school district may not be paid from debt service or capital projects funds.
ISTA does not oppose HB 1394.
This bill is in conference committee.