Legislative Update, Feb. 2
02/02/2018
This week wraps up committee meetings for the first half of the session. All bills must pass on Monday in the House and by Tuesday in the Senate.
HB 1315, a bill that ISTA opposes, passed out of the House on Thursday, 65 - 26. House Democrats offered amendments Wednesday that would have improved the bill, including an amendment from Rep. Melanie Wright (D - Yorktown) that would have made certain Muncie teachers had the right to a collective voice and a seat at the table, but it was defeated.
HB 1315 now moves to the Senate for consideration. Even if you have already completed the call to action, we need your voice again, as this time you will be contacting your senator.
HB 1315 (Rep. Tim Brown - Crawfordsville) - Loss of Teacher Rights
Overview
HB 1315 aims to hold school districts accountable for becoming fiscally distressed, but wrongly targets teachers and students in its solutions. The bill heavily punishes both Muncie and Gary schools.
Why you should care
The bill would hand control of Muncie Community Schools over to Ball State University (BSU). BSU would be empowered to appoint a new, unelected school board for Muncie Schools. To summarily remove a locally elected school board is drastic action. The bill would also punish Muncie teachers by stripping them of their right to association recognition and to bargain wage issues and discuss student learning issues.
For all other teachers in the state, the bill would hold classroom teachers responsible for the state of a school districts' finances by specifically calling for the termination of up to 5 percent of the teacher force by the end of a fall semester, if a district is designated as being in fiscal distress. These actions would no doubt impact student learning and academic goals and increase class sizes right in the middle of a school year.
What you can do
Tell your senator to oppose HB 1315 so long as Muncie teachers and classroom teachers in general are being disrespected and wrongly scapegoated.
SB 387 (Sen. Andy Zay - Huntington) - Teacher Content Area Examination Waiver
Overview
This bill initially dealt with new graduates hoping to enter the teaching profession who have had stellar college experiences but who have had statistically abnormal difficulties passing certain licensing exams. This issue has been cited as contributing to the state's teacher shortage. Certain content tests have pass rates that are not explainable and the state has yet to determine why. The bill would allow a graduate to obtain a practitioner's license who took the content area examination twice and did not pass, but achieved at least a 3.0 GPA and completed student teaching.
An amendment, however, has turned this into a troubling bill. The bill would now allow for up to 10 percent of a school's teachers in our public schools be unlicensed. It would also allow schools to pay teachers more for positions it deems hard to fill. Solutions to these issues are already being addressed under current law.
ISTA is working with the bill's author on improvements.
Why you should care
There are already licensure paths that the Indiana Department of Education oversees, which allow flexibility through transition to teaching, temporary licenses and the current workplace specialist license. There is no need to lower the threshold. Students deserve to have a caring, qualified teacher in every classroom.
What you can do
Continue to follow this bill. ISTA will provide an update in next week's newsletter should further action be needed.
SB 65 (Sen. Kruse - Auburn) - Instruction on Human Sexuality
Overview
SB 65 would require parents to opt-in for a student to receive any instruction on human sexuality also known as sex education. Written permission would be required before teaching students about, "sexual activity, sexual orientation or gender identity." The bill passed out of the Senate on Tuesday, 37 - 12. It now goes to the House for consideration.
Why you should care
Currently, this decision-making is left up to local school districts, with most choosing to inform parents and having them opt-out of any sex education instruction.
What you can do
Continue to follow this bill. ISTA will provide an update in next week's newsletter should further action be needed.