Statehouse Express: S5, E3
Hi I’m John Elcesser, Executive Director at INPEA, and Welcome to our third stop on the 2024 Statehouse Express. Today I brought a couple of guests to join me for this episode. I’m guessing these names won’t be new to you. First, Chris Brunson our Associate Director here at INPEA and our good friend Molly Collins, who is the Executive Director of Policy and Government Affairs at the Institute for Quality Education.
This week we will be heading into what is called Crossover, or in sports terms, half time of the legislative session. At Crossover, Bills that pass out of one chamber move to the other chamber and start the entire process over again. The good thing is that any bills that didn’t make through the first half of the session, and there will be many, are basically dead, unless parts are amended into another bill. As I’ve said before, this is a short session and from all indications the second half will be moving even faster than the first.
With that said, I’m going to give a quick update on some key bills and then I’m going to ask Molly and Chris to share their perspective on the first half of the session.
So buckle up and here we go:
SB 1 The priority reading bill passed out of the Senate 36-13 and now moves to the House. Most of the concerns around this bill deal with it retention requirement, although, in addition, it does place a number of new regulations on state accredited non-public schools as well as on “eligible or choice schools”. There was a limited parent appeal amended into the bill on second reading. So we’ll see how it plays out in the House, but as I’ve shared before, this is a priority bill for the Governor and leadership in both the House and Senate.
SB 8 Requires all state accredited and eligible schools to offer the Indiana College Core or to submit an implementation plan to the Commission on Higher Education.
We have been working with the folks at CHE sharing our concerns about our smaller high schools capacity to meet these requirements. SB 8 was on seconds yesterday where it was slightly amended and it passed out of the Senate on thirds today. There is the possibility that the bill will be amended in the House to have schools that don’t have the capacity to offer the Indiana College Core to submit a feasibility report rather than an implementation plan. The reality is that some of our schools may never be able offer the Indiana College Core, either because of their size or the focus of their program.
SB 128 deals with the teaching of Human Sexuality. Our concern with this bill is that implies that non-public school boards have the same responsibilities as public school boards. This would include things like approving curriculum materials, which we know in most cases non-public school boards do not. It was on seconds yesterday and passed out of the Senate on thirds today as well.
On the House side, there were fewer bills that imposed additional regulations on nonpubs.
HB 1233 broadens the eligibility of the robotics competition grants to include nonpubs that are accredited by a state board approved third party accreditor. It passed out of the House 96-0 and now heads to the Senate.
HB 1243 which is a various education matters bill includes language about the new diploma requirements and the waiver process for bucket three requirements in graduation pathways. Another part of the bill which I have heard some concerns from some of our high school leaders deals with the 2029 graduation requirement of successfully completing a computer science course as a separate subject. There is hope that the upcoming changes in diploma requirements will address some of those concerns. HB 1243 also passed out of the House 96-0.
And finally, HB 1304 another various education matters (or kitchen sink) bill, as I call them, includes language to align the choice birthdate requirement of October 1 to be consistent with all three choice programs. It also included language to address a feeder school issue for nonpublic elementary schools feeding into a public high school.
As I said, those are just the highlights. We’ll provide more details in future podcasts. Now let’s spend some time talking to our guests.
First… Chris we’ll start with you since this is your first session hanging around the Statehouse. Any initial impressions?
Molly, What were your biggest takeaways from the first half of the session?
Chris, What bills could have the biggest impact on non-public schools?
Molly, Are there bills that raise concerns for you?
And I guess this one goes to both of you, Any predictions for the second half of the session?
I want to thank Molly and Chris for joining me today. Hopefully we can have then back for future podcasts.
Remember, things will be moving fast. So watch for any legislative alerts. If you have questions about of the bills moving through the Statehouse, don’t hesitate to reach out.
So that’s it for now. We hope to see you back here next week for the next stop on the Statehouse Express. Take Care!
