Statehouse Express: Season 6, Episode 3

Listen to John Elcesser's latest update on what INPEA is following in the Indiana General Assembly this legislative session. 

Transcript

Statehouse Express: Season 6, Episode 3

February 3, 2025

Welcome Back to the 3rd Episode of the 2025 Statehouse Express. I’m John Elcesser, Executive Director of INPEA and here is a recap of last week’s statehouse activities.

On Monday, We hosted INPEA’s Day at the Statehouse in honor of our 50th Anniversary. Over 50 school leaders and board members travelled to the statehouse to meet with legislators and their non-public school colleagues from around the state to both celebrate the 50 year history of INPEA’s support of non-public schools but also to share the importance of getting Universal Choice across the finish line. It is still early in the session so we are going to need the non-public school community passionately engaged in helping us take this next crucial step in the Hoosier school choice movement. A big shout out to all those who made the trip to Indy for the event.

On Wednesday both the House and Senate education committees met, collectively hearing 15 different bills. INPEA testified on two bills in House Ed. HB 1498 dealt with school accountability. It requires the state board to develop a new A-F methodology by December of 2025 with implementation by December of 2026. INPEA in our testimony both pointed out the importance of ALL schools having access to anything required in the new structure (such as CTE and work based learning opportunities). We also questioned the accuracy of a single letter grade telling the full picture of a school’s performance. 

Chris testified on HB1326, which in part lowered the eligibility of SGO funds to PreK 3. The bill also proposes universal eligibility for the SGO tax credit program. HB 1498, the accountability bill, passed out of committee 11-0. The SGO bill passed out of committee narrowly, 6-4. HB 1515 which was heard last week and had a number of non-public school items in it, passed out of committee 7-4.

In the Senate Education Committee, SB 358 which was heard last week and included third party provisional accreditation eligibility for choice scholarship participation passed out of committee 9-4. There was a charter school bill heard (SB403) that dealt with fiscal transparency. A couple of public school association lobbyists suggested that choice schools should be included as well. 

I really don’t think that will get any traction. We are always quick to point out that choice families do not receive equal funding. They don’t receive 100% state tuition support, nor do they receive property tax dollars or referendum funding. Charters have been pushing for these additional funding sources for a number of years. SB 442 deals with requirements around approval and posting of human sexuality curriculum. The current bill includes accredited non-public schools. We have spoken to the author about being removed from the bill. We don’t in most cases have elected boards and in most cases our boards and commissions also do not approve curriculum. 

On Wednesday evening I was invited to attend the Governor’s State of the State Address. He again voiced his support for universal vouchers. I had the opportunity to chat with him briefly at a reception before his address. You can find the full text of his address in this legislative update email which also includes this podcast link.

https://www.in.gov/gov/newsroom/2025-state-of-the-state-address/ 

Two other bills that we are tracking passed out of the full house. HB1201 which deals with absenteeism in public schools passed out of the House 87-0. And HB 1102 which allows school corporations to contract with religious based entities to provide PreK education passed out of the House 91-0.  

We’ll be watching as HB1515, HB1326 and HB1498 now move to the House floor for second and third readings. And we ask that you watch out for our legislative alerts and take action through our legislative action center.

I think that’s all we have for now. Please watch for our alerts so the non-public school voice can be heard when it’s needed during the session. 

We’ll see you back here next week for our next episode of the Statehouse Express!