It’s halftime at the Statehouse

Feb. 20 was the last day the House or the Senate could pass bills to the other chamber. There were no committee hearings during the week of Feb. 24. Both chambers of the legislature will be back in session on the week of March 4.

Fourteen of the 45 bills assigned to the Education and Career Development Committee in the Senate will be sent to the House for consideration. Out of 67 proposed bills in the House Education Committee, only 18 passed and will cross over.

A Senate education bill of importance is SB 146 titled Teacher Compensation. Three main areas directly impact the compensation:

1. First, it requires the DOE to prepare a report for the General Assembly before Nov. 1, 2025, of the feasibility and cost of either increasing a school corporation’s employee health plan or the cost of allowing a school corporation employee to elect to participate in a state health plan if the state health plan is less expensive.
2. Second, the bill establishes the Indiana Teacher Recruitment Program. The purpose of the program is to provide grants to training and recruitment programs for teachers in critical shortage areas.
3. Third, the bill increases the minimum salary for each full-time teacher from $40,000 to $45,000 for each school year beginning, June 30, 2025. If a school corporation determines that it cannot establish a minimum salary of $45,000 for each full-time teacher, the school corporation shall submit a report to the Department of Education explaining its inability to meet the minimum threshold requirement.

The House passed a bill, HB 1634, that deals with Math Education. There are several important sections in that proposed bill:

1. The first is that the bill requires the DOE to conduct a review of accredited teacher preparation programs for elementary school teacher candidates. If a program falls short of the requirements, they need to institute an improvement plan. Any program that fails to meet the criteria of the improvement plan shall have the word “accredited” revoked by the DOE.
2. The next section of the bill deals with middle school math students. Middle school students who score at proficiency or higher on the ILEARN assessment and who earn a “C” or higher in their math coursework will automatically be enrolled in an advanced math course. There is an option for a parent to opt out their student.

As was the case with reading in the last session, HB 1634 has requirements for screenings, evaluations, and interventions for students in kindergarten, grades 1 and 2 who may be at risk of not meeting grade-level proficiency in Math. Currently, this is set to take effect beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. In addition, if a school determines that a student in kindergarten through grade 8 is at risk of not achieving grade-level proficiency in mathematics, the school must provide intervention based on the student’s individual needs.

The Senate bill addresses the ongoing discussions over giving teachers greater compensation for the valuable role they play in our children’s education. I believe that the three areas listed above demonstrate our collective agreement.

The House bill addresses an issue I wrote about in my August 2024 column. That is the dismal standing of United States students in the fields of math and science. Our legislature is making strides by creating a new diploma framework. The last legislative session addressed reading proficiency. Now this session has worked to address math proficiency. I look forward to the next session addressing the area of science.

Melba Kiser is an outspoken advocate for financial responsibility and transparency in government at all levels. Her column appears at least once each month in The Hamilton County Reporter Newspaper.