Education bills to watch

Members of the Indiana General Assembly have embraced Gov. Mitch Daniels’s call to action on education reform. Eleven education bills were proposed to the Indiana Senate and 22 to the Indiana House of Representatives this month. Below are a few of the proposed bills that may affect local school systems in the near future.

House Bill 1249: Higher education scholarship
Status: Jan. 12, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Education
Provides a $3,500 scholarship for any student who graduates high school before grade 12.
To be eligible for the scholarship, a student must:
— Be a resident of Indiana
— Have attended a public secondary school for the last two semesters prior to graduation
— Meet the minimum requirements set by the Indiana State Board of Education to earn a high school diploma by the end of grade 11
— Become a student at an approved postsecondary educational institution within five months of graduation
A teacher’s take: “I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but it shouldn’t be publicized for everyone. I’m broken up about it; I see the point that a kid could go get a good education at college when they’ve mastered things in high school, but some kids aren’t mature enough to handle the pressure of college and moving away from home that early.” — Drew Frey, mathematics teacher at Bloomington High School South

House Bill 1369: Pay to performance program for school administrators
Status: Jan. 18, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Education
Requires the Indiana Board of Education and school corporations to work together to set improvement goals in the following areas: standardized testing, student retention and graduation rates, budgeting and fiscal performance and school administrator professional performance. School corporations must implement a method of compensation that considers the listed performance criteria as a significant factor.

Senate Bill 0171: School start date and calendar
Status: Jan. 20, 2011, amended, reported favorably
Prohibits schools from beginning student instructional days before Labor Day and from ending after June 10 of the following year beginning with the 2013-2014 school year. Also allows for exemptions following public hearings and a majority vote of the governing body if the school coordinates calendars with a postsecondary educational institution.
Monroe County Community School Corporation schools are scheduled to be in session from Aug. 16 to May 25 for the 2011-2012 school year.
A student’s take: “The weather is miserable in August, and it certainly doesn’t help students think, especially when public school air conditioners are not always reliable. Getting out in May is a good thing though because students just really want to be living their lives outside when the weather is nicer.” — Alex Sinex, senior at Harmony School and former student at Bloomington High School South

House Bill 1296: College credit for high school classes
Status: Jan. 12, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Education
Requires all state educational institutions to accept dual credit courses that are included in the core transfer library and are successfully completed by a high school student. The core transfer library is a list of courses that will transfer among all Indiana public college and university campuses, assuming adequate grades, and can be accessed at www.transferIN.net.
A student’s take: Tony Tran graduated from Bloomington High School South in 2009 after completing a finite mathematics course. Tran is now a sophomore at Purdue University and said that his mathematics credit, a course in the core transfer library, did not transfer to his college transcript.

Senate Bill 0001/House Bill 1488: Teacher evaluations and licensing
Status: Jan. 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Education
Establishes an annual staff performance evaluation that classifies teachers as highly effective, improvement necessary or ineffective. Any teacher considered ineffective or in need of improvement may not receive a raise the following year.
 
House Bill 1331: School Counselors
Status: Jan. 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Education
Establishes a target counselor-to-student ratio for the hiring of school counselors, social workers and psychologists. Aims to lower ratios to:
— One school counselor for every 250 students
— One school social worker for every 400 students
— One school psychologist to every 1000 students
The bill also establishes a uniform job description for all school counselors and specifies the performance criteria necessary to earn a counseling license.
A counselor’s take: “The Indiana School Counselor’s Association has been recommending something like this for years. It would be a dream and what we all want and need to be more productive and effective. I know Bloomington High School South has well over 400 students assigned to every counselor.” — Joel McKay, guidance counselor at Jackson Creek Middle School