Vic’s Statehouse Notes #313 – February 21, 2018

Dear Friends,

The “Celebration of Public Education” Monday in the Statehouse was a tremendous event! Thanks to all who came and thanks to all who were there in spirit!

As our outstanding rally speakers said, public education needs our renewed support and protection.

This is true this week in House Bill 1315, which would set troubling precedents to deconstruct the local control of public education if it is not amended by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Here are the four concerns about HB 1315 that I testified on in the Senate Appropriations Committee last Thursday, Feb. 15:

Concern #1: For the first time, a public school district could be governed by school board members who do not live in the school district.

Concern #2: For the first time, a public school district could ignore state law mandates to display the flag and to study the US Constitution and citizenship. Even private voucher schools are not allowed to ignore the laws on citizenship mandates!

Concern #3: For the first time, a public school district in financial distress could lose its public school board in favor of an “advisory committee”.

Concern #4: For the first time, any public school district could be put on a watch list for financial mismanagement which could potentially become public before detailed reviews have guaranteed the accuracy of the financial assessment. The confidentiality of preliminary data must be guaranteed.

Chairman Mishler listened closely to lengthy testimony and said the testimony would guide an amendment he would bring to the bill at a later meeting. HB 1315 has not been included on the agenda for the next meeting on February 22nd so you have time to make your concerns known this week.

The bill needs to be amended. We need your participation.

Please review the details about each concern below and then contact members of the Senate Appropriations Committee listed here as soon as possible:

Republicans: Senators Mishler (chair), Brown, Bassler, Boots, Bray, Charbonneau, Crider, Eckerty and Holdman

Democrats: Senators Tallian, Breaux, Niezgodski and Taylor

It would also help if you send a strong message to amend this bill to Senator Long, Senate President Pro Tem, and to your own Senator.

House Bill 1315 – School Corporation Financial Management

House Bill 1315, sponsored by Representative Tim Brown, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, proposes to restrict the voice of the public in the public schools in Muncie and Gary because district leaders over several years overspent their budget and fell into debt.

It also proposes to set up an assessment of the financial health of all public school districts, setting up a dashboard of financial indicators for all school corporations.

Concern #1: For the first time, a public school district could be governed by school board members who do not live in the school district.

HB 1315 as it passed the House on a party line vote says the Muncie city council and the Muncie mayor can each nominate a school board member “who must reside within the boundaries of the Muncie school corporation district.”

The other five members will be nominated by the president of Ball State and are not required to be residents of the Muncie school corporation. Under this plan, school board members would be setting property tax levies when they don’t even live in the community. This would surely be the basis for a lawsuit regarding representation and cost the district significant money for legal defense which has not been budgeted.

This is unprecedented among current school boards and would be a major step in the deconstruction of local public schools in Indiana which began in 2011.

Ask Senators to return the public to the Muncie public schools by requiring that all seven members “reside within the boundaries of the Muncie school corporation district.”

Concern #2: For the first time, a public school district could ignore state law mandates to display the flag and to study the US Constitution and citizenship. Even private voucher schools are not allowed to ignore the laws on citizenship mandates!

HB 1315 turns Muncie’s fiscal crisis into a grand academic experiment “to provide all administrative and academic flexibility to implement innovative strategies”, in the words of the bill. It makes Muncie schools subject to only 17 laws which they must follow instead of the entire body of school law which every other school district must observe.

This would make the entire Muncie Community School district akin to an experimental charter school.

This flexibility goes too far. The bill actually removes the legal obligations in 20-30-5 for schools to display the flag, say the pledge of allegiance, study the U.S. Constitution, and provide non-partisan citizenship instruction at the time of each general election. No district should be waived from teaching students about citizenship in our democracy!

Ask Senators to have the Muncie Community Schools follow the same Indiana school laws that the General Assembly has told all other school districts to follow.

Concern #3: For the first time, a public school district in debt and financial distress could lose its public school board in favor of an “advisory committee”.

The Gary Public Schools are already under control of an emergency manager who has full control of all district decisions under legislation passed last year in 2017. The powers of the school board have been suspended until the emergency manager recommends to the Distressed Unit Appeal Board (DUAB) that the financial crisis has been repaired and that a return to local control is appropriate. This process could require several years.

Given that it already has no power, it is surprising that HB 1315 ends the institution of the school board in favor of a new entity called an “advisory committee” which “may not hold a meeting more than once every three (3) months.”

The institution of the school board has served Indiana well for over one hundred years. When financial mismanagement requires that an emergency manager take over to make budgetary corrections, the citizens of Indiana can understand and would assume that after corrective actions have been taken and financial stability has been restored, power to run the public schools would be returned to the local school board under new leadership.

• To say residents should permanently lose their voice on a school board because of past financial mistakes is to say those residents have lost their right to democracy.

• Self-rule through the participation of residents in a school board must not be curtailed forever.

Opponents of public education have long said that school boards should be dissolved and all schools should become charter schools.

Is this bill the camel’s nose under the tent for the proposition that we don’t need school boards which represent the community? Is this the first step to losing control of our public schools by community school boards?

Ask Senators to maintain the institution of the school board for all public school districts so that when financial distress and debt problems have been resolved by an emergency manager, local control can be returned to the local community through a school board, an institution that has stood the test of time.

Concern #4: For the first time, any public school district could be put on a watch list for financial mismanagement which could potentially be made public before detailed reviews have guaranteed the accuracy of the financial assessment. The confidentiality of preliminary data must be guaranteed.

Our generational question in Indiana is “Can the public have confidence in our public schools?” Any appearance on a “watch list” for financial instability can deeply shake public confidence in any school district, so any such designation must be treated with extreme caution and vetted for absolute accuracy.

Some have called this plan a “shame list” and point out the damage that could be done to public confidence if premature and inaccurate data is made public.

Ask Senators to amend the fiscal indicators section of HB 1315 to permit the Distressed Unit Appeal Board (DUAB) to consider “watch lists” in confidential executive sessions so that no district will prematurely get a black eye in the public’s mind until accuracy has been certified.

Take Action This Week

Send the Senators listed above one or all of these messages to protect our public schools:

• Don’t let non-residents run public school districts.

• Don’t let any public school district ignore the mandated curriculum for good citizenship.

• Don’t eliminate the school board but rather return the voice of the community to the school board after corrective actions have been completed by an emergency manager.

• Don’t permit preliminary discussions of watch lists in public meetings when they haven’t been vetted and certified.

If you are concerned with any of these four points, it is important that you communicate your concerns to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee listed above as soon as possible. Go to the Indiana General Assembly website for easy connections to the email of Senators on the committee.

Thank you for actively supporting public education in Indiana!


Best wishes,

Vic Smith

“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!

ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand is again representing ICPE in the new budget session which began on January 3, 2017. We need your memberships and your support to continue his work. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.

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ISTA 2013 Legislative Recap -- School Performance Awards

ISTA is Working for You!

Legislative Recap

Click here for a full recap of the 2013 Legislative Session compiled by the Indiana State Teachers Association.

Includes information on vouchers, charter schools, school funding and finance, school safety, superintendent licensing and more.


School Performance Awards

From ISTA Keep the Promise: Highly Effective/Effective Teacher Bonus Grants

Deemed “School Performance Awards,” the budget bill appropriates $30 million in the 2nd year of the biennium to be distributed based upon graduation rates or 5% improvement in graduation rates, student passage rates on ISTEP and End of Course assessments or 5% growth in these assessment results.

Click HERE for a district-by-district printout of the awards.

Report to the RA

Gail Zeheralis provided this report at the 2013 ISTA Representative Assembly

From: Zeheralis, Gail
Subject: The General Assembly adjourned sine die.

Tonight ended the 2013 general assembly. Members adjourned sine die at about 1:15 am.

The full measure of the “tale of the tape” will need to be written in the coming days, but your lobbying team needs to convey to you a couple of significant accomplishments today having to do with what did not pass—knowing full well that more information will follow on the many bills that did pass. You will need to know about the new laws just enacted concerning school funding, teacher performance awards, voucher expansion, charter schools, virtual schools, performance-qualified high school flexibility, common core, the A-F school grading system, REPA II statutes, 13th checks for retirees, and school safety. But, for tonight….

Sometimes the best laws are the ones that don’t pass.

Last Minute Budget Bill PERF/TRF Annuity Restrictions:

Thanks in large measure to your answering the call this morning to contact your legislators on a new issue that had popped up in the budget in the 11th hour relating to PERF/TRF pension benefits, we received word at about 6:30 pm that the language to limit PERF/TRF retirees’ annuity options was coming out of the budget bill. I cannot emphasize enough what a “team” effort this was.

It literally took the better part of the day—getting the word out first thing to our UDs and members, educating unsuspecting legislators (dozens of them), explaining the issue (which lends itself to some complexity) over and over again, urging their support and then their assistance to speak up in their respective caucuses, amassing some quick data to intelligently combat this new issue on the merits, continuing communications with you-- our members-- throughout the day to ensure that you were persistent, and engaging with outside partners (county workers (AIC), retired state employees (RIPEA), labor, superintendents) so that we were not alone.

Many legislators helped along the way—chief among them, Sen. Vaneta Becker (R-Evansville). Senator Becker grabbed onto this issue last night when ISTA shared it with her and worked closely with us throughout the day. She was tenacious and systematic. She was instrumental in galvanizing both Senators and House members and in acquiring some data that was helpful. Those who know Sen. Becker understand fully what I mean when I say there just was no “quit” in her.

Rep. Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte) was the first in the House to help marshal supporters and he was quickly followed by Rep. Mike Karickhoff (R-Kokomo). I hesitate to make a list because as the day wore on and more and more legislators became aware of the issue (remember the budget bill is 300+ pages and this was one issue), there was a snowball effect that cannot be denied and ISTA is grateful for all of the assistance. One Representative who is in the financial planning business, Rep. Martin Carbaugh (R-Fort Wayne) was uniquely helpful, too.

And it must be noted that both Democrat caucuses (House and Senate) were full-bore in support of our efforts throughout the day.

It helped that we had some good facts on our side and that this was a brand new issue, not vetted. But I must tell you that once a budget bill version is developed, it is EXTREMELY difficult to modify it on the last day. I can tell you that the lobbying effort on this was textbook and each and every one of you should be proud of the impact you had.

Here is a link to a news article written by a reporter from the Evansville Courier Press who interviewed ISTA on the background:

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/apr/26/indiana-legislators-labor-night-they-put-final-tou/

Dues/PAC deduction Prohibition Provision:

A threat to the organization unveiled itself not 2 weeks after the November 2012 election when it became public that the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce was going to push for a statewide ban on school employee Association dues and/or PAC deductions voluntarily requested by the school employee of his/her employer. Faced with supermajorities in both the House and the Senate, ISTA quickly organized its forces while the NEA assisted in providing a legislative crisis grant to help fund additional personnel, back home outreach events, and statehouse legislative events.

HB 1334 became the vehicle for the prohibition—first a dues prohibition and then a “contribution for political activities” prohibition. HB 1334 passed the House with this language in it, thereby keeping the issue alive for literally the rest of the session. It seemed as though every day there was a new rumor as to its resurrection and each rumor had to be tracked down and legislators had to be reminded that the entire effort is unfair, unwarranted, and punitive.

ISTA received final word from the Speaker just yesterday that the issue would not be resurrected this year.

While this is a positive accomplishment for our organization—and a testament to your persistence and communication skills and outreach—it does clearly demonstrate that the Association must devote an inordinate amount of time and resources into fighting this when there is an alternative available to us that gives us back our leverage. That alternative is what ISTA calls EASY PAY—our own tailor-made dues deduction system that would take this out of the hands of the general assembly completely….

I don’t mean to turn this into a commercial…but it is now after 2am and I am reflecting on how much better things would be if we could free ourselves from having to lobby this particular issue over and over again and be able to concentrate all of our efforts on the issues most important to you and public education.

‘Nuff said for today….again, from the bottom of our collective lobbying hearts, thank you for all that you do for children, our communities, and public education.

Gail Zeheralis
Roni Embry
John O’Neal
Brad Tracy

ALERT! Anti-Public Education Bills

ISTA Members: Two anti-public education bills in the Indiana House need your attention and your response TODAY:

www.keepthepromiseindiana.org

PARENT TRIGGER ACCELERATION HB 1358
ATTACK ON TEACHERS' RIGHTS HB 1339

HB 1358:
Tuesday; House Education Committee will hear the accelerated "Parent Trigger" bill to enable a minority of parents to take over community-based public schools and convert them to charter schools run by corporate "lead partners".--HB 1358 (Rep. Todd Huston, R-Fishers).

WHAT HB 1358 DOES:

• Indiana's existing conversion charter school law is repealed (which requires both the school board and parents to agree on a conversion).
• That law is replaced with a model that solely enables 51% of parents in a school that is labeled in the bottom two categories for three (3) consecutive years to:

• take over the school by petitioning the state board of education to assign a "lead partner" to operate the school; and

• place the school under the most draconian of sanctions that currently attach to schools in the bottom two lowest categories for five (5) consecutive years.

• When is 51% not a majority? When parents are given multiple votes based upon the number of children they have in a school. Because parents are given "weighted" voting rights based upon the number of children then have in a school, a minority of parents can fundamentally change the focus, the governance, the scope of teachers' rights, and the framework of a local community-based public school. 

HB 1339:

• Teachers:

• Due Process: Repeals the law concerning the continuing effect of an individual teacher's contract. Without this law, contracts will terminate on their face annually and a teacher, "effective or not," will not be protected from arbitrary termination until a new contract is signed.

• Collective Bargaining: Relative to the pro rata member/nonmember composition on committees-states that all "discussion committees" fall under this pro rata framework. Existing law exempted the bargaining team from having to adhere to the member/nonmember composition because under law, the bargaining team is the EXCLUSIVE representative.

• States that the existence of a voluntary sick bank is bargainable but the terms of the sick bank policy are not. This reneges on the 2011 pledge that wages and benefits are bargainable. A voluntary sick bank is a benefit.

• Removes the provision authorizing the continuing effect of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) when agreement has not been reached. The whole point of the new collective bargaining law was to get to the point of agreement. There has been only one case in which agreement has not been reached---and that situation was created by allegations of unfair labor practices having occurred. In a case such as this, the party that committed an unfair labor practice should not be "rewarded" by terminating the existing CBA.

• Suspension without pay: Removes from law the requirement that a teacher who is subject to suspension without pay is entitled to a full statement of the reasons for the proposed suspension without pay and to be heard and to present the testimony of witnesses and other evidence. Also repeals the law that enables the school board to appoint an agent or attorney to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses for either party at the hearing to suspend a teacher without pay.

• Teacher Compensation: Requires that each school district must submit its compensation model to the DOE and the DOE, the State Board of Accounts, and the IEERB and these bodies shall report any noncompliance to the State Board of Education -which is then required to take "appropriate action to ensure compliance."

• Virtual Charter Schools:

• Enables a virtual charter school to provide up to 90% of its program "virtually" and still qualify for state funding. Current law says 50% of instruction must be "real." The likely effect is to enable more home-schooled students to be virtually-instructed at the state's expense. There is no funding attached to this. There is no requirement that a student first attend a public school. Also, note in HB 1338, virtually funding was increased from 87.5% of Indiana's per pupil funding to 100% of Indiana's per pupil funding. The funding for these new students will come from existing public school k-12 funding.

• Repeals the law that requires the DOE to report to the state on virtual schools in Indiana.

• Charter Schools:

• As to charter school performance reporting on the DOE website, enables each charter school authorizer to develop its own performance framework in terms of the data reported (existing law says that the annual performance data for charter schools must include the same demographic and performance data required of every other public school).

• Administrators:

• Provides some of the same due process "protections" to administrators that teachers have. However, because most administrators have multi-year contracts, the consequences for cancelling a contract will likely not play out in the same fashion-that being, contracts with out-going administrators generally come with some form of buyout.

Please let your representative and every member of the House Education committee know TODAY you oppose HB 1358 & HB 1339

For additional information on these two bills and to email legislators, visit:
www.keepthepromiseindiana.org

2013 Legislature is Now in Session

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A Message from President Schnellenberger

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

"You should know that ISTA was a huge force in bringing about these legislative gains. I've been told by more than one legislator that without the tireless advocacy of our Association, these gains would have never materialized." -- comment made by Julian Smith, President, Jennings County Classroom Teachers Association regarding gains made in the 2012 legislative session.

Dear ISTA Members,

Recently I talked to a local president who said that some of his members were questioning the value of ISTA. He said they asked whether ISTA was still able to contribute to the well-being of its members.

I decided that even in our world of technological information overload perhaps some ISTA members have not been updated on what ISTA has accomplished on their behalf just this past year.

Here is a partial list of recent successes:

Teacher Contracts
Last August the Indiana Department of Education wanted to require all teachers to sign a contract that defined working days, minimum hours and gave DOE unbridled control over teaching conditions. ISTA took immediate action by filing a lawsuit stating that the contract was illegal. The judge emphatically agreed with ISTA and new contract language was ordered and issued.

ISTEP+ Affirmation Statement
In February the Indiana State Department of Education sent an ISTEP+ affidavit out to be signed by all teachers who administer ISTEP tests. The affidavit asked teachers to affirm that they would not review, inspect, discuss or copy any test item. Again, ISTA took on the challenge to advocate for our members through our legal channels and the request for the affidavit was rescinded by IDOE.

State Takeover of Schools/Teacher Evaluation/Teacher Licensure
During the 2012 General Assembly ISTA opposed a bill that would have accelerated state takeover public schools by private management, enabling the takeover to occur as early as after the second year in which a school had been ranked in the bottom two categories.

Additionally, the General Assembly elected to take back its control over teacher evaluations and licensure by creating a Select Commission on Education.

The Commission will oversee SBE/DOE rules, proposals, processes and guidelines on at least the following: (1) The A-F grading policy which impacts state takeover; (2) Teacher Evaluations; (3) Teacher Licensure.

While other groups participated, there is uniform agreement in the State House that ISTA led this charge. ISTA looks forward to working with the Commission in the coming months.

Voucher Expansion
ISTA successfully fought voucher expansion bills during the session that would have enabled private school students to gain easeir access to state-funded vouchers or tax credit scholarships.

Click here for a complete listing of ISTA's legislative accomplishments: http://keepthepromiseindiana.org/bill-watch

Collective Bargaining
It's important to remember collective bargaining and discussion are more important now than ever. With that in mind ISTA recently held its 35th Collective Bargaining Conference for more than 500 ISTA leaders making it the largest attended conference in history. Bargaining teams from across the state received in-depth training and information about how to best negotiate issues under the new bargaining law. No other organization provides that level of training and support to education professionals.

So when I look at that short list of accomplishments, I am proud to tell local presidents of the work that ISTA does every day. It is also crucial to remember that no coalition of non-members or independent locals advocates for educators against any of the aforementioned attacks against public education.

The good things happening for Indiana's public school employees are happening because of the efforts of ISTA and ISTA alone. You won't find a coalition of non-members or a group of independent locals advocating for public education at the Statehouse at any time -- in or out of a legislative session. The sole voice of teachers and educational support professionals continues to be ISTA. Period.

Although things continue to change for Indiana's public educators, ISTA remains dedicated to the idea that great public schools are a basic right for every child in our state. Only ISTA demands respect for public education and public school educators by:

• lobbying the State Legislature for ALL of public education, not just pet projects.
• offering its members protection on the job and off.
• fighting to keep public education safe from those who would destroy it for self-interest reasons.
• representing the rights of members whenever needed.

Speaking of representing our members recent legislation (2011) removed the requirement that ISTA represent both members and non-members. Therefore going forward ISTA will only represent dues paying members.

In these changing and uneasy times when public educators are under relentless scrutiny, I cannot imagine how teachers and education support professionals would fare without the continued strength and efforts of the ISTA. We are here when you need us.
Trusting your future to independent local leaders or to any other organization has never been a good idea. And in today's environment, to do so would be devastating for you and your profession.

Thanks for all you do.

Nate Schnellenberger, ISTA President

xposted at FWEA / EAEA

ISTA 2012 Indiana General Assembly Accomplishments

...from the ISTA Web Site

ISTA Membership Pays Off!

2012 Indiana General Assembly Accomplishments

K-12 bills are highlighted in the attached chart. We hope you will see and appreciate the broad array of issues that arose even in a “shortened” short session. Please know that year in and year out ISTA is at work for you day and night as the General Assembly convenes. While it is unlikely that any organization that deals in the breadth of issues in which we deal ever gets everything it wants from the legislature, I hope that you will be able to see in this picture, some key successes—maybe even some turning points.

ISTA worked very hard this session in cultivating new relationships with legislators. We always knew who our friends were. We just needed to grow some new friends. We call this our “pro-public education caucus” and membership is not based in party affiliation.Relationship-building takes time, but we believe we have made a good start. And remember, at the end of the day, legislators are uniquely accountable to their own constituents so we humbly ask that you consider building deeper relationships with them back home.

The truth of the matter is that the General Assembly’s unprecedented creation of the new SELECT COMMISSION ON EDUCATION is a direct result of the growing concerns that legislators from both parties had begun to internalize and voice. Their concerns were not only over what the State Board of Education and Department of Education were promulgating with regard to the 2011 reform programs but also how these agencies were going about it. ISTA places great stock in this unprecedented SELECT COMMISSION’s willingness to not only be an unfiltered sounding board but also to provide a fair forum for school employees to contribute to the reforms in meaningful ways. We will do our best to ensure that the SELECT COMMISSION reaches its potential.

In the meantime, thank you for all that you do each and every day for Hoosier children. We will keep you posted.

Nate Schnellenberger

Bill No.	General Content/Issue	Session Activity/Result	ISTA  Notes
SB 34	Would have allowed the INPRS (Indiana Retirement System) to share member retirement information with employers for certain purposes without the member/employee’s consent.	SB 34 had been scheduled for a Senate Hearing.  Senator Greg Walker (R-Columbus) agreed to withdraw it due to ISTA concerns about employee consent. There was a second attempt to insert it on the House side and Rep. Woody Burton (R-Greenwood) agreed to not pursue it.	Senator Walker and Rep. Burton both listened to ISTA lobbyists and since an agreement could not be reached to simply allow employees to consent first, the bill died.
SB 83	Mandated cursive writing instruction.	SB 83 was given a hearing in the Senate, but died.	As drafted, SB 83 was an unfunded mandate.
SB 89	Permitted the teaching of multiple versions of the origin of life, including creationism—and required the curriculum to include multiple religious beliefs.	SB 89 was given a hearing in the Senate and passed out of Committee and out the Senate but died in the House without a hearing.	ISTA’s lobbying at the onset was to try to redirect SB 89 into a bill that would not deal with the creationism issue at all but instead would refer to an elective world literature course that included, among other great works, the Bible.  This was based upon a program in the 1970s that was inclusive, constitutional, and  required professional development. When it became clear that this alternative was not viable, ISTA, including ISTA member science teachers, actively and successfully lobbied against SB 89.
SB 159	Prohibited school districts from permitting Association dues from being deducted from members’ pay as a convenience to members.	SB 159 was introduced but not heard in committee and therefore died.	ISTA met with Senate Leadership on SB 159 early on in the session—noting that it did not involve K-12 education policy—ISTA appreciates that action on the bill was not pursued.
SB 179	DOE Bill:  Required high school students to take at least one on-line (virtual) course.	SB 179 passed the Senate, but did not receive a hearing in the House and therefore died.	Lobbying SB 179 centered on, among other things, ensuring equal access among all students and the state’s technological infrastructural capacity, securing accountability, ensuring licensed staff and appropriate class sizes.
SB 296 SB 198 SB 331	Each of these bills, in its introduced form, sought to enable certain private school students to gain access to state-funded private school vouchers or tax credit scholarships without first having attended a public school for at least one year.	All of these bills received a hearing in Senate Education Committee and SB 296 and 198 passed out of Committee and were recommitted to Senate Appropriations.  Only SB 296 passed out of the Senate and was heard in the House.  On the House side, the focus of SB 296 was restricted to students who are eligible to receive tuition assistance through a scholarship granting organization that benefits from the state issuing tax credits to contributors (this is not the same program as the voucher program).  The bill enables a student who might bounce around between being income eligible for assistance one year and then not income eligible another year, to not have to reapply for admission to the same school he/she had attended if the student became eligible again for the financial assistance.  ENACTED:  SB 296.	The passage of any of these bills in their introduced form would have cost the state and public schools additional funds because the students would have never first been counted as public school students.  As it ended, the only bill that survived (SB 296) ultimately addressed an entirely different concern.
SB 236	Class Basketball; Labor Day Start Date; Rewarding “high-performing” school districts with flexibility.	SB 236 was the first bill heard this session in Senate Education Committee.  It covered 3 disparate topics:  (1) Gave schools in highest performance categories the flexibility to opt out of the 180-day requirement so long as they convened instruction for an equivalent amount of time in instructional hours; (2) Gave “high-performing schools” other flexibility with regard to waiving statutes and rules. (3) With some exceptions, prohibited public schools, except charter schools, from beginning the school term before the fourth Monday in August and from ending after June 10 of the following year, beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. (4) Addressed IHSAA Class Basketball.  SB 236 passed out of committee without the Class Basketball issue but failed in the Senate for a lack of constitutional majority by a vote of 25-25.	ISTA did not enter the fray over class basketball, lobbied to enable local communities to determine the school calendar, and sought to enable all public schools to have calendar flexibility.
SB 384	DOE Bill:  Would have permitted the contracting out of school and school district accreditation to outside private entities; would have enabled the DOE/SBE to identify its own “legal standards” for accreditation (rather than the General Assembly making those designations); would have overhauled Indiana’s performance-based accreditation system based upon DOE/SBE determined benchmarks.	SB 384 passed out of the Senate as an accreditation overhaul bill and state takeover language was added to it in the House (a revised version of HB 1324).  Additionally, SB 384 became the repository of several other provisions, including provisions relating to charter schools, home schools, and teacher evaluations).  In the end, SB 384 died with only a few SB 384 provisions surviving in HB 1376 (see HB 1376).	At one point during the session, SB 384 became “the omnibus education bill.”  ISTA lobbied vigorously against the takeover language as being too broad, based upon a flawed A-F grading policy, too generous in its delegation of  authority to the SBE/DOE, an anti-teacher/bargaining bill,  and unduly punitive towards Indiana’s community school districts.  In the end, the bill died and only a few provisions were transferred to HB 1376 (see HB 1376).
HB 1002	GOV Bill:  Elimination of State Boards/Commissions –School Air Quality Ramifications	HB 1002 was a bill that the Governor’s Administration pursued to eliminate a long list of boards and commissions that it deemed no longer viable or needed.  Included in that list was the School Air Quality Panel and in doing so called into question whether air quality inspections would continue in schools.  Language ensuring that the state would provide free air quality inspections and evaluations to schools was maintained.  ENACTED:  HB 1002.	ISTA successfully lobbied to restore language ensuring that the state would provide free air quality inspections and evaluations to schools rather than require schools to pay outside contractors for this service.
HB 1123	TRF/PERF 13th Check.	HB 1123 began as a 13th check augmentation bill, which is where it stayed for the remainder of the session. TRF/PERF 13th check amounts range from $150 to $450 depending upon years in retirement.  ENACTED:  HB 1123.	While ISTA always lobbied for additional assistance for its retirees, ISTA began the session by lobbying for a true Cost of Living Adjustment as well as a “catch-up” provision to bring the purchasing power up for those who have been retired the longest and who have been hit hardest over the intervening “no COLA” years.  When it became clear that the 13th check was the best and only alternative for retiree augmentation in this session, ISTA put all of its support behind the passage of HB 1123.
HB 1134	Transportation Fees	HB 1134 prohibits parents from being charged a fee for transportation to and from school (if the school district directly provides the service or if it is contracted out to an educational service center).  However, fees may be charged for transportation to and from extracurricular events.  ENACTED:  HB 1134.	The issue for ISTA is ensuring that school districts have access to sufficient funding to provide transportation without being forced to use general operating funds which should be classroom-based.  This bill settled the debate among school districts about whether they can charge parents fees for transportation to and from school for daily instruction (they cannot), but it remains to be seen if transportation funds around the state will be sufficient to fully fund transportation programs. For some most cash-strapped, HB 1192 may provide some relief—enabling certain districts to refinance existing debt.
HB 1169	Student Discipline	HB 1169 began as a bill to enable a student to be suspended or expelled for any activity (whether committed on or off school property) deemed to be an interference with school purposes.  Existing law required the activity to be “unlawful.”  The bill’s author most specifically was attempting to address cyber-bullying.  First Amendment advocates, including many of ISTA-member journalism teachers, opposed the broadness of the bill.   The compromise final version calls for an interim study committee to study best-practice student disciplinary measures.  ENACTED:  HB 1169.	ISTA continually lobbied for a narrowing of the bill and ultimately supported the final version which called for a study committee on best practice student disciplinary measures.  Additionally, the final version specifically gives ISTA the authority to nominate to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (who will make the appointment) the teacher member to this committee.
HB 1189 SB 280	School Finance	HB 1189 was the House bill that addressed requiring a 2nd ADM count to be conducted for the purpose of tracking per student funding.  SB 280 was the Senate version.  Throughout the session, the issues on this were: (1) when the 1st and 2nd counts should be made; (2) the timetable for transitioning the funding once the 2ndcount was made; and (3) how to handle charter school start-up funding.  Ultimately, HB 1189 settled on the following:   (1) Requires the state board of education to conduct a 2nd count of students enrolled in school corporations and charter schools in February of each school year (the current September count remains in force).  (2) Provides that the school funding formula expires on July 1, 2013 (rather than January 1, 2014)—meaning that in future years, funding will transition to FY funding. (3)  Transfers the appropriation and funding for charter school start-up grants to the appropriation for state tuition support. Increases the amount of the charter school start-up grant for charter schools that begin operation in calendar year 2012 and provides that the grant is to be paid in six installments with one installment in each of the last six months of calendar year 2012. (4) Specifies that the amount distributed as supplementary grants to school corporations from the voucher program are limited only by the state FY appropriation and not the CY cap that limits the amount of state tuition support payable in a CY.  (5) Requires the DOE to report to the General Assembly using 2011-12 data, the number of students who left the public school district for a charter school, the number who left charter schools to the public school district, the number who left the public school district for a private school, and the number who received a voucher but went back to the public school district. (6) Requires an accredited nonpublic school to provide sufficient verbal information to permit a requesting public school to which a child transfers to make an appropriate placement decision when the parent of the child is in breach of a contract that conditions release of student records on the payment of outstanding tuition and other fees.   ENACTED:  HB 1189.	ISTA lobbied to limit the counts to one additional count (DOE and other groups had suggested more than 2 dates throughout the course of the year) and to ensure that potential teacher layoffs are not impacted by the 2nd count—the disruption to student learning far outweighs fiscal issues.
HB 1192 SB 226	School District Fiscal Relief	While both HB 1192 and SB 226 sought to provide avenues to certain school districts most in need of financial assistance, HB 1192 became the final vehicle for this to occur.  Ultimately, HB 1192 includes provisions for special emergency managers to come into distressed municipal government units and offers to certain school districts the following avenues for financial modification:  (1) Debt restructuring if the school district has a circuit breaker impact of at least 20% (rather than 30%); (2) Access to a low-interest rate loan from the state’s rainy day fund if the school district is a distressed unit and state-approved (loans are available until December 31, 2017). ENACTED:  HB 1192.	Please note that if a school district seeks distressed unit status and then seeks a rainy day fund loan, the state could possibly condition the granting of the loan on a number of factors, including the district’s willingness to modify the terms of any contracts to which it has entered.
HB 1205	Superintendent Contract Transparency	HB 1205 began as a bill to make transparent the particulars of school superintendents’ contracts.  As the session ensued, SB 1205 became broader than that, including requiring the posting of charter school governing body members, and contract provisions of certificated employees. ENACTED:  HB 1205.	Public school compensation agreements are public information.
HB 1324	DOE bill:  Acceleration of State Takeover of Public Schools	HB 1324 was the most draconian version of the DOE’s state takeover proposals and mirrored a proposed rule the SBE had unveiled on state takeover back in November 2011 (before the General Assembly had even convened).  Under HB 1324, a takeover by a private (for-profit) management company could have occurred as early as after the 2nd year in the lowest 2 categories if a minority of parents (51% of the students’ parents) voted.  Not only did this accelerate takeover, but it expanded which schools would be eligible for takeover (bottom 2 categories versus the current lowest category).  HB 1324 specifically granted to the SBE and the DOE open-ended, extremely broad powers, including the power to punish the existing school district by withholding funds at the discretion of the SBE.  Additionally, HB 1324 would have set forth in law the proposition that these takeovers would be permanent—that is, the school would never be transitioned back to the community school district.  HB 1324 made it clear that teachers would not be able to bargain salary and benefits and would not be hired under the uniform state contract form.  HB 1324 also would have permitted unlicensed teachers to teach in these takeover schools.  HB 1324 then added similar language to enable entire school districts to be taken over by private management companies.  On 2ndreading, dozens of amendments were drafted to alter this bill and to make it more “public school friendly.”  The bill was never called down for 2nd reading and therefore died in the first half of the session.	ISTA lobbied against HB 1324 extremely vigorously and successfully with legislators and supported a multitude of 2ndreading amendments that had been drafted to try to improve it.   The lobbying paid off as HB 1324 died in the first chamber.  NOTE:  Several components of HB 1324 were resurrected and inserted into SB 384 in the House Education Committee when SB 384 came from the Senate to the House (See SB 384).
HB 1326	DOE bill:  Various Issues; including eliminating boards and commissions	HB 1326 began as what DOE called a “clean-up” bill that would have eliminated a list of statutory boards and commissions that it deemed not viable or needed.  It also included some criminal history check language for teachers.  Over the course of the session, other miscellaneous items were included in this bill.  It proceeded through the session until the 2ndreading stage of the 2nd House.  Ultimately, HB 1326 died because it was not called down on 3rd reading in the Senate.	ISTA lobbied this bill throughout the session, offering suggestions and working to restore a few of the committees/boards.  Ultimately, the volume of topics that HB 1326 took on helped to contribute to its demise.
HB 1367	GOV bill:   Indiana Deaf School	HB 1367 would have immediately transitioned the Indiana Deaf School away from its current operation to the establishment of a new Center.  As it was enacted, provides that the Office of Management and Budget will begin making recommendations to the 2013 General Assembly as to how to fund the new Center.  ENACTED:  HB 1367.	ISTA lobbied vigorously to ensure that the current Indiana Deaf School funding remained whole even as the transition to the creation of the new Center will be accomplished in 2013.
HB 1376 SB 143	Omnibus Bill; akin to budget bill in long session	HB 1376 began as a short session quasi-budget bill—it included: (1) amending the taxpayer rebate provisions enacted in 2011; (2) increasing the amount of liability the state would assume for the State Fair accident; (3) providing $2400 per student for Full-day Kindergarten (FDK)—which amounts to over $80 million additional dollars. SB 143 was the Senate counterpart bill, including some of the same provisions.  As the session ensued, HB 1376 was designated as the “short session budget bill” that would move along and then other elements were added (the recreation of the FSSA State Agency, regulations on emergency rules for Medicaid, Little Calumet River basin provisions) on the Senate side.  Ultimately, on the last day of the session, when it became clear that SB 384 was not going to pass due to vigorous ISTA lobbying (and due to the state takeover language), the decision was made to allow for a select few (bare-bones) provisions from SB 384 to be moved to HB 1376.  The K-12 provisions that were added were the following:  (1) In a takeover situation, the takeover school is considered an LEA for federal funding purposes, teachers must be licensed, teachers may bargain, teachers are eligible for TRF and other public employees for PERF, and there must be at least 2 public hearings each year in which the local school board and the management company discuss best practices and facility use issues.  (2) Legislators created their own SELECT COMMISSION ON EDUCATION to oversee and make recommendations on SBE and DOE rule-making and policies related to the A-F school grading policy, teacher evaluations, and teacher licensure.   (3) Charter schools and traditional public schools have avenues to opt out or seek waivers from the 90-minute uninterrupted reading requirement that is part of the DOE’s grade 3 reading program.  (4) Made clarifications to the teacher vote threshold on locally-developed teacher evaluation plans. ENACTED:  HB 1376.	ISTA lobbying supported HB 1376 in its introduced version as it offered an additional $80 million for FDK, assuring $2400 per student to school districts to provide FDK.  As the session ensued, SB 143 provisions were included as well.  Primarily due to vigorous ISTA lobbying, the state takeover language that was ultimately inserted into HB 1367 was both reduced and altered dramatically.  Additionally, the creation of the SELECT COMMISSION ON EDUCATION provides the promise that concerns voiced by ISTA members these past several months concerning the various 2011 reforms will now receive a thorough vetting and a fair hearing.  Our work is now just beginning!

ISTA Success at the State House

From ISTA...

To Our Members,

ISTA membership pays off. Today we have some good news from the State House. In fact, we have enough news that we will be sharing it over the next couple of days. Stay tuned.

As ISTA members, you continue to answer the call each day to serve this state and its children. And at the end of the day, you should know that when public education was threatened once again, ISTA (all of us together) found legislative friends--some of whom we frankly didn't know we had.

It wasn't easy, but there is no denying that in the wake of a series of new bills that were introduced by the Department of Education (DOE) and the State Board of Education (SBE) to seize additional control over state accreditation, curriculum mandates, state takeovers and teachers' rights, ISTA took the lead in stopping this relentless crusade of bills and worked hard to secure real gains within the General Assembly by building bridges with members from both parties.

The result is that the General Assembly sent a clear message that it intends to step in, engage in bona fide scrutiny and meaningful evaluation over not only what the DOE and SBE have done with regard to some of the 2011 education reforms but also with regard to how they have gone about doing it:

• HEA 1376 creates the Select Commission on Education -- comprised in its entirety of the members of the House and Senate Education committees.
• In this unprecedented move, legislators from both standing committees of the general assembly have pledged to investigate all of the policies and rules (both enacted and proposed policies) of the DOE and the SBE concerning teacher evaluations, teacher licensure and the A-F school/school district grading policy (commonly called "the matrix") which is the springboard to state takeover.
• The statutory charge to the commission calls for both substantive and procedural scrutiny and that a report be submitted by Dec. 1, 2012.

The convening of this Select Commission is an opportunity for us to:

• make our case as to why some of these policies that have emerged after the 2011 General Assembly adjournment have been perceived as being heavy-handed, ill-advised, beyond the scope of authority, not reflective of the General Assembly's intent, and inconsistent with best practices in improving student learning;
• acknowledge any positive policy changes that may have been implemented; and
• make recommendations gleaned from the invaluable perspective of our members--those who have dedicated their professional lives to working closest with Indiana's children.

This work is just beginning, but the opportunity is now at hand.

Because we believe that the 2012 legislative session was a turning point for public schools, public school teachers and for public education, we look forward to sharing with you a list of specific legislative successes gained during the session. The list of successes is impressive and will be shared over the next couple of days.

Let it be said, too, that there are many legislators to thank along the way. That list is impressive, too, and will be shared tomorrow. We must continue to work to create a pro-public education/pro-public school educator caucus within the General Assembly that will serve Indiana's public schools and our members over the long haul.

This is why your membership in this Association makes sense. And this is why, by being a member and an activist, we can collectively make a difference.

Thank you for all that you do to help Hoosier children learn and grow. Thank you for all that you do for public education. Stay tuned . . . there is lots more to come!

Please bookmark and visit www.keepthepromiseindiana.org for additional information and updates as we move forward.

xposted at FWEA / EAEA

TAKE ACTION! Email your legislators to urge opposition to HB 1324.

 

HB 1324 would enable the state to take over some public schools and public school corporations by handing them off to private companies to manage. HB 1324 would enable a state takeover through private company management of an existing public school as soon as the second year after the school is placed in one of the two lower performance categories. Worse, this quick takeover would be accomplished through what will likely be less than a 51 percent threshold of parent petitioners.

"Indiana's original accountability laws envisioned meaningful interventions to assist schools facing challenges," said Nate Schnellenberger, ISTA president. "HB 1324 ignores assistance and instead imposes punishment by forever stripping local property taxpayers from having a direct voice in their community public schools."

“What would be even more devastating to communities is their permanent loss of the entire school district which emerged through a committee amendment. In its new form, HB 1324 would not only allow for school takeovers by privately run companies, it would allow for state takeovers of entire school districts by privately run management companies, dissolving elected school boards and replacing them with appointees by the State Board of Education (SBE).

HB 1324 gives the SBE sweeping control over local school communities but continues to require local taxpayers to pay for the buildings over which they would have no control or influence. Ultimately, under the bill, these schools and districts would become what are called "independent schools" with no possibility of ever rejoining their community school district.

Although it's difficult to predict with complete certainty which schools or districts might be affected by these provisions, last Friday the Department of Education (DOE) did disseminate to local superintendents and principals a listing of schools and school districts depicting what would have been their respective performance grades for the 2010-11 school year had the DOE/SBE’s currently proposed accountability grading system been in place. Based on their own assessment, 22 percent of the 1790 schools (405 schools) and 12 percent of the 290 school districts (36 districts) would have received a grade of D or F. Link to attached documents.

“Since all of these sanctions rest on the validity of the grading system itself, and that grading system is yet to even be fleshed out, let alone approved, HB 1324 puts the cart before the horse,” added Schnellenberger.

Click on the Take Action link: http://keepthepromiseindiana.org/take-action_1

Please share this information about HB 1324 with your colleagues & encourage them to take action as well.

Don’t hesitate to call if that works best. HOUSE SWITCHBOARD: 800-382-9842 or 317-232-9600.

www.keepthepromiseindiana.org

xposted at FWEAEAEA

TAKE ACTION: Parent Trigger Bill

“TAKE ACTION”

Email your legislators to urge opposition to HB 1219 as currently drafted. HB 1219 would allow for the conversion of a public school into a charter school upon the petition of 51% of the students' parents OR a simple majority of the school board.

When a public school converts to charter school status, teachers' collective bargaining rights are eliminated because the school board is no longer the employer. Prior law required at least 60% of the teachers to agree to the conversion, as well as parental input. In 2011, the General Assembly removed the teacher input from these decisions. ISTA asks that a "teacher trigger" be reinstated into the process.

Click on the Take Action link: http://keepthepromiseindiana.org/take-action_1

Don’t hesitate to call if that works best. HOUSE SWITCHBOARD: 800-382-9842 or 317-232-9600.

Talking Points:

1. Teachers want to be a part of the partnership in these issues where their experience, knowledge of learning, and professional understanding of children is valued and embedded in the process.
2. Under existing law and under this proposal, if a conversion occurs, bargaining rights go away as the employer is a different entity. HB 1219, absent some assurances in this regard, becomes an anti-teacher/bargaining bill.
3. Prior law (prior to last year), bargaining was preserved in school conversions and teachers were a partner in the conversion. There is a simple fix if there is a willingness. Inasmuch as bargaining rights are currently limited to salary and wage-related benefits, instilling some threshold of teacher participation in developing a conversion should not be an issue anymore. Teacher buy-in and meaningful partnering, instead, should be an integral part of what would make any conversion workable.
4. There is no provision in law (existing or proposed) to “reverse” a conversion.
5. Because this would apply to any public school in the state, the potential for ongoing, chronic community upheaval in terms of “bureaucracies” and “who runs this/that” grows. School communities should be assured that the main discussions center on instructional/programmatic review and direct student learning issues and not these “who’s in control” issues that deflect from job 1.
6. The existing law is just a few months’ old. There is little reason to make such a substantive and extreme change during a hurried short session when there was so much discussion last session.

www.keepthepromiseindiana.org

xposted at FWEAEAEA

ISTA: Doing Good Work for Indiana Educators

September 14, 2011

ISTA -- the largest association of professional educators in our state -- wants to share some information with you about the important work that we do for all of our members. The bottom line remains, the more you are part of ISTA, the more we can work together to improve your salary, your career and your profession. As a coalition of Indiana educators and public school employees from all 92 counties, ISTA works every single day to support and improve public education.

The following are just a few of the many ways ISTA has and will continue to support and advocate for our members, our profession and our students:

ISTA UniServ and Organizing:

Following the close of the 2011 Legislative Session, ISTA has worked diligently with local Association leaders to help interpret the laws, determine their impact on our members, and assist in implementing the new legislation. In addition, we have been an active participant in conversations with the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board (IEERB), the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), and local law firms regarding the implementation of new legislation. NEA and ISTA have stepped up to challenge several laws that are detrimental to public education and teachers and are currently processing suits against vouchers and the Regular Teacher Contract released by the IDOE. We anticipate filing several challenges in the next week to prevent school corporations throughout the state from withholding incremental raises that our members were to receive this school year.

In a monumental effort to pre-empt the Governor's attempt to restrict collective bargaining rights for teachers, the ISTA UniServ staff promptly settled approximately 200 contracts for the 2011-2012 school year and beyond, protecting those teachers from the immediate impact of new legislation. Public education and your profession are under attack from a very well-funded and organized opposition, and the ISTA is on duty 24/7 to defend you against this effort. There is no middle ground to hide in. Regardless of how "friendly and nice" your local administration may be, the effects of legislation will reach into each and every classroom in the state.

Professional educators throughout the state must work TOGETHER if they hope to have any chance to improve the current situation. We can do COLLECTIVELY far more than what any individual can do alone. We need YOU to join with your colleagues state-wide to help with this effort. Remember that today you may not need your colleagues and the ISTA, but tomorrow that may not be the case. We will to be there when you need us.

ISTA Legal Counsel:

ISTA's legal counsel is the ONLY attorney in Indiana who primarily practices teacher-related law. ISTA's legal counsel is a member of the National Organization of Lawyers for Education Associations that provides more than 200 lawyers who work for NEA affiliates who share legal opinions with one another and provide a resource for how legal issues are handled in other states.

During the last several years, ISTA's legal counsel has:

• Handled more than 300 child abuse cases.
• Handled more than 50 unfair labor practices.
• Handled more than 100 teacher-related lawsuits.
• Written more than 300 legal opinions on teacher-related legal issues
• Handled numerous IDOE teacher license revocation hearings.
• Participated in drafting education legislation.
• Represented numerous teachers who have been sued by parents or students.

ISTA Government Relations:

As was the case in many other states throughout the country, the 2011 Indiana General Assembly was characterized by a wave of "reforms" touted as "being about the kids" but manifesting themselves in legislation solely impacting the adults who serve them—most notably, Indiana's teachers.

The following is a listing of significant legislative gains garnered by ISTA in the 2011 Legislative Session—even in the face of very challenging odds. Please know that this is an edited list—narrowing the focus to the most relevant issues affecting your daily lives.

SB 1: Teacher Evaluations; Teacher Salaries; Merit Pay

Carved out an "established teacher" definition that includes all teachers who serve under a teacher contract before July 1, 2012, ensuring that no existing teacher would be subject to the potentially fluctuating "probationary teacher/professional teacher" labeling . Established teachers will benefit by stricter due process protections relative to contract cancellations.

Ensured the enactment of a "grandfather clause" to protect salary levels of teachers at the July 1, 2012 levels and to prohibit decreasing salaries because of the new salary schedule laws.

Ensured that compensation for additional degrees or graduate credits earned before the effective date of the local salary schedule continue and added language permitting advanced degrees and graduate credit hours to count for up to one-third of new salary increases. Additionally, ISTA worked to add language in HEA 1001 to permit those who begin advanced degree courses before July 1, 2011 to receive full salary schedule credit for degrees completed by September 2, 2014.

Restored school board role in hiring and dismissal of staff. There was an effort to rest all of the teacher hiring and firing authority in the hands of principals.

SEA 575: Collective Bargaining

In the wake of our neighboring states (WI, OH, MI—also TN and ID) all losing collective bargaining rights, ISTA successfully retained collective bargaining for salary and wage-related issues.

Clear and formal discussion rights were expanded for a variety of school-based issues, including working hours, staff evaluations, hiring and other human resource decisions, curricular, textbook selection, teaching methods, student discipline, pupil/teacher ratios, class sizes and school safety issues.

There was an attempt to completely open up the authority of administrators to suspend teachers without pay—legally at will. ISTA successfully argued the removal of all of the suspension without pay amendments, guaranteeing that existing laws and protections in this regard continue.

SEA 1003: Vouchers

Would have allowed families of four that earn incomes of more than $100,000 to qualify for vouchers. Instead, that income eligibility was reduced to $62,000.

Successfully capped for 2 years the number of vouchers distributed: 7,500 and 15,000 total in the next 2 years.

Requires the private schools that take advantage of the public voucher money to adhere to many of the statutory requirements with which public schools must comply.

HEA 1001: Budget

From an initial flat-lined funding formula, ended up with a formula that has a 0.5 percent and 1.0 percent statewide average increase. This was especially important because the voucher and charter laws will siphon off dollars from this allotment.

ISTA: Working on Behalf of All Hoosier Educators