Leaders from some of Indiana's poorest school districts said Tuesday they fear proposed funding cuts they're facing, while those from growing districts are worried proposed increases for them won't be enough.
Rep. Robert Behning, who is sponsoring the measure, said: "We should not be taking bad schools and passing them off to somebody else."
Indiana Senate budget chief Luke Kenley said he might be a bit more restrained with spending in his version of the next two-year budget because the state has not been meeting its revenue projections for the current fiscal year.
Indiana needs to improve communication between its education leaders, hire more staff and take other steps to prevent a repeat of the “thorny issues” surrounding the length of this year’s ISTEP+ exam, two consultants hired by the state say.
Two bills already have passed the Senate that push the state in the direction of a national test.
Voucher use is up significantly in Hamilton County districts, but most children using the program still live in the state’s largest, poorest cities with some of the most troubled public schools.
Indiana students might be off the hook from a proposal asking they pass a civics test to graduate from high school after a bill to require it was defeated in the state Senate on Tuesday.
The changes are expected to shave at least three hours off the test for all grades plus an additional hour in 5th and 7th grades.
Indiana school administrators say they welcome efforts to shorten the standardized test that 450,000 students soon will begin taking, but they say the exam will still take too long.
State schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz, who has been at loggerheads with Gov. Mike Pence for most of his first term, isn’t ruling it out.
Indiana schools are receiving official word about the steps being taken to shorten the state's standardized tests.
The changes, combined with declining enrollments in a number of schools, mean that 91 of the state’s 289 traditional districts would receive less overall funding in 2016 than this year.
The move most likely would result in Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, being removed from the position.
The House Education Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a bill permitting some steps that Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz proposed last week.
IPS would see a 6-percent reduction in state tuition aid by 2017 despite being one of the state’s poorest districts, with more than 75 percent of children coming from families that are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
The planned school spending increase is more than double the $201 million hike that Republican Gov. Mike Pence proposed in January.
Organizers of the rally are targeting bills moving through the Statehouse that would shift some authority from state schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz.
The leader of the Indiana House says a state budget proposal set for release Monday will include a larger funding increase for public schools than Gov. Mike Pence sought in his spending plan.
Indiana’s schools superintendent says a plan is in the works to cut about three hours from the maximum time that students will take the state’s standardized tests.
Indiana legislative leaders said they’re prepared to ram through legislation to make the state’s ISTEP test shorter, but they won’t consider Superintendent Glenda Ritz’s proposal to pause the school grading system for one year.
