Statehouse Express Podcast

Season 5, Episode 1

Tune into season five of the Statehouse Express podcast at the link below!

The House Education Committee held its first meeting on January 10th and the Senate Education and Career Development Committee met for the first time last week. There is a lot of attention on literacy, work force development, absenteeism, and a variety of other topics.

In this episode, INPEA Executive Director John Elcesser gives an update on the following bills that have been heard in the House and Senate education committees:

• HB 1001 Education and Higher Education Matters: Makes some changes to the Career Scholarship Account (CSA) program. 
• HB 1002 Enforcement of Equal Educational Opportunity: Defines "antisemitism", specifies that the public policy of the state is to provide educational opportunities free of religious discrimination, and provides that antisemitism is discrimination on the basis of religion. 
• HB 1042 Transition to Teaching Scholarships: Provides additional money for these scholarships. 
• HB 1233 Robotics Competition Program: Expands the use of grant funds and includes third-party accredited non-public schools. 
• HB 1243 Various Education and Workforce Related Matters: Addresses high school diploma requirements, adds the requirement of a computer science course starting with the graduating class of 2029. 
• HB 1380 Various Education Matters: Fixes the birthdate eligibility for the SGO and ESA programs to align with the Choice Scholarship program.
• SB 1 Reading Skills: Includes many new requirements related to the low passage rates for IREAD 3. Elementary school leaders are encouraged to get familiar with this bill!

Some media outlets have highlighted Senator Ryan Mishler’s SB 255, a bill would sundown the Choice Scholarship program and replace it another Education Scholarship Account (ESA)-type program. This bill was heard last week with limited testimony but there was no vote taken on it. Senator Mishler said he will reintroduce it next year during a budget year. We are studying the proposal and will be engaging schools in this conversation when appropriate. We will need your advocacy around the bill prior to next session so stay tuned! 

For more information on the bills mentioned above, download the episode at the link below.

Legislative Advocacy Video

Each year, INPEA records a legislative advocacy video that outlines our priorities and encourages stakeholder engagement. You can watch our new video at the link below. We encourage you to share this video with board members, parents, and other non-pub stakeholders. Thank you to Barry Roberts, TV Broadcasting Teacher at Cardinal Ritter High School in Indianapolis, for producing our 2024 video.