STATEHOUSE (Feb. 3, 2025) – The Indiana House of Representatives passed State Rep. Bob Behning's (R-Indianapolis) legislation to give Hoosier K-12 schools more flexibility on education decisions.
Behning said the goal of House Bill 1002 is to remove outdated and duplicate text in Indiana's education statutes to give schools more control over local decisions.
"This is really an opportunity to streamline our K-12 education processes and give schools more flexibility," Behning said. "Our teachers and school administrators ultimately know what's best for their students and staff and should be able to take more innovative approaches to education without government getting in their way."
Some of the proposed changes to Indiana's education statutes include removing "may" provisions on actions schools can already do without state permission, dozens of unused funding programs, specific mandates enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic and duplicate code, resulting in a nearly 10% decrease in the state's education regulations. Behning said his legislation would also no longer order teacher training that isn't federally required so local school boards can make those decisions.
"I consider this to be the first step in a years-long process to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in state education so schools can focus more on teaching future generations of Hoosiers rather than spending that time on reporting requirements," Behning said. "There is still more work to do in this space, and I welcome continued input from stakeholders on how we can simplify our regulations."
Representatives from the Indiana School Boards Association, Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents and Indiana Association of School Principals testified in support of the bill.
HB 1002 now goes to the Senate for consideration. Watch session and committees live, and view legislation at iga.in.gov.
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State Rep. Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis) represents House District 91,
which includes a portion of Marion County.
Click here to download a high-resolution photo.
