In what seems like the blink of an eye, the 2013 legislative session has come and gone. I am extremely proud of all that we have accomplished over the past four months. As a body, the General Assembly worked together to pass a fiscally sound, balanced budget and provide relief to Hoosier taxpayers. I am pleased to see two of the bills I worked on this session become law: House Enrolled Act (HEA) 1427 and Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 465. Similar to past sessions, I placed a strong emphasis on our youngest, most vulnerable Hoosiers. I believe that protecting our youth is one of the greatest tasks we are given in our position of leadership. This is a belief that I have carried with me since my time in the classroom. HEA 1427, a bill I authored in the House, deals with a variety of matters relating to education. In my opinion, one of the most important things that this legislation does is postpone the implementation of Common Core State Standards. It also develops a legislative summer study committee to further evaluate this program. Common Core was adopted in Indiana in 2010 by the State Board of Education, without input or review by the state legislature. These standards spell out what students are expected to learn at each grade level. I believe it is imperative that we take a step back in order to review these standards, and our state is not alone. We are currently one of six states who have chosen to review these standards. Many educators are concerned not only about the costs of implementing this program but also the fact that these standards are not internationally benchmarked as was originally stated. In addition, questions have been raised about how data collected by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), the common set of K-12 assessments in English and math used in Common Core teaching, will be used. As a result of this legislation, Indiana will continue to assess student performance using the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) standards through the year 2015. I was also honored to serve as a House cosponsor on SEA 465. This legislation creates Indiana Works Councils which will be designated by geographic regions determined by the governor. These councils will have the vital task of evaluating the vocational, technical and career education programs available to Hoosiers. While many states are struggling with a lack of available jobs, Indiana maintains a large number of available jobs but simply not enough citizens qualified to fill the positions. In order to address this, each council will be required to prepare and submit a comprehensive evaluation of the career, technical and vocational education opportunities available to high school students in its region. From this, each council may design demand driven curricula, internships and other educational opportunities to align educational pathways to high-wage, high-demand jobs. Every Hoosier deserves the opportunity to find a good job and this is just one of the ways we aim to achieve that. Now that session is over, I look forward to spending more time in beautiful southern Indiana. The coming months will be spent connecting with constituents and hearing from them on the issues that affect them the most. What are your thoughts on this session? I truly value your feedback and appreciate your involvement in the legislative process. Please feel free to contact me by phone at 317-234-3827 or via email at h70@in.gov. -30-
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