We found additional ways for parents to send their students to the school of their choice; adjusted what should and should not be included in teacher collective bargaining agreements; and addressed how teachers should be evaluated. House Bill 1003, to start, will provide school choice scholarships to low-income students in order to supplement or pay the cost of tuition and fees at a public or private elementary or high school that charges tuition. For students to be eligible, they would have to not only meet the income guidelines but also be an Indiana resident between the ages of 5 and 18 and enrolled in a public school corporation for the two previous semesters. However, kindergarten cannot count toward satisfying the two semester requirement and students may only receive one choice scholarship each school year. Schools that receive a choice scholarship must be accredited by the State Board of Education (SBOE) or a national or regional accreditation agency recognized by the SBOE. Schools must also fall under the state's accountability standards and administer ISTEP tests. Parents with financial means have the ability to select a school of their choice for their children. House Bill 1003 helps families who currently do not have the financial means to select the school that best serves their child. Florida conducted the only official government study, which demonstrated how the scholarship tax credits saved the state money. Under the study, for every dollar that reduced the state's tax revenue through the claiming of the tax credit, the state saved $1.49. That is a 49 percent return in investment. Florida's scholarship tax credit program is an appropriate comparison to Indiana's program because we target the same population of families-free and reduced lunch students. Now moving from students to teachers, Senate Bill 575 will limit collective bargaining agreements to salary, wages, and salary and wage-related benefits. The number one priority of public education should be ensuring students have access to a quality education. Many collective bargaining agreements prevent school administrators from making necessary changes to improve opportunities for student growth. No business in America could survive without the ability to make personnel and building decisions based on performance, so we cannot expect our schools to improve without giving administrators the tools they need to help their students succeed. Furthermore, our current system does not allow us to recognize excellence in teaching nor address poor performance. Senate Bill 1 establishes an annual principal and staff performance evaluation that categorizes teachers as highly effective; effective; improvement necessary; or ineffective. SBOE would establish the criteria that define each performance category, the measures that define student performance; the standards that define what actions constitute a negative impact on student performance; and an acceptable set of standards for training evaluations. But the local board or school corporation, partnering with teachers, would create their own evaluation plan. At least 75 percent of teachers would have to agree to on that evaluation plan. In addition, SBOE and the Department of Education would also be responsible for ensuring the availability of ongoing training for evaluators on how to properly conduct an evaluation. Senate Bill 1 would also require a teacher's salary to be based on the teacher's experience, post graduate credits in content area, performance evaluation and assignments to instructor leadership positions. In a knowledge-based economy, a teacher's effectiveness in a classroom is critical, yet the current system does not allow a school administrator to look at a teacher's classroom performance when making important staffing decisions. Indiana's teachers deserve to be treated as professionals, not interchangeable pieces in our education system. They should be evaluated and compensated as professionals. In 2010, Indiana honored a number of outstanding Hoosier educators for their dedication and commitment to their students. Ironically, two of those teachers were later laid off due to staffing decisions based solely on seniority-further proving why we needed to address this issue. To view a full digest of these bills, you can visit www.in.gov -which I encourage you to do. |
