The first half of the General Assembly included a spate of education bills, some adding new conservative input on what’s taught in the classroom, and a bipartisan measure on what shouldn’t be found in the classroom.
Senate Bill 78 might bring the most angst to students with its crackdown on wireless devices, including cell phones, personal laptops, and smart watches during the school day.
The bill effectively tightens regulations banning phones from classrooms and from use the entire school day.
Authored by Senate education chairman Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, the bill gives school boards two options: establish a storage plan for the wireless devices or tell students to leave them at home.
It passed the Senate 28-19. Democrats didn’t object to the ban, but raised questions about its viability after Raatz said a locker would be a storage option, leaving students the temptation to peek at their phones.
Senate Bill 88 tasks educators with instructing students they can best avoid poverty by getting married before having children. It’s taken from the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025.
Some Republicans believe it should be a plank in Indiana’s citizenship values taught to students.
The so-called “success sequence” would advise students to avoid poverty by finishing high school, securing full-time employment and being married before having children.
Democrats bitterly fought the bill, authored by Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, in southern Indiana. It passed, however, 39-9.
The bill also calls for public universities and colleges to accept the Class Learning Test just as they accept the SAT or ACT for admission.
The CLT tracks the works of Plato, Einstein, Shakespeare and other major figures.
House Bill 1004, a big education deregulation bill, would repeal 40 provisions in K-12 and higher education and change 15 other topics, including powers of school boards and public-private pacts by charters for construction or renovation.
It passed the House 69-26 and moves to the Senate.
House Bill 1137 would ban additives and food dyes from food served to students. It also requires schools post a menu with ingredients online.
It passed 83-7.
Senate Bill 182 would prohibit transgender students in K-12 schools and state universities from using restrooms or locker rooms based on their gender identity.
The bill requires students to use restrooms and locker rooms based on their reproductive biology at birth.
It passed 37-8.
Some bills watched closely didn’t have success.
The biggest is House Bill 1259, which offered a lifeline to Lake County school districts devastated by last year’s Senate Enrolled Act 1, which provided property tax relief at a steep cost to schools and municipalities.
Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, offered the bill and took testimony on it on Jan. 20, but didn’t hold a Ways & Means committee vote. The bill never came back.
It would have allowed counties to distribute local income tax to school districts. Many school districts, including those in Porter County, already receive LIT money. Lake County schools do not.
“It appears to be dead at this point,” said Scott Bowling, executive director of the School Association of School Business Officials.
Schools in Lake County could have used the money, they said.
SEA 1 has forced Crown Point to end a popular preschool program, and it’s led to Hobart schools selling a school it had been leasing. Last week, the East Chicago school board voted to close its early education learning center.
Meanwhile, Senate Bill 211, to restore voting rights for Indiana University alumni to elect three members for the university Board of Trustees, didn’t get a hearing.
A bill last year took away the alumni’s voting rights and gave them to the state’s governor.
The bill was authored by IU grads Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, and Sen. Susan Glick, R-LaGrange.
Senate Bill 133, authored by Sen. Mark Spencer, D-Gary, would have required public schools to present an informational video on water safety to K-12 students.
It didn’t get a hearing.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
