Vic’s Statehouse Notes #353 – March 4, 2021

Dear Friends,

Milton Friedman, the famous economist who passed away in 2006, wanted to end public schools and get the government out of education. He proposed to just give tax money directly to parents to let them pay for their child’s education from vendors or schools in a competitive private marketplace.

He didn’t see public education as a public benefit to teach about democracy to each student in each new generation. He wrote in Free to Choose (1980):

• “compulsory attendance laws are the justification for government control over the standards of private schools. But it is far from clear that there is any justification for the compulsory attendance laws themselves.” and
• “The possibility exists that some public schools would be left with the dregs.”

Amazingly, Friedman’s stark view of parent-run schools has been approved for Indiana by the Indiana House in House Bill 1005 for 187,000 eligible students, about one in six Hoosier students. No supervision, no accountability, no community responsibility.

The parent grants to be given out through an online portal estimated to cost $5 million and run by the Indiana Treasurer are now called Education Scholarship Accounts (ESA’s).

Eligible students in House Bill 1005 include special education, activity military, and foster students. The real goal pursued for years by Friedman’s wealthy followers who have spread campaign cash across Indiana and the United States is to give ESA’s to all parents and to end public education.

In HB 1005, the ESA camel’s nose is under the tent.

The House Vote

The vote was 61-38. While 9 Republicans opposed this caucus-priority bill, it was not enough to stop it. The roll call is listed below. Now it must be stopped in the Senate.

Representative Behning, the author of HB 1005, cleverly mixed the radical Friedman plan into the bill alongside a “traditional” expansion of payments for current private school vouchers. Most of those who testified for the bill wanted to see bigger voucher payments, and that section of the bill is what the media has focused on. Bigger voucher payments would cost over $60 million over the next two years.

The real danger, though, is giving money to the parents of eligible students (approx. $7000 plus up to $9100 for special education students) with no regard to their support of extremist ideologies or their support of the U.S. Constitution. Parents can get these public funds simply by applying online but the flaws are obvious:

• the parent “must agree that” they “will use part of the money” for the “student’s study in the subject of reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies, or science” or the student’s “individualized education program”. These quotes are directly from HB 1005.

• That’s all! It’s the lowest standard imaginable, and no one will monitor even this parent responsibility because the bill specifically bans curriculum oversight by the state.

• Criminal background checks, required for teachers, are not required for parents to get their ESA money. Parents with records of neglect or abuse or fraud are not excluded by HB 1005. No restrictions on parents are included in the bill!

HB 1005 carries the seeds of fraud and partisanship. Home schools using taxpayer funds to teach extremist ideology are an obvious possibility. Did the proponents really read this bill before approving it?

Bipartisan Opposition and Partisan Support

Those voting against HB 1005 in the House represented a bipartisan opposition:

Republicans Voting to Oppose HB 1005

Democrats Voting to Oppose HB 1005

Those voting to support HB 1005 in the House were all Republicans:

The 9 Republicans and 29 Democrats who opposed HB 1005 and stood up for public education deserve messages of thanks from public school advocates.

What Can You Do to Protect our Democracy from ESA’s in the Second Half of the General Assembly

Bills now switch Houses for consideration, so House Bill 1005 will be considered by the Senate. Write the Senators on the Senate Education Committee to let them know of your strong opposition to the flawed and dangerous threat to our democracy, House Bill 1005.

House Bill 1005 is not currently on the committee agenda for March 10th but could be heard in committee as early as Wednesday, March 17th.

Let the Senators on the committee know you oppose the dangerous concept of Education Scholarship Accounts and the expensive expansion of the current voucher system, especially when teacher pay has not been addressed. The committee members (click on the name for email addresses) are:

Senator Jeff Raatz
Senator Scott Baldwin
Senator Brian Buchanan
Senator John Crane
Senator Stacey Donato
Senator J.D. Ford
Senator Dennis Kruse
Senator Jean Leising
Senator Eddie Melton
Senator Fady Qaddoura
Senator Linda Rogers
Senator Kyle Walker
Senator Shelli Yoder

In the final days of the first half of the session, Senate Bill 412 was not passed out of committee. Senate Bill 413 was amended to reduce voucher expansion to only one element: foster students would become eligible for Choice Scholarships. It passed 32-15 and now goes to the House. Your messages certainly helped tamp down these flawed Senate bills.

Thank you for your active support of public education in Indiana!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!

ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand is again representing ICPE in the new budget session which began on January 3, 2017. We need your memberships and your support to continue his work. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.indianacoalitionforpubliced.org for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana. In April of 2018, I was honored to receive the 2018 Friend of Education Award from the Indiana State Teachers Association.

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Vic’s Statehouse Notes #312 – February 16, 2018

Dear Friends,

Plans are ready! Come to the “Celebration of Public Education” this Monday!

Here is your chance to stand up for public education! Come to the Statehouse on Presidents’ Day!

On February 19, 2018, you along with your friends, family and colleagues are invited to a “Celebration of Public Education”.

Visit displays of public education programs throughout the day.

Lunch is available courtesy of ISTA at 12:30 (reservations required at http://bit.ly/IndyRally2018).

Speakers begin at 2:00 pm in the South Atrium.

These are difficult times for public education, an institution that has undergirded our democracy for 180 years:

• Those who would privatize public education hold power at both the federal and state levels. We must protect our public schools!

• Further efforts to expand vouchers can be expected next year in Indiana in the budget session.

• Efforts are expected after the 2018 elections to give public money directly to parents without accountability or oversight, a concept which goes by the deceptive phrase “Education Savings Accounts.”

With your support, these attacks can be turned back.

Public education has been under attack for a long time. For an even longer time, public education has been a tremendous cornerstone for progress in Indiana.

It’s time to celebrate and support public education!

Public officials in the Statehouse need to put a higher priority on PUBLIC education. Only constituents and voters can get them to do that. That’s where we need your presence in the Statehouse. I hope to see you there!

Event Partners

The Indiana PTA has added their name to the event partners since my previous listing!

Here is the list of event partners to date:

AFT Indiana

American Association of University Women

Concerned Clergy

Indiana Coalition for Public Education

Indiana Parent Teacher Association (PTA)

Indiana Student Education Association

Indiana State Teachers Association

ISTA-Retired

Indiana Urban Schools Association

IPS Community Coalition

Indiana Small & Rural Schools Association

Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education (NEIFPE)

Rev. Dr. Charles Luke, a strong advocate for public education representing Pastors for Texas Children and a former school superintendent, will be a special guest speaker at the rally.

I hope to see you as we celebrate public education!

A rally flyer you can share with friends and colleagues is attached.

Bring friends! Bring posters!

Thank you for actively supporting public education in Indiana!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!

ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand is again representing ICPE in the new budget session which began on January 3, 2017. We need your memberships and your support to continue his work. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.

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Report to the RA

Gail Zeheralis provided this report at the 2013 ISTA Representative Assembly

From: Zeheralis, Gail
Subject: The General Assembly adjourned sine die.

Tonight ended the 2013 general assembly. Members adjourned sine die at about 1:15 am.

The full measure of the “tale of the tape” will need to be written in the coming days, but your lobbying team needs to convey to you a couple of significant accomplishments today having to do with what did not pass—knowing full well that more information will follow on the many bills that did pass. You will need to know about the new laws just enacted concerning school funding, teacher performance awards, voucher expansion, charter schools, virtual schools, performance-qualified high school flexibility, common core, the A-F school grading system, REPA II statutes, 13th checks for retirees, and school safety. But, for tonight….

Sometimes the best laws are the ones that don’t pass.

Last Minute Budget Bill PERF/TRF Annuity Restrictions:

Thanks in large measure to your answering the call this morning to contact your legislators on a new issue that had popped up in the budget in the 11th hour relating to PERF/TRF pension benefits, we received word at about 6:30 pm that the language to limit PERF/TRF retirees’ annuity options was coming out of the budget bill. I cannot emphasize enough what a “team” effort this was.

It literally took the better part of the day—getting the word out first thing to our UDs and members, educating unsuspecting legislators (dozens of them), explaining the issue (which lends itself to some complexity) over and over again, urging their support and then their assistance to speak up in their respective caucuses, amassing some quick data to intelligently combat this new issue on the merits, continuing communications with you-- our members-- throughout the day to ensure that you were persistent, and engaging with outside partners (county workers (AIC), retired state employees (RIPEA), labor, superintendents) so that we were not alone.

Many legislators helped along the way—chief among them, Sen. Vaneta Becker (R-Evansville). Senator Becker grabbed onto this issue last night when ISTA shared it with her and worked closely with us throughout the day. She was tenacious and systematic. She was instrumental in galvanizing both Senators and House members and in acquiring some data that was helpful. Those who know Sen. Becker understand fully what I mean when I say there just was no “quit” in her.

Rep. Tom Dermody (R-LaPorte) was the first in the House to help marshal supporters and he was quickly followed by Rep. Mike Karickhoff (R-Kokomo). I hesitate to make a list because as the day wore on and more and more legislators became aware of the issue (remember the budget bill is 300+ pages and this was one issue), there was a snowball effect that cannot be denied and ISTA is grateful for all of the assistance. One Representative who is in the financial planning business, Rep. Martin Carbaugh (R-Fort Wayne) was uniquely helpful, too.

And it must be noted that both Democrat caucuses (House and Senate) were full-bore in support of our efforts throughout the day.

It helped that we had some good facts on our side and that this was a brand new issue, not vetted. But I must tell you that once a budget bill version is developed, it is EXTREMELY difficult to modify it on the last day. I can tell you that the lobbying effort on this was textbook and each and every one of you should be proud of the impact you had.

Here is a link to a news article written by a reporter from the Evansville Courier Press who interviewed ISTA on the background:

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2013/apr/26/indiana-legislators-labor-night-they-put-final-tou/

Dues/PAC deduction Prohibition Provision:

A threat to the organization unveiled itself not 2 weeks after the November 2012 election when it became public that the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce was going to push for a statewide ban on school employee Association dues and/or PAC deductions voluntarily requested by the school employee of his/her employer. Faced with supermajorities in both the House and the Senate, ISTA quickly organized its forces while the NEA assisted in providing a legislative crisis grant to help fund additional personnel, back home outreach events, and statehouse legislative events.

HB 1334 became the vehicle for the prohibition—first a dues prohibition and then a “contribution for political activities” prohibition. HB 1334 passed the House with this language in it, thereby keeping the issue alive for literally the rest of the session. It seemed as though every day there was a new rumor as to its resurrection and each rumor had to be tracked down and legislators had to be reminded that the entire effort is unfair, unwarranted, and punitive.

ISTA received final word from the Speaker just yesterday that the issue would not be resurrected this year.

While this is a positive accomplishment for our organization—and a testament to your persistence and communication skills and outreach—it does clearly demonstrate that the Association must devote an inordinate amount of time and resources into fighting this when there is an alternative available to us that gives us back our leverage. That alternative is what ISTA calls EASY PAY—our own tailor-made dues deduction system that would take this out of the hands of the general assembly completely….

I don’t mean to turn this into a commercial…but it is now after 2am and I am reflecting on how much better things would be if we could free ourselves from having to lobby this particular issue over and over again and be able to concentrate all of our efforts on the issues most important to you and public education.

‘Nuff said for today….again, from the bottom of our collective lobbying hearts, thank you for all that you do for children, our communities, and public education.

Gail Zeheralis
Roni Embry
John O’Neal
Brad Tracy

The Value of YOUR ISTA Membership!

Individual Teacher's Contract

• In August, 2011 ISTA immediately challenged Dr. Tony Bennett's new teacher contract form and was granted a Preliminary Injunction to keep it from being used. The judge ruled that current teacher contract forms should be used because Bennett's form did not conform to Indiana code.
• In August, 2012 ISTA opposed IDOE's attempt to overturn that Preliminary Injunction and ISTA was granted a Permanent Injunction.
• ISTA then prepared to challenge IDOE's appeal of the Injunction to the Indiana Court of Appeals.
• In March, 2013 Indiana's Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal at IDOE's request.
• ISTA is drafting a sample teacher contract providing IDOE with suggestions on how the teacher contract should read.
• This effort by ISTA and its legal counsel (costing in excess or $50,000) is worth the cost of your membership because no teacher in this state will now be forced to become an at-will employee and be required to work any and all hours their employer would request.

ISTEP Integrity Statement

• ISTA's legal efforts resulted in an immediate revision of this statement last school year and a recall of the first version teachers were mandated to sign.
• ISTA is currently working with the IDOE to further modify the statement to make it less offensive to those who are required to sign it.

License Revocations

• ISTA has successfully represented several members in license revocation cases.
• Without ISTA's efforts on their behalf, they were certain to lose or have their licenses suspended. Some of these cases were brought against teachers who had no charges of any sort pending against them and who had been entirely cleared of any offense by law enforcement and Child Protective Services but were still being pursued by the IDOE for license revocation.

Child Abuse Representation

• Eric Hylton, ISTA legal counsel, has handled more than 35 child abuse allegation cases so far this year with tremendous success in getting an unsubstantiated ruling on virtually all of them.

Permanent/Semi-Permanent Property Rights

• ISTA is currently challenging in court the property rights of teachers who have previously earned semi-permanent or permanent status but who have now been RIF'd before a less senior colleague.
• This challenge could have huge ramifications for every teacher in the state who has semi-permanent or permanent status when school districts start looking at layoffs this spring.
• ISTA is also challenging to establish the right of a semi-permanent or permanent teacher to have full evidentiary rights at a dismissal hearing.

Collective Bargaining

• ISTA has several pending cases or Unfair Labor Practice claims that will try to establish the right of teachers to bargain the payment of wages for additional hours worked into their master contracts.
• A Nettle Creek Fact Finding case is pending in a trial court and a Noblesville ULP is awaiting a hearing before the IEERB Board. Both could have significant impact on our members across the state.
• ISTA is currently inquiring into the authority of the State Board of Accounts to audit local bargaining agreements and to issue citations to local school corporations.

Legislative

• ISTA staff continues to aggressively advocate for public education and education employees and lobbying against many bills that are not favorable to ISTA members or to public education in the General Assembly, including the bill that vastly expands the current voucher program that provides public dollars to private schools.
• ISTA remains the voice for public school educators at all levels of state government.

Political Action

• ISTA was an early supporter and stayed extensively involved in the successful election of State School Superintendent Glenda Ritz and will continue to support her efforts to improve public education and the Indiana Department of Education.

Voucher Challenge

• NEA/ISTA presented oral arguments before the Indiana Supreme Court in opposition to the voucher program on November 21, 2012. ISTA continues to believe that Indiana's private school voucher program is a clear violation of the state's constitution. The Indiana Supreme Court has not yet ruled in this case.

Look for more information from ISTA soon!

ALERT! Anti-Public Education Bills

ISTA Members: Two anti-public education bills in the Indiana House need your attention and your response TODAY:

www.keepthepromiseindiana.org

PARENT TRIGGER ACCELERATION HB 1358
ATTACK ON TEACHERS' RIGHTS HB 1339

HB 1358:
Tuesday; House Education Committee will hear the accelerated "Parent Trigger" bill to enable a minority of parents to take over community-based public schools and convert them to charter schools run by corporate "lead partners".--HB 1358 (Rep. Todd Huston, R-Fishers).

WHAT HB 1358 DOES:

• Indiana's existing conversion charter school law is repealed (which requires both the school board and parents to agree on a conversion).
• That law is replaced with a model that solely enables 51% of parents in a school that is labeled in the bottom two categories for three (3) consecutive years to:

• take over the school by petitioning the state board of education to assign a "lead partner" to operate the school; and

• place the school under the most draconian of sanctions that currently attach to schools in the bottom two lowest categories for five (5) consecutive years.

• When is 51% not a majority? When parents are given multiple votes based upon the number of children they have in a school. Because parents are given "weighted" voting rights based upon the number of children then have in a school, a minority of parents can fundamentally change the focus, the governance, the scope of teachers' rights, and the framework of a local community-based public school. 

HB 1339:

• Teachers:

• Due Process: Repeals the law concerning the continuing effect of an individual teacher's contract. Without this law, contracts will terminate on their face annually and a teacher, "effective or not," will not be protected from arbitrary termination until a new contract is signed.

• Collective Bargaining: Relative to the pro rata member/nonmember composition on committees-states that all "discussion committees" fall under this pro rata framework. Existing law exempted the bargaining team from having to adhere to the member/nonmember composition because under law, the bargaining team is the EXCLUSIVE representative.

• States that the existence of a voluntary sick bank is bargainable but the terms of the sick bank policy are not. This reneges on the 2011 pledge that wages and benefits are bargainable. A voluntary sick bank is a benefit.

• Removes the provision authorizing the continuing effect of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) when agreement has not been reached. The whole point of the new collective bargaining law was to get to the point of agreement. There has been only one case in which agreement has not been reached---and that situation was created by allegations of unfair labor practices having occurred. In a case such as this, the party that committed an unfair labor practice should not be "rewarded" by terminating the existing CBA.

• Suspension without pay: Removes from law the requirement that a teacher who is subject to suspension without pay is entitled to a full statement of the reasons for the proposed suspension without pay and to be heard and to present the testimony of witnesses and other evidence. Also repeals the law that enables the school board to appoint an agent or attorney to issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses for either party at the hearing to suspend a teacher without pay.

• Teacher Compensation: Requires that each school district must submit its compensation model to the DOE and the DOE, the State Board of Accounts, and the IEERB and these bodies shall report any noncompliance to the State Board of Education -which is then required to take "appropriate action to ensure compliance."

• Virtual Charter Schools:

• Enables a virtual charter school to provide up to 90% of its program "virtually" and still qualify for state funding. Current law says 50% of instruction must be "real." The likely effect is to enable more home-schooled students to be virtually-instructed at the state's expense. There is no funding attached to this. There is no requirement that a student first attend a public school. Also, note in HB 1338, virtually funding was increased from 87.5% of Indiana's per pupil funding to 100% of Indiana's per pupil funding. The funding for these new students will come from existing public school k-12 funding.

• Repeals the law that requires the DOE to report to the state on virtual schools in Indiana.

• Charter Schools:

• As to charter school performance reporting on the DOE website, enables each charter school authorizer to develop its own performance framework in terms of the data reported (existing law says that the annual performance data for charter schools must include the same demographic and performance data required of every other public school).

• Administrators:

• Provides some of the same due process "protections" to administrators that teachers have. However, because most administrators have multi-year contracts, the consequences for cancelling a contract will likely not play out in the same fashion-that being, contracts with out-going administrators generally come with some form of buyout.

Please let your representative and every member of the House Education committee know TODAY you oppose HB 1358 & HB 1339

For additional information on these two bills and to email legislators, visit:
www.keepthepromiseindiana.org

Keep The Promise: Kruse Commends Ritz

Senator Kruse Commends Superintendent Ritz

Last week, Senator Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn) opened his committee hearing (Senate Education and Career Development) with the following statement:

“We’re not going to hear any bills here in the Senate bills that reflect in any way against our new superintendent. She has been doing an excellent job so far and getting along with us very well, and I will continue to work with her the best I can,” Kruse said. [Thanks to Eric Bradner of the Evansville Courier and Press for including this in his blog, Capitol Journal]

Then, Senator Kruse publicly invited ISTA lobbyist Roni Embry to work on SB 330 (having to do with the school accreditation process) with Sen. Earline Rogers (D-Gary), and John Barnes (legislative liaison to the Department of Education) to ensure that the Department of Education is appropriately included in the bill.

All of this is very good news for school employees across the state and reflective of yourwork in sharing with Senators your concerns about bills that have been introduced that appear to seek to diminish the authority of the office of the State Superintendent.

ACTION ITEM: Please follow-up and thank Senator Kruse (s14@in.gov) for his public comments supporting Glenda Ritz and for his open invitation to your ISTA lobbyists to help improve bills in his committee.

2013 Legislature is Now in Session

Stay informed about what's happening in the Indiana Legislature.

ISTA Smart Phone APP

Download from your smart device app store (search for "ISTA Mobile"). This new app delivers the optimum mobile experience for ISTA members putting all things ISTA right into your pocket.

You will need to have your ISTA membership number on hand when you download the ISTA app for the first time.

Keep up-to-date on all the happenings during the 2013 Legislature.

Web Based Daily Updates

ISTA Keep the Promise Web site

Legislative HOTLINE with Links to your Legislators

Bill Watch: 2013 General Assembly Education Bills


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Questionable Questionnaire Question

News Release

Indiana State Teachers Association
150 West Market Street, Suite 900
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2875

Office: 317-263-3400, 800-382-4037
FAX: 317-655-3400, 800-777-6128

The following release was sent to the statewide media earlier today.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Some Legislators Open Session with Questionable Survey Question

Monday, January 7, 2013

Contact: Mark Shoup, 317.263.3369 / Kathleen Berry, 317-263.3321

Some Legislators Open Session with
Questionable Questionnaire Question

INDIANAPOLIS - Just as the 2013 session of the General Assembly is set to open today with hopes of bi-partisan cooperation and meaningful debate on important issues facing the state, Hoosier voters in several legislative districts received a taxpayer-funded survey from some Republican caucus members of the House of Representatives that raised eyebrows and simultaneously lowered expectations that policy over partisanship might just prevail in 2013.

The reason for the new-found skepticism?
One of the questions reads (as if some major issue facing the state):

..."Currently, the teachers' union can automatically deduct fees and dues from teachers' paychecks. In many cases, these dues are used to support candidates or political organizations that a teacher may disagree with. Would you support a law that requires the union to receive authorization from a teacher before it can deduct fees and dues from their paycheck."

It's important for Hoosiers to know the facts: Indiana law already requires all of this.
One could argue that legislators who included this question in their survey should have known this, too.

Indiana law already requires prior written authorization from any educator who voluntarily chooses to automatically deduct from his/her paycheck association dues. (see IC 20-29-5-6) In addition, those deductions must be consistent with other laws that govern all other entities and employers/employees relative to wages. (see IC 22-2-6; IC 22-2-7; IC 20-28-9-18) This practice is not out of the ordinary, but is both a routine and rather perfunctory option granted to employees all across the state: Think health insurance premiums, think retirement contributions, think United Way and a myriad of other not-for-profit/charitable contributions, think professional association dues and fees, think garnishments, on and on.

Teacher union dues are not given nor diverted to political candidates or political campaigns (period). VOLUNTARY political action contributions are distributed through a separate political action committee (in the case of ISTA, the political action committee is called I-PACE) and are governed by a different set of laws.

With all of the major issues facing our state and nation - creating jobs, improving the economy, funding our schools, protecting Hoosier children in the state welfare system, etc... legislators should be sensitive to creating false "policy issues" that take up valuable space in a constituent survey ostensibly designed to foster meaningful exchange. At the very least, legislators who disseminated this question should alert their constituents to the fact that the question's entire set of premises is faulty and that the concerns they raised about teachers, teachers unions, and salary deductions are, in fact, non-issues as they have already been covered under existing Indiana law.

"We still hope that this session will be one focused on cooperation and bipartisanship," said Nate Schnellenberger, ISTA President. "We fully intend to reach out to all legislators as the session unfolds on behalf of Indiana's public school students and the school employees-teachers and educational support professionals-who have dedicated their professional lives to them."

Update on Teacher Evaluation

ISTA Vice-President Teresa Meredith
Update on Teacher Evaluation

RISE is Indiana's model evaluation and development system created by the IDOE Evaluation Cabinet and representatives from the New Teacher Project.

An Update on Teacher Evaluations

View another webinar from ISTA Slideshow

A Message from President Schnellenberger

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

"You should know that ISTA was a huge force in bringing about these legislative gains. I've been told by more than one legislator that without the tireless advocacy of our Association, these gains would have never materialized." -- comment made by Julian Smith, President, Jennings County Classroom Teachers Association regarding gains made in the 2012 legislative session.

Dear ISTA Members,

Recently I talked to a local president who said that some of his members were questioning the value of ISTA. He said they asked whether ISTA was still able to contribute to the well-being of its members.

I decided that even in our world of technological information overload perhaps some ISTA members have not been updated on what ISTA has accomplished on their behalf just this past year.

Here is a partial list of recent successes:

Teacher Contracts
Last August the Indiana Department of Education wanted to require all teachers to sign a contract that defined working days, minimum hours and gave DOE unbridled control over teaching conditions. ISTA took immediate action by filing a lawsuit stating that the contract was illegal. The judge emphatically agreed with ISTA and new contract language was ordered and issued.

ISTEP+ Affirmation Statement
In February the Indiana State Department of Education sent an ISTEP+ affidavit out to be signed by all teachers who administer ISTEP tests. The affidavit asked teachers to affirm that they would not review, inspect, discuss or copy any test item. Again, ISTA took on the challenge to advocate for our members through our legal channels and the request for the affidavit was rescinded by IDOE.

State Takeover of Schools/Teacher Evaluation/Teacher Licensure
During the 2012 General Assembly ISTA opposed a bill that would have accelerated state takeover public schools by private management, enabling the takeover to occur as early as after the second year in which a school had been ranked in the bottom two categories.

Additionally, the General Assembly elected to take back its control over teacher evaluations and licensure by creating a Select Commission on Education.

The Commission will oversee SBE/DOE rules, proposals, processes and guidelines on at least the following: (1) The A-F grading policy which impacts state takeover; (2) Teacher Evaluations; (3) Teacher Licensure.

While other groups participated, there is uniform agreement in the State House that ISTA led this charge. ISTA looks forward to working with the Commission in the coming months.

Voucher Expansion
ISTA successfully fought voucher expansion bills during the session that would have enabled private school students to gain easeir access to state-funded vouchers or tax credit scholarships.

Click here for a complete listing of ISTA's legislative accomplishments: http://keepthepromiseindiana.org/bill-watch

Collective Bargaining
It's important to remember collective bargaining and discussion are more important now than ever. With that in mind ISTA recently held its 35th Collective Bargaining Conference for more than 500 ISTA leaders making it the largest attended conference in history. Bargaining teams from across the state received in-depth training and information about how to best negotiate issues under the new bargaining law. No other organization provides that level of training and support to education professionals.

So when I look at that short list of accomplishments, I am proud to tell local presidents of the work that ISTA does every day. It is also crucial to remember that no coalition of non-members or independent locals advocates for educators against any of the aforementioned attacks against public education.

The good things happening for Indiana's public school employees are happening because of the efforts of ISTA and ISTA alone. You won't find a coalition of non-members or a group of independent locals advocating for public education at the Statehouse at any time -- in or out of a legislative session. The sole voice of teachers and educational support professionals continues to be ISTA. Period.

Although things continue to change for Indiana's public educators, ISTA remains dedicated to the idea that great public schools are a basic right for every child in our state. Only ISTA demands respect for public education and public school educators by:

• lobbying the State Legislature for ALL of public education, not just pet projects.
• offering its members protection on the job and off.
• fighting to keep public education safe from those who would destroy it for self-interest reasons.
• representing the rights of members whenever needed.

Speaking of representing our members recent legislation (2011) removed the requirement that ISTA represent both members and non-members. Therefore going forward ISTA will only represent dues paying members.

In these changing and uneasy times when public educators are under relentless scrutiny, I cannot imagine how teachers and education support professionals would fare without the continued strength and efforts of the ISTA. We are here when you need us.
Trusting your future to independent local leaders or to any other organization has never been a good idea. And in today's environment, to do so would be devastating for you and your profession.

Thanks for all you do.

Nate Schnellenberger, ISTA President

xposted at EAEA

ISTA 2012 Indiana General Assembly Accomplishments

...from the ISTA Web Site

ISTA Membership Pays Off!

2012 Indiana General Assembly Accomplishments

K-12 bills are highlighted in the attached chart. We hope you will see and appreciate the broad array of issues that arose even in a “shortened” short session. Please know that year in and year out ISTA is at work for you day and night as the General Assembly convenes. While it is unlikely that any organization that deals in the breadth of issues in which we deal ever gets everything it wants from the legislature, I hope that you will be able to see in this picture, some key successes—maybe even some turning points.

ISTA worked very hard this session in cultivating new relationships with legislators. We always knew who our friends were. We just needed to grow some new friends. We call this our “pro-public education caucus” and membership is not based in party affiliation.Relationship-building takes time, but we believe we have made a good start. And remember, at the end of the day, legislators are uniquely accountable to their own constituents so we humbly ask that you consider building deeper relationships with them back home.

The truth of the matter is that the General Assembly’s unprecedented creation of the new SELECT COMMISSION ON EDUCATION is a direct result of the growing concerns that legislators from both parties had begun to internalize and voice. Their concerns were not only over what the State Board of Education and Department of Education were promulgating with regard to the 2011 reform programs but also how these agencies were going about it. ISTA places great stock in this unprecedented SELECT COMMISSION’s willingness to not only be an unfiltered sounding board but also to provide a fair forum for school employees to contribute to the reforms in meaningful ways. We will do our best to ensure that the SELECT COMMISSION reaches its potential.

In the meantime, thank you for all that you do each and every day for Hoosier children. We will keep you posted.

Nate Schnellenberger

Bill No.	General Content/Issue	Session Activity/Result	ISTA  Notes
SB 34	Would have allowed the INPRS (Indiana Retirement System) to share member retirement information with employers for certain purposes without the member/employee’s consent.	SB 34 had been scheduled for a Senate Hearing.  Senator Greg Walker (R-Columbus) agreed to withdraw it due to ISTA concerns about employee consent. There was a second attempt to insert it on the House side and Rep. Woody Burton (R-Greenwood) agreed to not pursue it.	Senator Walker and Rep. Burton both listened to ISTA lobbyists and since an agreement could not be reached to simply allow employees to consent first, the bill died.
SB 83	Mandated cursive writing instruction.	SB 83 was given a hearing in the Senate, but died.	As drafted, SB 83 was an unfunded mandate.
SB 89	Permitted the teaching of multiple versions of the origin of life, including creationism—and required the curriculum to include multiple religious beliefs.	SB 89 was given a hearing in the Senate and passed out of Committee and out the Senate but died in the House without a hearing.	ISTA’s lobbying at the onset was to try to redirect SB 89 into a bill that would not deal with the creationism issue at all but instead would refer to an elective world literature course that included, among other great works, the Bible.  This was based upon a program in the 1970s that was inclusive, constitutional, and  required professional development. When it became clear that this alternative was not viable, ISTA, including ISTA member science teachers, actively and successfully lobbied against SB 89.
SB 159	Prohibited school districts from permitting Association dues from being deducted from members’ pay as a convenience to members.	SB 159 was introduced but not heard in committee and therefore died.	ISTA met with Senate Leadership on SB 159 early on in the session—noting that it did not involve K-12 education policy—ISTA appreciates that action on the bill was not pursued.
SB 179	DOE Bill:  Required high school students to take at least one on-line (virtual) course.	SB 179 passed the Senate, but did not receive a hearing in the House and therefore died.	Lobbying SB 179 centered on, among other things, ensuring equal access among all students and the state’s technological infrastructural capacity, securing accountability, ensuring licensed staff and appropriate class sizes.
SB 296 SB 198 SB 331	Each of these bills, in its introduced form, sought to enable certain private school students to gain access to state-funded private school vouchers or tax credit scholarships without first having attended a public school for at least one year.	All of these bills received a hearing in Senate Education Committee and SB 296 and 198 passed out of Committee and were recommitted to Senate Appropriations.  Only SB 296 passed out of the Senate and was heard in the House.  On the House side, the focus of SB 296 was restricted to students who are eligible to receive tuition assistance through a scholarship granting organization that benefits from the state issuing tax credits to contributors (this is not the same program as the voucher program).  The bill enables a student who might bounce around between being income eligible for assistance one year and then not income eligible another year, to not have to reapply for admission to the same school he/she had attended if the student became eligible again for the financial assistance.  ENACTED:  SB 296.	The passage of any of these bills in their introduced form would have cost the state and public schools additional funds because the students would have never first been counted as public school students.  As it ended, the only bill that survived (SB 296) ultimately addressed an entirely different concern.
SB 236	Class Basketball; Labor Day Start Date; Rewarding “high-performing” school districts with flexibility.	SB 236 was the first bill heard this session in Senate Education Committee.  It covered 3 disparate topics:  (1) Gave schools in highest performance categories the flexibility to opt out of the 180-day requirement so long as they convened instruction for an equivalent amount of time in instructional hours; (2) Gave “high-performing schools” other flexibility with regard to waiving statutes and rules. (3) With some exceptions, prohibited public schools, except charter schools, from beginning the school term before the fourth Monday in August and from ending after June 10 of the following year, beginning with the 2014-2015 school year. (4) Addressed IHSAA Class Basketball.  SB 236 passed out of committee without the Class Basketball issue but failed in the Senate for a lack of constitutional majority by a vote of 25-25.	ISTA did not enter the fray over class basketball, lobbied to enable local communities to determine the school calendar, and sought to enable all public schools to have calendar flexibility.
SB 384	DOE Bill:  Would have permitted the contracting out of school and school district accreditation to outside private entities; would have enabled the DOE/SBE to identify its own “legal standards” for accreditation (rather than the General Assembly making those designations); would have overhauled Indiana’s performance-based accreditation system based upon DOE/SBE determined benchmarks.	SB 384 passed out of the Senate as an accreditation overhaul bill and state takeover language was added to it in the House (a revised version of HB 1324).  Additionally, SB 384 became the repository of several other provisions, including provisions relating to charter schools, home schools, and teacher evaluations).  In the end, SB 384 died with only a few SB 384 provisions surviving in HB 1376 (see HB 1376).	At one point during the session, SB 384 became “the omnibus education bill.”  ISTA lobbied vigorously against the takeover language as being too broad, based upon a flawed A-F grading policy, too generous in its delegation of  authority to the SBE/DOE, an anti-teacher/bargaining bill,  and unduly punitive towards Indiana’s community school districts.  In the end, the bill died and only a few provisions were transferred to HB 1376 (see HB 1376).
HB 1002	GOV Bill:  Elimination of State Boards/Commissions –School Air Quality Ramifications	HB 1002 was a bill that the Governor’s Administration pursued to eliminate a long list of boards and commissions that it deemed no longer viable or needed.  Included in that list was the School Air Quality Panel and in doing so called into question whether air quality inspections would continue in schools.  Language ensuring that the state would provide free air quality inspections and evaluations to schools was maintained.  ENACTED:  HB 1002.	ISTA successfully lobbied to restore language ensuring that the state would provide free air quality inspections and evaluations to schools rather than require schools to pay outside contractors for this service.
HB 1123	TRF/PERF 13th Check.	HB 1123 began as a 13th check augmentation bill, which is where it stayed for the remainder of the session. TRF/PERF 13th check amounts range from $150 to $450 depending upon years in retirement.  ENACTED:  HB 1123.	While ISTA always lobbied for additional assistance for its retirees, ISTA began the session by lobbying for a true Cost of Living Adjustment as well as a “catch-up” provision to bring the purchasing power up for those who have been retired the longest and who have been hit hardest over the intervening “no COLA” years.  When it became clear that the 13th check was the best and only alternative for retiree augmentation in this session, ISTA put all of its support behind the passage of HB 1123.
HB 1134	Transportation Fees	HB 1134 prohibits parents from being charged a fee for transportation to and from school (if the school district directly provides the service or if it is contracted out to an educational service center).  However, fees may be charged for transportation to and from extracurricular events.  ENACTED:  HB 1134.	The issue for ISTA is ensuring that school districts have access to sufficient funding to provide transportation without being forced to use general operating funds which should be classroom-based.  This bill settled the debate among school districts about whether they can charge parents fees for transportation to and from school for daily instruction (they cannot), but it remains to be seen if transportation funds around the state will be sufficient to fully fund transportation programs. For some most cash-strapped, HB 1192 may provide some relief—enabling certain districts to refinance existing debt.
HB 1169	Student Discipline	HB 1169 began as a bill to enable a student to be suspended or expelled for any activity (whether committed on or off school property) deemed to be an interference with school purposes.  Existing law required the activity to be “unlawful.”  The bill’s author most specifically was attempting to address cyber-bullying.  First Amendment advocates, including many of ISTA-member journalism teachers, opposed the broadness of the bill.   The compromise final version calls for an interim study committee to study best-practice student disciplinary measures.  ENACTED:  HB 1169.	ISTA continually lobbied for a narrowing of the bill and ultimately supported the final version which called for a study committee on best practice student disciplinary measures.  Additionally, the final version specifically gives ISTA the authority to nominate to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (who will make the appointment) the teacher member to this committee.
HB 1189 SB 280	School Finance	HB 1189 was the House bill that addressed requiring a 2nd ADM count to be conducted for the purpose of tracking per student funding.  SB 280 was the Senate version.  Throughout the session, the issues on this were: (1) when the 1st and 2nd counts should be made; (2) the timetable for transitioning the funding once the 2ndcount was made; and (3) how to handle charter school start-up funding.  Ultimately, HB 1189 settled on the following:   (1) Requires the state board of education to conduct a 2nd count of students enrolled in school corporations and charter schools in February of each school year (the current September count remains in force).  (2) Provides that the school funding formula expires on July 1, 2013 (rather than January 1, 2014)—meaning that in future years, funding will transition to FY funding. (3)  Transfers the appropriation and funding for charter school start-up grants to the appropriation for state tuition support. Increases the amount of the charter school start-up grant for charter schools that begin operation in calendar year 2012 and provides that the grant is to be paid in six installments with one installment in each of the last six months of calendar year 2012. (4) Specifies that the amount distributed as supplementary grants to school corporations from the voucher program are limited only by the state FY appropriation and not the CY cap that limits the amount of state tuition support payable in a CY.  (5) Requires the DOE to report to the General Assembly using 2011-12 data, the number of students who left the public school district for a charter school, the number who left charter schools to the public school district, the number who left the public school district for a private school, and the number who received a voucher but went back to the public school district. (6) Requires an accredited nonpublic school to provide sufficient verbal information to permit a requesting public school to which a child transfers to make an appropriate placement decision when the parent of the child is in breach of a contract that conditions release of student records on the payment of outstanding tuition and other fees.   ENACTED:  HB 1189.	ISTA lobbied to limit the counts to one additional count (DOE and other groups had suggested more than 2 dates throughout the course of the year) and to ensure that potential teacher layoffs are not impacted by the 2nd count—the disruption to student learning far outweighs fiscal issues.
HB 1192 SB 226	School District Fiscal Relief	While both HB 1192 and SB 226 sought to provide avenues to certain school districts most in need of financial assistance, HB 1192 became the final vehicle for this to occur.  Ultimately, HB 1192 includes provisions for special emergency managers to come into distressed municipal government units and offers to certain school districts the following avenues for financial modification:  (1) Debt restructuring if the school district has a circuit breaker impact of at least 20% (rather than 30%); (2) Access to a low-interest rate loan from the state’s rainy day fund if the school district is a distressed unit and state-approved (loans are available until December 31, 2017). ENACTED:  HB 1192.	Please note that if a school district seeks distressed unit status and then seeks a rainy day fund loan, the state could possibly condition the granting of the loan on a number of factors, including the district’s willingness to modify the terms of any contracts to which it has entered.
HB 1205	Superintendent Contract Transparency	HB 1205 began as a bill to make transparent the particulars of school superintendents’ contracts.  As the session ensued, SB 1205 became broader than that, including requiring the posting of charter school governing body members, and contract provisions of certificated employees. ENACTED:  HB 1205.	Public school compensation agreements are public information.
HB 1324	DOE bill:  Acceleration of State Takeover of Public Schools	HB 1324 was the most draconian version of the DOE’s state takeover proposals and mirrored a proposed rule the SBE had unveiled on state takeover back in November 2011 (before the General Assembly had even convened).  Under HB 1324, a takeover by a private (for-profit) management company could have occurred as early as after the 2nd year in the lowest 2 categories if a minority of parents (51% of the students’ parents) voted.  Not only did this accelerate takeover, but it expanded which schools would be eligible for takeover (bottom 2 categories versus the current lowest category).  HB 1324 specifically granted to the SBE and the DOE open-ended, extremely broad powers, including the power to punish the existing school district by withholding funds at the discretion of the SBE.  Additionally, HB 1324 would have set forth in law the proposition that these takeovers would be permanent—that is, the school would never be transitioned back to the community school district.  HB 1324 made it clear that teachers would not be able to bargain salary and benefits and would not be hired under the uniform state contract form.  HB 1324 also would have permitted unlicensed teachers to teach in these takeover schools.  HB 1324 then added similar language to enable entire school districts to be taken over by private management companies.  On 2ndreading, dozens of amendments were drafted to alter this bill and to make it more “public school friendly.”  The bill was never called down for 2nd reading and therefore died in the first half of the session.	ISTA lobbied against HB 1324 extremely vigorously and successfully with legislators and supported a multitude of 2ndreading amendments that had been drafted to try to improve it.   The lobbying paid off as HB 1324 died in the first chamber.  NOTE:  Several components of HB 1324 were resurrected and inserted into SB 384 in the House Education Committee when SB 384 came from the Senate to the House (See SB 384).
HB 1326	DOE bill:  Various Issues; including eliminating boards and commissions	HB 1326 began as what DOE called a “clean-up” bill that would have eliminated a list of statutory boards and commissions that it deemed not viable or needed.  It also included some criminal history check language for teachers.  Over the course of the session, other miscellaneous items were included in this bill.  It proceeded through the session until the 2ndreading stage of the 2nd House.  Ultimately, HB 1326 died because it was not called down on 3rd reading in the Senate.	ISTA lobbied this bill throughout the session, offering suggestions and working to restore a few of the committees/boards.  Ultimately, the volume of topics that HB 1326 took on helped to contribute to its demise.
HB 1367	GOV bill:   Indiana Deaf School	HB 1367 would have immediately transitioned the Indiana Deaf School away from its current operation to the establishment of a new Center.  As it was enacted, provides that the Office of Management and Budget will begin making recommendations to the 2013 General Assembly as to how to fund the new Center.  ENACTED:  HB 1367.	ISTA lobbied vigorously to ensure that the current Indiana Deaf School funding remained whole even as the transition to the creation of the new Center will be accomplished in 2013.
HB 1376 SB 143	Omnibus Bill; akin to budget bill in long session	HB 1376 began as a short session quasi-budget bill—it included: (1) amending the taxpayer rebate provisions enacted in 2011; (2) increasing the amount of liability the state would assume for the State Fair accident; (3) providing $2400 per student for Full-day Kindergarten (FDK)—which amounts to over $80 million additional dollars. SB 143 was the Senate counterpart bill, including some of the same provisions.  As the session ensued, HB 1376 was designated as the “short session budget bill” that would move along and then other elements were added (the recreation of the FSSA State Agency, regulations on emergency rules for Medicaid, Little Calumet River basin provisions) on the Senate side.  Ultimately, on the last day of the session, when it became clear that SB 384 was not going to pass due to vigorous ISTA lobbying (and due to the state takeover language), the decision was made to allow for a select few (bare-bones) provisions from SB 384 to be moved to HB 1376.  The K-12 provisions that were added were the following:  (1) In a takeover situation, the takeover school is considered an LEA for federal funding purposes, teachers must be licensed, teachers may bargain, teachers are eligible for TRF and other public employees for PERF, and there must be at least 2 public hearings each year in which the local school board and the management company discuss best practices and facility use issues.  (2) Legislators created their own SELECT COMMISSION ON EDUCATION to oversee and make recommendations on SBE and DOE rule-making and policies related to the A-F school grading policy, teacher evaluations, and teacher licensure.   (3) Charter schools and traditional public schools have avenues to opt out or seek waivers from the 90-minute uninterrupted reading requirement that is part of the DOE’s grade 3 reading program.  (4) Made clarifications to the teacher vote threshold on locally-developed teacher evaluation plans. ENACTED:  HB 1376.	ISTA lobbying supported HB 1376 in its introduced version as it offered an additional $80 million for FDK, assuring $2400 per student to school districts to provide FDK.  As the session ensued, SB 143 provisions were included as well.  Primarily due to vigorous ISTA lobbying, the state takeover language that was ultimately inserted into HB 1367 was both reduced and altered dramatically.  Additionally, the creation of the SELECT COMMISSION ON EDUCATION provides the promise that concerns voiced by ISTA members these past several months concerning the various 2011 reforms will now receive a thorough vetting and a fair hearing.  Our work is now just beginning!