Weekly Planner: New-Look Voucher Expansion Moves On In Senate
Kyle Stokes / StateImpact Indiana
Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, serves on the Indiana Senate's Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee.
One of the biggest stories we’re watching next week also made big news this week: Indiana Senate members will once again consider a bill that would expand the state’s private school voucher program.
But the proposal lawmakers on the Senate Tax & Fiscal Policy Committee will consider in their meeting Tuesday morning looks significantly different than the proposal House lawmakers approved in February.
As we wrote Wednesday, the Senate’s Education Committee cut a provision from the bill that would make all entering kindergarteners able to receive vouchers, opting instead to make every student living in the attendance zone of an F school eligible.
But the public statements of the House Education Committee chair and Gov. Mike Pence this week suggest the debate over the measure might not be over just yet.
“A lot of the language that he deleted was the governor’s language,” Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, said Wednesday. “We’ll have to see where the governor is and how passionate he is and whether he can convince people that his will should prevail.”
Coming Up Next Week
- April 2: If you want to apply for a new Americorps program designed to help turn around low-performing schools by “providing opportunities for academic enrichment, extended learning time, and individual supports for students,” you have to submit your intent to apply by Tuesday.
- April 3: Indiana’s State Board of Education re-convenes for the first time since February. (Inclement weather forced cancellation of March’s meeting.) Among the items on the agenda for discussion: Indiana’s “Reading Plan Rule.” State superintendent Glenda Ritz has signaled her intention to revisit the state’s approach to literacy instruction, including lowering the stakes attached to the IREAD-3 assessment for students.
- April 5: StateImpact will host a panel discussion about the future of the Common Core State Standards at the Indianapolis studios of WFYI. State superintendent Glenda Ritz is scheduled to participate, along with the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s Derek Redelman and curriculum consultant Lisa Froderman. Elle & I are moderating. We’d appreciate your RSVP for the event, which we’ll start at noon at WFYI, 1630 N. Meridian St.
What We’re Working On
- On the radio, we’ll take a look at how the Common Core State Standards are already changing math instruction for Indiana’s youngest students. What other Common Core-related stories should we be covering? Ask the education reporters. Send us an email, reach out to us on Facebook or Twitter or leave us a comment letting us know your Core Questions.
