Here’s What Education Bills Have Been Filed So Far

The 2017 General Assembly began Tuesday. Only the Senate has filed education bills so far. (Photo Credit: Indiana Public Broadcasting)

Tuesday is the beginning of the 2017 legislation session, and the Senate released the list of bills it will consider.

We’ve already previewed some of the major topics on the table this budget session, but we now have a look at some individual pieces of legislation senators are proposing.

Here’s are the first education bills this session:

Vouchers: SB 30 would require the Department of Education to give school districts a report of the number of students at their various schools that qualify for vouchers to attend private school. It would require these reports at the end of each semester.

Teacher Background Checks: SB 34 would require all schools, public and private, to conduct background checks on all employees every five years.

Teacher Evaluations: SB 35 says teacher evaluations wouldn’t be required to include objective measures, like standardized tests, when deciding if a teacher is effective. Districts would still be allowed to use scores, if they choose.

Child Abuse: SB 54 would require the Department of Child Services to inform a school corporation, charter school or private school if an employee is reported for child abuse or neglect.

School Resource Officers: SB 61 would require all school resource officers to report any instance of restraining a student or secluding them.

School Transportation: SB 85 would allow school districts to receive property tax money to be used exclusively for transportation.

The first meeting of the Senate Education and Career Development meeting is Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., where some of these bills will be discussed for the first time.

The Senate’s filing deadline is Jan. 12. House members haven’t released any bills yet, their filing deadline is Jan. 10.