Teachers Union, Lawmakers Show Bipatisanship On Education Issues

Source: Photo: Eric Berman/WIBC)

INDIANAPOLIS — The state’s largest teacher’s union has laid out its legislative priorities for the upcoming session at the Indiana Statehouse.

They include much of the usual but also align with a lot of what state lawmakers have prioritized. This includes clamping down on bad reading scores throughout the state based on recent IREAD scores that show 18-percent of Hoosier third graders can’t read at a third-grade level.

Kevin Gambill, the president of the Indiana State Teachers Associations says he’s encouraged by the bipartisanship shown on getting reading scores back up.

One way lawmakers hope to do that is to pass stricter reading requirements for third graders, who if they don’t meet said requirements could be held back. Gambill has no comment on that proposal yet.

Gambill is also asking lawmakers to increase education funding overall.

“Our school funding priorities include a $500 million increase in the second year to basic tuition support,” he said. “The legislature also needs to fully fund the cost of textbooks.”

Both of those are non-starters for lawmakers this year since this session is not a budget session and with that, no spending measures will be considered.

Gambill said lawmakers can address expanding Pre-K access for families in Indiana. Indiana currently doesn’t require young kids to attend kindergarten, but Gambill said that needs to change.

Finally, the ISTA wants legislation to address the increasing number of students who simply don’t show up for school as much as they should. Chronic absenteeism is a big problem for many students, according to both lawmakers and Gambill. In many cases, it’s not the student’s fault.

The legislative session kicks off in January and is expected to last only two months.