Bill Aims To Cut Regulations On Indiana’s K-12 Schools
Source: WISH-TV
STATEWIDE–Indiana’s House Republicans say they are working on a bill that would reduce regulations on K-12 schools, which they believe will increase flexibility and help educators focus more on student outcomes.
It’s House Bill 1002. State Representative Bob Behning of Indianapolis wrote the bill. He says the purpose of it is to eliminate outdated and repetitive language within the state’s education statutes to give schools more control in their local decision-making.
“Our teachers and school administrators ultimately know what’s best for their students and staff and should be able to take more innovative approaches to education without government getting in their way,” said Behning.
Some of the proposed changes include removing “may” provisions on actions schools can already do without state permission, dozens of unused funding programs, specific mandates enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and duplicate code, resulting in a nearly 10% decrease in the state’s education regulations.
Behning says his legislation would no longer order teacher training that isn’t federally required so local school boards can make those decisions.
“I consider this to be the first step in a years-long process to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in state education so schools can focus more on teaching future generations of Hoosiers rather than spending the time on reporting requirements. There is still more work to do in this space, and I welcome continued input from stakeholders on how we can simply our regulations,” said Behning.
Representatives from the Indiana School Boards Association, Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, and Indiana Association of School Principals testified during the committee meeting in support of the bill.
The bill is now going to the full House of Representatives for consideration.
