Indiana lawmakers passed a sweeping deregulation bill that aims to clean up and simplify the state’s education code, despite concerns about several of its provisions.
Rep. Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis) is HB 1002’s author. He said the final 139-page measure mostly deletes redundant or unnecessary language and unfunded programs.
“Most of the language that we eliminated dealt specifically with places where we said things may do something, and because we may, we don’t actually need to include it in Indiana code,” he said.
However, some lawmakers said the measure goes too far and its full impact is unclear.
Sen. Greg Taylor (D-Indianapolis) said he is concerned about some of the things the bill removes, like a requirement that schools offer an elective ethnic and racial studies course one semester every school year.
The federal government sent a letter to the Indiana Department of Education and other states’ education agencies. It said federal funding could be cut if they commit unlawful discrimination. Behning said IDOE asked lawmakers to cut the ethnic and racial studies course preemptively.
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But Taylor said Indiana should not be intimidated by the federal government and should do what’s best for students.
“Are you gonna tell me that we are not brave enough to hold pat on an elective course for kids, because the federal government says we could cut your funding?” he asked the Senate Thursday.
The bill’s critics also oppose provisions that cut some requirements for social-emotional learning in teacher prep programs and would allow the state’s secretary of education to live outside Indiana.
The measure now heads to the governor’s desk.
Kirsten is our education reporter. Contact her at kadair@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @kirsten_adair.