Bills that passed, failed in this year’s General Assembly
A look at some major legislation considered this year by the Indiana General Assembly.
Teachers
Articles
Teacher merit pay bill heads to Daniels’ desk
A bill linking teacher pay with student performance has won final legislative approval and now heads to Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels for his signature.
Bill on teacher union rights heads to governor
A bill to restrict Indiana teachers' collective bargaining rights has cleared its final legislative hurdle, becoming the first part of Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' sweeping education agenda to make it to the governor's desk.
Indiana panels OK teacher merit pay, voucher bills
Two pieces of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels' sweeping education plan, a voucher plan that would direct taxpayer money to private schools and a merit pay bill that links teacher pay to student performance, cleared key legislative hurdles Wednesday.
Panel OKs bill linking student tests, teacher pay
Teacher pay would be linked to student performance under a merit pay bill that has cleared an Indiana House committee.
Indiana lawmakers to consider big education proposals
A House committee is expected to consider Daniels' proposal for teacher merit pay on Monday, and a Senate committee could vote on the Republican governor's controversial plan for private school vouchers on Wednesday.
IPS says it will lay off more than 300 employees
Indianapolis Public Schools notified employees last week during spring break that they will begin cutting 271 teaching positions and 37 non-teaching positions to trim its $20 million budget deficit.
Senate panel considers proposal to expand charters
The Senate Education Committee heard hours of testimony about the bill and details of a new study that found Indiana students who transferred to charter schools showed greater learning gains than their peers who stayed in traditional public schools.
Transition-to-teaching students find few jobs
An Indiana Department of Education report shows less than 40 percent of those who completed the transition-to-teaching programs in 2008-2009 were working in Indiana schools last year.
Partisan divide could threaten long-term education reform
Indiana’s Republican-controlled Legislature will likely pass the bulk of education-reform measures being pushed this year by party heavyweights, but partisan rancor could threaten the long-term prospects for a sweeping overhaul of the state’s public schools.
Senate OKs parts of Daniels’ education agenda
The Republican-led Indiana Senate approved several key pieces of GOP Gov. Mitch Daniels' aggressive education agenda Tuesday, including a bill to limit teachers' collective bargaining rights and a bill linking teacher pay to student performance.
Indiana panel backs private school voucher bill
A contentious proposal to use taxpayer money to help Indiana parents send their children to private schools cleared its first legislative hurdle Wednesday.
Bill would send taxpayer cash to private schools
Indiana lawmakers will start the debate Tuesday on the most controversial plank of Gov. Mitch Daniels' sweeping education platform: a plan to use taxpayer money to help parents send their children to private schools
Education reform inspires intense war of words
Sweeping education changes called for by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels have spurred angry protests and some of the harshest rhetoric the Statehouse has heard in years.
Lawmakers start work on teacher merit pay bill
Indiana lawmakers have started work on one of the more controversial aspects of Gov. Mitch Daniels' sweeping education agenda: a plan to tie teacher pay to student performance.
Indiana teachers to rally at Statehouse
Indiana teachers are planning a rally at the Statehouse to support public education and denounce proposals backed by Republicans who control the House and Senate.
Bill would limit school referendum campaigns
State Rep. Cindy Noe, R-Indianapolis, wants to stop schools from using public money and bar school employees from campaigning for referendums that would raise property taxes.
Senate panel OKs bill limiting teacher bargaining
A Republican-controlled Senate committee has advanced a bill that critics contend would strip Indiana teachers of their collective bargaining rights.
Union backer has vested interest
The reason [Teresa] Meredith is so gung-ho regarding her union stance is she has so much to lose: 18 years into her profession, vice president of the Indiana State Teachers Association, her pension and benefits.
Should teachers be unionized?
[In response to Teresa Meredith’s Jan. 10 column in Forefront] I would like to know, if collective bargaining has all of those benefits, why are our public schools performing so badly that a great percentage of the students do not graduate?