INDIANAPOLIS — Lawmakers are close to finalizing a deal to establish a pre-kindergarten grant program that could serve as many as 2,500 children, Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma confirmed Wednesday.
However, Bosma (R-Indianapolis) cautioned the program is not a “done deal” with the Indiana Senate, where lawmakers nixed an earlier pilot program for pre-kindergarten vouchers.
The proposed program works to address Senate Republicans’ concerns for the state to live within its current budget and also would require a match from private contributors, Bosma told the Courier & Press on Wednesday.
The program also focuses on giving grants to Indiana 4 year olds to attend pre-kindergarten programs as opposed to a voucher system where the state would be providing dollars to the actual school. Families could then use the grant for pre-kindergarten programs at schools that meet certain curriculum or national accreditation standards.
Bosma confirmed the state’s portion of the pilot program would be $10 million. Those funds would either come from federal dollars or unused money returned from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to the state’s general fund. Under current negotiations, the state also would work to attract private contributions, and depending on the extent of the match, up to 2,500 children could be served.
“I said from the start I’ve had so many foundations and local community organizations say we want to participate in this and if you start it, we’ll jump in,” Bosma said. “We’ll find out if that’s the case.”
Common Core State Standards
A legislative mandate for the state to void a national set of academic standards known as Common Core is headed to Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.
The legislation requires the state to create Indiana specific academic standards for grades K-12, a process that state education leaders already have begun.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) encouraged his colleagues to vote for the legislation on Wednesday, the final approval needed for the bill to pass to the governor. Supporters of doing away with Common Core in Indiana classrooms say the action is necessary to maintain the state’s sovereignty in education matters.
However, Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, said she saw the benefits of the national academic standards for consistency if students move between states.
“It’s just common sense,” Rogers said.
The Indiana State Board of Education was set to approve the standards in early April, but the date is being pushed back to later in the month because of the overall number of online comments received on the draft standards and additional time requested by external reviewers, said Lou Ann Baker, spokesperson for the Center for Education and Career Innovation.
Meth labs
Legislation to create transparency in identifying and decontaminating houses where methamphetamine has been manufactured is headed to the governor’s office for approval.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Mount Vernon, passed the House and Senate on Wednesday.
The proposal transfers to the Indiana State Police the responsibility of creating a public database to track houses where meth has been manufactured.