INDIANAPOLIS — A proposal to expand Indiana’s two-year-old private school voucher program is headed to a joint House and Senate conference committee, where legislative leaders will try to hammer out their differences on a measure, which is supported by Gov. Mike Pence, before the legislature adjourns April 29. The Senate passed the voucher expansion, House Bill 1003, on a 27-23 vote Wednesday.
The Senate’s version of the bill would allow the siblings of students who already receive vouchers to qualify for the program without attending public schools first. It would also make it easier for foster children, children of veterans and children with special needs to qualify for the program. And it increases the size of the vouchers by $100 a year each of the next two years.
Democrats — badly outnumbered 37-13 in the state Senate — kept up their persistent opposition to the voucher program, arguing that expanding it siphons money away from K-12 public education.
The state Senate passed its deadline Wednesday to approve bills that have already cleared the House — and the House was approaching its Monday deadline to pass bills that the Senate already approved. As a result, both chambers were working late. Among the issues they tackled:
- Welfare drug test: Some welfare recipients would face drug testing to keep receiving benefits under a proposal that the Indiana Senate has approved.
The bill would require all applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to complete a written screening test for possible drug abuse problems. Those later failing a drug test would have to seek treatment to continue receiving benefit payments.
The Senate voted 38-12 Wednesday in favor of the bill. The House earlier approved a different version.
- School standards: Indiana’s A-F grading system for individual schools would be scrapped and implementation suspended on a national set of reading and math education standards under a bill approved by the state Senate.
The bill approved on a 37-13 vote Wednesday now returns to the House, where some leaders are against forcing changes to the current A-F system and Common Core State Standards adopted by the State Board of Education.
The Senate proposal would have the Department of Education issue two grades for each school. One would be based on the average academic performance of students, with the other based on how much students have improved.
- School superintendents: A proposal to no longer require Indiana’s local school superintendents to hold a state superintendent’s or teacher’s license passed the state Senate after Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann cast her first tiebreaking vote.
Senators split 25-25 on the bill that would change the current requirement that school district superintendents have a teaching license and complete graduate school work in education administration.
Supporters say the change would give local school boards more flexibility to hire whomever they believe best fills their needs for a top administrator. Opponents worry that the state would open the door to possible cronyism and lowering standards by allowing superintendents without any classroom experience.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.