(Indianapolis, IN) – Indiana Gov. Mike Braun had a ceremony Tuesday to note a package of new education laws.
While some of the bills focus on parents’ agency when it comes to choosing their child’s education, others work to increase resources inside of the schoolyard.
“We’ve secured big wins for Hoosier students and parents, like universal school choice, increased teacher pay, new accountability ratings for schools, and more money going to the classroom…” Braun said in a press release.
One of the laws increases the minimum salary for teachers in Indiana from $40,000 to $45,000. It would also require the state board of education to submit a report to the general assembly by Nov. 1 to determine the feasibility of increasing health plan options for school faculty.
House Enrolled Act 1401 follows up with Braun’s executive order by codifying into law a ban on transgender women from playing in women’s sports at state or private universities. This new law adds onto Indiana’s ban for transgender girls from playing on girl’s sports in K-12 schools, despite the Indiana High School Athletic Association only knowing of one instance of a transgender athlete wanting to play on her team.
Charter schools have gotten a funding boost. Accredited nonpublic schools, like charter schools, can now dip into property tax revenues and additional teacher recruitment grants.
Another bill removes the current statewide assessment scores for a school’s performance and instead directs the state Board of Education to develop a new way to designate school performance.
(Story by WISH-TV/Network Indiana)
