Legislation

The Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents is an advocate for a strong and effective public school system in Indiana. Through its legislative program the Association seeks to strengthen the state’s public schools with the goal of providing every student with the appropriate educational program in a setting where all students are welcomed and served without regard to race, national origin, disability, ability, creed, advantage, disadvantage, or religious belief.

The public school leaders of Indiana are committed to educating all students in a rigorous curriculum and to ensuring that, upon graduation, they are capable of entering the workforce, continuing their education at a post secondary institution of their choice, and/or serving in the nation’s military. With its commitment to preparing students for their role as responsible adults in the 21^st century as a primary focus, and empowered through the participation of its statewide membership in consideration of these legislative positions, the IAPSS declares the following to be its legislative priorities for the 2008 session of the Indiana General Assembly:

IAPSS believes that Indiana’s Constitution provides that the system of common schools funded by taxpayer monies in the state must be open to the enrollment of all students without regard to any limiting factor. Alternative uses of tax monies for K-12 education should not be considered until any new or existing mandates and programs, including summer school, have been fully funded. Progress in increasing student achievement in the public schools must be the primary objective and supported with additional resources, even in times of scarcity.

IAPSS supports public school student transfers that occur with the approval of the superintendents of both the sending and the receiving school corporation.

Legislation considered by the General Assembly includes fiscal notes whenever a fiscal impact has the potential to occur. Legislation to impose additional responsibilities on the public schools should focus on support for increased student achievement without adding additional regulations and should include relief from already imposed statutes and regulations.

At no other time in recent history have so many levels of government imposed new regulations and requirements on the public schools when resources for the public schools were more stressed. With the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the federal government has, in essence, added to and significantly altered state accountability plans and efforts. While the Indiana General Assembly was demanding and far sighted in its 1999 accountability legislation, we ask the 2009 Indiana General Assembly to fund the professional development/job training mandated in the 1999 act that is necessary to accomplish the mandates of PL 221. Any additional legislation to make schools accountable or otherwise impose any mandates on the public schools should be coordinated with state and federal legislation already in place and should be accompanied with the resources of time and/or funds to accomplish the tasks assigned including support for professional development. Most, if not all, K-12 education statutes have a fiscal impact and should, therefore, be considered by the legislative fiscal committees before enactment.

The fiscal crisis experienced by the State of Indiana continues to be shared by local school districts. Mandates, including collective bargaining, coupled with uncontrollable cost increases in areas such as health insurance, property and casualty insurance, inflationary increases in purchased materials and energy costs, TRF assessments for the new fund, and the increase in General Fund expenditures for free and reduced textbooks and transportation costs, along with cuts and delays in school funding from state sources, have created a critical fiscal situation in many school districts. The diminished cash reserves of school districts are the only remaining buffer available to avoid major program and staff reductions. IAPSS urges legislators to remain constantly aware of these fiscal conditions when considering legislation that has the potential to place additional strains on local school district budgets. Taxpayers should, through local control, have an option to sustain programs through new or additional revenue sources.

IAPSS urges legislators to ensure funding to sustain current school programs. Inflationary increases in funding are necessary to accomplish this goal. Every public school has completed and implemented plans to increase student achievement under PL 221 as passed by the 1999 Legislature and those plans have been predicated on stable funding for student programming not subject to fluctuations in the economy. Adequate revenue is essential to fund remediation programs for subject areas as they are added to the state testing program. IAPSS opposes all unfunded and underfunded mandates.

IAPSS urges the legislature to continue to provide flexibility to fully fund transportation programs from the Transportation Fund that were cut during the fiscal crisis and have been impacted by the energy crisis. The reductions to the Department of Education budgets have limited the Department’s ability to provide resource assistance to school improvement efforts and should be restored. However, we caution the General Assembly that fund transfers are a dangerous precedent and are not a long-term solution. In particular, services provided by the service centers are important to school districts and the efficiencies gained through the service centers should be restored.

At the conclusion of the petition/remonstrance process, the local decision regarding construction decisions shall prevail.

Full-day kindergarten should be expanded and funded with a new and sustainable revenue stream as an option for all school districts to offer to all students. IAPSS supports fully funded full-day kindergarten by adding students as a full count to the regular funding formula with a provision for start-up costs implemented upon the first day of student enrollment. This should include support to simplify the current facility approval process for school construction needed to institute full-day kindergarten when buildings are at capacity. Full-day Kindergarten should be voluntary for parents and school corporations.

Effective professional development/job training for teachers and administrators is the missing piece in Indiana’s funding plan for school improvement. Additional funding and time are essential in achieving maximum progress in increasing student achievement by increasing the expertise and effectiveness of schools. Opportunities for professional development could benefit from the ability of a local school district to opt for the accumulation of staff development hours accumulated and used by the district in place of half-day waivers. The mentorship program has been a valuable resource for staff development and is crucial to early professional development during a new educator’s initial professional growth. IAPSS supports the reinstatement of full funding for the mentorship program.

IAPSS further supports funding for leadership assessment, interpretation, and professional coaching for new superintendents to expand the existing Hallmarks of Excellence in School Leadership.

Redefine graduation rate cohort groups for students who have completed one year in high school but are significantly deficient in credits earned to realistically qualify as a sophomore—or ever catch up to program complete in three years; students whose programs require more than four years (i.e. special needs students); or those who program complete through a GED.

School districts were told that P-16 initiatives would be implemented in Indiana. After much work and professional development, the program has been in suspended animation for four years. If the program has been abandoned, the mandates, implied and actual, need to be eliminated. If the state will maintain a commitment to funding and staff development, IAPSS would support the initiative.

IAPSS also believes that since the adoption of the referendum process for certain defined projects now in place, the former petition/remonstrance language written as a compromise to earlier proposed legislation regarding referendum should be eliminated from referendum language to allow school districts access to resources outside of the school corporation.

A. IAPSS supports Foundation Funding per Adjusted ADM as the minimum funding level for all schools.

B. Fully fund all required programs. Add full-day kindergarten as a full student count in the ADM base for funding.

            C.    School corporations should be permitted to increase transportation levies by more than the five percent (5%) cap
                  to compensate for the increase in fuel prices and other transportation costs. Without action, more school
                  corporations may be forced to charge for this service.

D. Any discussions concerning the consolidation of services and staffing comparisons should be research based.

E. IAPSS further believes that legislative action is needed to protect the school General Fund from being negatively
impacted by the circuit breaker legislation to realize the state goal of moving dollars to instruction.

F.    IAPSS supports revising statutory payment provisions to allow school district employees employed on a school
      year basis to be paid on a twelve-month basis, and those school corporations that have done so in the past shall
      not be subject to damages.

Adequate funding for special need areas is necessary due to the minimal capacity to fund such needs available in the present budget structure of most school districts. Rulings by the Department of Education to require school districts to extend summer school offerings to all special education students demand even more local school district resources for special education programs. The elimination of summer programming in categories two and three has reduced educational experiences for Indiana’s students, and funding should be reinstated to provide for the option of offering both basic and enrichment programs. Expenditures in excess of designated funding are common in programs for special education, including preschool special education, limited English proficiency programs, and alternative education programs.

Indiana’s fiscal difficulties over the past several years have translated into limited revenues for increased funding for schools. In spite of the Legislature’s best efforts, limited funding increases have created unintended issues among various types of school districts. Increased costs, heightened demands for increased performance, and personnel needs continue to require a basic inflationary increase for all schools to offer the necessary and required student programs. Increases to meet these needs have caused a corresponding need within all schools for increased funding. However, given the low total new dollars available, less-than-adequate resources have remained for allocation to growing districts. In most cases, the facility limitations of declining-enrollment districts prevent desired efficiencies absent significant capital investment in new and larger schools. In growing districts, the needed new facilities can achieve efficiency when constructed, but General Fund increases are inadequate to meet operational costs. The needs are easy to define. Funding all of the needs on an equitable basis in times of restricted revenue is nearly impossible. IAPSS wishes to work with legislators on these funding issues with the following priorities in mind:

1. Protect existing educational programs from curtailment as local school corporations struggle to meet the fiscal liabilities inherent to state and federal mandates. Special education, gifted and talented education, alternative education, and the needs of limited English-proficient students consistently exceed funding allocations for these needs. The result is diminished programs for other students in the regular education program.

IAPSS supports the continued use of adult basic education funds under the Department of Education to support adult basic education for reading, writing, and mathematics to those adults who have not yet secured a high school diploma.

2. Transition from previous funding-formula principles in a manner that gives time for adjustments and ensures equal educational opportunity for all Indiana children. Though funding is generated by individual student counts, most school programs (i.e. special needs programs, music programs, and support staff) cannot automatically be reduced when enrollments in a school or a school system decline.

3. Preserve an adequate funding increase resulting from new facility appeals by preventing adverse impact from subsequent formula calculations as authorized in legislation passed in 2002.

The IAPSS also urges adjustments in the existing revenue distribution procedure which:

a. would allow for a cumulative growth qualifying factor over two consecutive school years.

b. would prevent financial penalties for programs previously approved by the Department of Education or its employee(s) designated to grant such approvals.

c. would separate complexity index generated revenues as determined by state reports, in formula computations and legislative printouts pertaining to “total per pupil expenditure.”

d. would increase categorical funding for alternative schools including provisions allowing for contracting of private sector providers, as identified solely by the local governing body.

e. would permit school districts to increase school transportation budgets on a delayed basis in subsequent years if cash balances have been used to delay tax levy increases or to replace lost state support.

(i) identifying and recognizing varied programming needs which impact school corporations, including actual general fund expenditures for in-house security and actual costs inherent to a higher incidence of special education placements. Mandated programs often require funding far beyond the formula-generated funds for specific programs.

(ii) increasing funding for special education, including pre-school special education. Current formula support does not adequately fund special education and results in diminished programs for other students.

(iii) recognizing the value of Education Service Centers through increased funding levels for existing programs. The IAPSS also advocates increases in revenue which will provide service center coordination of services to all Indiana school employees in the areas of technology and professional development/job training.

(iv) appropriating a level for summer school including summer special education programs in amounts adequate to fund needed summer school programs including statutory and DOE mandated programs and enhanced remediation.

The IAPSS supports legislation increasing the authority of local school boards to collect tax revenue from any of the alternative sources currently available to other local units of government.

Designated state reserves should be increased and set aside to ensure adequate reserves to fund state
support to schools.

D. Textbook and Related Materials

1. full and timely funding of textbook materials and fees for students receiving free and reduced lunches. Past appropriations have failed to fully fund these costs, and school districts have been forced to pay such costs from the General Fund. School districts experience additional problems in this area due to the delayed distribution of the funds by DOE and the absence of a second distribution of funds to pay for qualified students who arrive after the first distribution’s qualification date.

2. for all children not qualified under the terms of I.C. 20-8.1-9-1 through I.C. 20-8.1-9-14, the establishment of a state appropriation that would support an assistance fund for textbooks, workbooks, and textbook-related software. The assistance fund would be distributed to local school corporations on the basis of the ADM count for the previous school year toward an ultimate goal of 100 percent reimbursement per student. Costs for said materials beyond state distribution levels are to be charged to parents (or guardians) under the terms of the existing Indiana Statute I.C. 20-10.1-10-1.

3. The requirement that a plan to fund textbooks must include the provision that costs in excess of such funding for materials and textbooks which meet state textbook guidelines may be secured from the parents or guardians so that textbook quality and accuracy can be maintained.

E. Efficiencies

1.     All school districts should be able to employ skilled workers (plumbers, carpenters, painters, electricians, etc.)
       and pay for the service through the Capital Projects Fund.

2.     A state bid list should be created for fuel and school bus purchases.

3.     Any discussions concerning the consolidation of services and comparisons of staffing of Indiana’s schools should
      be research based.

4.     In order to better serve Indiana’s students and better realize the goal to provide service in a logical and efficient
     manner, eliminate current restrictions on Speech Language Pathology and Audiology. Such requirements which
     cause school districts in some cases to employ two people for one vacancy need to be eliminated so graduates
     in this field with a BA can provide service to students in need.

5.     School district professional development opportunities for six (6) half-days should provide districts with the option
     for the equivalent three (3) full days, without additional application or evaluation procedures. Staff development
     over the full days would allow far more detail oriented opportunities for staff. Such a provision would save dollars
     spent on three days of transporting students, three days of school lunches, as well as assisting parents with
     child care arrangements often complicated by half day transportation changes and needs.

The IAPSS maintains the position that the present form of collective bargaining is not in the public’s best interest. The IAPSS supports strict limitations on the subjects of bargaining; confining master contract coverage to salary, wages, and salary and wage related fringe benefits. The IAPSS also supports legislation that will repeal Section 5 items from the current collective bargaining law. The IAPSS opposes any extension of collective bargaining statutes to include additional employee groups.

The IAPSS supports legislation that requires accountability to the State of Indiana by home schools and home school teachers. The absence of such accountability nullifies the compulsory attendance law, ISTEP+ exams, and the state’s intent that all students pass the Graduation Qualifying Examination to gain a high school diploma. In an increasing number of instances where students do not pass the exam, they simply become home-schooled with no means of accountability for the quantity or quality of schooling required for a diploma.

V. RELATED ISSUES

a.) an alternative to the mandated publication of the school report card in the legal advertising section of local newspapers. Such alternative publication would include all of the information required in the existing legal advertisement.

b.) adequate funding for the Department of Education to acquire, on a resource basis, personnel services of expert educators to assist schools classified as failing and all other schools requesting this assistance. Such personnel shall not become full-time employees of DOE.

District	NAME	SCHOOL CORPORATION
I	Pete Morikis	Griffith Public Schools
II	Mark Gould	Hamilton Community Schools
III	Robert Schultz	Tipton Community SchoolCorporation
IV	Dan Sichting	Bloomfield School District
V	Tim Ogle	Avon Community SchoolCorporation
VI	Steve McColley	Wes-Del Community Schools
VII	John Lantis	Mitchell Community Schools
VIII	Phil Partenheimer	North Harrison Community Schools

Ex - Officio -

Julie Wood, President, MSD of Bluffton Harrison
Steve Yager, Past President, Northwest Allen County Schools
JT Coopman, President Elect, Clark-Pleasant Community Schools
John Sayers, Vice-President, Carroll Consolidated School Corporation

“Knowledge and learning, generally diffused throughout a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvements; and to provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.”

Constitution Of The State of Indiana. Approved in convention at Indianapolis. February 10, 1851. Article 8. Education. Paragraph 1. Common schools system. Section 1.

The Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents (IAPSS) supports a comprehensive, relevant, responsible, and accessible program of education in the public schools for all of the children of Indiana. IAPSS believes providing leadership for student learning in the public schools is its first priority. Human and material resources of IAPSS must be directed toward the promotion of a positive learning environment.

The membership of the organization recognizes, that the IAPSS is the primary voice of Indiana superintendents. IAPSS encourages diverse involvement by the membership in other organizations, such as local Chambers of Commerce and external educational associations supportive of public schooling. IAPSS acknowledges the urban, suburban, rural and retired superintendent associations as we all work for the advancement of the unique special needs of all districts. The association will strive to collect data and provide other support that can be used by all districts to best assess unique impacts of proposed and enacted legislation. In all professional relationships, the membership is encouraged to communicate, foster, and promote IAPSS goals, which include the legislative program, policies, and resolutions.

IAPSS supports state statutes and initiatives designed to strengthen public education for the children of Indiana. In particular, IAPSS believes closing the achievement gaps among and within the various subgroups of the school population is not only an educational goal, it is a moral imperative. The accomplishments of the general school population in higher percentages of students achieving the Academic Honors Diploma and increased levels of achievement in mastery of Indiana’s academic standards must be reflected in all subgroups of the school population. Accomplishing this goal will require the best efforts and the consistent support of the Legislature as well as all subgroups of the Indiana community.

IAPSS recognizes that school corporations work to provide interventions and alternatives when dealing with discipline, including building partnerships with the juvenile courts, probation, prosecutor, and child protective services. IAPSS encourages the formation of district child protection teams incorporating resources from all of the fore mentioned groups.

IAPSS supports, aside from federal mandates requiring zero tolerance, the need for all students to participate in an educational setting whenever possible.

IAPSS supports consistency and fairness in legislation that accurately reports and compares data from research such as dropout rates, graduation rates, and achievement levels.

IAPSS supports consistency and fairness in legislation that accurately reports and compares data from research regarding school and school corporation comparisons, student and personnel demographics, governance and corporation organization.

All academic paths are rigorous and should lead to higher education and/or training beyond the high school diploma.

The IAPSS supports continued efforts to implement mandates that further enhance meaningful interaction with the citizens and business community who are served by public education. Business leaders are encouraged to become more involved in the local school improvement teams and in the work of improving every school and every classroom.

IAPSS believes all available state funding for pre-K through 12 education beyond the inflationary increases necessary to continue present programming and mandates must be directed at specific program additions and expansions permitting all children to receive public school services proven to benefit learning. Funding must begin when students begin their first day of school. Universal preschool and full-day kindergarten for all students, along with sustainable and adequate funding for special populations including children of poverty, Limited English Proficient students, and students with individual special needs are the highest priorities for the near term. For some school districts, both the time and the resources for job training to prepare teachers to teach higher standards in more effective classroom settings are of primary concern. Funding to increase salaries and job training experiences to retain and compete for high quality employees may be the highest priorities in the foreseeable future.

In addition, the membership of IAPSS will work diligently to increase the knowledge of local school boards, the vast majority of whom are locally-elected officials, to respond to the special needs of their students and communities, acknowledging education is a fundamental right of the children of Indiana. Student learning is the priority in schooling. Expanding and improving high-quality education requires adequate funding. IAPSS will strive to ensure full funding for programs mandated or recommended by state and federal laws and regulations and will pursue adequate and equitable funding levels for Pre K-12 education to permit both students and the state to compete successfully for the rewards of the American economic system.

The IAPSS supports legislation developed to meet the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of public school students of the State of Indiana. All legislation related to public education should achieve a long-range, coordinated, and comprehensive plan to accomplish educational excellence and increase student achievement. This plan must be research-based; educationally sound; appropriately, timely, and consistently financed; realistically attainable; and based on Indiana’s standards.

· Indiana’s long-range process to restructure curriculum and instruction featuring pre-established instructional priorities and best practices derived from the social and economic context in which students will live and work. The recommended priorities and practices must be performance-based, supported and identified by reliable research.

· sufficient time and resources for professional development to align the local curriculum
with state standards and assessment programs.

· adequate time and resources for job training to improve learning for all students while
closing the achievement gap as mandated under PL 221 and No Child Left Behind.

·     summer school support for all three program categories, extended day, and intersession
      programs including those designed to meet the specific and unique learning needs of
      students.

· the ability to set local fees to pay for the costs related to approved programming above and beyond state requirements.

· state funding to provide current textbooks, software, and related materials to all Indiana students to fulfill the state's obligation to ensure a general and uniform system of Common Schools. Such provisions must provide school districts the ability to collect from parents or guardians the costs not covered by such funding so ~~that~~ future shifts in state priorities do not leave students with obsolete textbooks and materials.

· sufficient funding for locally selected student assessments measuring student achievement based on state standards.

· the on-going comprehensive evaluation of the statewide testing program. This evaluation should include the test’s impact on the state standards, graduation rates, dropout rates, testing formats, and other student outcomes.

· programs that prepare and encourage students to pursue a rigorous and varied (including vocational initiatives) curriculum that results in marketable skills, thereby enabling them to make informed career choices leading to successful employment and quality of life.

· accountability to the State of Indiana by home schools and home school teachers and providers. Such accountability must include the stated clear definition of a “school,” and require participation in state assessments with test results disaggregated from and reported independently of public schools.

· all schools, whether non-traditional or traditional, should be required to follow the same rules and regulations, with all student data tracked to these entities.

all schools, whether non-traditional or traditional, should have the same flexibility to address student learning needs.

· mandate or have the effect of mandating curriculum without adequate field-testing, research on best practices, evaluation, or a relationship to standards.

· are not funded to the extent necessary to provide the required program and necessary job training.

· delay findings until after schools have incurred financial obligations and/or impacts.

· expand the scope of required special needs programs and services beyond present requirements without separate funding sources being made available outside the distribution formula.

· erode the academic learning time in the school day and the school year with the single exception of local control regarding make-up days for seniors beyond the date of graduation.

· diminish the principal’s authority to determine the make-up and membership of the school improvement committee mandated under PL 221.

· provide funding for any school of any type that does not fully meet all of the standards and requirements mandated for Indiana’s public schools.

· disregard research of the positive impact of school administrators on student achievement.

STUDENT SERVICES AND PROGRAMS

The IAPSS supports efforts to develop and strengthen programs and services for children in Indiana. These programs and services must advance school safety, be educationally sound, research based, realistically attainable, and appropriately financed.

· efforts which require public, non‑public, and home schools to meet minimum standards, established and enforced by the State Board of Education.

· fully funded school safety plans and personnel necessitated by societal conditions.

· state financial support, distributed outside the state distribution formula, which provides for student support programs and services needed by children routinely impacted by family and social conditions or challenged by limited English proficiency.

· programming which enhances a student’s quality of life including character and diversity education including cultural competency, culture and the arts, physical education and wellness.

SCHOOL PERSONNEL

The IAPSS supports efforts to provide employees with salaries, benefits, and working conditions which allow for the recruitment, development, and retention of highly-qualified personnel for the education of Indiana's children.

· a well-defined and fully funded system of standards-based certification, licensing, and license renewal for all certified staff.

· flexible revenue from which school districts can pay mandated personnel costs.

· a flexible mentoring system focusing on instruction for improved student achievement and growth.

· a fiscal analysis prior to future revisions to funding teachers’ retirement to fully examine the impact on school corporations.

· increasing the multiplier for calculating Indiana’s Teacher Retirement Fund benefits in order to remain competitive with neighboring states whose programs often draw staff in shortage areas out of Indiana schools.

· unfunded mandates requiring the employment of specialized personnel, e.g. certified nurses and athletic trainers.

· efforts allowing for permanent or semi‑permanent teachers to void indefinite contracts or lessen requirements stated in IC 20‑6.1‑4‑15. No change should lessen or remove the penalty of license suspension for teachers who void their contracts contrary to statute.

· legislation which would require school corporations to issue regular teacher contracts to fill positions and vacancies occurring more than thirty (30) school days before the end of a school term.

PUBLIC EDUCATION FINANCE

The IAPSS supports efforts to address statewide educational issues with accompanying fiscal responsibility. The State of Indiana must seek ways to fund public education commensurate with the increasing federal and state legislative mandates, student needs, and public expectations.

The IAPSS believes the various challenges facing Indiana’s school districts require a school funding model that addresses the differences in student populations and school district characteristics. School districts are the vehicle through which the state’s mission to educate its children is accomplished. The recently developed complexity index offers promise in the desire to address the special learning needs of high-risk students through funding generated by the characteristics of the students served. Providing the means for all schools to serve all of their students is essential if the state’s mandates for schools and vision for students are to be accomplished.

The IAPSS also believes the restrictions on revenue experienced by school districts that are neither urban nor serving disproportionate percentages of students of poverty must be addressed. Parental and community expectations in all communities may require new programs demanding additional resources.

IAPSS further believes that governmental action is needed to protect the school General Fund from being negatively impacted by the circuit breaker legislation to realize the state goal of moving dollars to instruction.

IAPSS also believes that since the adoption of the referendum process for certain defined projects, the former petition/remonstrance language written as a compromise to earlier proposed legislation regarding referendum should be eliminated from new referendum language to allow school districts access to resources outside of the school corporation.

The IAPSS supports a system of accurate reporting on valid and comparable data concerning school funding issues and educational functions such as staffing, the role of various funds as prescribed by the state, and various performance factors.

· state-level rainy day fund reserve to sustain K-12 programs in times of economic slowdown.

· sustainable revenue for all school funds that distributes funding in a consistent manner that is dependable, reliable, and predictable.

Legislative Program

D. Textbook and Related Materials

V. RELATED ISSUES

Constitution Of The State of Indiana. Approved in convention at Indianapolis. February 10, 1851. Article 8. Education. Paragraph 1. Common schools system. Section 1.

STUDENT SERVICES AND PROGRAMS

SCHOOL PERSONNEL

PUBLIC EDUCATION FINANCE