The legislative session’s second half is underway. Here are the education bills still moving
The Indiana General Assembly kicked off the second half of the 2025 legislative session this week. The education bills that passed their chambers of origin will flip to the opposite chamber and repeat the process.
The Senate passed a controversial bill, Senate Bill 518, that would require public schools to share property tax dollars — their biggest source of funding — with some local charter schools.
Sen. Andrea Hunley (D-Indianapolis) said that will hurt traditional public schools.
“We need to make sure that we’re taking a very cautious approach here,” she said. “We cannot be piling onto school districts that are already in financial straits.”
The Senate also advanced legislation that would raise teacher pay to $45,000 per year, SB 146; and require school boards to approve instruction materials on human sexuality, SB 442.
Another measure, SB 523, that advanced from the Senate would allow chaplains to work or volunteer in public schools. They could not provide a student with religious guidance or advice unless they receive consent from a parent. Lawmakers said they could help with Indiana’s school counselor shortage.
The Senate passed similar measures on chaplains and human sexuality instruction materials last year, but they were not advanced by the House.
READ MORE: How do I follow Indiana’s legislative session? Here’s your guide to demystify the process
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The House advanced House Bill 1002, a deregulation bill that would no longer require the state’s secretary of education to have education experience.
Some lawmakers like Rep. Vernon Smith (D-Gary) said that’s a bad idea.
“Seems like there’s a misnomer that people have accepted that anybody can do anything in education out of any other career. I disagree with that totally,” Smith said.
The House also advanced HB 1634, which would implement math screeners and interventions for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Another House bill that advanced to the Senate — House Bill 1498 — would direct the Indiana Department of Education to re-imagine school ratings. Those ratings tell people how effective schools are based on a variety of indicators. The current system uses an A-to-F scale.
The House almost moved forward bills to shorten the timeframe in which schools must alert parents to bullying incidents, HB 1539; and that would require school administrators to earn literacy endorsements, HB 1499.
Both chambers advanced measures to better define chronic absenteeism and prevent schools from suspending or expelling students due to attendance issues — HB 1201 and SB 482. Both the state budget, HB 1001, and Senate Bill 1, the chamber’s property tax proposal that would impact school funding also made it through the first half of the legislative session.
Want a printable one-sheet to explain the legislative process? Click here for our PDF.
Kirsten is our education reporter. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @kirsten_adair.
