Education and water safety bills highlight 2015 General Assembly

INDIANAPOLIS – During the 2015 session of the Indiana General Assembly, State Rep. Sue Errington (D-Muncie) championed legislation to strengthen Indiana’s education system and ensure water safety.

Errington was pleased at the passage of measures to help special needs students succeed, promote dyslexia awareness and protect the Hoosier State’s water resources from toxic chemical contamination.

House Enrolled Act 1194 allows special needs students to earn high school diplomas. Currently, parents decide if they want to put their child on a path toward a certification of completion—which does not reflect graduation—or a diploma.

“With an unemployment rate of nearly 80 percent, many of these people can’t get jobs due to lack of a degree. This bill also develops a tailored curriculum where the likeliness of success is much greater for special education students in Indiana,” Errington said.

House Enrolled Act 1008 defines “dyslexia” to help teachers identify struggling students who need extra help in the classroom with decoding, reading fluency, spelling, and writing.

“Even though it tends to be the most common learning disability educators encounter, dyslexia is rarely called by name,” Errington explained. “The lack of an official dyslexia diagnosis often holds students back and hinders their success.”

She says another bright spot in a rather uninspiring session was House Concurrent Resolution 70, which honored Tippecanoe County teacher Kathy Nimmer as the 2015 Indiana Teacher of the Year. Ms. Nimmer is also one of four finalists competing for the title of 2015 National Teacher of the Year.

During her speech while receiving the honor, Nimmer defended Indiana’s education system: “Teachers are committed, students are magnificent, and education isn’t broken. In this time of trial and turbulence, please remember the classroom is where students gain the ability to change the world.”

As a member of both the House Environmental Affairs and Natural Resources committees, Errington also used her influence to advance water safety legislation this session.

Errington co-sponsored Senate Enrolled Act 473, which establishes training for farmers on how to identify and report suspicious toxin levels in water wells on their property. The bill stems from the Department of Natural Resources’ steady downsizing of its staff.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, only 32 Indiana wells were monitored last year (compared to 200 in 2000).

Senate Enrolled Act 312 calls for a survey of Indiana’s aboveground storage tanks with a capacity of more than 660 gallons that are within a quarter-mile of a water source. Indiana water utilities will be required to develop a surface water threat minimization and response plan.

The legislation is a pre-emptive reaction following last year’s crisis in Charleston, West Virginia, where an aboveground tank sprung a leak, causing chemicals to infiltrate the nearby creek and water supply. As a result, the water supply for more than 300,000 residents was contaminated for weeks.

House Enrolled Act 1001, the state’s biennial budget, brings a mix of good and bad news to Delaware County residents.

Errington says she was stunned that Ivy Tech’s capital request at Muncie’s Cowan Road campus was denied. Another major disappointment was the decreased state support for Muncie Community Schools.

“It’s really beyond belief that this capital project wasn’t funded,” said Errington. “It completely fits the state’s strategic plan to provide education and skills training for the workforce needs of manufacturers and high-tech industries.

“High-poverty, urban school districts like Muncie’s did not benefit from this so-called ‘education session.’ We keep forcing schools to do more with constantly shrinking resources,” she added.

The good news is that the pre-K matching grant program, which includes Muncie, will continue. More than 40 low-income Delaware County 4-year-olds benefit from a high-quality preschool experience through this program.

Additionally, Ball State University will receive $62.5 million for upgrading the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) & Health Professions Facility.