House Republicans kill their own bill in attempt to block DeLaney’s commonsense charter school accountability amendments
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana House Republicans blocked efforts from State Representative Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) to hold charter schools accountable by killing their own Senate Bill 455. The five DeLaney amendments were a series of proposals that would've held scandal ridden charter schools to the same oversight as traditional public schools.
“Loose oversight and lack of regulation from this legislative body led Indiana taxpayers to be defrauded of nearly $65 million dollars from virtual charter schools, while delivering little to no satisfactory educational results,” DeLaney said.
“The Republican supermajority has failed teachers, parents, school districts, taxpayers, and most importantly, students by refusing to act on any legislative matters from House Democrats that would hold virtual charter schools accountable.
“Today, my commonsense proposals would have held virtual charter schools to the same accountability standards that the Indiana General Assembly requires from traditional public schools.”
As a member of the House Education Committee, DeLaney has pointed out several red flags emerging from the privatization of schools that are funded with public dollars.
- DeLaney comments on virtual charter school alleged fraud
- DeLaney comments on lawsuit challenging $1 charter law
- DeLaney: House Republicans agree to study virtual charter schools, but not reform them
In August of 2019, DeLaney sent a letter to House Speaker Brian Bosma and other members of the Legislative Council to study issues surrounding virtual charter schools. The topic was ultimately not studied during the 2019 Interim Study Committee on Education.
In July of 2019, House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta called for the state legislature to hold virtual charter schools accountable.