Dept. of Education policy blocked by House

House Democrats amended a Senate bill last Tuesday in an attempt to block a new policy that would lengthen the school year.

Indiana law currently mandates that the school year is a minimum of 180 days. School districts have been allowed to set their own calendars to count half-days and snow days as part of the 180-day requirement. A House amendment to SB 126 would continue to allow schools to count half days as full days.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett initially raised the question. Bennett announced the policy change two weeks ago, and the legislation responded by adding the amendment to the bill.

Half-days have traditionally been used for parent-teacher conferences and professional development days, as well as to allow time for grading assignments, said Sally Sloan, the executive director of the Indiana Federation of Teachers.

“We have done this for many years without complaints,” Sloan said.

While the state requires students to be in school for 180 days, it also requires teachers to allow for professional development days. Most school districts have about three extra days in their calendars, but Sloan said the current allotment is not enough.
If school districts are not allowed to count half-days, teachers could be forced to work after hours for conferences and professional development – without extra compensation.

Sloan said teachers did not object to more instruction time, but contracts must be changed to allow for extra compensation. The state has not offered any solution to pay teachers for the extra days, Sloan said.

Cam Savage, a spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Education, said schools have enough extra days in their calendars to allow for conferences and professional development.

“We agree that parent-teacher conferences are important,” Savage said. “But teacher development could take place after or before school.”

Savage said every extra day students spend in school is essential to making Indiana competitive.

“The rest of the world is getting ahead,” Savage said. “The minimum is 180 days, and frankly, we need it. Parents expect it, taxpayers pay for it.”

Barry Bull, a professor in the School of Education, said time spent in school has an impact on the quality of education but is not the only avenue to pursue to make Indiana students more competitive.

Parent-teacher conferences and professional development are also important to a student’s education, he said.

Bull said the school year was lengthened to 180 days from 175 in 1987. While Bull said one half-day might not make a huge impact on a student’s education, the amount of time spent in school is important.

“The research is pretty clear,” Bull said. “The more time spent in school is better for the children.”

While more instruction time was essential to improving education, other factors such as attracting more qualified teachers was also important, Bull said.   

“This does not have to be a trade off between qualified teachers and a sufficient number of school days,” Bull said.

The main supporters of the amendment are teacher’s unions, said Savage. While the Department of Education maintains that the issue is purely in the interest of the students, Sloan said this is a political issue that has been brought up periodically. The amendment vote was 51-44, mostly supported by Democrats.

“Education is such a political issue,” Sloan said. “We ought to talk about what is best for the kids and leave out the partisanship.”