Indiana Senate Passes Key Education Reforms and Controversial Carbon Storage Legislation: What You Need to Know

On Tuesday, Indiana’s Senate passed several education bills, mainly sticking to party lines. The measures included teacher pay, sexual education materials, and chaplain-counselors. They also had a close debate regarding stricter carbon storage regulations.

Republicans supported a teacher pay bill aimed at using market forces. It passed with a 39-10 vote. Senator Spencer Deery from Lafayette shared a story about a school struggling to keep special education teachers who were paid the same as other teachers. In contrast, a gym teacher earned the highest salary in that school.

“Our schools aren’t using market forces effectively to attract essential teachers,” Deery noted. His bill, Senate Bill 249, allows schools to use part of the funds from collective bargaining for supplemental pay. It requires that employment in high-need areas contribute to at least 10% of supplemental pay calculations.

Senator Andrea Hunley from Indianapolis agreed on the need for better pay for teachers but disagreed with Deery’s approach. She suggested there are smarter ways to adjust salaries without affecting collective bargaining. Deery countered that schools rarely use state funds for supplemental pay—only about 0.2%—and insisted on his method. His bill will now be reviewed by the House.

The Senate also revisited a bill regarding “human sexuality” education materials. Senate Bill 442 mandates that school boards approve these materials and provide basic information on the school’s website. This transparency would allow parents to make more informed decisions about their children’s participation in sexual education classes.

Senator Gary Byrne, who authored the bill, said that while parents can already access the materials, this new requirement would simplify their ability to know what is being taught. Senator J.D. Ford pointed out that most of this information is already mandated by existing laws, questioning the bill’s necessity. He raised concerns about what happens if teaching materials change mid-year, but Byrne responded that school boards could manage that. The Senate approved this bill with a 39-9 vote.

Another proposal, Senate Bill 523, aims to introduce chaplain-counselors in public schools. This bill will allow schools to hire paid or volunteer chaplains for both secular and religious counseling when parents give consent. Senator Stacey Donato from Logansport clarified that this wouldn’t replace traditional counselors, but rather offer another support option for students.

Ford raised concerns over the lack of qualifications for chaplains and said such laws could violate students’ rights regarding religious freedom. He emphasized the need for professional standards, arguing against exempting chaplains from the same requirements as other school staff. Despite these concerns, the bill passed with a vote of 32-16.

Finally, the chamber divided on regulations surrounding carbon dioxide storage and pipelines. Senate Bill 457 would exempt some pipeline companies from needing certificates in specific cases, modify certain fees, and allocate fee revenue to the General Fund instead of dedicated topic-specific funds. Senator Sue Glick supported it as a “clean-up bill,” but some lawmakers expressed reservations about the bill’s implications on local governance and oversight.

Glick noted previous pilot projects for carbon storage have faced scrutiny since their inception. Lawmakers raised concerns over the rapid expansion of carbon storage without adequate local control, highlighting the importance of community input in such significant measures. The bill narrowly passed with a vote of 27-21.