Indiana’s complicated educational governance structure has been a source of frustration for years. There is no shortage of ideas and hot takes about how to fix it, but a local state representative has a creative new idea on how to fix the state’s board of education: Get rid of it.
Indiana House of Representatives Democrat Edward Delaney has formally proposed eliminating the Indiana State Board of Education.
Delaney’s reasoning? In his opinion, the board of education doesn’t serve a “useful function.”
House Bill 1147 was authored by Rep. Delaney and the bill would completely dissolve the State Board of Education. Following the dissolution of the board, the Indiana Department of Education would take over all of the education functions discarded by the move.
It’s no secret to anyone in local education circles that Indiana’s educational parts don’t always work hand in hand. This move comes on the heels of the Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction announcing that she will not seek a second term. Her reasoning echoes the complaints of Rep. Delaney.
A precedent has been set moving towards this type of change as the Superintendent position will become an appointed one in the near future, in large part because of the nature of relationships within Indiana’s educational structure.
Read House Bill 1147 here.