State Sen. Jeff Raatz shares what SB 1 and SB 202 set out to accomplish despite pushback

INDIANAPOLIS — Two bills authored by State Sen. Jeff Raatz (R-Richmond) in the realms of higher and elementary education are close to becoming state law.

At the time of this writing, Senate Bill 1, focusing on reading skills, and Senate Bill 202, which looks to "amend the duties of state educational institutions' diversity committees," each awaits signatures by Senate President Suzanne Crouch and House Speaker Todd Huston before they move to Gov. Holcomb's desk.

Both bills have received criticism in recent weeks over certain provisions each one contains.

Senate Bill 1 and the argument of holding back third graders

In SB 1, the main pushback is a measure that could potentially retain thousands of third graders that are deemed reading-deficient if they don't achieve a passing score on their IREAD-3 test after three attempts.

The first test is administered in second grade to determine reading proficiency or those at risk of becoming reading-deficient, followed by the second one in the spring of third grade and then again in summer school if they don't pass the first two times.

Raatz, who's also the chair of the Education and Career Development Committee, the committee that both bills were assigned to, said that the bill is important for helping to make sure children aren't falling behind.

"All of know this, that if they can't read by the time they leave third grade, now when we get to fourth grade, we're looking at understanding concepts, putting sentences together and they have to know content," Raatz said in a phone interview. "If a kid can't read by the time they leave third grade, they become incredibly in danger of them being able to understand content moving forward."

Data from the Indiana Department of Education shows testing results across the state from the 2023 spring-summer testing period, reflecting first-time third grade cohorts and including the previous year's second grade proficiency results.

Seton Catholic performed the test locally with a 94.7% passing rate, while Richmond Community Schools had the lowest rate with 69.5% passing.

Among Richmond's schools, all 20 students who tested at Test Intermediate School passed, with 39 of the 49 students at Charles Elementary and 40 of the 51 at Crestdale Elementary next at 79.6% and 78.4%.

Fairview Elementary and Vaile Elementary had the lowest percentage of passing students within RCS, with rates of 56.7% (34 out of 60) and 60% (27 out of 45) respectively.

Under the new bill, a combined 135 third graders across all six local school corporations would have to take the test a third time in summer school, with the potential of being retained if they fail to pass again.

However, Raatz said, the concept of holding kids back is "a balancing act."

In current Indiana code, schools can and will still be able to apply for a Good Cause Exemption for students that they feel are able to move on despite failing the IREAD-3, though Raatz added that schools are not using it.

"Unfortunately, some school districts are moving kids forward without even applying a good cause exemption," he said. "I don't know if it was an administrative error or they decided that they wouldn't follow the law. It could have been an administrative issue, but all that said, this is a complicated issue."

Pushing back against the criticism of holding students back a year, Raatz asked, "What's the answer to it? If we send a kid past third grade without being able to read, who suffers? The kid. We have to make sure that kids can read with every tool that we have, and that's really what this bill does."

Raatz also talked about another bill he authored, Senate Bill 6, regarding reading proficiency in grades four through eight that would require the DOE to both "develop a method to identify students" who are behind their grade level based on the ILEARN assessment and require the DOE to develop guidance for schools on how to support potential reading-deficient students.

"Without having to test anything additional, we have determinants already embedded in the tests to tell us what grade level they're actually reading at," he said. "We're going to watch a lot more, and, yeah, it seems kind of onerous, but we're looking for an educated society, first of all for the students so that they can function in the world, and secondly to participate in the economic cycle, but more importantly for the students."

If signed into office by Holcomb, the bill will take effect in July.

Senate Bill 202 and the argument of ending tenure as it's currently known

SB 202, a higher education bill, has been both heavily criticized and praised ever since reaching the House floor, mostly related to a provision that would require each state public university's board of trustees to "establish a policy that provides that a faculty member may not be granted tenure or a promotion" if the faculty member is "unlikely to foster a culture of free inquiry, free expression and intellectual diversity within the institution" among other prerequisites.

The bill would also require each school's board of trustees to review, renew or amend faculty members' tenure to ensure they are meeting certain criteria to keep it.

The bill has had several columns written about it by professors and faculty members at Indiana University and Ball State University, and has ignited debate at other public universities, prompting a response from both Purdue University faculty and the university itself.

The bill was authored by Raatz, Sen. Spencer Deery (R-West Lafayette) and Sen. Tyler Johnson (R-Leo) with the goal of it fostering open dialogue, contrary to what opponents of the bill are saying it would do.

"I don't think it's a secret that that a lot of conservatives have issues with or concern about what is being taught in the higher ed space," Raatz said.

Raatz cited a 2018 Pew Research Poll that showed that professors bringing their personal political and social views into the classroom was the leading cause of decline in approval, including 79% of Republicans. He also cited a 2022 Gallup survey that found 46% of politically conservative students believe that they can't express their opinions in a higher education space.

Another major point of the bill would require each board of trustees to adopt a policy of neutrality as the official position of the university, distinguishing itself away from the individual viewpoints of the universities' employees, contractors, students and alumni.

"Diverse ideology is really what was one of the main points of the bill, so that students are not felt like they're being chided or that they struggle sharing their political views," he said.

Raatz also talked about a personal experience he had, when a parent of a student taking a dual credit course in high school through an unnamed university brought the syllabus and curriculum to the state house for him to review.

"I had a conversation with the university and went through the language in there and showed him how politically bias the syllabus and curriculum was," he said. "Now we're talking about higher ed institutions doing dual credit courses in the K-12 space and bringing in ideology that is left leaning and kids who are vulnerable because they're there on a compulsory basis versus students who are, generally speaking, there because they want to be there to get their education."

Locally, while Earlham College would not be affected due to it being a private institution, Indiana University East, Ivy Tech and Purdue Polytechnic Richmond would be affected.

Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email at eweaver@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: State Senator Jeff Raatz discusses Senate Bills 1 and 202 as author