INDIANAPOLIS (AP)
— The costs of assessing Indiana students' performance came under the
microscope Thursday as members of the State Budget Committee sought more
information about the Department of Education's spending request.
Schools
Superintendent Glenda Ritz is seeking $20 million more for testing as part
of her spending proposal, which calls for an overall 3 percent increase
and free textbooks for all Indiana students.
Ritz said the
estimated $65 million she's requesting for testing and remediation
reflects the fact that the state's ISTEP+ test is being overhauled to be
more rigorous as part of the withdrawal from national Common Core
education standards. The retooled ISTEP+ test will be owned by the state
and aligned with Indiana's new standards, she said.
But Republican
Sen. Luke Kenley, chairman of the committee, questioned whether national
standardized tests could do the same job at a lower cost.
"I keep thinking
and wondering whether we're making it too hard and too expensive on
ourselves," he said, adding that lawmakers should have more say over which
tests are used instead of just being asked to pay for them.
In March, Indiana
became the first state to pull out of the national Common Core standards,
driven by conservative and tea party concerns that the curriculum ceded
too much power to the federal government. The State Board of Education
adopted new academic standards in April that will guide what students
should learn in each grade.
Then in June,
state education officials learned that the state's ISTEP+ test would have
to be revised for Indiana to retain its No Child Left Behind waiver, which
received a one-year extension from the U.S. Department of Education. The
new test will be administered in the spring.
Ritz said the new
ISTEP+ test is on its way to completion.
Her proposal to
increase spending to provide free textbooks to all students also drew
questions Thursday.
Indiana schools
currently receive a $76-per-pupil reimbursement for textbooks only for
students who receive free or reduced-price lunches. The department says
that doesn't cover the true cost of the textbooks.
Expanding free
textbooks to all students and reimbursing schools for their actual cost
"is needed not only for families but for schools," said Ritz, who noted
schools must have the money for books upfront and then be reimbursed.
Indiana is
currently one of eight states that charge for textbooks, according to the
state Department of Education.
Kenley said he
worried that that providing free textbooks would remove incentives for
school districts to hold down costs.