Dive Brief:
- Indiana's State Budget Committee is in the process of reviewing schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz's education spending proposal, which calls for an overall increase of 3%.
- The committee is most interested in the motivations behind Ritz's request for an additional $20 million for student testing, which would make the state's testing budget jump to $65 million.
- Ritz says the extra funds are needed because the state dropped the Common Core and must now create a more challenging ISTEP+ test to go with its new standards.
Dive Insight:
The extra funds request turns the spotlight on the state's decision to drop the Common Core, with some wondering if funds (and a bunch of headaches) could have been saved if Indiana just stuck with the national standards.
"I keep thinking and wondering whether we're making it too hard and too expensive on ourselves," Republican Sen. Luke Kenley, chairman of the committee, told the Associated Press.
The state dropped the Common Core in March, and in June, the U.S. Department of Education informed the state that it must improve its ISTEP+ test if it wants to keep its No Child Left Behind waiver.
This is all definitely something to keep in mind for states considering dropping the Common Core.
