INDIANAPOLIS | State Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, won tentative committee approval Wednesday for changes to a House-approved plan for state takeover of local school corporations that makes the process more cooperative and less confrontational.
The Senate Education Committee unanimously adopted Rogers' proposed amendment to House Bill 1638, but postponed until next week a vote on whether to advance the revised legislation to the full Senate.
Rogers' changes give local school officials and the Indiana Department of Education a greater role in helping the Indiana State Board of Education decide whether a district that repeatedly has earned an F should be taken over.
"I think it goes a long way toward where we would like to go, which is that the local control supersedes everything, or at least there is involvement of the local people in terms of whatever you decide to do," Rogers said.
She also added language requiring any State Board of Education decision to shut down a failing school be approved by a two-thirds majority.
Earlier this month, the Republican-appointed board voted 6-4 to close Gary's Dunbar-Pulaski Academic and Career Academy at the end of the current school year -- despite the strong objection of Glenda Ritz, the elected Democratic state superintendent of public instruction.
Rogers said her changes won't be enacted in time to help Dunbar-Pulaski. But by also requiring the state board approve a student reassignment plan in conjunction with any future school shutdowns, other students won't face the same uncertainty about where they will go to school next year.
At the same time, Rogers still isn't convinced the underlying legislation is necessary, and plans to keep suggesting changes as it proceeds through the Senate.
"I described it as putting lipstick on a pig," Rogers said. "I think we've provided the lipstick; we might need some more mascara as we move along."