Indiana parents finally let state education officials know that they are not ready to make further drastic changes in educational structure. In other words, slow down.
According to a news report by Zach Osowski of the Courier & Press, the Indiana State Board of Education, instead of approving changes to the state's high school diploma requirements, formed a committee. That group will study any proposed changes in program structure.
This came after education officials were bombarded with emails from parents, teachers and school administrators. We have been wondering for the past year when parents, teachers and others would get fed up with dramatic changes in structure and tell officials to, well, slow down.
What happened this past week is that state board members voted without opposition to delay an overhaul of state diplomas, which would have eliminated the general high school diploma and would have de-emphasized some study areas, among them arts education. Indeed, the changes, had they come about, would have no longer required students to take fine arts or foreign language.
Among the discussion, Kevin Gerrity, president of the Indiana Music Education Association, urged the board to make fine arts a requirement. According to Osowski, Gerrity said, "Research says arts education changes students' brains. It makes them creative problem solvers. Put two credits of fine arts in every diploma."
Education policymakers heard complains earlier about adding another year of required math and what impact the changes might have on special education students and their ability to even earn a diploma. School officials said requiring an additional year of math would mean schools would have to hire more math teachers. And they said new hires would mean laying off teachers in other subjects because of budget concerns.
Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz will form a committee to look into the concerns raised by opponents of diploma changes. The committee will look at fine arts, language arts and special education. The committee will have until April 1 to make recommendations to the state school board.
Ritz added that the delay will not hurt the proposed time line of implementing new guidelines, which are scheduled to begin during the 2018-19 school year.
This all started with the Indiana Legislature, with lawmakers wanting to make sure students headed for college are properly prepared.
With that lofty goal in mind, Indiana students and schools would be well served if the new committee does its job, and gets it right this time.