Indiana public education faces a variety of challenges after several policy changes. Graphic by Lily O’Connor.

AUBREY MATASOVSKY | STAFF REPORTER | amatasovsky@butler.edu  

CHASE MENDYGRAL | STAFF REPORTER | cmendygral@butler.edu 

The Indiana State Board of Education recently redesigned its high school graduation requirements. In response to Indiana ranking No. 32 in state public high school graduation rates in 2023 — with 90.2% of students graduating — the State Board of Education looked to make some changes. 

The new system aims to help students with the goal of entering the workforce directly after graduation. Students can achieve an employment seal, in which they are required to complete 150 hours of career-based learning and take three career and technical education courses. 

In order to accommodate this new pathway, the Board of Education is lowering requirements for common subjects such as math, science and English. The redesigned diploma allows students to have more freedom in which courses they take. 

These changes have not come without public concern, specifically about how many students may not understand the requirements that many universities have for their course load in high school, as the new changes allow for a much easier course load for students. 

There is also a new “military pathway” for students to achieve their diplomas. These students must complete a year of JROTC or an introduction to public service class, and they are also required to score a 31 or higher on a military aptitude test known as the ASVAB. 

The new diploma system aims to increase real-world exposure for students outside of the classroom and allow students to have more control over their high school experience. However, due to the lowered course requirements, there could be a further decline in Indiana residents going to college, a number that has dropped by over 13% in the last decade. A further decline could directly affect Butler admissions in the future, as nearly half of Butler’s student body are Indiana residents.

Morgan Evans, a fifth-year elementary education major, voiced her concerns about the new requirements. 

“I talked to some professors at Butler who said, ‘I don’t think someone could get into Butler with these types of requirements,’” Evans said. 

Lowering the minimum requirements for students puts more on the student to understand what they need to do in order to make it to college, and this has the potential to cause low-motivated students to struggle. 

The Indiana public school system has recently been facing several challenges, from an increased financial burden as a result of Senate Bill One, a teacher shortage and widespread curriculum changes. 

These difficulties manifested most recently with the ongoing contract negotiations in the Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation, in which the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA), the district’s teachers’ union, recently rejected the proposed teacher contract. 

The major sticking point between the two parties has been the lack of a salary increase for teachers, despite insurance premiums rising by more than 10% since last year, reducing take-home pay for teachers in the district. 

Tyler Zerbe, an English teacher at Hamilton Southeastern High School (HSE) and the current president of HSEA, has been directly involved in ongoing contract negotiations. 

“This year, we’re asking [the] administration for an extra $1.6 million,” Zerbe said. “[That] would essentially cover the rest of the insurance premium and rate increases, and it would hold teachers’ level for this year.” 

However, the district may have difficulties funding these changes as a result of policy changes that have put more of a financial burden on individual school corporations. 

“They do blame the past administration — as well as Senate Bill One — for the financial situation that we are in,” Zerbe said. “That would require them to go into cash reserves to give teachers any extra compensation this year. The issue with that is because insurance rates are going up across the nation, if teachers don’t see any kind of increase, then teachers in HSE will see a pay cut this year.”

These difficulties have been directly acknowledged by the district throughout the negotiation process, and in the most recent statement released by district superintendent Patrick Mapes. 

“HSE faces a budget crisis not of our own creation, which cannot be ignored,” Mapes stated. “Prior administrative decisions, state policy changes under Senate Enrolled Act 1 [and] with a decline in enrollment in the district, district revenue [will be reduced] by a projection of over $4 million annually. Without adjustments, the district would deplete its available cash reserves within two years.” 

Senate Bill One, passed earlier this year, reduced property taxes for Hoosiers, which public schools rely on as a source of funding. This, combined with inflation, limits a district’s funding.

If these financial challenges continue to adversely affect teacher pay, it may exacerbate an already prevalent teacher shortage within Indiana, where there are already 2,413 unfilled vacancies in Indiana education institutions. This has the potential to impact many current and future Butler education majors, as seeing a consistent decline in their prospective profession makes the major far less appealing.

Karoline Anthony, a junior education and biology double major, plans to teach biology and recently reviewed the computer science curriculum to be approved by the Indiana Department of Education. 

As she looks to her future, the challenges facing teachers’ salaries are an issue. 

“The cost of living is astronomical right now, and I feel like that is definitely a part of [the cause],” Anthony said. “I feel like it’s definitely not something that’s currently prioritized by the current administration, which is not really helping retain teachers and conditions.”

As policy changes and discussions about teacher recognition continue to impact the public education system, there are continued debates about how to best serve students, but young educators like Evans suggest emphasizing the input of teachers.

“Education is both a science and an art,” Evans said. “When you get into things that are both science and art, there are so many moving pieces that you have to [consider], or you’re not thinking about the whole picture accurately, and part of that picture is what teachers observe in the classroom.”