Ensuring Hoosier kids have access to a great education is always one of my top priorities in the State Senate, which is why K-12 education represents nearly half of Indiana's state budget.
Over the last two budget cycles, the General Assembly has increased tuition support by $2.4 billion and placed renewed emphasis on proven literacy education methods.
Thanks to these efforts, Hoosier students have made historic improvements in their reading scores on the nation's report card, with fourth graders improving from 19th to 6th in the nation and eighth graders improving from 17th to 6th in the nation.
Our third graders also achieved a nearly 5% increase in literacy rates, which is the largest increase in reading proficiency since launching the IREAD test in 2013. This amounts to an additional 6,000 students who are now proficient in foundational reading skills.
These improvements are not possible without our state's great teachers who work hard to help our students improve every day. With that in mind, I was glad to support a new law this year that requires schools to spend more of their state funding on teacher pay and increased the minimum annual teacher salary to $45,000. We have also seen the average statewide teacher pay rise to more than $63,000.
Thanks to the hard work of our schools, teachers, parents and state leaders, these accomplishments are only the beginning – we have a bright future ahead of us.
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