Raatz: Bill To Fully Fund Virtual Students In Public Schools Receives Hearing

Fully funding virtual students is among the top legislative priorities for Senate Republicans.

State Sen. Jeff Raatz. Photo provided.

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - A bill authored by State Sen. Jeff Raatz (R-Richmond) that would fully fund students attending public schools virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic for the 2020-2021 academic year received a hearing in the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development today.

Under current law, public schools receive 85% of the per-student state funding for any student who gets at least half of their education virtually.

If passed and signed into law, Senate Bill 2 would provide 100% of the state's per-student funding for students at brick-and-mortar public schools who have gone to virtual instruction for part or all of the 2020-2021 academic year, so long as those students weren't already virtually learning prior to COVID-19.

"No one could have predicted the impact COVID-19 would have on our schools when our state's school funding laws were written," Raatz said. "This is intended to be a one-year fix to recognize the hardships caused by COVID-19."

To learn more about SB 2, visit iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/senate/2.  

Raatz, Chair of the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development, added that the bill could receive a vote by the committee as early as next week.