A massive education deregulation bill met mostly with support from 15 speakers during a House education committee hearing on Wednesday.
The biggest issue for many speakers was the removal of a mandate requiring defibrillators and cardiac emergency plans in schools, a law just passed last year.
An amendment, however, restored the requirement.
State Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, authored the bill and chairs the education committee. He said a vote will be taken Jan. 21.
Behning said the 68-page bill aims to reduce redundancies and ease the burden on educators. He said it removes 21,600 words from the state code.
After the language eliminating the AED requirement in schools was removed, several people spoke to support the amendment.
Julie West, a LaPorte city councilwoman, said her 17-year-old son Jake died from cardiac arrest during football practice in 2013. She became a staunch advocate for the law requiring defibrillators at schools and at school events.
“All schools should plan and prepare and protect everyone on school grounds,” she said.
“I never thought my 17-year-old son would suffer cardiac arrest and not come home from school,” she said.
West said about 23,000 young people have cardiac arrest each year. “We have the opportunity to teach our kids lifesaving skills. We are teaching our children they are capable of stepping up and becoming part of the chain of survival.”
She said schools are eligible to use state school safety grants, increased by $5 million statewide last year, to purchase AEDs.
Former Munster School Board member and athletic trainer John Doherty said he doesn’t want the AED requirement watered down.
“Time is crucial,” he said, citing the urgency of a 1-to-3-minute response.
He said the AEDs can be purchased for $100 or less. “I see no need to change the legislation at this point.”
State Rep. Randy Novak, a former Michigan City fire chief, supported the amendment restoring the AED language.
“At a time when data shows AEDs support life, we should be expanding it, not limiting it,” said Novak, D-Michigan City.
Speakers representing the state’s teacher unions voiced concern about the possible removal of contractual teacher rights if they work in a joint program such as an interlocal.
“It appears to treat them differently because of where they teach,” said Gail Zeheralis, a lobbyist for the Indiana State Teachers Association.
Joel Hand, who represents the Indiana Federation of Teachers, pointed to a possible restriction in bargaining rights for teachers in the Gary Community School Corp. because of its distressed status.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
