Indiana education deregulation bill sparks social-emotional learning debate in final Senate vote
By Casey Smith April 16,2025
Tensions flared Tuesday in the Indiana Senate as conversations around an education deregulation bill devolved into a debate over social-emotional learning, or SEL.
In focus was House Bill 1002, a Republican-backed measure that despite its length — 165 pages in the latest draft — would strike multiple sections of current state education code, trimming about 35,000 words in all.
Examples include the removal of dozens of “may” provisions, eliminating specific COVID-19 pandemic requirements and striking duplicate code. Republican bill author Rep. Bob Behning estimated that the cuts would reduce state education regulations by nearly 10%.
There was bipartisan concern, however, about the bill’s deletion of existing requirements for teachers to complete training in SEL trauma-informed care and cultural competency.
The bill would remove “social, emotional, and behavioral functioning” evaluations from school psychologists’ list of responsibilities. School improvement plans also would no longer be required to incorporate “culturally appropriate strategies for increasing education opportunities” for certain student populations at the school, including different racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
SEL, in particular, has been targeted by Republican lawmakers in recent legislative sessions and criticized by conservative groups that say such practices are akin to liberal ideology and should not be permitted in schools.
Some senators push back
GOP supporters said the newest proposed rollbacks are in response to federal guidance. A recent U.S. Department of Education letter, for example, said considerations based on race in educational settings is “unlawful.”
“Teachers should be focusing on academic rigor, math, science, reading, writing and technical skills, instead of emotional regulation, empathy,” said Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville. “Teachers are not therapists, nor should they be treated as such. Trained, licensed mental health professionals are better equipped to handle the social emotional aspects of student life.”
Republican senators who voted against House Bill 1002:
Sen. Ron Alting, of Lafayette
Sen. Vaneta Becker, of Evansville
Sen. Mike Bohacek, of Michiana Shores
Sen. Sue Glick, of LaGrange
Sen. Jean Leising, of Oldenburg
Sen. Jim Tomes, of Wadesville
Sen. Mike Young, of Indianapolis
Sen. Andy Zay, of Huntington
But his colleague, Republican Sen. Ron Alting, of Lafayette, disagreed. He emphasized that “the best counseling I’ve had in my whole life was from my teachers and my coaches.”
“If it wasn’t for my coaches and my teachers in my life to keep me straight, to keep me going, I’m not sure where I’d be today. I sure wouldn’t be here, I can tell you that,” he said.
“Those of you saying teachers aren’t qualified … these kids need help … these kids need someone to love them,” Alting continued, becoming more passionate. “I will leave the room if I hear another senator in this place say that a teacher or coach is not qualified to talk to our kids, or that these kids don’t need to be talked to because they do.”
Across the aisle, Sen. Rodney Pol, D-Chesterton, pointed to oppositional testimony provided by teachers.
“They thought that removing this requirement was going to be a bad thing for their classrooms,” he said. “I hear, by and large, from a lot of parents and teachers is that behaviors are the problem in the classroom, and that we need help. … Proponents of the bill say this is something that the parents should be taking care of at home … and that teachers aren’t therapists or social workers.”
“Ask a teacher, if they have a kid in their classroom that is having meltdown after meltdown after meltdown, disrupting the classroom, consistently jeopardizing the education of everybody else in the classroom … I can guarantee you that teacher is going to say, ‘Yes, SEL is probably going to be something that is going to provide some assistance to those students in those classrooms,” Pol noted.
Democratic Sen. J.D. Ford, of Indianapolis, doubled down that SEL “applies skills to manage emotions, build relationships and make responsible decisions.”
“I have seen this first hand with some of the students that I have been in with schools. Instead of a student striking another student, the educators were able to talk with the students and explain that we need to use our words, as opposed to striking another student. That’s social emotional learning,” Ford maintained. “That is a life skill that a student is going to need for the rest of their life.”
More than an hour of debate left bill sponsor Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, on the defensive.
“I agree … we need counselors in the classrooms and social workers to help with the social-emotional needs of the children. There’s no two ways about it. What I disagree with is that we mandate, from this building, that there’s a certain percentage of your time that you have to counsel,” Raatz said in his final remarks. “The sheer thought that we’re pulling things out that’s going to hurt kids — I take offense. … We’re talking about kids’ lives and interaction between individuals. And the more the state gets involved, the more troubles we have.”
The bill advanced from the Senate chamber in a 31-18 vote. Democrats — along with eight Republicans — opposed the legislation, which now returns to the House for final deliberations.
Read this article on the Indiana Capital Chronicle website here.