AAUW meeting will examine status of education in Indiana
Two representatives of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education will be the guest speakers for a meeting of the Muncie Branch of the American Association of University Women, which Ball State is an affiliate member of the national organization of AAUW.
The meeting is open to the public.
The meeting will start at 10 a.m. and wrap up no later than noon on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Motivate Our Minds Learning Center, 2023 E. Highland Ave., Muncie.
The topic of the discussion is “The State of Public Education in the 2025 Indiana Legislative Session.”
One bill to be discussed is HB1136. The bill seeks to give the state the authority to dissolve public school corporations and turn them into charters if more than 50% of students in a given district do not attend the traditional public schools in that area.
One of the speakers will be Joel D. Hand, who is the attorney and lobbyist for ICPE. In Hand’s private practice, he has lobbied on behalf of the ICPE at the Indiana State House since 2011. He also handles K-12 special education due process matters, student discipline hearings and appeals, as well as hearings and appeals for suspension or revocation of teacher licenses.
Hand previously held an Indiana teacher’s license and worked for Dr. Suellen Reed, a former Indiana Department of Education superintendent of public instruction, as legal counsel and later as Reed’s director of legislative and governmental relations.
Questions about the meeting or how to join AAUW may be directed to Sheryl Swingley, sswingley@bsu.edu. The only requirement to join AAUW is that the person has an associate degree.