Bob Behning, architect of so many destructive education laws, chairman of our House Education Committee for 15 years, and legislator who brought harmful policies from outside national interest groups (like the American Legislative Exchange Council or ALEC) to Indiana, is out. 

Todd Huston, the House Speaker, a major voice for universal vouchers, and an ALEC darling himself, is out.

In fact, there are six, possibly seven, of the 13 seats on the House Education committee that will now need to be replaced.

For 14 years, both chambers of Indiana’s General Assembly operated under supermajorities — 16 years in the Senate and 14 years in the House. During that time, outside interest groups and anti-public school think tanks brought their next “best” legislative policies to Indiana. Legislators accepted campaign donations from groups promoting those policies and carried their water.

But the 2026 election changed the political landscape in Indiana.

Our Statehouse (with results still in flux) has flipped from 70R–30D in the House to 54R–46D. The State Senate went from 40R–10D to 35R–15D. Of the 21 newcomers who flipped the seats, 16 signed ICPE’s 2026 Candidate Pledge (13 House, 3 Senate).

Results remain unofficial, with two races still being resolved.

The entrenched power of one party is cracking. 

Supporting public education is not about being a Republican or a Democrat. ICPE is nonpartisan, but we are not neutral when it comes to policies that affect our public schools. Our commitment is to Indiana’s public school students, educators, and communities — not to any political party. We celebrate policies that strengthen public education and challenge those that undermine it, regardless of who proposes them.

Of the referendums on the ballot, love for the community’s public schools won the day on most of these initiatives. Despite the fact that in many communities people are feeling the squeeze of the high costs and inflation, 27 of the 39* referendum questions passed. When SEA1 (from 2025) passed, Hoosiers were supposed to get a break. But the cuts also meant that property tax revenue for schools was slashed. Now many communities are forced to tax themselves in order to give their kids the education they deserve. It makes no sense. 

There is a message here. 

Hoosiers love their public schools. Republicans, Independents, Democrats alike send their kids to public schools every single day. They are the heart of our communities. In many places, they are the largest employer. They unite us– we sit together on Friday nights and watch football or go to the school concerts. 

People are angry that the state continues to ask public schools to do more with less. Hoosiers, like many across the country, are struggling to afford groceries, housing, health care, utilities like heat, and the cost of fuel. Our public schools are also struggling. This fall, a record number of school districts asked their local communities for a referendum just to keep the lights on, retain teachers, or bus kids to and from school. Our state is not adequately funding our public schools. 

The state is not listening. We are angry that the legislature favors charter schools and their constant churn, using our kids as guinea pigs in the name of innovation, rather than investing in stable, well-resourced neighborhood public schools. We are outraged that the legislature has prioritized private school tuition subsidies for the wealthiest Hoosiers while our public schools, which accept all kids, struggle. We see a legislature that is shirking its constitutional obligation (Article 8, sec.1) to fund a common system of public schools, free and open to all, by draining funding in the name of “school choice.”  

Hoosiers and their public schools are not for sale, even if their legislators are. Whatever the next best legislative policy is that comes from outside interest groups and anti-public school think tanks, Indiana’s legislators accept their campaign donations and carry their water. These laws chip away at the foundation of our state: public schools.

The politicians who lost last Tuesday have legislative records showing that they voted against our public schools and our kids. So Hoosiers voted against them. 

Hoosiers have spoken: fully fund and fully support our public schools. Our kids and their communities are counting on it. 

Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. This is a beginning.

*The 39 referendum questions were on the ballot in 38 school districts. Whiting had two questions: one operating and one construction referendum. Both passed.