INDIANAPOLIS  — Members of the Republican-dominated General Assembly will return today (Monday 1/6/20) to the Statehouse in Indianapolis for their 2020 session, during which they will face continued calls from teacher unions and Democrats for better teacher pay and less reliance on standardized student test scores for evaluation of schools and educators.

Legislators are expected to quickly approve proposals to delay penalties to schools and teachers from lower 2019 student scores on the state’s new ILEARN standardized test.

Republicans seem to want to wait another year before further boosting school funding despite a Statehouse rally by several thousand teachers and state tax revenues growing faster than expected.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb wants to wait for recommendations later this year from his teacher pay commission rather than have lawmakers act during their session that’s set to last until early March.

Holcomb also wants legislators to enact a statewide ban on drivers using handheld cellphones.