INDIANAPOLIS – A bill decoupling teacher evaluations from ILEARN scores still faces an uncertain future in the Senate, even after sailing through the House.

The House voted unanimously to stop linking teachers’ paychecks to their students’ test scores. But Governor Holcomb and Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray have been noncommittal, and Speaker Brian Bosma says he hasn’t discussed it with Senate leaders yet.

Current law requires ILEARN scores to be part of the calculation of a teacher’s effectiveness, which in turn is part of the formula in determining pay. Teachers have argued for years there are too many factors in those scores which have little to do with how good a teacher is.

Bosma says even he expected more opposition among House Republicans when he made it part of the caucus’s agenda for this year’s session. There has been opposition, notably from the Indiana Chamber, which contends cutting test scores out of the equation for rating teachers would undermine schools’ accountability for results. But in the House, that opposition didn’t sway any votes.

The House proposal would still allow local school districts to consider test scores if they choose, but would eliminate the decade-old requirement that they do so.

Like most House bills, the Senate won’t even consider the ILEARN bill until February, after it’s finished dealing with its own bills.