Gov. Daniels and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett have released a new plan for Indiana schools — and that plan was endorsed yesterday by the Indiana Education Roundtable. The Indy Star has the story:

The Indiana Education Roundtable, made up of education, business and civic leaders, unanimously recommended an education reform agenda being championed by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett and supported by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

The next step is for the reform to be packaged into a series of bills that will be put before state legislators when they convene Jan. 5…

Garnering the most attention and what Bennett emphasized the most was improving the teacher evaluation process and awarding teachers based on performance rather than seniority.

The influence of teacher’s unions also was addressed in the reform agenda, including focusing collective bargaining agreements "on salaries and wage-related benefits, including innovative ways to recognize performance through compensation."

Gov. Mitch Daniels said various drafts of the bills are being pondered and that a first draft could be laid out in a couple of weeks.

"Every word we’ve said about how complicated this is true," Daniels said after the meeting. "But the day has come that we have to act."

You can find an outline of the plan here.

You can also listen to Indiana Chamber VP of Education & Workforce Development Derek Redelman offer his take on the proposed reforms.