Committee advances bill to create office for math instruction with $10 million in funding

A legislative education committee on Wednesday voted 7–1 to report Senate Bill 1360, a proposal to establish a specialized office for math instruction and support expanded math proficiency work begun last year.

Pro Tem Moore presented the bill as building on efforts with Senator Seifried and said the measure would centralize work on math proficiency. Representative Walden asked whether creating a specialized office risked "vendorizing" public education and whether vendors would come to "shop various products" and what the budgetary implications would be. "Are we not creating a new agency to which vendors will come to shop various products for us?" Walden asked.

Pro Tem Moore responded that the chief priority is evidence‑based professional development for teachers rather than vendor selection. "The part that I'm focused on mostly is the evidence based professional development for our teachers," Moore said. The sponsor told the committee the original funding request was $5,000,000 and that negotiations increased the appropriation to $10,000,000, which the sponsor said would be used for teacher development, screening tools and steps to implement the plan.

The committee took a do‑pass motion. Pro Tem Moore voted aye; Representative McCain registered a nay; Representative Johns voted aye. The chair announced the committee tally as 7 aye, 1 nay and reported Senate Bill 1360 as passed out of committee.

Why it matters: supporters said a focused office could help ensure students reach grade‑level math skills that open future options, while critics warned a new office could institutionalize vendor relationships. The committee’s action moves the bill to the next stage of the legislative process.

Next steps: Senate Bill 1360 was reported out of committee and will proceed according to the legislature’s scheduling rules.