The folks in Indiana don't seem to care for the idea of providing affirmative action for "conservatives" in higher education -- for example, an editorial in the Chronicle Tribune in Grant County, Indiana opines:

...Now, if some liberal group were lobbying for some kind of liberal-protection law, conservatives - after they stopped laughing - would rightfully raise a ruckus and demand that the demand be ignored. And Hoosier legislators - after they stop laughing - should show the Students for Academic Freedom the door. Quickly.

Of all people, conservatives should know better. Conservatives, if they truly believe in the principles of the cause, do not want more unnecessary laws. They want fewer of them.

The Indianapolis Star  argues:

... Do conservative students, especially religious conservatives, often feel slighted, ridiculed and harassed on campus? Without a doubt.

But state and federal laws already exist to address the problem through legal means, if that's what it takes.

The better solution is for universities to create an environment in which conservatives and liberals, the religious and non-religious, feel welcome. That requires professors, students and administrators who possess enough intellectual honesty, curiosity and courage to tolerate people of all political, social and religious beliefs. Passing another law isn't the path conservatives should follow to achieve acceptance.

And, Denver Post columnist Ed Quillen shows they haven't forgotten about attempts to pass a law there last year.

These studies will certainly have folks talking under the Dome this session:

Charter Schools: Lessons in Limits. In the past five months, three major reports have been released showing that charter schools performed more poorly than public schools on the same tests. The most recent of them, issued this month by the Education Department, presented a re-analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress comparing outcomes for charter and public school students on these national exams. It echoed the NAEP findings released in August by the American Federation of Teachers. Yet another report, released reluctantly by the Education Department this fall, looked at state exam data in five states and came to the same conclusion. By Amy Stuart Wells. [washingtonpost.com - Op-Eds]