Indiana House speaker leaving College Board executive job

The Republican leader of the Indiana House has resigned his executive position with the organization that runs the SAT college admissions test, saying he wants to focus on his legislative duties.

House Speaker Todd Huston said Tuesday he had decided to leave his position as a senior vice president at the College Board, the New York-based group also known for high school advance placement exams.

Huston worked in that position since 2012, the same year he was first elected to the Legislature and became a leading advocate of expanding the state’s private school voucher program.

Huston said since becoming House speaker in 2020 he has considered how to balance his College Board work with his legislative responsibilities.

“As of right now, I’m focused on a strong, successful finish to this legislative session,” Huston said in a statement. “I want to recharge my batteries post-session before considering future opportunities.”

Huston has faced some criticism for his College Board role while Indiana House Republicans pushed through a bill last month mandating that classroom materials be vetted by parent review committees and placing restrictions on teaching about racism and political topics. Another endorsed by House Republicans would ban transgender women and girls from participating in K-12 school sports that match their gender identity.

Those proposals are awaiting action in the state Senate.

The Indiana Democratic Party called Huston “a walking conflict of interest.”

“Let this remind Indiana Republican lawmakers that their culture war agenda — that includes putting politics in classrooms and targeting innocent minors — has real world consequences outside of the Indiana General Assembly,” said Lauren Ganapini, the state Democratic Party’s executive director.

The nonprofit College Board’s 2019 federal tax filings reported that Huston was paid about $460,000.

Huston, who represents Fishers in suburban Indianapolis, joined the College Board after working as chief of staff for Indiana’s then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett in 2009-10. Before that, he was a member of the Indiana State Board of Education and the Hamilton Southeastern School Board.