Representative Behning has served in the Indiana State Legislature since 1992 and represents House District 91, including Marion, Morgan, and Hendricks counties.  He was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana and has been a proud Hoosier his entire life.  In 1976, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University. He was a small business owner for 30 years and is an active member of his church and community.

Throughout his tenure as a representative, he has advocated for education reform in Indiana. This year, as Chairman of the House Education Committee, he led efforts to pass the most comprehensive education reform package in the United States.

Rep. Behning believes all parents deserve the right to choose the school that best meets their child's needs. During the 2011 session of General Assembly, he authored several bills that gave families more high quality options for their children.

House Enrolled Act 1002 creates more opportunities for quality charter schools to be established across the state. The law allows private colleges and universities to sponsor charter schools and creates a statewide sponsoring entity—the Indiana Charter School Board.

In 2001, Rep. Behning was the coauthor of House Bill 2102, a bill that would have created Indiana’s first charter schools.  In 2011, Rep. Behning authored House Enrolled Act 1003, creating the School Choice Scholarship program that provides families who do not have the financial means a scholarship (or voucher) to pay the cost of tuition at a private school.  This law levels the educational playing field in Indiana by giving students of lower incomes and underprivileged backgrounds the same access to great educational options.  The law also establishes a tax deduction for individual taxpayers who donate money to scholarship granting organizations.

In the 2011 legislative session, Rep. Behning also focused on bringing greater accountability to the classroom. He sponsored Senate Enrolled Act 1, which targets teacher and principal quality.  Rep. Behning recognizes school leadership and teacher quality are among the most important factors in raising student achievement.  This law shifts our focus to supporting, growing, and retaining our best teachers and ensures increases to teacher salary will be based on merit, effectiveness, and student performance. 

Rep. Behning was also critical in the passage of Senate Enrolled Act 575, which limited collective bargaining for schools and teachers to salaries, wages, and wage related benefits. Too often, collective bargaining laws stifle school leaders’ ability to innovate and make the decisions that benefit students most.  The law also protects the rigor and integrity of educator evaluations by ensuring the measures used are not part of the collective bargaining process. These laws create a system that hold educators accountable for driving student growth and rewards the best teachers for their achievements.

Rep. Behning believes accountability is critical to ensuring students receive the education they deserve. That’s why he cosponsored a 1999 law that developed Indiana’s school accountability law, the law that requires state intervention for schools that persistently fail to meet bare minimum expectations for student learning and growth. This year, Rep. Behning authored House Bill 1479, which called for earlier intervention and more rigorous expectations for all schools. 

Outside of his legislative role, Rep. Behning is also very involved in a number of community activities. He is on the board of directors at Westview Hospital. This position helped him become a key advocate for Marian University’s Osteopathic School of Medicine, Indiana’s second medical school, which is due to open next year.

Rep. Behning was the School Board Chairman of Calvary Lutheran High School of Indianapolis from 1988-1992.  He was the board president at the Lutheran High School in Indianapolis from 2000-2004.   He is currently the Executive Director at Calvary Lutheran Church, LCMS, in Southport, Indiana.  Rep. Behning is an active member of the Guilford Township Civic Association.  From 1996 to 2004, he was State Chair of Indiana for the American Legislative Exchange Council.  Additionally, he serves on the Decatur Township Civic Council,

Through years of experience, knowledge and passion, Rep. Behning fundamentally strengthened Indiana’s K-12 education system and put tools in place that will equip Indiana students with a high quality education to prepare them for success.