Senate Bill 287 is now poised to become law. If signed by the governor, candidates in all future school board races will be able to declare a political affiliation, opening the door to increasingly politicized school board races. Continue reading How Will Indiana’s Likely Move to Partisan School Board Races Impact Kids?
An amendment to Senate Bill 373 could open the door to deeper collaboration between IPS and charter schools on student transportation and facilities management. But IPS still has pushback on the measure and is hoping to a few final changes before the bill reaches the finish line. Continue reading IPS-Charter School Alliance For Transportation, Facilities Moves Forward
A Supreme Court case being heard in April will decide whether states must allow the existence of religious charter schools. It threatens the very foundations of the charter school movement. Continue reading The Impending Supreme Court Case That Could Approve Religious Charter Schools
Recent immigration policy changes may already be having a negative impact on attendance and academic outcomes for some student groups. Meanwhile locally, a dust-up between IPS and Indiana’s Attorney General Todd Rokita brought clashing ideologies into sharp relief. Continue reading Current Immigration Policy Will Negatively Impact Student Outcomes. The Only Question is How Much?
Chronic absenteeism hasn’t gotten a lot of attention this legislative session. While two bills remain under consideration, there’s also a new report that digs deep into the practices of six Indianapolis schools to look at what they are doing to reduce chronic absenteeism. Continue reading How 6 Indianapolis Schools Combat Chronic Absenteeism
It’s Back to the Future time in Indiana with House Bill (HB) 1149 poised to resurrect the “A-F” grading system for schools across the Hoosier state. Assuming it becomes law (and it’s already passed the House, so chances are high), schools will once again be assigned letter grades each year based on a handful of metrics. Continue reading Indiana Schools May Be About to Pass or Fail… Again
Three bills could have wide-ranging impacts on how property tax revenue is used to fund public schools across Indiana. We dig into the particulars of each and how they might impact our educational landscape moving forward. Continue reading Indiana is on the Precipice of Breaking New Ground in How it Funds Schools
Across ten pint-sized pages, House Bill 1501 proposes to 1) Establish a three-year “centralized school facilities pilot program,” and 2) Establish a three-year “student transportation pilot program.” It also creates a mechanism by which these pilot programs can be made permanent after the initial three years. Today, we dive deep into the potential impact of this legislation. Continue reading Will IPS Lose Control Over Referendums, Facilities, and Transportation?
Indiana has a new retention law on the books that says if your third grade doesn’t pass IREAD this spring, they may get retained. Here’s everything you need to know about as a parent about the law and what your school should be communicating with you. Continue reading Is Your Third Grader About to Be Retained?
The recently-proposed HB 1136 put a spotlight on public school enrollment trends, both in Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and across the state. Today, we unpack enrollment for IPS, local charter schools, and all the other districts around Marion County. Is public school enrollment declining everywhere, or just in IPS? Continue reading The Fate of IPS and Public School Enrollment Trends Across Marion County
