May 15, 2013
Associated PressBall State University has closed the books on its January decision to pull its sponsorship of seven academically struggling
Indiana charter schools.
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May 11, 2013
J.K. WallThomas Carr Howe Community High School, one of four taken over by the state Department of Education, is being remade yet again.
And this time it faces a slew of competitors in the education-reform arena.
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April 22, 2013
Associated PressSeven schools whose charters were revoked by Ball State University in January would be absolved of payments along with another
school which did not seek to renew its charter.
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March 11, 2013
Associated PressSupporters of Indiana's charter schools and private school vouchers packed a Statehouse corridor with hundreds of children
from those schools for a rally Monday as they backed expansion of those programs.
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March 6, 2013
Dan Human, J.K. WallAn educational group is planning to spend about $4 million to renovate an Indianapolis warehouse to open its first charter
school in what it hopes will become a statewide network.
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March 2, 2013
A bill moving through the state legislature would remove the City-County Council's ability to veto mayor-sponsored charter
schools.
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February 25, 2013
Old National Bank is suing the operator of charter school that closed last summer in Indianapolis, claiming it failed to pay
off the $1.8 million balance on its mortgage.
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February 23, 2013
J.K. WallA new group of 40-something professionals in central Indiana is hoping to do for education reform what the amateur sports
initiative did 35 years ago: spawn a generation of leaders to work on a long-term challenge.
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February 23, 2013
J.K. WallConcerned that a shortage of high-quality schools is fueling a loss of population in Marion County, Mayor Greg Ballard’s
administration and a series of community groups have drawn up a preliminary plan to help replicate the city’s most successful
schools.
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February 9, 2013
Kathleen McLaughlinMayor Greg Ballard is nationally recognized as a rigorous charter authorizer, picky about which schools open and willing to
shut down the under-performers. But there is a cost to the city’s education work and Ballard may have to consider how
much of it can be supported by the city’s maxed-out general fund alone.
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February 6, 2013
Associated PressThe Indiana State Board of Education is handing authority over four troubled Indianapolis schools to the city's mayor.
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January 22, 2013
Associated PressBall State University has pulled its sponsorship of seven Indiana charter schools plagued by long-running academic woes, including
one in Indianapolis.
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January 11, 2013
Mason King
What exactly does The Mind Trust do? What happened to its report on
remaking IPS? Do you need teaching experience to reform education? David Harris has answers.
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December 19, 2012
Associated PressA judge has ruled that two northeastern Indiana school districts can sell vacant schools, bypassing a state law requiring
them to wait four years in case a charter school wanted to claim the buildings.
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December 6, 2012
J.K. WallMayor Greg Ballard’s office has approved seven more charters—more than half as many as he approved in his previous
five years in office.
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November 24, 2012
J.K. WallDuring Republican Tony Bennett’s tenure as superintendent of public instruction, Indiana became the poster child for
school choice. But with Bennett’s surprising election loss to Democrat Glenda Ritz this month, the future of charter
schools and private-school vouchers is murkier.
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October 20, 2012
J.K. WallCharles A. Tindley Accelerated School, which currently has two locations, will use a $1.6 million grant from the Charter School
Growth Fund to open five more schools over the next three years.
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October 13, 2012
J.K. WallBoth Marian and Teach for America say not enough people are prepared to lead schools in Indianapolis and around the state
in areas of low income, high crime and broken homes.
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August 1, 2012
Scott OlsonThe Project School in Indianapolis has lost a court battle to remain open after a judge denied an injunction challenging Mayor
Greg Ballard's decision to revoke the school’s charter.
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July 25, 2012
Scott OlsonThe Project School was granted a court hearing and restraining order Tuesday in its fight against Mayor Greg Ballard's plan
to revoke its charter. Ballard, though, emphasized his decision by issuing a "final notice of charter revocation."
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July 17, 2012
J.K. WallIndianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard announced Tuesday evening that he intends to revoke the charter that gives The Project School
the authority to operate. Ballard cited poor test scores and “recently discovered financial problems.”
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June 23, 2012
J.K. WallThe Indianapolis-based education reform group The Mind Trust will announce June 25 that it is awarding $1 million apiece to
Indianapolis-based Christel House Academy and Boston-based Phalen Leadership Academies to launch new charter schools in Indianapolis.
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June 21, 2012
J.K. WallSix months after the Mind Trust released its plan to reform Indianapolis Public Schools, researchers at Indiana University
now say the plan rests on experiments in other cities that led to greater inequity among students and did not produce dramatic
academic gains.
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June 2, 2012
J.K. WallThree "blended learning" educational organizations have been approved to open 19 charter schools here that combine online
technology and face-to-face instruction. The strategy allows schools to save money by employing fewer teachers, yet also can
produce impressive student results.
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May 12, 2012
J.K. WallAfter a near-death experience, the KIPP Indianapolis College Preparatory School is back on its feet and looking to spawn a
mini-district of charter schools. KIPP-Indy leaders have drawn up plans to launch four additional schools from 2014 to 2020.
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Can IBJ please stop referring to this property as "Kessler Mansion"? What a ridiculous title for the biggest, bloated, blight in our city. It's not a mansion. At best, it's an ideal site to shoot low-budget porn. Ahhh! Another business use!
Its stories like these that prove that a Ball State diploma is worth less than the paper that its printed on. A real institution of higher learning would have taken care of this long ago. No way should this crap be taught in a SCIENCE class.
It is such a shame that King Ballard has made Indianapolis into Chicago south with all of the rampant corruption.
How many of these 1,259 bills were actually heard and voted on on the floor vs how many were shot down in committee?
When a an arrogant young guy with essentially no experience and no qualifications for the job, was dropped into an Administrator position out of nowhere by his "mentor" in the Mayor's office things seemed fishy. Sometimes things are what they seem.