Two more charter schools in Indianapolis to close
ADI Schools Inc. on Friday announced plans to relinquish charters awarded to Andrew Academy and Padua Academy charter schools. Both schools were sponsored by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.
K-12
Articles
Flanner House charter school to close after cheating allegations
The Flanner House Elementary charter school will close on Sept. 11 after the Indiana Department of Education found evidence of widespread cheating on the state standardized ISTEP test. The school has 176 students.
Former Bennett chief of staff at center of $1.7M contract complaint
A former top education official's role in the sale of $1.7 million of equipment to Indiana is raising new questions about the strength of the state's ethics laws.
Teachers, students facing new state standards
Indiana teachers and students starting the new school year will have to quickly get up to speed on the state's new academic standards, drafted only months ago to replace the national Common Core standards.
Indiana agrees to $3M settlement in school test hitch
Indiana’s state schools superintendent says she has reached a $3 million settlement with CTB/McGraw-Hill after disruptions to standardized tests last year.
ISTEPs bring ‘mixed bag’ for Indiana charter schools
Performance among Indiana's charter schools on the 2014 ISTEP tests ran the gamut from low passing rates to rates similar to the state's best public schools.
Indiana students make small gains in ISTEP scores
State education officials say 74.7 percent of students passed both the math and English tests—up one percentage point from 2013.
Indiana education split plays out in No Child request
A new critique of Indiana's efforts to maintain its exemptions from the No Child Left Behind requirements, written by top staff to Gov. Mike Pence, is widening a rift between state education leaders as federal officials near a decision on the waiver.
Ballard proposes $50M preschool program as part of crime initiative
Mayor Greg Ballard on Wednesday proposed a 5-year program to pay for preschool for 4-year-olds from low-income families. He also floated hiring another 280 police officers. The cost to the average household would be $86 per year.
UPDATE: Court allows education board lawsuit to proceed
A Marion County judge has cleared the way for a lawsuit to proceed against members of the State Board of Education that alleges public access violations.
Indiana Democrats deal with education split
The fighting has exposed a deep rift within the party over how students are educated.
Clock ticks on Wigwam’s fate
Anderson officials say the city will take ownership of the iconic gym, but only if it has a binding agreement by Sept. 2 with a group to reopen the Wigwam.
Education board measures would curb Ritz’s powers
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz said Wednesday she would have her lawyers review a pair of measures from the State Board of Education that would reduce some of her powers as board chair.
UPDATE: Bennett accepts $5,000 fine in ethics settlement
Former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett has agreed to pay $5,000 as part of a settlement in which he admits to using state resources for campaign work but is cleared of formal ethics violations in a grade-change scandal.
Education battle flares between Ritz, Pence
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz accused Gov. Mike Pence's education staff and appointees to the State Board of Education of trying to "undermine" her efforts to secure a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Program preps students to teach at high-need schools
Forty-five Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellows received incentives to attend cutting-edge master's degree programs at Ball State, IUPUI, Purdue University, the University of Indianapolis and Valparaiso University.
UPDATE: Deal set in ex-schools chief Bennett’s ethics case
Inspector General David Thomas filed charges against Tony Bennett last November alleging he used state employees and resources in his failed 2012 re-election campaign.
Pence, Ritz seek federal dollars without strings
Last Monday, Superintendent Glenda Ritz filed a request to continue using federal "Title I" education money with flexibility. A day later, Gov. Mike Pence asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to grant the state an exemption, and about $16.5 billion, to expand Medicaid using a version of the Healthy Indiana Plan.
Indiana requests new No Child Left Behind waiver
At stake is control over a portion of the more than $200 million in federal "Title I" education funding that Indiana receives each year.
Pence reappoints members of state education board
Pence announced Thursday that Indiana developer Gordon Hendry, Lake County attorney Tony Walker, Evansville teacher B.J. Watts and Huntington teacher Cari Whicker would serve new four-year terms.