Indiana schools and teachers won’t face any penalties from lower scores on the 2019 and 2020 versions of the state’s new standardized exam.
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According to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s prepared remarks, Fiat-Chrysler will invest $400 million in its Kokomo facility and hinted that an announcement will be made on Friday from Toyota in Princeton.
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Republican Eric Holcomb has said he would wait for recommendations later this year from a teacher pay commission he appointed in February, but he told reporters Monday—on the first day of the legislative session—that might change with state tax revenues growing faster than expected.
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Teachers say they are rallying for better working conditions, higher pay, increased funding for public school classrooms, less emphasis on standardized testing and more respect.
Read MoreIt’s up to each district to decide whether to pay hourly workers—including bus drivers, custodians, food service employees and paraprofessionals—who are typically paid only for days when students are present.
Indiana legislators have voted to end the mandatory use of student standardized test results in teacher evaluations, dropping a requirement long opposed by teachers.
Following a successful school-funding referendum in 2018, IPS has doled out millions of dollars in raises to most staff. That boost in pay has been a boon for district teachers, but it has left the city’s charter schools at a disadvantage.
The state Senate voted 42-7 Tuesday in favor of the bill that specifies a 40-hour training program for teachers volunteering to be armed, followed by 16 hours of additional training each year.
Users of the newly launched INview will have more immediate access to how much schools and districts are spending per student, as well as how that figure compares to the state average and other schools with similar demographics.
A Democratic proposal to immediately boost Indiana teacher pay by $100 million a year by stretching out payments to a teacher pension fund was rejected Thursday by a Republican-controlled committee.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is expected to talk during his annual State of the State speech Tuesday about a possible additional boost in school funding—just not one that would happen this year.
Teachers have long objected to the requirement, and bill sponsor Republican Rep. Tony Cook of Cicero said removing it acknowledges the trouble with measuring teacher effectiveness based on a single student exam.
Gov. Eric Holcomb and GOP legislators maintain that more can be done about teacher pay in 2021 when the next new two-year budget is written.
Members of the Republican-dominated General Assembly are set to return Monday to the Statehouse in Indianapolis for their 2020 session, during which they will face continued calls from teacher unions and Democrats for better teacher pay.
Republicans who control the Indiana Statehouse aren’t showing any signs that a rally by several thousand teachers on its doorsteps two weeks ago has swayed them to boost education funding anytime soon.
State lawmakers might choose not to address some education issues in the upcoming legislative session, but they are likely to loom over Indiana politics in the election season.
It remains to be seen whether this week’s Red for Ed rally at the Indiana Statehouse will lead to policy changes sought by teachers, but here are five things that could result in the near future.
The thousands of teachers descending on the state capitol Tuesday face an uphill battle when it comes to getting elected officials to raise their salaries. But top lawmakers appear open to changes on other issues.
Tuesday’s fast-growing rally is expected to cancel school for half of the state’s students while as many as 12,000 teachers descend on the Indiana Statehouse to make a list of demands.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb isn’t promising quick action in response to educators who want more teacher pay, but said he respects the decisions of school districts to call off classes for a Statehouse rally next week.
A 2018 voter-backed referendum funded the latest round of pay increases. Some teachers will see their salaries go up by as much as $9,400 this year, a significant increase designed to account for years of recession-era pay freezes.
So many teachers asked to take Nov. 19 off to rally at the Indiana Statehouse for higher pay that nearly 30 districts across the state have canceled school or scheduled e-learning days.
The move comes after Republican state Sen. Jean Leising, of Oldenburg, introduced legislation this year that required the state Board of Education to adopt a program that’s administered nationally.
Teachers across the district would see substantial pay increases under the proposal, with the district’s starting salary for teachers rising to $45,200 this school year, according to a union official.
