Indiana's state schools superintendent asked lawmakers Thursday to shift money that a House budget plan allocated for charter schools to public schools instead and also outlined her plan to cut the cost of student testing.
Rep. Robert Behning, who is sponsoring the measure, said: "We should not be taking bad schools and passing them off to somebody else."
Carpe Diem Meridian charter school in Indianapolis offered $100 Marsh grocery gift cards to anyone who referred a student who enrolled — an incentive that some critics say went too far.
The Senate Appropriations Committee heard almost two hours of testimony Thursday from representatives both for and against the governor’s suggested $1,500 per-student grant to the state’s public charter schools.
A bill introduced in the Indiana General Assembly would divert $10 million or more in state education money into a new fund that would make grants to schools that focus on teaching expelled students.
The governor said this will be an "education session" and said his priorities will include changes to the school funding formula and more money for school choice.
Republicans have rejected Democrats' calls to specify in Indiana's state budget how much money is going toward traditional public schools, charter schools and the private school voucher program.
Hardly any teachers got low ratings despite major changes to toughen up state’s teacher evaluation system in 2011.
The percentage of Marion County charter schools receiving a D or an F from state regulators has spiked from 30 percent two years ago to 54 percent this year.
As part of the negotiations over the city budget and a preschool proposal, a 1-percent charter school management fee is being considered.
IPS board members met this week to prepare a lobbying strategy for the Indiana General Assembly’s session that begins in January. Chief among their goals: reining in the state takeover process.
Challengers to incumbents are collecting the largest checks. Big contributors range from the Indy Chamber political action committee to executives with Facebook and LinkedIn.
For the second time in three years, Indianapolis’s Christel House Academy South charter school received a higher grade than the state’s scoring formula initially said it should.
The endowment hopes to expand educational MBA programs, including one at the University of Indianapolis, to give business skills to more principals and superintendents at Indiana public schools.
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.
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.
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.
The city will be the first in the nation to open a charter school designed for youth passing through the juvenile court system and other troubled students.
Agents collected documents from the Indiana Math and Science Academy this week as part of court-ordered search warrant. The school at 7435 N. Keystone Ave. said it provided information related to a federal grant program.
Former Eli Lilly and Co. Nick LeRoy will lead the state board, which reviews, approves and regulates some of the state’s charter schools.
