Operators of takeover schools worry about funding
Private companies that were hired to run five Indiana schools taken over by the state for poor performance say they might not be able to continue because of funding concerns.
Charter Schools
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ITT Educational branches into charter schools
The for-profit educator won approval last month to start a charter school for 11th- and 12th-graders inside one of its ITT Technical Institutes in Indianapolis.
Goodwill to open four more dropout recovery schools
But further expansion is on hold because of a state freeze on new adult-focused charter schools. Lawmakers are concerned the schools are siphoning funds from K-12 education.
State charter schools leader takes national job
Russ Simnick, president of the Indiana Public Charter Schools Association since 2008, has taken a job with the Washington, D.C.-based National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the IPCSA announced Tuesday.
Indianapolis education up-and-comers are fierce competitors
Friends' competition for bragging rights lands both on Forbes' 30 Under 30 lists.
Ball State: 5 revoked charter schools lose appeals
Ball State University has closed the books on its January decision to pull its sponsorship of seven academically struggling Indiana charter schools.
Howe toughest test yet for reformers of troubled city schools
Thomas 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.
Revoked charters could be forgiven $12M in loans
Seven 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.
Rally backs Indiana charter school, voucher programs
Supporters 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.
Group eyes vacant Illinois Street building for charter school
An 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.
Charter schools bill would strip Indy council’s authority
A bill moving through the state legislature would remove the City-County Council’s ability to veto mayor-sponsored charter schools.
Bank foreclosing on former charter school property
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.
Mayor ups push to reform schools, hopes to halt family flight
Concerned 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.
Group recruiting ‘standing army’ to support charters
A 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.
Ballard won’t levy charter fee, despite fiscal squeeze
Mayor 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.
Mayor to take control of four struggling Indy schools
The Indiana State Board of Education is handing authority over four troubled Indianapolis schools to the city's mayor.
Ball State pulls sponsorship of 7 charter schools
Ball State University has pulled its sponsorship of seven Indiana charter schools plagued by long-running academic woes, including one in Indianapolis.
LEADING QUESTIONS: Mind Trust CEO takes stock of IPS reform proposal
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.
Ball State’s charter school oversight criticized
A report from a charter school sponsor trade group recommends closing charters that rank in the bottom 15 percent of their state's standardized test scores. Under that standard, 10 of Ball State's 38 charter schools would be closed.
Judge: Indiana districts can sell schools despite law
A 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.