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
Articles
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.
Seven more charter schools on tap for Indianapolis
Mayor Greg Ballard’s office has approved seven more charters—more than half as many as he approved in his previous five years in office.
Charter, voucher backers wary of schools chief Ritz
During 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.
Tindley school plans huge expansion with national grant
Charles 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.
Teach for America to help Marian University recruit principals
Both 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.
Judge backs mayor’s decision to revoke school’s charter
The 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.
Charter school lands more time in fight against closure
The 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.”
Ballard moves to shut down The Project School
Indianapolis 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.”
Mind Trust awards $1M to two charters to expand school models
The 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.
IU report questions Mind Trust plan for IPS
Six 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.