Indiana school choice advocates turn up lobbying efforts for more private-school funding
The latest push includes a statewide poll and multiple local advocacy events intended to sway the state’s budget writers.
Education & Workforce Development
Articles
Purdue professor puts high-tech spin on old-time construction staple
Luna Lu and her team at Purdue’s Lyles School of Civil Engineering are among a handful of organizations worldwide dabbling in how to commercialize “smart concrete.”
Only small fraction of children needing tutoring help receive it
As America’s schools confront dramatic learning setbacks caused by the pandemic, experts have held up intensive tutoring as the single best antidote. Yet, only a small fraction have received it.
Stalled tax plan to revive IPS pushes charters, district further apart
The district’s unique portfolio of charters and traditional public schools, created nearly a decade ago by IPS leaders and state lawmakers, has left both populations fighting for funding.
Jaded with education, more Americans skipping college
What first looked like a pandemic blip has turned into a crisis. Nationwide, undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8% from 2019 to 2022, with declines even after returning to in-person classes.
Edison School of the Arts staff, students call for resignation of executive director
Edison, one of the few Innovation schools in Indianapolis Public Schools not run by a charter operator, called a special meeting Tuesday after Executive Director Nathan Tuttle was accused of using a racial slur.
Charter schools make big gains in proposed Indiana budget amid public advocacy campaign
A new funding stream carved into the House Republican budget would mandate the amount of funds every public school district and charter school receives for operations, which are collected through local property taxes.
Indianapolis charter school network to open STEM academy for girls
Paramount Schools of Excellence said the charter school, called Girls IN STEM Academy, will be operated in partnership with Girl Scouts of Central Indiana, Every Girl Can STEM and Purdue Polytechnic High School.
City-County Council appoints Eugene White to Indianapolis library board
The City-County Council unanimously approved the appointment of White, the former superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools and president of Martin University.
Robotics curriculum initiative targets younger, nonwhite kids
A $2.6 million grant from the Indiana Department of Education, announced Feb. 21, will help expand a program offered by the IUPUI Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering.
Ivy Tech to roll out new Ivy+ tech training program this month
Ivy+, which will offer non-degree credentials and skills training, launches in mid-March in Muncie, with an expected statewide rollout by the end of the month. Ivy Tech says it expects to enroll a cumulative 6,000 students by the end of next year, helping to ease Indiana’s tech workforce shortage.
Culture war in the stacks: Librarians marshal against rising book bans
Librarians who push back against increasing calls to ban books have been threatened, harassed, sued, fired and labeled “groomers” and “pedophiles” on social media.
Indiana schools still on hook for curricular fees under House budget plan
Indiana House Republicans said their budget plan would eliminate textbook and curricular fees for kids in K-12 public schools. But budget writers did not specifically appropriate state dollars to cover the cost
Senators debate ban on ‘inappropriate’ library materials for minors
Democrats and a handful of GOP lawmakers pushed back, arguing that the bill could lead to the removal of anything a parent deems to be unsuitable.
Biden’s student loan forgiveness program comes before Supreme Court
President Biden’s far-reaching initiative to forgive student loan debt will be debated this week before a Supreme Court that is skeptical of the administration’s bold claims of power—a nearly half-trillion-dollar showdown that could affect more than 40 million Americans.
House passes $43.4B budget with no Democrat votes
Democrats denounced the budget for taking funding away from traditional public schools. Under the new proposal, families making up to 400% of the federal poverty level, roughly $220,000, qualify for vouchers.
Warren Township district seeks tax hike to cover initiatives once COVID aid expires
The Warren Township district is asking voters for an $88 million property tax increase over eight years, in part to maintain the support it received from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding that the state says must be spent by the end of 2024.
Bills on underused school buildings, cursive writing advance
Meanwhile, Hoosiers have their first new law for the year—and it’s a retroactive business tax deduction in time for tax season.
Indiana lawmakers back defunding Kinsey sex institute
The Indiana House voted 53-34 to block state funding toward the Kinsey Institute, which has long faced criticism from conservatives
Lawmakers advance bill banning education on ‘human sexuality’ through 3rd grade
The latest draft of the proposal also targets transgender students by prohibiting school employees from using a name or pronoun that is inconsistent with a student’s sex without a parent’s written consent.