IPS dumps Teach Plus contract as board members trade barbs
The school board reversed course and dumped a contract with a national teacher program, as angry board members accused each other of playing politics.
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IPS board president calls meeting on Teach Plus contract
The special meeting sends signals that the board could back out of the $750,000 program, which apparently was launched in IPS before the board formally approved it last week.
IPS plans to fight back against charter expansion in 2015
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.
Feds extend pre-K funding deadline, but Pence still says no
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said Tuesday he still won’t apply for up to $80 million in preschool funding – despite an extended federal deadline and calls from several education officials.
IPS candidates raking in funds from near and far
Challengers to incumbents are collecting the largest checks. Big contributors range from the Indy Chamber political action committee to executives with Facebook and LinkedIn.
UPDATE: Education panel delays grades for public schools
The State Board of Education voted Wednesday to delay approving letter grades for public schools because members said they were unsure about the underlying data.
State board raises Christel House’s grade from D to B
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.
House GOP wants to rewrite state school-funding formula
Indiana House Republicans say they will work in 2015 to boost money for public schools and rewrite the formula that distributes those dollars to try to reduce the gap between the state’s highest and lowest funded districts.
Ballard’s preschool plan gets new life in city budget
The $1 billion budget approved by the City-County Council Monday night included a last-minute amendment that could put $1.7 million toward the mayor’s plan to cut crime and expand access to preschool.
IPS school board candidate says mistake led to plagiarism
Indianapolis Public Schools board candidate Ramon Batts says he regrets representing work from three national advocacy organizations as his own in his responses to a Chalkbeat Indiana survey.
Coming to Indianapolis: a public boarding school?
Indianapolis Public Schools next year could consider bringing a free public boarding school—one of just a few in the country—to the city.
Board ponders new Indiana school ‘A-F’ grades
Indiana education leaders inched closer Wednesday to approving a new system for grading the state's schools, nearly a year after a secret overhaul of the school-grading formula by then-Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett was revealed.
Indiana preschool pilot to begin in 4 counties
Four urban Indiana counties selected for a state-funded preschool pilot program will launch it in early 2015, officials said Wednesday during a day of meetings among state and local officials and educators.
New IPS teacher contract includes performance bonuses
Under the pact approved by the school board Tuesday, teachers who were rated “effective” last fall can earn a $1,500 one-time bonus.
Council Dems say they’re pushing preschool debate into 2016
City-County Council President Maggie Lewis and Vice President John Barth said children could be served next year by the state’s much smaller pilot program, which will reach nearly 800 economically disadvantaged four-year-olds in Marion County.
Indiana could be top state for school vouchers
Preliminary data from the Indiana Department of Education shows 29,437 Indiana children applied for vouchers this year.
Effort to unify Marion County school calendars fails
A major barrier was the fact that different local unions represent the teachers in different districts, and those union contracts didn’t match up in a variety of ways.
Dems block funding for preschool plan as meeting erupts
The Indianapolis City-County Council’s finance committee voted to table funding for Mayor Greg Ballard’s $50 million preschool expansion plan and quickly adjourned a three-hour meeting Tuesday night despite protests.
Caterpillar chief: Indiana growing more competitive
CEO Doug Oberhelman said Tuesday that government overhauls and an aggressive economic development policy have made the state among the most attractive for investment.
Lilly execs make pitch for local preschool education
Eli Lilly and Co. executives on Friday repeated their plea to local businesses to support early childhood education, highlighting the work force development and crime-reduction benefits associated with the effort.