Indiana Supreme Court upholds school voucher program
In a 5-0 vote, the justices rejected claims that the law primarily benefited religious institutions that run private schools. The decision paves the way for a possible expansion of the program.
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Looser Indiana school voucher rules face questions
The fate of a proposal to expand Indiana's private school voucher program by making kindergartners and some other students immediately eligible could come down to something that no one seems to know — how much it will cost.
Study: Half of county’s students in ‘high-quality’ schools
A study by Chicago-based IFF found that 49 percent of K-12 students in Marion County are in schools that earned an A or B last year from the Indiana Department of Education.
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.
Interim IPS chief says staff cuts possible
The interim superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools is taking steps to shore up the struggling district, but says she faces a "complex job" that won't bring miracles during her tenure.
Attorney general shows support for school resource officers
Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Thursday he supports a bill in the General Assembly that would provide matching state grants to help schools create or expand school resource officer programs.
TV ads oppose review of Indiana school standards
An advocacy group that supports Indiana's charter schools program said Tuesday that it's starting an advertising campaign to fight efforts to end the state's use of national reading and math standards.
Senator pulls bills scrapping Indiana school grades
A bill that would have eliminated Indiana’s A-F grading scale for individual schools has been withdrawn by its sponsor in the Indiana Senate.
IPS board taps Hinckley to fill in during superintendent search
The Indianapolis Public Schools board will vote Tuesday night to hire Peggy Hinckley, former superintendent of Warren Township schools, as interim superintendent to replace Eugene White.
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.
Panel supports scrapping Indiana school grades
A Republican-controlled state Senate committee agreed Wednesday with the new Democratic state schools superintendent that Indiana's A-F grading scale for individual schools should be scrapped.
Bill that would shift Indiana voucher oversight advances
Indiana's new Democratic state schools superintendent would no longer oversee the private school voucher program that she has opposed under a proposal approved Tuesday by a Republican-controlled legislative committee.
Bill to ban Indiana teacher union deductions advances
Republicans sparked protests from teachers and union officials Tuesday by pushing legislation through a House committee that would bar Indiana schools from automatically deducting union dues from teacher paychecks, an issue that critics thought was off the table this year.
Indiana school voucher expansion scaled back
The House Ways and Means Committee removed a provision that would have opened the voucher program to current private school students by not requiring them to first spend at least one year in public schools.
Bill calls for review of Indiana school standards
A proposal for statewide hearings on whether Indiana should keep or modify the Common Core State Standards national education benchmarks was approved Wednesday by a legislative committee.
Indiana House education panel OKs voucher expansion
The measure would remove a one-year waiting period students have to spend in public school before qualifying for a voucher and qualify wealthier families for the program in certain cases.
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.
House GOP considers Indy preschool as model
House Republican leaders toured an Indianapolis preschool Wednesday, one day before the House Education Committee takes up a proposal to give preschool vouchers to low-income families in a small number of cases.
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.
Indiana Senate backs cursive writing requirement
Senators voted 36-13 Tuesday in favor of the proposal despite arguments from some senators that it represents an unwarranted mandate from the state on local school districts.