Chalkbeat

Why the Indianapolis teachers union opposes a proposed tax increase for city public schools

2026-08-28T19:18:09+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A who’s who of Indianapolis community and education leaders gathered Tuesday at the Shepherd Community Center for a campaign kickoff event in support of a tax referendum to raise money for the city’s public schools.

But the absence of Indianapolis Public Schools on the campaign signs at the event served as a reminder that this referendum is like no other.

For the first time, IPS is not in control of the push to ask voters for a tax increase to support schools. And unlike with past ballot measures, the district would receive just half of the expected $95 million in annual revenue.

The Indiana General Assembly gave taxing powers this year to the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, or IPEC, a new school oversight body. If voters approve the tax increase proposed by IPEC in November, the revenue will be split between IPS and roughly 60 participating charters.

Should it pass, the referendum revenue would be enough to keep IPS from reaching a level of financial insolvency that could lead to state takeover, said Superintendent Aleesia Johnson. But even if it passes, IPS expects to make around $20 million in further cuts — a step that has spurred opposition to the measure, including from the Indianapolis Education Association. That unusual stance taken by the local teachers union could make it harder for the measure to pass.

Opponents like IEA say it’s unfair to ask voters for a tax increase while their neighborhood schools face cuts anyway.

“We’ve already seen one round of cuts that have hit classrooms and programs and it’s scary to know that we could be going through another set that could be even worse than the last,” said IEA Co-Vice President Monica Shellhamer. “It’s hard to support something and say you’re OK with being cut.”

According to the tax measure’s ballot language, the owner of an average Indy home worth $150,000 could expect to pay around $221 more per year in property taxes. The referendum would last for four years.

Opponents seek a reallocation of revenue

Opponents of the referendum hope to persuade IPEC to allocate more referendum funding for IPS in order to reduce the need for further budget cuts.

Shellhamer said one of the key arguments in favor of creating IPEC was that it would stabilize district finances.

“IEA wants to support a referendum that would positively affect the schools, I don’t think this one does,” said Shellhamer, whose union supported the 2018 referendum.

IEA has appealed to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office for help in convincing IPEC to change the allocation of the referendum. Hogsett appointed the members of IPEC.

Newly appointed IPEC Executive Director Karega Rausch said IPEC has not received a proposal to reallocate the funding. He said such a change wouldn’t be possible because the distribution formula is specified in state law and based on the number of students who live within IPS boundaries and attend each participating charter school.

“All we can do is follow what’s in state law,” he said.

But Rep. Ed DeLaney, a Democrat who represents Indianapolis, said a standard per-pupil allocation doesn’t make sense when the cost of educating every student isn’t equal.

To solve this, DeLaney said, IPEC could allot additional referendum revenue for every student who receives special education or transportation services, for example. That could benefit IPS, which educates a greater share of students with disabilities, and has a large deficit related to those services.

If the IPEC board believes its hands are tied, it could agree to “go back to the legislature for a more rational allocation,” DeLaney said.

“If every kid in every school is the same, then maybe this idea that you put your tuition in your backpack and walk into the school of your choice makes sense,” DeLaney said. “But not every kid is the same, and not every building is the same.”

Supporters: Tax measure would prevent deeper IPS cuts

Rausch said the actual average increase paid by homeowners would be less than what the ballot language says. That’s because the language doesn’t take into account that taxpayers are already paying for the tax increase for IPS voters approved in 2018.

The IPEC board approved the proposed referendum unanimously in June. The measure has the support of a number of community groups such as the Indy Chamber, and IPS leadership, even though district leaders had hoped for a higher tax increase to address budget woes.

The 2026 operating referendum “isn’t a luxury” but a necessity for the district’s financial survival, Johnson said Tuesday.

“If it were not to pass, I would expect there would be some additional state intervention or oversight of our district,” Johnson said. “We will have to continue to do further reductions even with the successful passage of this referendum, but ultimately we want the future of our district to be in the hands of our community.”

Speaking at the Vote Yes for Indianapolis Public Education kickoff event, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson praised the growing cooperation between school types that had led to more options for Indianapolis students than ever before. The referendum is a key next step in that process, he said, supporting transportation, buildings, and teachers at all schools.

“If we do all of those things, we will give real high-quality options to every single family,” Peterson said. “We’ve made great progress but we’re not there yet, and we’re going to go backwards if we don’t pass this referendum.”

Asked how $20 million in cuts would affect the quality of IPS-run schools, Peterson said he believed the district would determine how to make the reductions, and that every organization must manage its budget.

“This referendum will give them the opportunity to make the budget changes they need to make and also deliver the highest quality education,” he said.

The election is Nov. 3. Check your voter status and register to vote here.

Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect the full name of the Indianapolis Education Association, as well as Monica Shellhamer’s title with the IEA.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Record-high number of Indiana school districts ask voters for property tax increases

2026-07-17T17:26:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A record number of Indiana school districts are asking voters to increase property taxes for various expenses this fall as reforms passed by state lawmakers last year take effect.

At least 38 districts are requesting to place a referendum question on the ballot in November for one of three reasons allowed by state law: to pay for operating expenses, capital needs, or security projects. The majority of districts are requesting an operating referendum, which covers everyday expenses such as transportation and curriculum.

The surge in ballot questions seeking property tax increases reflects the rising financial pressure on school districts due to recent changes in state law. Last year, lawmakers changed state law so that districts may only place referendum questions on the ballot during general elections, which fall in November of even-numbered years, instead of every year. Plus, lawmakers passed a sweeping property tax relief bill that by one estimate would cost school districts millions of dollars in lost revenue.

A final list of all ballot questions won’t be available until at least Aug. 1. But the number of districts listed on the department’s website just a few weeks before the Department of Local Government Finance finalizes the questions already represents a record for districts seeking tax increases in a single election and calendar year.

Half of the 38 districts are requesting to renew their operating referendums, even though their existing voter-approved tax increases do not expire this year. Five others are seeking an operating referendum for the first time, according to an analysis of historical referendums from the Indiana University Center for Evaluation and Education Policy. Many districts cite the recent property tax reform legislation as a major factor in asking voters for more funding.

Several expenses covered by operating dollars, including transportation and utilities, are growing far faster than the rate of inflation, said Indiana School Board Association Executive Director Terry Spradlin.

The 2025 changes, combined with the state’s 2008 property tax reforms — which capped property taxes for homeowners at 1% of gross assessed value —will end up costing school districts across the state about $5 billion in tax revenue over roughly two decades, he said.

“For the 38 districts pursuing the referendum, it’s not really for program expansions — new programs, new expenses,” said Spradlin, who expects about a dozen more districts to file ballot questions ahead of the deadline. “It’s really to maintain status quo.”

So far, just one district is requesting a capital referendum, and one is requesting a safety referendum.

Most Indiana districts have never sought a referendum

Although the number of ballot questions has reached a record high, it is not extraordinary given that two years’ worth of ballot questions are now being squeezed into one, experts say.

Historically, school districts that have successfully passed a referendum have a greater chance of winning another one, said Larry DeBoer, a professor emeritus at Purdue University who has extensively studied tax referendums.

And districts that have tried but failed to pass a ballot question still have a higher success rate on subsequent attempts than districts asking voters for the first time, he said. Of the 38 listed so far on the department’s website, seven have previously floated a referendum that voters have rejected.

“Even if you’ve lost before, your chances of winning this time are better,” DeBoer said. “And I suppose that’s experience.”

Some districts may be asking voters to renew a referendum years before an existing one expires so they have multiple opportunities to try and pass a ballot question, Spradlin said.

Others are seeking a referendum early because their current operating referendum no longer generates enough revenue due to property tax reforms, he said.

The property tax caps first implemented in 2008 — known as “circuit breakers” — have collectively cost school districts statewide over $4 billion in lost revenue since their inception, according to historical figures from the Legislative Services Agency. The latest tax reforms will cost school districts statewide roughly $744 million from 2026 through 2028, according to a state analysis last year.

Still, 88 of the 144 school corporations that have floated a referendum have succeeded in passing one, according to Spradlin.

“It might be (that) the publicity will cause voters to say, ‘I guess this is a normal thing now,’” DeBoer said. “But it’s still the case that more than half the school districts have never tried a referendum. On the whole, it’s not that common.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Corrections and clarifications: This story has been updated to reflect the number of school districts that have passed a referendum, per Terry Spradlin.

5 takeaways from Chalkbeat’s panel on Indiana’s changes to school board elections and referendums

2026-07-10T17:42:59+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The upcoming election season will ask Indiana voters to make critical decisions about how schools are funded and who sits on local school boards.

Shaping these decisions are new laws taking effect this year that allow school board candidates to run under partisan labels, and change how districts seek property tax referendums.

To explain how these changes may affect the makeup of school boards and future funding for schools, Chalkbeat hosted a panel at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center in Indianapolis on Wednesday featuring three experts:

Terry Spradlin, executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association.
Ashley Thomas, District 1 IPS commissioner, and member of the IPEC board.
David Roof, associate professor in the Department of Educational Studies at Ball State University’s Teachers College and Director of the Center for Economic and Civic Learning.

Here are five takeaways from the discussion.

Half of school board candidates choose party affiliation

Beginning this year, under a new state law, school board races in Indiana will shed their nonpartisan label and allow candidates to declare a party affiliation. There are no primary races for school board, meaning more than one candidate in a race may be a Democrat or Republican. For this reason, straight-ticket voting won’t include school board races.

Candidates can also choose to remain nonpartisan, or label themselves independent.

Of 1,044 school board candidates who have filed for office statewide, 524 have chosen a party affiliation, according to data from the school boards association shared by Spradlin. Around 72% of that number are running as Republicans, 6% are running as Democrats, and 7% are running as independents.

There are a number of reasons candidates may have chosen a partisan label, the panelists said. For example, listing a party puts a candidate higher on the ballot, Spradlin said. Not listing a party might make voters think a candidate has something to hide, Roof said.

Another 516 candidates chose to remain nonpartisan, according to ISBA data. Approximately

60% of school board races have just one candidate, in line with previous years.

Effect of partisan labels remains to be seen

Supporters of the law previously said partisan labels give voters key information to make a decision. But panelists said that might not be the case in school board elections.

For one thing, there can be considerable differences between members of the same political party, Thomas said.

“Someone could be a Democrat and they could have completely different views on some really strong points compared to someone who sits in that same party,” Thomas said.

Plus, it’s not clear how much party affiliation matters for the responsibilities of school boards, which primarily focus on governance decisions, rather than legislative ones, Roof said. School boards are primarily responsible for hiring superintendents, approving budgets, and adopting policies. No school board member can make these decisions alone, Spradlin noted.

“One of the worries I have is that people will begin to see those decisions through a partisan lens and interpret the decisions that are made — the governing decisions — through a kind of partisan framework,” Roof said.

The years of heightened political tensions at school board meetings during COVID seem to be simmering down, panelists agreed.

At the same time, the 2025 Civic Health Index indicates Hoosiers appear less willing to discuss potentially divisive political issues or attend public meetings. That affects young people’s first experiences with civic engagement, Roof said.

“Our students are paying attention to adults and whether or not we can disagree respectfully,” Roof said.

Three dozen school districts — and counting — seek referendums

Indiana districts can ask voters to raise their own property taxes to help fund schools. Districts typically seek referendum funding for either capital or operating expenses. While capital referendums fund construction or renovations, operating referendums fund expenses like teacher pay, programming, and transportation.

So far, around three dozen districts plan to seek property tax referendums in the fall, and ISBA expects the final number to be around 55. Spradlin said that while the number seems higher than in the past, it reflects the changes lawmakers made to limit when school districts can seek referendums.

This year, districts are asking voters to consider these tax increases in a time of increasing household costs, creating some uncertainty about whether the referendums will pass.

But districts are grappling with rising costs, too, Spradlin said. The majority of a school district’s operating fund goes to insurance, transportation, and utilities, he said, and energy rate hikes are outpacing inflation.

“What districts are pursuing are not really expansive revenue requests to add new programs or build new buildings,” Spradlin said. “These requests are simply to maintain the status quo, to continue to have enough funding for the momentum that we are seeing in our classrooms across Indiana.”

Thomas said districts should be transparent about how they’re spending referendum dollars. In Indianapolis, she said she has recommended an accountability ticker for all schools — including charter schools — that benefit from a referendum to explain how they’re spending the money.

Could sharing tax revenue with charters displease voters?

This year, Indiana lawmakers passed sweeping legislation requiring public school districts to share more property tax revenue with charter schools. Members of the audience wanted to know why they should support referendums if they fundamentally oppose this change.

Thomas said she heard from a constituent with this concern. She said she believes the economic climate will be more of an issue to voters than which schools would benefit from referendums.

“Any disruption that may happen for a referendum that doesn’t pass could be to the detriment of kids, no matter the school type,” she said.

Sharing the revenue means districts have to seek a higher rate, Spradlin said, which could make passing a referendum more challenging.

The next statewide budget could end referendums

Our audience also wanted to know: Is there a piece of legislation that could put an end to districts’ consistent need for referendums?

Spradlin said the next state budget could provide enough state funding to reduce the reliance on referendums.

“That’s the vehicle that we hitch our wagon to every two years and ask for adequate funding for public education in Indiana,” Spradlin said.

With talk of ending property taxes altogether, ensuring an adequate stream of funding is critical, he added. Over the next couple of years, the state will free up another $1 billion after paying off the teacher retirement fund liability — money Spradlin said should be reinvested in public education.

Thomas suggested that lawmakers reverse a 2025 law that made school vouchers open to all in order to ensure more funding is available for public schools.

In addition, providing special education services for Indianapolis students in both district and charter schools has left IPS in a multi-million dollar deficit, Thomas said.

Roof added that lawmakers could tackle specific initiatives, like the recommendations from the Next Level Teacher Compensation Commission, or proposals to implement universal preschool.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

You’re invited: Hear about the changes for schools this election and what they mean for students

2026-06-09T19:44:27+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

School board elections won’t look the same in Indiana this year.

At the ballot box, voters could see new partisan labels for school board candidates. More voters than usual could be faced with a decision on whether they should approve a tax increase, known as a referendum, for their local schools. And before Election Day, candidates and school leaders also have decisions to make about their campaigns.

The outcomes in November could have a lasting effect on students and schools.

Join us on Wednesday, July 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center for a panel discussion on these issues.

We’ll dive into the changes around school decision-makers and school funding to ask: What’s at stake for students and families across the state?

Moderated by Chalkbeat Indiana reporter Aleksandra Appleton, the panel includes:

David Roof, director of the Center for Economic and Civic Learning at Ball State University
Terry Spradlin, executive director of the Indiana School Boards Association
Ashley Thomas, member of both the Indianapolis Public Schools board and the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation.

The event is in partnership with the Indiana Historical Society and is free, but RSVP is encouraged. Get your ticket here.

Doors open at 6 p.m. The panel starts at 6:30 p.m. Food and childcare will be provided. Free parking is available in the Indiana Historical Society lot off of New York Street.

Update, July 1: This story was updated to clarify that parking will be free for panel attendees.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Cambridge-backed courses are expanding in Indiana. Here’s how schools are using them.

2026-05-27T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Before 2024, students at Whiteland High School seeking advanced curriculum could already choose between Advanced Placement and dual credit courses.

So when school officials considered adding a new curriculum backed by the University of Cambridge in 2024, they wanted to address the needs of a specific subset of students: the community’s growing population of non-English speaking students, who represent around 14% of the district and speak 64 languages.

They found that the essay-based test in Cambridge courses allowed students to demonstrate their mastery of advanced content while they were still learning English, said assistant superintendent Cassandra Shipp.

“We don’t want to limit our students who we know are bright,” Shipp said. “Regardless of whether they’re taking AP or Cambridge, our students have to be global competitors.”

Indiana wants more schools to offer Cambridge STEM courses through $500,000 in grant funding earmarked in the latest state budget. The long-term goal is to create another way for students to earn an advanced diploma that leads to automatic college admission. Schools can apply for grant funding that will help pay for teacher training and program fees.

In February, the state’s department of education awarded six schools — including Whiteland — funds to introduce courses like Thinking Skills, Computer Science, Biology, and Chemistry. Now, it has opened another round of funding to allow up to 16 more public and private schools to start offering these classes.

What are Cambridge Courses?

Cambridge courses come from the University of Cambridge in England through its nonprofit Cambridge International Education.

Though the courses are new to Indiana, and less common nationally than Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes, they’re offered in approximately two dozen other states and 160 countries.

The offerings from Cambridge are a little like both IB and AP programs: Like IB, Cambridge offers programs that begin in elementary school and go through high school; but like AP, it also offers standalone courses.

Passing an A-level Cambridge course in an Indiana high school is equivalent to passing one in the U.K. or Singapore and indicates that a student is ready for college-level coursework, said Mark Cavone, the North American regional director for international education at Cambridge University Press and Assessment. While not necessarily aimed at multilingual students, some features make the courses a particularly good fit for them, like the incorporation of Global English, a neutral form of English.

While most Cambridge courses are aimed at students going to college, the organization also offers some career-oriented courses, such as in marine science and travel and tourism, Cavone said.

“The thing that keeps us up at night is that we want kids to be college and career ready by the time they graduate high school,” Cavone said.

How can Indiana students use Cambridge courses?

Through the expansion, more Indiana schools will be able to allow students to earn the Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education, or AICE, diploma, Cavone said.

The AICE diploma is one of the ways that students can earn an Honors Enrollment Seal in the state’s new high school graduation requirements, which guarantees students admission to any of the state’s public universities. Students can also earn this seal by earning an associate degree, IB diploma, AP Scholar with Distinction, or other advanced pathway. And schools receive a $2,495 bonus for every student who earns an honors enrollment seal.

Cavone said Indiana’s diploma redesign and education choice policies made it a good fit for the organization’s expansion.

Currently, Cambridge courses are available mainly in traditional public high schools, Cavone said, along with some charter and private schools. The first round of grant funding from the Indiana Department of Education was awarded to four public high schools, one charter school, and one private school:

Whiteland Community High School at the Clark Pleasant Community School Corporation. The district also offers Cambridge English courses in middle and high school that are not backed by the grant.
North Central High School in the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township
Terre Haute South Vigo High School at the Vigo County School Corporation
East Chicago Central High School at the School City of East Chicago
GEO Next Generation Academy
Al-Haqq Foundation Academy

Schools interested in applying for the IDOE grant should fill out the application before July 17.

Corrections and clarifications: This article has been updated to include the correct name for Cambridge International Education.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana to resume child care vouchers after 15-month freeze, but thousands will remain waitlisted

2026-04-16T21:21:56+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana will begin offering families help with child care costs again in May after a 15-month freeze on Child Care and Development Funds, a program that provides subsidies for income-eligible families.

The Family and Social Services Administration will be able to process around 3,000 new child care vouchers per month, its representatives told lawmakers on the State Budget Committee, who reviewed the agency’s request for $200 million more in funding for the program and approved it Thursday.

Republican Gov. Mike Braun announced the additional funding on Tuesday in order to add around 14,000 more children to the program, for a total enrollment of around 57,000.

The move seeks to address the freeze on the program and the waitlist implemented by the state after the end of pandemic aid. Early learning advocates say these moves have contributed to the closure of hundreds of child care providers in the state, exacerbating families’ challenges with accessing and paying for care.

Around 20,000 children will remain on the waitlist even with the additional funding, though not all of those children will end up being eligible for the program, FSSA officials said. But more families may apply when they hear that the program has reopened, meaning the full demand for child care subsidies is not clear.

To fund child care vouchers for all children enrolled and on the waitlist would cost the state approximately $350 million per year, said Mitch Roob, FSSA secretary.

The additional $200 million will last one year. FSSA officials told committee lawmakers Thursday that they will ask for the additional funding to continue in the next biennial state budget, for a total request of around $239 million.

But it’s not a sure thing that the budget will include this funding, creating uncertainty for providers and families.

“The parents and the providers are … prone to think of this as a long-term benefit, and so we’re going to have to decide if they’re right to expect a long-term program that’s a real benefit or not,” said Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney of Indianapolis.

Priority for new vouchers will go to the siblings of children currently in the program, as well as infants. There are just three infants in the program because the program has been frozen for so long, Roob said. Next priority will go to toddlers and preschool-aged children, with money set aside for children with disabilities, children in foster care, and other groups.

The additional funds will not address the cuts to the rates paid to child care providers — another step FSSA took last year to cut costs.

“There are other ways we could execute this, this is the one we chose,” Adam Alson, the director of Indiana’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning at the FSSA, told lawmakers on the budget committee.

During Thursday’s committee meeting, Republican Sen. Chris Garten asked a philosophical question: Why fund the program at all?

Roob cited the historical context of federal aid to mothers and children, which shifted to prioritize child care for workers instead.

“We as a society concluded that work was important and we should be paying for child care to get people to work,” said Roob.

More information about applying for a CCDF voucher is available here.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Education Corporation announces date and location for first meeting

2026-04-10T20:54:35+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A new governing body for Indianapolis schools will meet for the first time on April 14.

The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, or IPEC, will govern key aspects of public schools in the city. It will oversee buildings and transportation for charter schools and Indianapolis Public Schools. The corporation will also have power to ask voters for funding for schools through a referendum, and will create an accountability system that could be used to decide which schools close.

IPEC will meet at 4 p.m. April 14 in Room 221 of the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington Street, Mayor Joe Hogsett’s office announced. An agenda was not available on Friday.

The nine members of the board, appointed by Hogsett, were announced by him late last month and include three IPS board members, three representatives of charter schools, and three experts in areas relevant to the corporation’s work as required by state law.

One of the appointed experts is also a charter school leader. Additionally, David Harris is the board chair. Harris was the charter schools director under former mayor Bart Peterson, and the duo co-founded the Mind Trust, an influential nonprofit that helps launch charter schools.

IPEC’s creation by state lawmakers means less power for school boards in the city, including the elected IPS board. However, school boards will still have power over day-to-day tasks including setting budgets, curriculums, and hiring and firing the superintendent or school leaders for charter schools.

IPEC was formed following the December 2025 recommendations of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, which was a state-created task force. The corporation’s powers will phase in with key powers over finances and referendums starting this year and powers over buildings and transportation in 2028.

The April 14 meeting will also be livestreamed on Channel 16.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Why there are no education elections on your primary ballot

2026-04-07T18:50:17+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Early voting is underway for the Indiana primary elections, but there are no education-specific items on the ballot.

In previous years, referendums — where school districts ask voters for extra funding through property taxes — could appear on primary ballots. But lawmakers changed that last year. Lawmakers also changed school board elections from nonpartisan to partisan but didn’t add primary elections for those positions.

Here’s what’s different at the ballot box and what to expect:

Partisan school board elections don’t include primary races

After years of attempts to make school board elections partisan, lawmakers approved the change that allows candidates to have a party affiliation but didn’t include primary races.

Instead, school board candidates will choose if they want to select a political party, identify as an independent, or be nonpartisan in the general election. School board elections are not included in straight party voting, and multiple candidates could have the same affiliation.

The change faced opposition from people who said partisan politics would be a distraction from the school board’s duties. Supporters countered by saying politics already influence schools.

While there aren’t any primaries, a candidate’s affiliation can be challenged and removed from the ballot if the candidate didn’t vote in the last two primary elections or get written certification from the county party chairman that the candidate is a party member. Candidates across the state can file to run from May 19 to noon on June 18.

This November will be the first for partisan school board elections. School boards statewide, including in Marion County, will have seats on the ballot. Each school board determines the number of seats and if the seats represent areas within the school district’s borders or are at-large. For Indianapolis Public Schools, four seats are up for election, including one special election to fill a seat after a board member resigned.

Fewer opportunities for schools to ask voters for tax increases

School districts can ask voters to approve tax increases for specific needs such as operating costs, construction, or safety measures through referendums. These dollars supplement the local property tax dollars that schools receive along with state and federal funding.

In the past, school districts could ask voters to approve increases during the primary or general election of any year. In 2025, lawmakers changed the rule to be only the general election of a statewide election year after the November 2025 election.

There could be more referendums on the ballot this November given the limits on timing as well as funding constraints on districts, including property tax reform and sharing those funds with charter schools.

Whether or not to put a referendum on the ballot is determined by school districts, except in Indianapolis where the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation will decide. IPS’s current operating referendum expires this year, and without that funding, the district could be out of money by next year, per IPS documents.

School boards must send their ballot questions no later than July 22 to the state Department of Local Government Finance. The department then has until noon Aug. 1 to decide if it’s approved.

What to know about voting in 2026 Indiana election

Early voting for the primary elections started on April 7 and ends at noon on May 4. Primary election day is May 5, and polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time.

For the general election, voter registration opens on May 19 and ends Oct. 5. Early voting starts Oct. 6. On election day, Nov. 3, polls are open from 6 a.m .to 6 p.m. local time.

You can check your voter status and register to vote as well as look up polling places and sample ballots at indianavoters.in.gov.

This article was updated to include deadlines for putting referendums on the November ballot.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Why the Classic Learning Test, which embraces Aristotle but spurns calculators, has caught Indiana’s eye

2026-04-03T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A test that relies on classic Western texts and bans calculators for math will soon play a role in assessing how well Indiana students and schools are doing.

Since February, Indiana has expanded the use of the Classic Learning Test in two key ways. First, a new law requires state colleges and universities to consider CLT scores to the same extent that they would consider SAT or ACT scores for admission.

Second, under a new state accountability model that gives schools an A-F grade based on points students earn for proficiency, the Classic Learning Test is one way high school students can earn bonus points for their schools’ grades. The Indiana State Board of Education approved the use of the test at the last minute when adopting the new A-F model in March. It was not part of previous drafts of the model.

The Classic Learning Test’s expansion is part of a multi-pronged push in Indiana and nationwide by conservatives to counter what they see as an education system that leans too progressive by providing alternatives they believe are more rigorous and in line with Western tradition.

The elevation of the CLT follows state leaders’ decision in 2024 to mandate “intellectual diversity” in Indiana higher education, a move seen by many as a boon to conservatives on campuses, as well as previous years’ efforts to change history instruction that could make students feel guilt or blame for the past. This year, lawmakers also required higher education leaders to explore alternative university accrediting options — in line with other conservative states.

Supporters of the CLT say they like the test because it assesses students’ reading skills with texts that are foundational to the country’s history. That also aligns with a U.S. Department of Education campaign to foster “a shared understanding of America’s founding principles” on the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

But there’s also practical reason to welcome the CLT, supporters say: It shakes up a long-standing testing establishment that gave students just two options for college readiness testing — the SAT or the ACT. That reflects the school choice environment that includes a growing number of classical schools.

“The CLT is the first newcomer since Eisenhower was president,” said Michael Torres, director of legislative strategy for the CLT. “We offer an opportunity for our students to prove they’re ready for college based on the curriculum they use.”

But critics counter that there is not enough evidence to say a CLT score is on par with a score on the SAT or the ACT — especially when the scores are used for high-stakes decisions about school accountability and college admissions.

“It especially matters to make sure that kind of mathematical relationship between the scores is stable and well-founded when there are any consequences in how these tests are used,” said Priscilla Rodriguez, senior vice president for College Readiness Assessments at the College Board, which administers the SAT.

Indiana could eventually decide to let students using vouchers to attend private schools take the CLT instead of the ILEARN state exam that voucher students must now take. A private school leader raised that idea during the legislative session, and CLT officials would support it, Torres said.

But that could make it harder to compare how private school students are performing compared with their peers in public schools. Indiana officials have not discussed this idea publicly.

As Indiana expands the use of the CLT, the state should want to ensure the test it’s well-suited to its academic content standards, measures for school quality, and its goals for students, said Chris Domaleski, executive director of the Center for Assessment. The state advisory committee that focuses on required assessments did not weigh in on including the CLT for school accountability because it’s an optional test, Indiana Department of Education officials said.

“The more it’s used, the more we need to seek evidence that it’s useful, that it has reliability, validity, and fairness, for all student groups, including students with disabilities and multilingual learners,” Domaleski said. “All those kinds of questions we’d ask for any assessment used in a consequential way.”

How do Classic Learning Test scores stack up?

The CLT for juniors and seniors is a two-hour, 120-question test developed in 2015 by founder Jeremy Tate, who “saw there might be interest in a third option that proved students are ready to go to college but didn’t force schools to embrace the Common Core,” Torres said, referring to the state standards that some conservatives came to distrust. Classic Learning Initiatives, the company behind the test, also offers a CLT for grades 3-8 and a 10th grade test.

The CLT uses passages by a bank of Western writers from the ancient to the late modern times — the most recent listed is author Toni Morrison — as well as contemporary nonfiction texts.

Sample questions on “The Epic of Gilgamesh,” for example, ask students to determine based on the passage the reason that caused the gods to flood the land, and determine which lines in the poem support the argument.

Critics say this focus promotes a narrow vision of culture and society — and that the test offers an advantage to students familiar with the pieces. Still, classical schools and educators say these works are fundamental to all students’ understanding of history.

“When we talk about college readiness, what are we talking about? Is it the use of AI? Is it being able to critically think, look at passages, look at historical text?” said Kylene Varner of the Indiana Association of Home Educators, who supported the bill to require colleges to consider CLT results like SAT and ACT results. “If we can’t understand the culture and history ... and the writing of our Constitution, how do we learn?”

There are also differences on the math portion of the test, where the CLT does not allow calculators; Torres said that means students must show they are “independently numerate.”

And around 15% to 20% of test-takers utilize a remote option not available on the SAT or ACT, Torres said. This option is important to home-schoolers who may not have access to other tests, Varner said.

But what makes the CLT stand out has in turn raised questions about whether comparing scores from the test to results from other exams can be misleading.

The CLT has published a table showing the equivalency between CLT scores and SAT and ACT scores. Torres said the study behind that table relied on a sample of about 4,500 students and produced reliable results. He noted that in addition to self-reported scores, the company received some scores from the colleges that accept CLT, SAT, and ACT scores.

But representatives from the ACT and SAT cast doubt on the validity of such a comparison. To establish that one score on the SAT reliably correlated to a score on the ACT, the College Board and the ACT jointly examined the scores of more than 500,000 students who had taken both exams, said Colin Dingler, ACT’s chief policy analyst.

In addition to a smaller, less-representative sample size, there are two other key issues with CLT’s score comparison, Rodriguez said: The students’ SAT scores were self-reported, and that sometimes years had passed between the two tests.

Ultimately, it would be unfair if two tests had different passing scores, and one was easier to pass than the other, but some students only had access to the harder test, Dingler said.

“It’s very important from an equity standpoint to have some scientifically established tool to go from the scores of one assessment to another assessment,” he said.

How the CLT factors into school quality, college readiness

One of the primary uses of test scores is to indicate that a student is ready for college.

A handful of private colleges in Indiana — along with around 300 nationwide — already accept the CLT scores, and the U.S. military academies soon will too.

But few K-12 schools offer the test right now, state education officials said, and most public universities in Indiana don’t require any test scores for admission, although Purdue University is a notable exception.

Supporters of the CLT, including leaders of private classical K-12 schools in Indiana who testified in support of it earlier this year, said the test is just as good as traditional standardized tests for measuring students’ college readiness — or even better.

Not everyone agrees. Iowa in 2024 recommended against the use of the CLT for admission to its public universities, citing insufficient data about the academic performance of the students who took it.

A key question for assessing college readiness is whether a test based on a prescribed curriculum is gauging students’ knowledge of that curriculum, rather than their general readiness for college-level classes. Even in subjects like science, the ACT is written so that students without a familiarity with a specific scientific concept can figure out the question, Dingler said.

“I don’t think that philosophically, there’s something wrong with assessments that are anchored in content or a specific reading list,” Dingler said. “But I do think that using the results of that test to generalize that any student is ready to succeed or to do well … that’s a really different matter.”

Torres said that while classical schools have embraced the test, familiarity with the texts is not a prerequisite for success on the CLT.

“It merely uses those texts to test reading comprehension and grammar,” Torres said. “We find that to be a rigorous measure of college readiness.”

Test scores also play a role in assessing Indiana school quality.

Students’ SAT proficiency will make up 10% of a high school’s letter grade on the state’s new A-F accountability model. But the state’s decision to let schools earn accountability bonus points through student scores on the ACT or CLT might lead schools to push students to take the CLT, “where it may be easy to get a score that looks high compared to the ACT or the SAT but maybe actually isn’t,” Rodriguez said.

In a statement, the state education department said the school accountability system approach to the CLT balances “personalized pathways” with elevating “real opportunities for students.”

The test’s supporters like that flexible approach, which could play a role if Indiana considers letting students using private school vouchers take the CLT instead of the state’s standardized test.

“Allowing schools to use nationally normed assessments like the CLT that are also rigorous … objective, and publicly reportable, this respects both accountability and also educational diversity,” said Rachel Oren, head of school at the Classic Academy in Indianapolis.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library now available to children in all 92 Indiana counties

2026-04-02T15:35:34+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Children in all 92 counties across the state can now get free books in the mail through Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Indiana.

The announcement from the state on Wednesday comes nearly a year after state lawmakers approved the 2026-2027 budget that cut funding for the program. Gov. Mike Braun tasked First Lady Maureen Braun with fundraising to keep the program alive.

In a Thursday news release, the state touted the expansion of the program to all counties in the state as a “a major milestone for early childhood literacy across Indiana.”

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides books for children from birth to age 5 in the United States and four other countries. The organization mails the “high-quality, age-appropriate books” at no cost to families each month.

To provide the books, the library partners with local organizations that help secure funding for the books. Before the budget cut, the state of Indiana and local partners split the costs of books. The program received $2 million in the 2023-24 state budget and $4 million in 2024-25.

Griffin Reid, press secretary for Gov. Braun, said via email that there were no lapses in book delivery since the cuts.

As of August 2024, children in 85 counties had access to the program, and in Marion County, only two ZIP codes had access to the program. Now, all ZIP codes in the state are covered.

The Imagination Library in Indiana is a partnership between the state, the Dollywood Foundation, the Hoosier HOPE Foundation, and local partners, per the news release. The release did not say how much money was raised. In March, Maureen Braun announced she was at 90% of a two-year fundraising goal for the program, but didn’t specify amounts.

To sign up for the Imagination Library, visit www.imaginationlibrary.com

Update: This story was updated to include further details including no lapses in service since funding cuts, all ZIP codes are covered, and fundraising goal progress.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

New A-F grades are coming to Indiana schools. Here’s how they will be calculated.

2026-03-04T18:31:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana has approved a new system to assign A-F letter grades to schools for the first time since 2018, giving students points for passing state tests — and additional points for passing other tests, like the Classic Learning Test, an alternative college entrance exam embraced by conservatives, according to a final draft of the grading metric presented Wednesday.

The system gives students points for state test scores in reading and math, according to the presentation to the State Board of Education, and assigns additional points for other skills, like work ethic as measured by attendance, diploma attainment, and work-based learning credentials. Schools are assigned a grade on an A-F scale based on the average of their students’ points.

The new grading system could form the basis for further monumental shifts in Indiana education. The state has proposed to use the new system as the sole measure of accountability in its request for federal flexibility, in order to create streamlined standards for schools. The work on the flexibility request was paused as the state “worked through the final touches on the accountability model,” Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said, but will be unpaused shortly.

The grades could also factor into the shared accountability system that the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation is charged with creating, and which could lead to school closures.

The system has been in development since early last summer after new state laws required the department to create a new grading metric. The state has not issued grades to schools since 2018, due to a new testing model, the pandemic, and then a brief shift to a school dashboard model. The State Board of Education was initially expected to adopt the new grading system in December, but the timeline was delayed.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Secretary of Education Katie Jenner at the Wednesday meeting, adding that feedback on the model had come from educators, families, and business and industry leaders.

Multiple rounds of public feedback informed the process, department officials said, resulting in several changes from the second draft to the final model presented on Wednesday.

One major change from the second draft gives students more points for reaching proficiency in reading and math. Previous drafts had given equal weight to students who demonstrated academic progress — but this gave parents the impression that their students were doing better than they really were, said Ron Sandlin, chief innovation officer at the Indiana Department of Education.

High school success indicators can include the Classic Learning Test

Two other changes in the final draft were made to align Indiana with federal accountability standards as the state pursues its flexibility waiver from the federal Department of Education. First, graduation rate will now become a standalone indicator worth 10% of a school’s grade 12 rating. Schools above 95% will earn the full 100 points for the metric.

Second, proficiency on the SAT, or an alternative assessment for students with disabilities called the I AM will become a standalone indicator worth 10% of a school’s grade 12 rating, rather than an optional success indicator. Schools with 60% or more students reaching SAT proficiency will earn the full 100 points for the metric.

The bulk of a school’s grade 12 letter grade will come from the number of students who earn an Indiana diploma, honors seal, or honors plus seal, as well as the number who pass a list of other skills and tests. The state’s new diploma requirements go into effect for the class of 2029.

Because the SAT will become a standalone indicator in the model, the department has added both the ACT and the Classic Learning Test to the list of ways that students can earn additional points that indicate success in English and math.

The Classic Learning Test, or CLT, is an alternative test that assesses reading, writing, and math skills using both religious and secular texts from Western historical writers. The test, which has been linked to the conservative education movement, is gaining ground: Indiana lawmakers just passed a new law requiring state universities to consider CLT scores to the same extent they consider the SAT or ACT for admission.

Other changes to the final model include a new indicator in middle school for students who complete a graduation plan, as well as consideration for English learner students who take the WIDA, which assesses English listening, speaking, and reading and writing skills.

Schools are expected to receive their initial grades by December. The first round of grades will include some runway as schools also implement new diploma requirements and testing checkpoints: To earn an A, they must receive a minimum of 85 points, for example.

After the initial grades, the scale will more closely resemble a traditional A-F grading system, with an A beginning at 90 points.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Social media restrictions, cellphone bans, more: what lawmakers passed in the 2026 legislative session

2026-02-28T00:04:34+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

In a truncated legislative session, Indiana lawmakers still passed a number of bills that will reshape Indiana schools and affect students and their families.

Among them are a new restriction on social media for minors and a ban on cellphones during school hours, which could change how students spend their time while reducing fights and distractions that spill over into the classroom, teachers said.

The social media restriction passed nearly unanimously after lawmakers added it to HB 1408 in the final few days of session. It requires social media providers to determine a user’s age, and to get parental permission for the account of anyone under 16.

The bill also requires companies to limit algorithmic content and communication for these minor accounts, and to give parents monitoring tools.

Social media restrictions for teens received significant support from educators, counselors, and Secretary of Education Katie Jenner, who said social media use affected teens’ mental health and academic performance. If passed into law, it may face a legal challenge, as similar bans have in other states.

“We know the battle we’re up against and to be very clear, when it means standing up for something that is right and protecting our kids, I’ll battle all day,” Jenner said earlier in the session.

Other bills that Indiana lawmakers passed this year may make significant changes at the school level. A wide-ranging immigration bill, SB 76, will require local governments like school districts to cooperate with immigration enforcement.

And with HB 1423, lawmakers approved a plan to reshape Indianapolis district and charter schools with a new appointed board to oversee transportation, buildings, and a new system of accountability.

The GOP supermajority did not pass as many social-issue bills as in previous years, declining this year to move a bill permitting teachers and principals to display the Ten Commandments. But they did pass SB 88 to require schools to teach students to graduate from high school, get a job, and wait until marriage to have children — a series of steps that advocates say is linked to avoiding poverty.

Some notable bills that would have affected schools did not pass, including a ban on ultraprocessed foods as defined in HB 1137. Though that bill cleared the House, it did not receive a hearing in the Senate. Meanwhile, SB 182, which would have required public school students to use restrooms that match their sex rather than their gender identity, did not move forward after passing the Senate.

And while lawmakers passed restrictions on both phones and social media, they did not advance SB 159, which would have required that school technology policies allowed parents to set stronger filters on school-issued devices while they’re at home.

Below are the education bills that Indiana lawmakers passed in the 2026 legislative session. Unless otherwise noted, they still need a signature from Gov. Mike Braun to become law.

Senate education bills that passed

SB 4: Fiscal matters — child care vouchers

A provision in SB 4 authorizes the state budget agency to use funds from the 2025 state budget to fund the Child Care and Development Fund.

SB 15: Foster youth Bill of Rights

Requires the department of child services to create, publish, and distribute a statement called “the foster youth bill of rights” that summarizes a foster youth’s rights and responsibilities.

SB 78: Wireless communication device policy

Bans cellphones, personal laptops, smartwatches, and other devices from schools for the full school day and specifies that any learning on devices must be done on school-issued devices. Read more here.

SB 88: Identity instruction and teacher licensing exemptions

Requires public schools to teach students to: (1) obtain at least a high school diploma and acquire additional training in preparation for the workforce; (2) secure full-time employment; and (3) wait until marriage to begin having children; into student instruction.
Requires a state educational institution to accept a Classic Learning Test score for admission consideration.
Allows teacher candidates in alternative pathways to request a waiver from the state teacher licensing exam and substitute their ACT, SAT, Classical Learning Test, or GRE scores instead.

SB 200: Education matters — contracts

Requires schools to allow organizations like the Scouts to talk to students once per year. Requires public school to allow military personnel to provide information to students if they allow a postsecondary educational institution to do so. Nullifies vendor contracts for schools that include indemnity, choice of laws, or autorenewal clauses.

SB 204: Education matters

Provides that an individual who has obtained a license to teach in a charter school may be eligible to obtain an initial practitioner license under certain conditions.
Removes a requirement that an individual must hold a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics as a component of certain pathways to receive an initial practitioner license.
Provides that a student enrolled in a health profession education program may not be required to receive an immunization as a condition of: (1) participating in; or (2) obtaining; clinical training or clinical experience required by the program if a parent of the student or student objects on religious grounds.
Provides that academic needs-based salary increases may not apply to all eligible teachers in a bargaining unit uniformly or be based on certain other factors like experience.

SB 239: Education matters

Requires the Department of Education to compile a list of businesses that provide incentives to students who have completed the honors employment plus seal. Allows a school district to convert schools into charter schools but bars the district from serving as the authorizer. Prescribes how an innovation network charter school may have an agreement with more than one school district. Requires parental notification if a school determines a student is at risk of not achieving grade level proficiency in mathematics.

SB 254: Ivy Tech

Changes and expands the duties and governance of Ivy Tech Community College.

House education bills that passed

HB 1004: Education matters

A massive deregulation bill repealing 40 provisions in education and higher education and making changes to 15 more topics, including powers of the governing bodies of school corporations and public-private agreements by charter schools for the construction or renovation of schools.

HB 1018: School age child care

Removes transportation requirements in the approval criteria for the school-age child care project fund.

Signed by the governor.

HB 1035: Permissible unsupervised activity

Specifies that a child does not need Department of Child Services intervention for engaging in independent activities like staying home or in a car alone, or playing or biking outside, unless a parent has endangered the child’s safety by allowing them to do the activity, based on the child’s “maturity, condition, or ability.”

Signed by the governor.

HB 1242: School corporation report

Requires the Department of Education to prepare a report compiling statewide data on school corporations and charter schools, including enrollment, performance, and population, as well as recommendations to increase school corporation administrative efficiencies and reduce school corporation administrative costs. Requires the Department of Local Government Finance to conduct a study of operational funding disparities.

HB 1266: Education matters

Creates a new qualification option for a transition to teaching program participant who seeks to obtain a license to teach in grades 5-12. Allows individuals to renew emergency permits up to two times if they are enrolled in an alternative teacher certification program.

Requires the Department of Education to:

Create a teaching and learning framework for the implementation of mathematics academic standards.
Develop a data science math pathway.
Develop strategies to support academic and fiscally underperforming schools, and a plan to intervene.
Participate in the new federal tax credit scholarship program
Establish processes to identify programs eligible for workplace Pell grants

HB 1325: Behavioral intervention and special education

Requires the Department of Education to make recommendations on behavioral intervention services for children and special education.

Signed by the governor.

HB 1408: Education matters and social media

Adds requirements for the governance of Ivy Tech Community College. Also includes language limiting minors’ social media access.

HB 1423: Indianapolis Public Education Corporation

Establishes the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation to oversee key aspects of district and charter schools in Indianapolis by managing school buildings, operating a transportation system, creating an accountability system that includes a procedure for closing low-performing schools, distributing property taxes, and more.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Bell-to-bell cellphone ban passes Indiana Statehouse. What does that mean for schools and students?

2026-02-25T23:58:45+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A tighter cellphone and device ban is on its way to Indiana schools after lawmakers passed SB 78 to limit phone use during the school day.

The bill’s bell-to-bell ban builds on Indiana’s existing school cellphone ban, which currently requires students to put away phones and other personal devices during instructional time. The purpose of the added restriction is to create more uniform policies from school to school and classroom to classroom that take the onus of enforcement off of teachers, according to the bill’s author.

On Wednesday, Indiana state senators concurred with changes made by House lawmakers, sending the bill to Gov. Mike Braun for his signature.

The proposal received significant support from educators throughout the session who said cellphones led to distractions and fights.

“Inside the classroom, where attention and focus and human connection are essential, these devices have become a significant barrier to learning,” said John O’Neal of the Indiana State Teachers Association. “A wireless device ban is not about restricting technology, it’s about creating an environment where students can thrive.”

But some school leaders also expressed concern about the potential costs to implement the bill, like paying for additional lockers or storage pouches, as well as learning devices for students who previously brought their own. In response to cost concerns, House lawmakers changed the bill to remove language requiring “secure” storage, with the aim of allowing schools to use existing facilities like cubbies to store the devices.

Under the bill, public school districts and charter schools would have to adopt policies that require students to either leave their devices at home, or to put the devices away, powered off and inaccessible, for the entirety of the school day. The bill defines devices as cellphones, tablets, laptops, gaming devices, or smartwatches that are connected to phones or the internet.

The bill would allow some exceptions, such as for students who need the devices for medical reasons, translation, or as part of their special education services, or in the case of an emergency. It would also allow audio recording devices for notetaking.

And students could bring their laptops or tablets from home to use for learning at a teacher’s direction until July 1, 2028. After that date, these devices would have to be provided by the school in order to be used for learning.

The restrictions would not apply to private schools. A failed Democratic amendment would have included private schools that accept state vouchers in the requirements.

If the bill is signed into law, school districts will need to adopt bell-to-bell cellphone policies by July 1, 2026 and possibly prepare space to store students’ cellphones before the beginning of the next school year.

Under the bill, the Department of Education is also supposed to publish model policy guidance that would include how schools could use existing resources to comply with the law.

In testimony before lawmakers earlier this month, Jeff Butts of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents and former superintendent of Wayne schools said the district of around 16,000 students received an estimate of $275,000 for phone storage pouches.

Whiteland Community High School does not have enough lockers for its 2,100 students, Principal Duke Lines told lawmakers. Under the school’s current device policy, students can use their cellphones during lunchtime, for teacher-directed instructional use, or for work-based learning purposes.

“If students carry backpacks with them all day, is a phone inside a backpack considered inaccessible?” he said.

While lawmakers initially changed the bill to allow schools to use Secured School Safety Grant funds to purchase storage pouches, they ultimately removed this language from the legislation.

They also rejected an amendment to allow schools to charge parents a fee of no more than $25 for storage pouches was rejected — but lawmakers did clarify that schools already have the ability to charge this kind of fee if they choose to do so.

The 2026 legislative session is expected to end this week.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Lawmakers pass Indianapolis Public Education Corporation bill, setting up big changes for schools

2026-02-25T19:56:27+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers have passed a bill that would reshape public education in Indianapolis, and reduce the power of the elected Indianapolis Public Schools board.

The sweeping changes in HB 1423 create an appointed board that would take control of transportation and buildings for Indianapolis district and charter schools, as well as certain aspects of school accountability.

On Wednesday, House lawmakers concurred with the changes that Senate lawmakers previously made to the bill, and sent the bill to Gov. Mike Braun’s desk.

HB 1423 would establish the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, a nine-member board appointed by the mayor and charged with drawing up a new transportation plan for schools in the area, as well as a system of accountability that could be used to decide which schools are closed.

The corporation board would also manage facilities for public schools in the area, though amendments to the bill’s original version allow both charter and district schools to opt out of this provision. It would have the authority to levy and distribute property taxes used for school operations.

Senators added an amendment this week to prescribe language for an IPS operating referendum that IPEC could put on the ballot this year. Earlier in the session, they also added a provision allowing IPS schools to opt out of facilities management after the House gave charter schools permission to do so.

HB 1423 would exempt IPS from the state’s so-called $1 law, which requires school corporations to make underused or shuttered school buildings available to charter schools for $1.

Beginning April 1, the bill limits charter authorizing within IPS boundaries to the mayor’s office, the Indiana Charter School Board, and the IPS school board, which has expressed interest in becoming an authorizer.

Proponents of the bill — originally authored by Rep. Bob Behning, the GOP chair of the House Education Committee — have hailed it as a step forward in directing more resources to charter schools, including helping charter school students access transportation.

But Democratic lawmakers and advocates for traditional public schools have opposed the legislation, particularly because it would reduce the power of the elected Indianapolis Public Schools board in favor of an appointed board.

The Indianapolis mayor would be required to appoint members to the corporation board by March 31, 2026. The board would assume key powers over budgets and referendums beginning this year, and would begin managing school property and transportation in 2028.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Education bill tracker: Indiana lawmakers advance bills on Indianapolis schools, cellphones, and more

2026-02-20T17:34:39+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Update, Feb. 27: The legislative session ended this evening. Here are the bills that passed.

While the 2026 legislative session saw an early start dominated by the redistricting debate, the rest of the session could bring big changes to Indiana schools and students.

As part of our coverage, Chalkbeat Indiana is tracking this year’s biggest education bills as they move through the statehouse.

Below are bills that would make substantial changes to policies affecting Indiana students and teachers. That means generally, we’re not including bills that make minor changes to existing grants and programs, or to the makeup of state commissions and governing bodies.

This page will be updated weekly on Fridays throughout the session. A full list of bills is available on the General Assembly website. Some of the bill descriptions below come from the General Assembly.

More information about how a bill becomes a law is available here. You can also find more information on the two education committees here.

This year is a short session, and because of the early start, lawmakers expect to complete their work by the end of February. The deadlines for bills to pass their originating chamber have passed, and the House and Senate have traded bills. Bills must clear the opposite chambers by Feb. 24. Bills are then sent to Gov. Mike Braun to sign into law.

Bills that received significant amendments in the opposite chamber may go to a conference committee, where a final version of the bill is determined by legislators from both chambers.

Education bills in the Indiana House that are moving forward

HB 1004: Education matters

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate Education Committee. Passed the Senate Appropriations Committee.

HB 1018: School age child care

Removes transportation requirements in the approval criteria for the school-age child care project fund

Status: Passed the House and Senate. Heading to the governor.

HB 1035: Permissible unsupervised activity

Status: Passed the House and Senate. Heading to the governor.

HB 1102: Applied behavioral analysis

Requires schools to allow applied behavioral analysis providers to give services to a student in a public school as outlined by the student’s Individualized Education Program.

Status: Passed the House. Heard in the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 4.

HB 1137: Ultraprocessed food and beverages

Bans food that includes certain food dyes and additives from schools. Requires schools to post a menu and ingredients online.

Status: Passed the House. Heard in the Senate Education Committee on Feb. 4.

HB 1176: Education matters

Gives school districts more leeway to convert schools to charter schools but prohibits them from acting as both an authorizer and an innovation network partner to a school.
Provides that money remaining in the Indiana Education Scholarship Account program fund and Career Scholarship Account program fund does not revert to the state general fund.
Requires parental notification if a school determines a student is at risk of not achieving grade level proficiency in mathematics.

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate.

HB 1242: School corporation report

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate.

HB 1266: Education matters

Creates a new qualification option for a transition to teaching program participant who seeks to obtain a license to teach in grades 5-12 and joins the interstate teacher mobility compact. Requires the Department of Education to:

Create a teaching and learning framework for the implementation of mathematics academic standards.
Develop a data science math pathway.
Develop strategies to support academic and fiscally underperforming schools, and a plan to intervene.

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee.

HB 1325: Behavioral intervention and special education

Requires the Department of Education to make recommendations on behavioral intervention services for children and special education.

Status: Passed the House and Senate. Heading to the governor.

HB 1408: Education matters — Ivy Tech

Adds requirements for the governance of Ivy Tech Community College.

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate. Heading to conference committee.

HB 1423: Indianapolis Public Education Corporation

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate Education Committee and the Appropriations Committee.

Education bills in the Indiana Senate that are moving forward

SB 15: Foster youth Bill of Rights

Requires the department of child services to create, publish, and distribute a statement called “the foster youth bill of rights” that summarizes a foster youth’s rights and responsibilities.

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House.

SB 78: Wireless communication device policy

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House Education Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.

SB 82: Gender issues

Defines “female,” “male,” “gender,” and “sex” for all Indiana statutes. An amendment requires schools to designate changing rooms and restrooms for male and female students, and requires students to only use the restroom for their sex.

Status: Passed the Senate.

SB 88: Identity instruction and teacher licensing exemptions

Requires public schools to incorporate the importance of: (1) obtaining at least a high school diploma and acquiring additional training in preparation for the workforce; (2) securing full-time employment; and (3) waiting until marriage to begin having children; into student instruction.
Requires a state educational institution to accept a Classic Learning Test score for admission consideration.
Allows teacher candidates in alternative pathways to request a waiver from the state teacher licensing exam and substitute their ACT, SAT, Classical Learning Test, or GRE scores instead.

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House Committee on Education.

SB 159: School technology plans

Requires a school to include a provision in the school’s Internet use policy to enable the parent of a student to increase the strength of content filters and limit the use of devices. Requires these plans to include a provision banning students from using devices for noneducational purposes during instructional time.

Status: Passed the Senate. Heard in the House Education Committee on Feb. 5.

SB 161: Education matters — federal tax credit and higher education

Requires the Indiana Department of Education to participate in the new federal tax credit scholarship. Provides that the department of workforce development must maintain alignment with federal rules governing workforce Pell grants.

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House Education Committee and recommitted to the House Ways and Means Committee.

SB 199: Education matters — social media

Requires the Department of Education to compile information and make recommendations on paid parental leave for school employees. Cuts low-earning degrees unless an exemption is granted. Includes new language restricting social media accounts for minors under 17.

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House. Heading for conference committee.

SB 200: Education matters — contracts

Requires schools to allow organizations like the Scouts to talk to students twice per year. Prohibits schools from signing contracts that include indemnity or choice of laws clauses.

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House Education Committee.

SB 204: Education matters

Removes a requirement that department of education approved accreditors for teacher preparation programs be recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
Provides that an individual who has obtained a license to teach in a charter school may be eligible to obtain an initial practitioner license under certain conditions.
Removes a requirement that an individual must hold a bachelor’s degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics as a component of certain pathways to receive an initial practitioner license.
Provides that academic needs-based salary increases may not apply to all eligible teachers in a bargaining unit uniformly or be based on certain other factors like experience.

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House Education Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.

SB 239: Education matters

Allows a school district to convert schools into charter schools but bars the district from serving as the authorizer. Allows districts to operate two or more conversion charters on a single charter.

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House Education Committee.

SB 254: Ivy Tech

Changes and expands the duties and governance of Ivy Tech Community College.

Status: Passed the Senate. Passed the House Education Committee.

House and Senate bills that are not moving forward

HB 1017: University notification of emergency contact

Requires universities to establish a procedure where a student may designate an emergency contact for medical emergencies and to notify the contact in the event of an emergency.

HB 1026: Child care funding

Requires the state to use a $300 million Financial Growth and Opportunity fund from the 2025 budget to fund the Childcare Development Fund and the On My Way Pre-K programs, which have recently faced cuts. (This language was added to SB 4.)

HB 1034: Student cellular telephone use

HB 1059: Commercial advertising on a school bus

Allows a school district to display commercial ads on its buses, with some restrictions.

HB 1071: 21st Century Scholarship eligibility

Exempts students with disabilities from needing to be enrolled full time in order to qualify for the 21st Century Scholarship.

HB 1086: Ten Commandments

Allows public school districts to permit teachers and principals to display the Ten Commandments but not read them aloud in front of students.

Status: Died in the House.

HB 1093: Student bullying

Adds actions by a school staff member to the definition of bullying and requires schools to track bullying incidents in order to identify bullying types, flag students who might be at risk of bullying, and implement interventions to stop bullying.

HB 1107: Bullying oversight committees and ombudsman

Creates a state bullying ombudsman within the Department of Education and requires every school district to establish a bullying oversight committee.

HB 1124: Testing drinking water for lead in school buildings

Requires school districts to test water for lead and includes civil penalties for failing to do so.

HB 1136: Tuition caps

Places tuition caps at University of Southern Indiana and Ball State, Indiana, and Purdue universities for Indiana residents.

HB 1149 Pre-K tax credit

Establishes an early childhood scholarship tax credit for contributions made to a scholarship-granting organization. Requires school districts that operate an early learning center to open the program to families living outside the school district.

HB 1154: Hunger-free campus grant program

Provide grants to state educational institutions for purposes of addressing food insecurity among students.

HB 1158: Personal outcomes

Requires public schools to teach the positive outcomes of obtaining a high school diploma, getting a job, and waiting until marriage to have children.

HB 1159: Pre-K vision screening

Requires school districts to conduct vision screenings for preschool-aged children.

HB 1160: Citizenship exam for eighth grade and high school

Requires schools to administer the naturalization examination in eighth grade and high school and makes passing it with a score of 70% a graduation requirement.

HB 1170: Teacher compensation

Raises minimum teacher salaries to $60,000 beginning in fiscal year 2028.

HB 1232: Schools, funding and religion

Requires a public school to teach the Bible as literature in every grade level of K-12, including age-appropriate instruction on the history of Israel; the moral and ethical teachings of the Old and New Testaments; the life of Jesus; the history of the early Christian church; and the Bible’s influence on Western civilization. Prohibits a school from teaching the Bible as religious dogma or divinely inspired.

HB 1289: State and local administration

Limits collective bargaining with school bus drivers to the topics allowed in collective bargaining with teachers.

HB 1313: Education matters

Prohibits public schools, excluding charter schools, from hiring lobbyists. Prohibits a school employer from deducting union dues. Prohibits a school district from converting a scheduled instructional day to virtual instruction because of the planned or coordinated absence of teachers or other personnel for the purpose of participating in a protest.

HB 1388: Initial practitioner license

Waives the pedagogy exam for graduates of a teacher preparation program, unless the individual fails to obtain a teaching license within three years of graduation.

HB 1418: Teacher licensing requirements

Exempts teacher candidates from a content exam if they are seeking a PE, music, or art license for any grade, or an English language arts, math, or health license in grades 7-12.

SB 58: Cursive writing

Requires elementary schools to teach cursive.

SB 62: Unlawful possession of a firearm by a child

Makes changes to laws concerning firearm possession by a child, including adding an enhanced penalty if an offense was committed on or in school property, within 500 feet of school property, or on a school bus.

SB 66: Kindergarten readiness indicators

Requires the early learning advisory committee to establish and publish kindergarten readiness indicators concerning behavior, executive functioning, literacy, math, and others.

SB 68: Accelerated graduate degree programs

Requires colleges and universities to add graduate degree programs in fields like social work and counseling, and to allow students to complete them on an accelerated timeline.

SB 77: Sale of school buildings

Creates exceptions to the $1 law for school districts in a county with a population of less than 150,000 to have one year to sell a school building to a county or municipal government before the school building must be made available for lease or purchase to a charter school or state educational institution for $1. Read more here.

SB 84: Prekindergarten and child care

A sweeping child care and preschool bill that seeks to expand the income eligibility for the programs, raise reimbursement rates for providers, and fully fund applicants to the child care fund in order to eliminate the waitlist. Read more here.

SB 86: Charter schools

Removes the charter board, state educational institutions, and nonprofit college or university governing boards from the definition of an authorizer.
After June 30, 2026, provides that the charter board, state educational institutions, and governing boards may not issue new charters or renew existing charters.
After June 30, 2026, establishes a five-year moratorium that prohibits an authorizer from granting a charter to an organizer to establish and operate a charter school in Indiana.
Requires charter schools to provide transportation services to all students who reside within the public school district within which the charter school is located.
Exempts school corporations subject to certain property tax sharing requirements from the dollar law.
Changes the maximum charter school contract term to five years.

SB 110: Indiana University Board of Trustees

Requires three members of the Indiana University Board of Trustees to be elected Indiana University alumni.

SB 123: Student water safety

Requires public schools, including charter schools, to present an informational video on water safety to K-12 students.

SB 124: Age for compulsory school attendance

Lowers the mandatory school age from 7 to 5.

SB 129: Social media access

Requires social media operators to obtain parental consent for minor users to view social media.

SB 138: School chaplains

Allows chaplains to volunteer or work in schools, providing secular advice or nonsecular advice if the parent of a student gives permission.

SB 248: South Bend schools

Provides that members of the governing body for the South Bend Community School Corporation shall become an advisory board to a new governing body for the school corporation. Members of the governing body for the school corporation shall be appointed by the Indiana secretary of education following a nomination process.

Status: Withdrawn.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana schools eye the potential impact of Indiana’s sweeping immigration bill

2026-02-18T16:10:23+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

An Indiana bill that compels greater cooperation between local governments and federal immigration authorities could affect the state’s K-12 schools.

But it’s not yet clear how the sweeping immigration bill that touches on information collection, detainer requests, hospitals, and employment may affect schools — or even which schools it would apply to.

Indiana law already prohibits governmental bodies and postsecondary institutions from impeding federal immigration enforcement, but SB 76 specifies that this applies when any level of government is doing the enforcement, as long as the actions don’t violate state or federal law.

The bill also focuses on detainer requests and specifies that governmental bodies can’t impede officers from gathering information about citizenship or immigration status.

Groups like the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents say they’re still working to understand how the provisions of the bill might affect public schools.

The potential effects of SB 76 also sparked questions at a recent Indianapolis Public Schools legislative council meeting. The district recently changed its policies on immigration enforcement following a lawsuit from Attorney General Todd Rokita.

“I’ve got a lot of questions on if this bill is just structured to still repeat what they already had a right to do,” said IPS board member Ashley Thomas. “It is going to be really important for us to stay vigilant on that one.”

The legislation reflects federal policy changes in how immigration officers operate near schools. While schools were traditionally treated as sensitive locations off-limits to immigration enforcement, the Trump administration rescinded that policy in January 2025. Still, the administration maintains that ICE “does not raid schools.”

Minneapolis schools have reported U.S. Border Patrol officers on school property, and agents recently arrested a day care worker in Chicago. Advocates say increased fear of immigration enforcement has led to greater absenteeism and even more virtual learning days in other states.

House lawmakers passed SB 76 last week. On Monday, senate lawmakers filed a motion to adopt changes from the House, but have not yet voted. The Senate next meets on Thursday.

Which schools and employees does SB 76 apply to?

House lawmakers voted down amendments by Indianapolis Democrat Rep. Ed DeLaney that would have exempted school districts and school resource officers from the requirements of the bill.

As written, the bill applies to state universities and governmental bodies, which includes school districts under Indiana law — but not necessarily charter schools. DeLaney said his amendment would treat both types of K-12 schools the same way.

But the House sponsor of SB 76, Union City Republican Rep. J.D. Prescott, said the bill does not change the underlying definition of a governmental body that already exists in state law.

The amendment was also unnecessary because “ICE very rarely enters a school corporation,” he said during House debate on the bill.

But groups have said the uncertainty of immigration enforcement in schools also has effects.

In a call to action on the bill, the Indiana State Teachers Association said it could potentially lead to “higher levels of school absenteeism and negative changes in school climate, student mental health and community trust.”

In a recent blog post, Michael J. Petrilli of The Fordham Institute, a conservative education reform think tank, wrote that it was important to ensure that students attend school in person.

“Current immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota and elsewhere are significantly suppressing school attendance and harming student learning,” Petrilli wrote in a proposed letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “We ask that you work with Secretary Noem, officials in the White House, and others to ensure that all students feel safe going to school.”

Another aspect of the bill requires local governments that have custody of an individual to comply with a federal immigration detainer requests, such as holding the person longer to give immigration authorities time to assume custody.

An amendment by DeLaney would have exempted school resource officers and university police from these requirements. However, it did not pass.

Prescott said these types of officers don’t typically hold individuals long-term, but instead make an arrest and transfer custody. Adding the exemption would amount to a loophole, he said.

How will SB 76 affect school policies on judicial warrants?

The bill doesn’t outline what policies could be considered an impediment to immigration enforcement. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office deferred questions to Prescott, who did not return a request for comment.

Rokita filed a lawsuit against IPS last year over policies that required officers to present a judicial warrant to enter schools and barred employees from collecting information about students’ immigration status, saying these illegally limited cooperation with immigration enforcement. The district has changed its policies in response to the lawsuit.

SB 76 gives greater authority to the AG’s office to pursue penalties for these violations, potentially teeing up further fights between Rokita and schools over what policies could be considered an impediment to immigration enforcement.

It comes down to how the law will be applied, said Lisa Koop, the National Immigrant Justice Center’s national director of legal services.

“On its face, I don’t see SB 76 as telling schools, you have to throw open the doors and let them in,” she said.

But if schools are considered governmental bodies, it’s possible the bill and the underlying law could be used to compel school officials to comply or to challenge school policies that require staff to ask immigration agents for a judicial warrant to enter school buildings.

“You can always consent to allow law enforcement to enter. The person in charge — the superintendent or school principal — can say, ‘sure come in,’” she said. The question then becomes about the Fourth Amendment rights of the children in the building, she said.

In a letter to IPS, Rokita argued that making a judicial warrant a condition of ICE activity on school grounds is not consistent with state law.

“There are multiple ways in which local school officials may assist ICE — from consent to ICE’s entry onto school grounds to cooperating with ICE in the apprehension of an individual who is the subject of an administrative warrant,” the letter said.

How does collecting information intersect with FERPA?

Another part of the bill specifies that a governmental body can’t restrict the gathering of information related to immigration status, as long as the request doesn’t conflict with federal law.

This could set up conflicts on the interpretation of federal law and policy regarding student information.

In the same letter to IPS, Rokita argued that schools can release directory information under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, which could include information related to a student’s immigration status.

Schools also traditionally don’t collect immigration status because the landmark case Plyler v. Doe established that they cannot deny enrollment to a student based on citizenship status.

“There’s no reason to obtain that information,” Koop said.

Indiana and other red states have tried in the past to challenge the ruling in Plyler. Bills proposed last year would have allowed Indiana school districts to deny enrollment to immigrant students and report how many undocumented students are enrolled each year, but they did not advance.

Because a person may be in the process of obtaining citizenship, it can be difficult for a school official to correctly determine the citizenship status of a child, Koop said. Allowing officers into schools to question the citizenship status of students is an intrusion for immigrant and non-immigrant students alike, she said.

“I hope we can continue to tell clients that there’s nowhere safer to be than at theIr public school in the care of their public school teachers,” she said. `

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana’s targeting of degrees with low earnings could eliminate these programs

2026-02-11T23:31:20+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers are moving to eliminate state college degrees that aren’t earning graduates enough on the job market, mirroring the federal government’s targeting of career programs delivering poor results.

SB 199 appears to only apply to a handful of degrees at nonprofit institutions like Ball State, Indiana University, and Ivy Tech, according to data on low-earning programs released by the U.S. Department of Education.

The legislation requires state colleges and universities to eliminate low-earning degrees as defined by the federal Higher Education Act, unless the state Commission for Higher Education grants an exemption.

This means graduates of bachelor programs must have earnings above those of a typical high school graduate, or around $33,000 in Indiana, for the program to keep operating and to receive federal student loan funding under corresponding federal changes. A similar standard applies to graduate programs.

SB 199 aims to prevent students from taking out loans to attend programs that will make it difficult to pay back those loans — or to earn a living, supporters said.

“Some forms of higher education out there simply don’t help students achieve economic mobility,” said Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute, who has worked with the federal Education Department on the earnings standards. “Students take on debt and end up making less than a typical high school graduate.”

But critics of the legislation have challenged whether it’s the state’s role to dictate what students can study in college.

“I think we’re going down a dangerous path when we start eliminating degree programs because we don’t think they make enough money,” said Rep. Tonya Pfaff, a Terre Haute Democrat during a committee hearing. “Part of those degree programs is the ability to take singular classes out of those degree programs, which I believe makes a student more well-founded and better equipped to handle the diversity of the future careers that we will be offering.”

SB 199 is not the first time Indiana has recently tried to trim the number of degrees at universities and colleges. Last year, the state’s higher education institutions cut hundreds of degree programs — though these largely had low enrollments or were inactive, officials said.

Meanwhile, changes at the federal level aim to hold undergraduate certificate programs, most offered at for-profit colleges, to the same standard. It’s not clear whether Indiana would have to pass further legislation to reflect those changes.

More than half of all students enrolled in low-earning programs who receive federal student aid are in these certificate programs, said Jordan Matsudaira, co-director of the Postsecondary Education & Economics Research Center, or PEER, which studied which programs are likely to fail an earnings test. Among the students enrolled in failing undergraduate certificate programs, 85% attend for-profit colleges and 56% are in cosmetology programs, according to the study.

Advocates for these programs have pushed back, saying that the department’s methodology doesn’t fully reflect income for their graduates.

SB 199 is a wide-ranging education bill that also includes language about minors’ social media use. It passed the House Education Committee Wednesday and is headed to consideration by the full House next.

Indiana degrees affected include dance and music

In January, the U.S. Department of Education released its preliminary list of degree programs that would fail to meet the new federal earnings threshold. The final list won’t be available until 2027, and programs would have to fail the earnings test multiple years in a row before losing federal loan funding.

The preliminary list identifies 16 degree programs at 11 Indiana colleges and universities — though some told Chalkbeat that they don’t offer the degrees named. It also identifies 21 undergraduate certificate programs, primarily in the cosmetology field.

One of the larger degree programs is Ivy Tech’s associate degree in Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods, which currently has 549 students enrolled, according to the college.

A representative of Ivy Tech said this degree was intended to be a transfer program for individuals looking to go into teaching and complete a four-year teaching degree. The school has not yet discussed what will happen with this program due to the federal rule changes.

Below is the U.S. Department of Education’s list of Indiana programs that are predicted to fail to meet the federal earnings rules and lose eligibility for federal loans.

It includes undergraduate certificate programs that aren’t currently a part of the Higher Education Act, many of which would not be captured by SB 199, since they’re not offered by state institutions.

Associate Degrees

Indiana Wesleyan University-Marion, Associate, Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods.
International Business College-Indianapolis, Associate, Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. (A website for this college says it has transitioned to a new name and model.)
Ivy Tech Community College, Associate, Design and Applied Arts. (A representative of Ivy Tech said the college does not offer this degree.)
Ivy Tech Community College, Associate, Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods. (Noted above.)
Ivy Tech Community College, Associate, Library and Archives Assisting. (A representative of Ivy Tech said the college does not offer this degree.)
Purdue University Global, Associate, Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services

Bachelor’s Degrees

Huntington University, Bachelor, Graphic Communications. (A representative of Huntington University said the university has not offered this degree in many years, if ever.)
Purdue University Northwest, Bachelor, Computer Software and Media Applications.
Purdue University Northwest, Bachelor, English Language and Literature General
Indiana University-Bloomington, Bachelor, Music.
Indiana University-Northwest, Bachelor, English Language and Literature General
Ball State University, Bachelor, Dance.

Master’s Degrees

University of Southern Indiana, Master, Mental and Social Health Services and Allied Professions. (A representative of the University of Southern Indiana said the university does not offer any program by that name.)
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, Master, Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions.
Purdue University Global, Master, Non-Professional Legal Studies.
Trine University, Master, Criminal Justice and Corrections. (A Trine representative said the program does not receive state funding. It would not have been affected by a previous proposal to cut state funding from these programs.)

Undergraduate certificate programs

Purdue University Global — Human Services General
Ivy Tech Community College — Teacher Education and Professional Development Specific Levels and Methods.
Ivy Tech Community College — Somatic Bodywork and Related Therapeutic Services.
J Michael Harrold Beauty Academy
Rudae’s School of Beauty Culture-Ft Wayne
Tricoci University of Beauty Culture-Highland
Ravenscroft Beauty College
Don Roberts School of Hair Design
PJ’s College of Cosmetology-Clarksville
PJ’s College of Cosmetology-Richmond
Rogers Academy of Hair Design
Tricoci University of Beauty Culture LLC-Bloomington
Denmark College
Tricoci University of Beauty Culture-Indianapolis
Summit Salon Academy
The Salon Professional Academy-Evansville
Paul Mitchell the School-Indianapolis
Summit Salon Academy-Kokomo
Lil Lou’s Beauty and Barber College
Paul Mitchell the School-Merrillville
Kenny’s Academy of Barbering

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Gov. Mike Braun visits students on career pathways during Career and Technical Education Month

2026-02-10T23:38:17+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

When high school junior Avelyn McGrane completes the veterinary science program at the Central 9 career center in Greenwood, she’ll have options.

After spending this year doing lab work in the classroom — which includes a rescue cat room — she can complete a year-long internship working with animals during her senior year. After graduation, many students go on to a two-year vet tech degree or a four-year program at Purdue University, said teacher Jessica Smith, and students can add four more years of veterinary school beyond that.

Established in 1972, Central 9 offers 26 career pathways to 1,200 students who come to the center from nine high schools in Johnson and Marion counties. On Tuesday, the center hosted its first-ever gubernatorial visit: Gov. Mike Braun toured the facility as part of his proclamation of February as Career and Technical Education Month, asking students and teachers about the post-high school opportunities the programs provide.

Central 9 offers 26 career pathways to 1,200 students who come to the center from nine high schools in Johnson and Marion counties. Gov. Mike Braun visited for the first time on Feb. 10, 2025.

Career programs have taken the spotlight in Indiana since the state overhauled its graduation requirements to emphasize career experience in high school beginning with the class of 2029, or current freshmen.

The goal at Central 9 — and in career and technical education programs across the state — is for students to graduate with a diploma, some postsecondary education or training, and an idea of what they’d like to do after high school.

For Indiana, the push for workforce training in high school is also needed to address the shortage of skilled workers, state leaders have said, while calling on employers to provide more work opportunities to students.

Gov. Mike Braun toured Central 9 Career Center in Greenwood on Tuesday as part of CTE Month.

“We need a lot of HVAC professionals,” Secretary of Education Katie Jenner told students in the HVAC program Tuesday. Jenner joined Braun on his visit.

Each career pathway at Central 9 has an advisory board made up of industry professionals who can connect students to internships as well as help arrange donations of equipment like a fire engine. The Central 9 program also relies on federal Perkins grants that support CTE programs, said executive director Bill Kovach. The center has leveraged those funds to buy equipment such as a simulated ambulance and digital anatomy tables.

Some students, such as those in Central 9’s firefighting academy, may be eligible to go directly into the workforce, school leaders said. Students in the early education program are already working in nearby day cares, making lesson plans and planning art activities with the goal of eventually pursuing degrees in early childhood education.

McGrane said she isn’t immediately going into veterinary sciences.

“I love the class and I still have a passion for animals, but I’m going into the military,” McGrane said, to work with K9 teams.

Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner visits Central 9 Career Center on Tuesday with Gov. Mike Braun.

Students say they appreciate the freedom that real-world workforce programs provide compared to the traditional high school experience, said the school’s marketing manager, Tiffany Bickerstaff. But the program also expects students to meet recommended qualifications, like a minimum GPA or attendance, as well as skills like communication with adults coping with stressful situations, which Bickerstaff said helps get the “right student in the right seat.”

“We want them to understand this is adult-level training and college level curriculum,” Bickerstaff said. “The difference between here and high school is that we treat them like adults.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana tries again to restrict social media for minors: ‘It’s not the magic pill, but it will help’

2026-02-09T22:13:29+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The parents of slain Fishers junior Hailey Buzbee called on Indiana lawmakers to limit minors’ access to social media after their daughter’s death was linked to a 39-year-old man she spoke to online.

The original version of SB 199 would have banned social media operators from allowing Hoosier children to make accounts on their platforms and limited access for older teenagers. But this language was stripped in the Senate.

Now, House lawmakers are considering adding a version of the restriction back with an amendment.

Speaking at the House Education Committee Wednesday in support of the amendment, Beau Buzbee said 17-year-old Hailey had been lured away from their home by an online predator last month. Law enforcement announced Feb. 1 that she is believed to be deceased and that an Ohio man was arrested in connection with her disappearance.

Buzbee said their experience showed glaring gaps in Indiana law that needed to be addressed.

“We are losing the fight to protect our children. The internet and social media are the devils’ and predators’ playgrounds, and it’s on this front that we must fight,” Buzbee told lawmakers. “Please do not let this opportunity slip away.”

Supporters of Hailey’s Law have also called for schools to provide mandatory updated predator education and for updates to the state’s missing person alert system. Lawmakers said on Monday they would add an expansion to the alert system as an amendment to HB 1303, a bill that increases the penalties for child exploitation, and that they would discuss adding more education to the existing health standards.

Indiana legislators previously considered — but ultimately failed to advance — a social media ban for minors under 14 and restrictions for those under 17 this year.

The most recent iteration of the ban is the amendment to SB 199, which requires social media providers to estimate the age of an account user and seek permission from the parents of users under 16. For minor accounts, the amendment forbids social media providers from using an algorithmic feed or selling data for advertising purposes, restricts who can contact the user, and gives parents monitoring tools.

Critics have raised First Amendment concerns as well as the possibility that the state will be drawn into an extended legal challenge over the law.

But supporters of a restriction on social media, including Secretary of Education Katie Jenner, say the state must act to address the risks of social media to children and teens the way it does for other dangerous activities, like tobacco use. Social media use is linked to depression, irregular sleep, and a lack of physical activity and social emotional support, said State Health Commissioner Lindsay Weaver. And these issues spill over to classrooms and affect learning, school leaders said.

House lawmakers heard hours of testimony overwhelmingly in support of the language on Monday, but did not take action to add it to the bill.

Supporters of the amendment included South Bend student Rima Bahradine-Bell, who said social media use promises community and affirmation but actually leads to comparison and dependency.

“I’m coming to you as a teenager and a high schooler, and I’m telling you that I would have liked to not have any social media at that age,” she said. “My friends are telling me to tell you that we did not want this.”

Amy Klink, a school counselor at Guerin Catholic High School, said she frequently speaks to students experiencing mental health crises as a result of social media and to their parents, who struggle to restrict social media access.

“Even when parents are aware of a social media account, they can’t be aware of every account with a new name. Parental verification could help with this,” Klink said. “It’s not the magic pill, but it will help.”

SB 199 will return to the House Education Committee on Wednesday for lawmakers to amend and vote.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

A bill on the Ten Commandments is not moving forward in the Indiana Statehouse. Here’s what is.

2026-02-02T23:49:01+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Key education bills affecting students across the state are moving forward after the midway point for the 2026 legislative session in Indiana. Those bills focus on cell phones in schools, math instruction, access to restrooms, and teaching students to wait until marriage to have children in order to avoid poverty.

Under a truncated timeline due to the early start of the session, lawmakers proposed and passed fewer education bills than in recent past years. And they withdrew several controversial measures, like those that would have required public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments and banned minors from social media, as well as a bill that would have created an appointed board to oversee South Bend schools.

But the bills that have advanced through their originating chambers could have a significant impact on schools and students. And bills that failed to pass could reappear in other bills as the legislative process continues.

Below are key statewide issues lawmakers are advancing through the 2026 session. For a full, updated list of where education bills stand, see our bill tracker. Additionally, lawmakers advanced a proposal to create the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, you can read more here.

Lawmakers plan to adjourn by the end of February. Bills must pass by Feb. 24.

School cell phone restrictions pass, but social media ban fails

Tightening Indiana’s existing school cell phone ban has arguably been GOP lawmakers’ top education priority during the 2026 legislative session, with proponents saying it would relieve teachers of the responsibility to confiscate cell phones and enforce policies.

SB 78 requires districts to either ban students from bringing personal devices such as cell phones, tablets, laptops, or smartwatches from schools, or to require that devices be stored away during the entire instructional day. The bill includes exemptions for medical needs, translation services, or special education purposes.

It also specifies that any learning done on devices during the school day must be done on school-issued devices.

A related bill, SB 159, also seeks to place limits on those school-issued devices by specifying that students cannot use the devices for noneducational purposes during instructional time. It also requires schools to give parents the option to set stronger content filters on school devices — a potential hurdle for districts to implement, according to the Indiana CTO Council.

However, not all bills targeting technology use are moving forward. Language that would have restricted Indiana children from making social media accounts was removed last week from SB 199. Such bans have drawn legal challenges in other states.

Ten Commandments bill stalls, but other social issue bills move forward

For the last several legislative sessions, GOP lawmakers have sought to restrict instruction on racism, sexism, and other ideas related to diversity in Indiana schools. That process continued this year with SB 88, which initially prohibited these concepts in the teaching of the United States national identity.

The amended bill removes that language, but still requires schools to teach students the importance of graduating college, getting a job, and waiting until marriage to have children — a series of steps known as the “success sequence.” While advocates characterized it as an anti-poverty measure, critics questioned the bill’s origins in model language from conservative policy organizations.

SB 88 would also expand the use of the Classic Learning Test — an alternative to the SAT and ACT that primarily uses texts from Western history and antiquity — for college admissions in the state.

In another bill defining gender and sex in Indiana statutes, lawmakers also inserted a provision that requires schools to designate multiple occupancy restrooms and changing rooms for use by males or females, and requires individuals to only use the restroom that matches their sex, rather than their gender identity.

But HB 1086 that would have permitted teachers and principals to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms died in the House on Monday.

Lawmakers also declined to take up a bill this year to allow school chaplains to serve as counselors in schools — a proposal that has cleared the Senate in past years.

New requirements for math instruction

Math instruction has not necessarily received the same attention as reading instruction did during Indiana’s years-long push to improve literacy scores through the science of reading.

Still, new bills this year would build on last year’s math instruction legislation.

HB 1266 requires the Department of Education to create a teaching and learning framework for math focused on K-5 grades that recommends at least 60 minutes daily of math instruction time and another 20 minutes daily for intervention.

HB 1176 and SB 239, meanwhile, build on last year’s legislation to screen young students for math skills beginning in 2026-27. The bills add a requirement that schools inform parents when their students are deemed at risk of not achieving proficiency in math.

Funding for child care via vouchers, employer subsidies

While Indiana’s GOP supermajority is unlikely to consider sweeping changes to child care such as offering universal preschool, lawmakers are advancing some proposals to address child care issues.

Language in SB 4 allows lawmakers to use a $300 million fund from the 2025 budget to supplement funding for the Child Care and Development Fund voucher program, which helps low-income families pay for child care. The state froze the program and implemented a waitlist last year due to a lack of funding.

Another bill, HB 1018, would remove a transportation requirement in a grant for school-aged child care providers. And HB 1177 expands a child care tax credit to larger businesses in the hopes that more employers will choose to offer child care to their employees.

No employers have opted to use the credits under current statute, which limits it to businesses that have 100 or fewer employees, according to HB 1177’s author, Rep. Becky Cash.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana House passes a bill creating the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation

2026-02-02T23:41:33+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana House lawmakers have passed a bill to give a new board control over transportation, accountability, and some facilities for Indianapolis district and charter schools.

HB 1423 creates the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, a nine-member board appointed by the Indianapolis mayor that would oversee key aspects of schools within its boundary, such as a transportation system and an accountability system that could be used to recommend closing inefficient or low-performing schools.

While the bill’s author, Indianapolis Republican Rep. Bob Behning, has said he intends for the corporation to control and eventually own school buildings on behalf of the schools under its jurisdiction, a recent amendment gives charter schools the right to opt out of facility management, though they would lose some local property tax funding.

Behning said he expects few schools would opt out.

“An opt-out makes absolutely no sense long term,” Behning said. “When you opt out as a charter, what you are opting out of is having parity in terms of having debt service of capital project dollars.”

But there were situations where a building was built with private investment, Behning said, creating concerns about the state “coming in and taking that investment away from them.”

Still, this change, made last week, drew criticism from IPS and its supporters. Democratic lawmakers also raised the opt-out issue, along with concerns about Indianapolis families losing electoral power.

“If you happen to have a nice building, and it’s paid off, you can say, ‘I’m not contributing my building to this overall project.’ At the same time, that same charter school could get about 60% of the property tax revenue it would otherwise get, and put it to whatever purpose it wants,” said Rep. Ed DeLaney, an Indianapolis Democrat, on the House floor Monday. “We’re not getting where we need to get, which is to have a uniform system of common schools.”

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it must pass by Feb. 24. Behning said he will suggest an amendment to the Senate Education Committee to give IPS the flexibility to opt into the facilities management provision of the bill.

The bill represents the culmination of the process begun by the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, which lawmakers formed during the 2025 legislative session to study how district and charter schools might pool resources.

HB 1423 prescribes a timeline for how the new corporation will assume the power to levy taxes, as well as how it will design new transportation and accountability systems. The corporation will assume many of its management responsibilities beginning with the 2028-29 school year.

How exactly the corporation will assume control of privately, philanthropically, or bond-financed buildings is still to be determined. HB 1423 also does not address a key question of special education funding, which was included in ILEA’s initial report to Indiana lawmakers.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana lawmakers move to permit — but not require — display of Ten Commandments in schools

2026-01-27T18:25:05+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers have advanced a bill allowing school districts to permit the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms and elsewhere — but teachers would be prohibited from reading it aloud in front of students.

Lawmakers also stopped short of requiring that the Ten Commandments be posted in all public school classrooms and libraries, as the original bill proposed.

Under HB 1086, which advanced out of the House Education Committee Tuesday along party lines, school libraries would also be required to keep a copy of the Ten Commandments, and students would be allowed to cite the text in their work without consequence. Districts could also display the text elsewhere in school buildings and at events.

If passed, the bill could embroil Indiana in an ongoing legal fight across the country over the display of the Ten Commandments in schools. While recent laws requiring the display of the text in other states have been struck down, the issue is once again under review in a federal appeals court.

Moreover, critics of HB 1086 said giving Indiana districts permission to display the Ten Commandments rather than a mandate would effectively shift the legal burden from the state to school districts.

But the Indiana School Boards Association, which expressed a neutral position on the bill, said Indiana schools already have permission to display on their property an “object containing the words of the Ten Commandments,” along with “other documents of historical significance that have formed and influenced the United States legal or governmental system.”

Supporters of the bill said the Ten Commandments are commonly posted in public and in government buildings, including in the U.S. Supreme Court. They said many of the country’s founding documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are steeped in an understanding of the text.

“These are just kind of the basic underpinnings of morality within Western civilization that really we should all support and want to get behind within our culture,” said Ryan McCann, executive director of the Indiana Family Institute.

Supporters of the bill also said the Ten Commandments teach students character education, and that they will be accountable for their actions to a supreme being.

But the bill’s critics, who outnumbered supporters at Tuesday’s hearing on the bill, said the key difference between schools and other government buildings is that students are compelled to attend schools.

And there’s a clear distinction between student-initiated religious expression and school actions that could be seen as coercive and in violation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, like posting the Ten Commandments, said Samantha Bresnahan, senior policy specialist at the ACLU of Indiana.

Religious leaders who spoke in opposition to the bill said that critically, the bill does not specify which version of the Ten Commandments would be available in Indiana schools. Some versions are specific to different faiths and contain key language differences, they said.

Moreover, the task of interpreting the Ten Commandments belongs to faith communities, which can best derive meaning from the text, said Timothy McNinch, an assistant professor of the Hebrew Bible at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.

“How are Hoosier first graders supposed to understand on their own what to make of commands about adultery or graven images or Sabbath-keeping or coveting your neighbor’s wife?” he said. “Posting without interpretation transforms the commandments from a meaningful text into an abstract symbol … that seems to signal our preference for Christian scriptures to the exclusion of sacred texts of other faiths, even the ones that communicate the same moral values that we hope our children acquire.”

HB 1086 is moving to a full vote in the House, where lawmakers must pass bills by Thursday in order to send them to the Senate.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana lawmakers move to expand the use of the Classic Learning Test for college admission

2026-01-22T21:01:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers have advanced a bill that could lead to more high school students taking the Classic Learning Test instead of the SAT or ACT for college admission.

If passed, SB 88 would require the state’s public colleges and universities to consider scores on the Classic Learning Test, or CLT, the same way they would consider SAT or ACT scores for admission. The CLT asks students to analyze pieces from “texts that have had a lasting influence on Western culture and society.”

The legislation would also require Indiana public schools to teach students the “success sequence,” a term coined for a series of steps that supporters have linked to avoiding poverty, but that critics say oversimplifies a systemic issue. The steps are graduating college, finding a full-time job, and having children only after marriage.

In addition, SB 88 would also allow prospective teachers in an alternate licensing pathway to submit their test scores on the SAT, ACT, CLT, or GRE in lieu of taking a licensing exam.

The testing change would be a boon to the growing number of students in private schools in Indiana, advocates said, as well as home-schooled students for whom the remotely proctored CLT is more accessible than the SAT or ACT, which must be taken on-location at a testing site.

The CLT has been a more accurate assessment for students at the Redeemer Classical School, a Christian microschool in Fort Wayne, said the school’s headmaster, Nathaniel Pullmann at the Wednesday hearing. The school teaches classical literature, science, and math, including works by Homer, Shakespeare, Newton, and Euclid, he said.

“If this bill is passed, the colleges in Indiana will find the same thing that hundreds of other colleges have found, that it is, in fact, a good predictor of educational success,” Pullman said. “The idea that including the works of the Western world as the reading samples that we’re going to use to assess their reading ability from, the idea that that’s discriminatory somehow, is just absurd.”

Critics have raised concerns about potential cultural bias in the test, which asks students to answer questions about passages from both religious and secular texts by writers like Rudyard Kipling, Plato, Cicero, and Thomas Jefferson, as well as more recent nonfiction articles.

Others pointed out that the bill’s aims originate from model policy language put forth by groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council, an organization of conservative lawmakers.

“Why should Indiana accept a bill that has been cut and pasted from various outside think tanks?” said Russ Skiba, professor emeritus at Indiana University, and founder of the University Alliance fo Racial Justice.

The bill does not mandate that universities consider any test scores for admission. And most Indiana public colleges and universities are test optional, meaning students can choose whether to submit their SAT and ACT scores as part of their application. All Indiana University campuses follow this policy, as does the University of Southern Indiana, Indiana State University, and Ball State.

One notable exception is Purdue University, which briefly instituted a “test-flexible” policy during COVID, but reinstated a requirement for its West Lafayette campus that prospective students submit their SAT or ACT scores for the 2024 fall semester. Test scores are optional — but recommended — for the university’s Fort Wayne and Northwestern campuses.

Nine private colleges and universities in Indiana currently accept CLT scores — though some of those schools are test optional as well. Service academies also recently announced they would accept the test scores.

Some Indiana lawmakers support a ‘success sequence’

SB 88 would require public schools to teach the “success sequence,” of graduating high school, finding a full-time job, and having children only after marriage, as part of good citizenship instruction.

“If students live that, the chance of them being poor is almost zero,” said GOP Sen. Spencer Deery.

But critics said the term oversimplifies systemic issues, and confuses causation and correlation.

Democratic senators also questioned the stigma the bill could create for students in single-parent households.

“My biological mother could have sat in one of these classrooms being pregnant in school, hearing about how critically important it is that she be married,” said Sen. Andrea Hunley, a Democrat. “And I can’t help but think about how she might have felt.”

Author Sen. Gary Byrne, a Republican, removed language from the bill that would have required schools to teach the significance of the Ten Commandments as part of civics education, as well as restricted national identity instruction. However, on Monday, House lawmakers will discuss a separate bill to require public schools to display the Ten Commandments.

SB 88 advanced out of the Senate Education Committee and is moving to the full Senate for consideration.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Lawmakers draft timeline for new Indianapolis education board but school closure uncertainty remains

2026-01-21T20:26:54+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers have advanced a bill that would give a new governing body power over buildings, buses, and taxes for Indianapolis schools, after adding key dates for when these changes would happen.

But questions still remain about how the new Indianapolis Public Education Corporation would gain control of buildings, and how the accountability system it’s tasked with designing would be used to close underperforming schools.

HB 1423, which the House Education Committee advanced Wednesday, adopts most of the recommendations from the state-mandated Indianapolis Local Education Alliance in December that would drastically change how Indianapolis schools operate and reduce the power of the elected IPS school board. Power over buildings, transportation, property taxes and school accountability for district and charter schools would go to the new mayor-appointed corporation. The bill does not give the corporation power over schools’ staffing and academics.

Under the bill, several of the new corporation’s duties would begin in the 2028-29 school year, in part because the bill’s architects are still determining how the new board will take control of buildings that are debt financed. HB 1423 author Rep. Bob Behning, the Republican chair of the House committee, has said his intent is for the new body to manage buildings immediately and eventually own them too.

“These are all onions that have to be peeled, which is why we’re asking for an additional year … to begin,” said Michael O’Connor, the facilitator of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance.

Here are some key dates in the latest version of the bill:

No later than March 31, 2026: The mayor shall appoint nine initial members of the corporation to staggered terms beginning upon appointment and ending in 2029, 2030, or 2031. Each future member’s term will be six years.
Before April 1, 2026: Any debt, liabilities, or obligations incurred by IPS or a charter school before this date would remain the responsibility of the district or school that incurred them.
After March 31, 2026: Any debt incurred after this date would be the new corporation’s responsibility.
After March 31, 2026: Key powers over budgets and referendums shift to the new corporation. However, referendum revenue will continue to flow to IPS and charter schools. And operating referendums approved March 31 or before will continue, with the funds distributed to IPS for the same purposes and term for which it was originally approved.
April 1, 2026: Beginning on this date, the bill limits charter authorizing within IPS boundaries to the mayor’s office, the Indiana Charter School Board, and the IPS school board, which has expressed interest in becoming an authorizer.
July 1, 2026: The corporation assumes control of IPS’ debt service fund. The corporation also assumes control over the regular property tax levy for assessments beginning in January 2027.
Aug. 1, 2026: The corporation board must submit to state lawmakers a progress report on creating an accountability framework, including information “related to the progress in the plan to close inefficient school buildings.”
Nov. 1, 2026: The corporation board must submit the final school performance framework to the legislative council.
Nov. 30, 2026: The corporation board must submit to state lawmakers a progress report on creating a unified transportation plan and a feasibility study to determine the best approach for managing school property.
November 30, 2027: The corporation board must submit the final transportation plan and property management feasibility study to the legislative council.
2028-2029 school year: The corporation begins to control the management and operation of school property, oversee the provision of transportation, implement its school performance framework, ensure that property is made available to participating schools, and other powers.

Questions about Indianapolis buildings, accountability to be determined

The bill specifies that the corporation will work with the nonprofit organization leading the transportation and centralized school facilities pilot in Marion County on plans about those issues.

Lawmakers amended the bill Wednesday to provide the corporation no more than 3% of the property tax revenues used for operating expenses — or around $3 million — to pay an executive director, staff, and consultants, Behning said.

But further financial details will likely have to be added in future legislative sessions, he said, like how much the corporation could spend on a new transportation system before distributing the balance of the available revenue to district and charter schools.

It also remains to be seen how exactly the corporation will gain control of debt-financed buildings. Some buildings in the Indianapolis education landscape are also privately owned, or built with philanthropic funding.

Democratic lawmakers asked who receives the revenue when a building is sold — especially since provisions of the bill would exempt IPS from a state law requiring school districts to give unused or underutilized school buildings to charter schools for the sale or lease price of $1.

The bill also says that lawmakers will review the corporation’s unified school accountability framework in 2026 and 2027. This framework is to be based on multiple measures and will include a requirement to close chronically low-performing schools

This language has led to questions from lawmakers about who will have the final say about which schools close.

Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney proposed an amendment that would require the corporation to first consult with the Indiana Department of Education, and to hold a public hearing, before it may close a school.

But Behning rejected the amendment over concerns that it would effectively neuter the new corporation before it has a chance to set its own performance benchmarks.

“The question I think long-term is what happens if there’s a low-performing school and they just refuse to operate along the performance metrics they’ve all agreed to?” Behning said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPS school board member Allissa Impink announces run for Senate District 46

2026-01-16T23:01:47+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indianapolis Public Schools board member Allissa Impink announced Friday that she would run for Indiana Senate District 46, which encompasses downtown, the near eastside, and southern parts of Indianapolis.

If Impink, who is running as a Democrat, wins what could be a crowded race for the seat in the November election, it would create a vacancy that IPS board members would have to fill.

Her announcement on Friday came after Democratic Sen. Andrea Hunley announced that she would not seek reelection to the seat. Hunley, a former principal in IPS, is considered to be among a handful of Democrats who could run for mayor in 2027, although she has not officially said she’s running.

Impink, a former IPS teacher, said in an interview Friday that she’s thought a lot about the impact of potentially leaving her IPS board seat early. Impink currently represents District 4, the southwest part of IPS and was elected in 2024.

“I typically have the value of finishing what I start,” she said. “But I also feel like, being able to transition into the senate seat, I will be still carrying that baton of valuing public education.”

Impink was a supporter of the district’s traditional public schools during the heated legislative session last year that pitted charters against the district in a fight for funding. She also voiced objections to the recommendation from a state-mandated task force to strip the school board of its power over transportation, buildings, and property taxes — a proposal lawmakers are now considering.

State law says the remaining school board members must appoint someone who lives in IPS boundaries to fill a vacant board seat. Three other seats on the school board are also up for election this year.

Clif Marsiglio, a Near Eastside community leader, also announced on Friday that he would seek election to Hunley’s seat as a Democrat.

Corrections and clarifications: This story has ben updated to accurately reflect Impink’s thoughts on leaving her board seat early.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

In ILEA bill, critics see taxation without representation but supporters see shared accountability

2026-01-12T21:12:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A bill to create an appointed board to oversee key aspects of district and charter schools in Indianapolis would unfairly dilute electoral power, critics said during a House hearing Monday, while supporters said it would ensure shared accountability and transportation for all students.

HB 1423 largely adheres to recommendations the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance submitted in December that would give power over taxes, buildings, and transportation for IPS and charter schools to the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, which would consist of nine members appointed by the mayor.

The alliance’s recommendations would drastically change Indianapolis schools and reduce the power of the elected IPS school board, and could be replicated in school districts across the state facing declining enrollment and logistical challenges.

The four-hour hearing before the House Education Committee hearing marks the latest phase of state and local officials’ push to remake Indianapolis education, which started with the creation of the ILEA last legislative session and continued with the task force’s meetings in the second half of 2025. While those meetings, especially the final vote, were at times heated, testimony during Monday’s hearing was routine.

The bill doesn’t specify how the new corporation will distribute property tax funds to districts and charter schools, or how it will gain control of buildings that are financed by debt. Lawmakers still have to work out those details, said Rep. Bob Behning the bill’s author and chair of the House Education Committee.

However, Behning said the corporation will control — and eventually own — all district and charter buildings. The corporation will also determine a formula to distribute property tax funding.

The bill also doesn’t act on a recommendation from ILEA to increase funding for students with disabilities whose education is provided by IPS at a budget deficit. Lawmakers are unlikely to address that issue in a short session when they don’t discuss a state budget.

At the House committee hearing, supporters of the bill said it would create a shared system of accountability as well as a shared transportation system that would allow students to attend the school of their choice.

“I see students spending hours commuting, families struggling to coordinate rides, and young people missing opportunities simply because reliable transportation is not guaranteed,” said Ma’at Lands, founder and executive director of Rooted School Indianapolis, a charter school.

But dozens of speakers on Monday said the bill would significantly dilute the power of the elected Indianapolis Public Schools board, and that the ILEA ignored overwhelming support for an elected body to oversee schools.

Courtney Hawk, an Indianapolis parent, said she did not vote for an appointed board.

“If they raise my property taxes, I can’t vote them out. I can only hope that the mayor replaces them,” she said of the appointed board. “This violates a fundamental democratic principle: No taxation without representation.”

Bill significantly increases Indianapolis mayor’s power

Should the bill pass, the Indianapolis mayor could begin appointing members to the new corporation board immediately, but would have to do so by June 1.

Rep. Vernon Smith, a Democrat, questioned the idea of giving the Indianapolis mayor the power to appoint all nine members of the corporation board — a comment that earned applause from several people signed up to testify.

The Indianapolis Public Education Corporation would not oversee township school districts. Critics of the bill also said it would leave Center Township families with less electoral power than those in the other 10 school districts in Indianapolis.

“We don’t have a performance crisis that justifies stripping power from voters,” said parent Megan Hise, citing academic growth and graduation rates. “We have a success story that deserves stability and investment.”

But ILEA facilitator Michael O’Connor, who presented the bill at the hearing, said giving the mayor power over transportation, facilities, and uniform accountability “gives people a place to hold them accountable.”

Under the bill, the mayor would also be one of only three entities with the power to authorize charter schools. That’s led to concerns from representatives of Education One, the authorizing arm of Trine University, as well as charter school leaders and GOP Rep. Becky Cash, who said during Monday’s hearing that schools serving students with disabilities often have outside authorizers.

O’Connor said the ILEA frequently heard criticisms that there are too many charter authorizers, contributing to a lack of coherence in the system of education in Indianapolis.

More funding for students with disabilities is unlikely

In presenting the recommendations to the House Education Committee, O’Connor said the bill was a faithful reflection of the recommendations of the ILEA — other than addressing the organization’s request for additional funding for students with disabilities.

IPS currently operates its special education program at a deficit of tens of millions of dollars, officials have said. Charter schools would like to continue using district services for their students, O’Connor said.

“Charters would like to utilize what is a very well-run special education program within IPS,” he said. “We believe that it is fair and equitable that that be fully funded, and be a service that could be provided by IPS, but it needs to be better funded by the state.”

But since lawmakers won’t pass a state budget this legislative session, they might be reluctant to discuss such a funding change.

A bill by Democratic Rep. Tonya Pfaff, who sits on the House education committee, calls for a comprehensive study of special education service costs to the state, schools, and families. But it’s unclear if the bill will get a hearing, Behning said.

Supporters like shared accountability for schools, buses, taxes

Speaking in support of the bill, IU Indianapolis student Kelin Peraza-Argueta said the legislation would offer a shared accountability system for schools — something that was missing when she searched for a school for her nephews.

“There were so many questions we had and so many unanswered, and we had no clear way to see which school would be best for them,” she said.

Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney said the bill also creates oversight for charter schools that now receive or will soon receive property tax revenue under recent legislative changes. It also limits the number of charter authorizers and exempts Indianapolis schools from the $1 building law.

“I don’t see it as a perfect solution, but you’ve got to get to the core problem that generates this bill,” DeLaney said.

During testimony, Democratic Rep. Cherrish Pryror asked whether the city of Indianapolis would now be liable when IPS or charter schools are sued. The new layer of government would make it difficult for parents to know who they should go to with concerns, she said.

“I fear that if this were to go into effect, what we’re really doing is setting up IPS for failure, and it’s going to artificially lead to IPS being worse,” said Rep. Cherrish Pryor during testimony. “And if that happens, the legislature has to own it.”

Behning said the bill would not come back to the committee this week. The committee is meeting again Wednesday. The deadline for bills to pass the full Indiana House before heading to the Indiana Senate is Jan. 29.

Clarification: This story was updated to say the the new board would oversee key aspects of schools.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana looks to ban social media operators from allowing Hoosier children to create accounts

2026-01-07T22:22:37+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers are trying again to restrict minors’ access to social media, citing bullying and mental health concerns that begin on the platforms and spill over into schools.

SB 199, presented to the Senate Education Committee by Secretary of Education Katie Jenner, would require social media platforms to verify users’ ages and obtain parental permission for the accounts of teenagers aged 14 to 17. Children under 14 would not be allowed to make — or keep — accounts.

The bill also enacts a curfew for teen accounts from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. and bans social media operators from recommending algorithmic content to these accounts.

Jenner, speaking passionately about the topic, said schools and families are seeing children afraid to come to school due to online harassment or experiencing sleep loss, eating disorders, and anxiety. Common apps to block access to social media aren’t enough, she said.

“For most of us in the room, social media arrived when we were already well into adulthood. We had childhoods free from constant comparison, cyberbullying, algorithm-driven manipulation, and 24/7 access to content that is intentionally addictive,” Jenner said. “Our children growing up today do not have that same luxury.”

A similar social media ban passed the Indiana Senate last year, but did not pass the House in part due to concerns that it would’ve led to legal challenges. Critics also say the bans violate parental rights and users’ First Amendment rights and are too easy to skirt via VPN services and other means.

But while social media bans usually face a legal battle, recent court decisions have allowed such laws to go into effect in Missouri and Florida. In December, Australia also became the first country to ban users under 16 from social media platforms.

“I’m hyperaware that other states that have pursued legislation related to social media have faced lawsuits,” Jenner said. “We know the battle we’re up against and to be very clear, when it means standing up for something that is right and protecting our kids, I’ll battle all day.”

The impact of social media use on students in schools took center stage at the committee hearing, as educators described fights and bullying started online, as well as risky behavior made possible by online platforms, such as drug use.

SB 199 does not list which social media platforms would be affected. Rather, it defines social media as an online forum or website that:

Allows users to upload content or view the content of other users.
Employs algorithms that analyze user data or information on users to select content for users.
Has addictive features, like continuously scrolling content, autoplaying videos, likes, or a livestreaming feature.
Has a user base in which 10% or more of the daily active users who are 16years of age or younger spend an average of two hours per day or longer on the platform.

The social media ban has been proposed alongside separate bills this year to tighten the state’s existing rules on cell phone use in schools, effectively enacting a bell-to-bell ban on devices like phones, watches, and personal laptops. Senate education lawmakers advanced one of those bills — SB 78 — Wednesday. They also discussed SB 159, which would require school technology policies to allow parents to restrict how school-issued devices are used at home.

Cindy Long, executive director of the Indiana Association of School Principals, said past legislation on cellphones, bullying, student behavior, and discipline has focused on managing symptoms of a larger issue. SB 199 is different, she said, because it targets the digital platforms at the root of the other issues.

“While schools can limit device use during the school day, the influence of social media extends beyond our buildings,” Long said. “We see discipline reports showing two to three hours every day addressing issues that originate on social media.”

Bryan Ramirez, assistant principal at North Central High School, said online platforms exacerbate conflicts and make it easy for students to seek things like vapes online.

“All of this is happening through messaging apps and social media,” he said. “They’re easy to create, they’re easy to hide. And the parents, they’re just shocked.”

Two of the 17 or so speakers opposed the social media language in the bill.

DeOnyae-Dior Valentina, the executive director of the nonprofit Strength Over Struggle, said the ban would cut marginalized youth — like LGBT youth, rural youth, and children in unsafe homes — off from sources of information and support.

The ACLU of Indiana said the language violates free speech rights not just for minors, but for all by forcing users to hand over personal data to access speech.

Furthermore, SB 199 actually trumps parental consent by restricting when minors can access social media even after a parent gives permission, said Samantha Bresnahan, ACLU senior policy specialist during testimony.

“The Constitution is clear: Lawmakers cannot control what ideas and information parents can allow their families to access,” Bresnahan said. “This is government overreach.”

Lawmakers did not vote on the bill Wednesday, but it will likely return to a future hearing.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana lawmakers react favorably to most ILEA recommendations and discuss replicating them

2025-12-18T20:05:44+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

There could be rare bipartisan agreement among lawmakers in favor of a task force’s recommendation that an independent agency oversee Indianapolis Public Schools and charter schools. But they could tweak the proposal to give the mayor less power.

And state leaders are already thinking about how they could replicate the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance’s proposal in other parts of the state — particularly in rural districts where there is population decline and a need to consolidate buses and facilities.

Speaking at an annual legislative conference, Republican Rep. Bob Behning, the chair of the House Education Committee, said Thursday the General Assembly could use the group’s recommendations as a guide for legislation. But he expressed skepticism about the group’s proposal for the Indianapolis mayor to appoint all nine members of the independent agency, the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation.

“A different mayor could have a totally different outcome in terms of what that panel might look like,” Behning said. “We need to at least make sure that the whims of whoever is at the helm of the mayor’s office doesn’t necessarily have a huge impact on the overall governance.”

In addition to recommending a new agency with oversight powers, the group voted 8-1 to recommend requiring that all schools provide transportation to students living within IPS boundaries, restricting the number of charter authorizers, and exempting IPS buildings from a state law requiring districts to make unused buildings available to charters for $1.

Behning said he would also support repealing the so-called $1 law, although he noted his support depended on the ILEA’s recommendations being fully implemented first.

The ILEA’s recommendations also earned support from Indianapolis Rep. Ed DeLaney, a Democrat. Since the new agency as proposed would have the power to impose property taxes for both IPS and charter schools, that means it could demand accountability for charters that’s currently missing, he said.

“Over my objection, we decided to give the charter schools tax revenue,” he said. “This gives us an opportunity to say, ‘we’re not going to give you the money, we’re going to have a structure under the mirror to see how you do it and make sure you cooperate.’”

Despite their past disagreements over charter and traditional public schools, Behning and DeLaney said they may co-author a bill based on the ILEA’s recommendations. Each said taking the responsibility of buildings and transportation away from the current IPS board would allow the board to focus more on students and academics. 2

“I think this allows the IPS board to focus on really trying to drive resources into the classroom and have a positive impact in terms of outcomes for kids, and they won’t have to be labored with facilities,” Behning said.

Lawmakers: ILEA proposals could help other school districts

Leaders from other parts of the state also see the potential to replicate some of the ILEA’s work in their own districts.

Sen. Jeff Raatz, a Richmond Republican and chair of the Senate Education Committee, said rural communities face many of the same challenges as IPS, like declining population and transportation issues.

“This is an innovation incubator on education,” he said. “So we’ll get started here, and maybe it will work in other ways across the state, to help economies of scale, and looking at the number of buildings as population declines in some counties.”

Raatz said while a statewide expansion of the ILEA’s work is unlikely this year, lawmakers may make it easier for rural school districts to merge together or consolidate services.

For example, they could repeal a state requirement that school boards must meet in the geographic boundaries of their school district, Behning said.

Secretary of Education Katie Jenner also said rural and suburban districts are watching what happens in Indianapolis closely. During the 2025 session, lawmakers initially proposed a bill that would have dissolved IPS and four other school districts where most students attend schools not directly run by the district. That led to panicked calls from leaders of the other districts, Jenner said.

“I think we’ll be able to learn some things and probably apply them more broadly in Indiana, and I believe other states will watch as well,” Jenner said.

But Jenner also encouraged lawmakers to look at more than just student enrollment when considering school consolidation, closure, or other changes. Student academic outcomes and fiscal health should also be factors to account for small, successful school districts, she said.

In a last minute move in the 2025 session, Indiana lawmakers added a provision to dissolve the Union School Corporation, citing its low enrollment of around 300 students in brick-and-mortar schools as well as its academic performance.

The same law that created the ILEA this year also gave other schools throughout the state the option to participate in a pilot program testing new ways to use facilities and transportation. Three such pilot programs were approved this year, including one involving more than 50 public charter and private schools in Marion County.

Behning said the Marion County program may be reconsidered, given the recommendations of the ILEA.

Lawmakers are up against the clock to pass a bill turning the ILEA’s proposals into law.

The 2026 session started early in December, meaning lawmakers may only have three committee hearings to pass bills before they must move to their full chambers. Raatz said on the Senate side, that might mean a max of 10 education bills this year.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Local Education Alliance backs plan to create new education authority to oversee IPS, charter schools

2025-12-18T01:24:32+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

In a move with potentially profound consequences for Indianapolis education, a state-backed task force has told lawmakers they should establish a new agency to oversee both the city school district and charter schools.

The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance voted 8-1 on Wednesday to recommend the creation of the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation that could set and enforce standards for both district and charter schools. The new agency would consist of nine members appointed by the mayor: three IPS board members, three charter leaders, and three at-large members, all of whom would have to live within IPS boundaries.

The new corporation would have the power to impose property taxes for both charter and IPS schools. It would also manage the district’s buildings and transportation services through its own staff, establish a framework for school accountability, and manage a unified enrollment system.

If state lawmakers agree to turn the ILEA’s recommendations into law, the vote would mark a monumental shift in the city’s educational landscape. It would represent a significant loss of power for IPS and a qualified victory for charter supporters, after years of rising conflict between the two sectors. The GOP-run state legislature has become increasingly skeptical of IPS while passing legislation favorable to charters when it comes to issues like property taxes.

In addition, the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance voted to restrict the number of charter school authorizers to the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, the Indiana Charter School Board, and the IPS school board, which this week said it will seek to become a charter authorizer. The recommendations also require all schools to offer transportation to students living within the IPS boundary, and exempt IPS buildings from a state law that requires districts to make unused buildings available to charter schools for the sale or lease price of $1.

Under the recommendations, school boards would retain the power to set certain policies, hire leaders — including the superintendent — and approve budgets and contracts. The recommendations, which will be in a final report, were outlined to the public in a presentation.

ILEA member Tina Ahlgren, an IPS parent and teacher, was the sole no vote.

The ILEA’s recommendations come amid struggles by both IPS and charters to address structural challenges.

The district has been losing students for years. IPS also has significant long-term financial problems as well as underutilized buildings. Charters, meanwhile, have struggled to acquire buildings and provide transportation services as their enrollments have grown, and roughly 1 in 3 Indianapolis charters closed from 2001 to 2023.

The ILEA’s recommendation to reduce the power of the IPS board matches the desire among many charter supporters for less power to rest with the elected school board.

But supporters of traditional IPS schools have not only opposed efforts to diminish the elected school board; they’ve also pushed for the board to exercise power over charters as well as district-run schools. They’ve criticized the growth of charters, calling for more accountability in that sector, and said that the elected school board should serve as the only charter authorizer.

In a statement before the vote, Superintendent Aleesia Johnson — who is an ILEA member and voted yes — said she championed many of the recommendations.

But not all the details of what the ILEA has recommended are clear yet, she noted. She urged the public to keep pressure on state lawmakers to ensure any new authority is transparent and values community input.

“In my most pessimistic moments, I can assume that those details will be filled in ways that intentionally bring harm to families, staff and students in IPS,” Johnson said. “However, because the details aren’t filled in, I actually do — naively or not — hold some level of optimism.”

The Mind Trust, a nonprofit that’s supported many Indianapolis charter schools, celebrated the “bold, structural changes” in the ILEA recommendations.

“Separating the education of students from the management of real estate and transportation is a nationally unique innovation that The Mind Trust has long supported,” Brandon Brown, the group’s CEO, said in a statement Wednesday. “This approach will expand access to transportation for thousands of students, ensure that facility access is tied to school quality, and create a path to full funding parity by ensuring capital funds are available to charter schools that opt in.”

Some speakers say elected board should maintain power

Several people expressed hostility to the ILEA’s plans on Wednesday, and some didn’t wait until the task force’s meeting began to do so.

Roughly 60 people supportive of traditional IPS schools gathered outside of the City-County Building ahead of the vote to urge the ILEA to consider a Central Indiana Democratic Socialists of America proposal that would expand the power of the elected IPS board. They also attacked how charter schools operate and the private interests that support them.

“We’re told, ‘This is for the kids,’ but if that was true, the money and political will behind privatization could have fully supported public schools serving mostly Black and brown students decades ago,” said Brianna Dines of the Central Indiana DSA.

In a public comment period at the meeting before the ILEA voted, many speakers chastised the task force for diluting the school board’s power. Pastor Clyde Posley Jr. said the ILEA’s process amounted to political overreach.

“To remove the voices of elected board officials and replace them with other overt or private agendas — which do not benefit our children in the short or long term, but only invite scavengers and investors to pillage off the plight of a broken school system — is not only wrong, it is vicious toward the well being of our children and their future,” Posley Jr. said.

Meanwhile, organizations that back charter schools celebrated the recommendations minutes after the vote.

“While the ILEA’s final plan differs somewhat from advocates’ ideas, parents celebrated the focus on stronger school accountability, a growing transportation system and a more unified and coherent approach to school facilities,” Stand for Children Indiana, a parent advocacy group that has pushed to expand certain charter models, said in a statement.

Universal ratings could guide school closure decisions

Under the recommendations, the new corporation would create an advisory board that would collaborate with charter authorizers and IPS to develop unified accountability standards. Those would be based on measures such as test scores and student discipline practices.

Both charter and district schools would need to commit to use the standards to make decisions about closing chronically low-performing schools — provided that struggling schools are given time to make improvements.

The task force also recommended that the legislature fund the full cost of educating students with disabilities. The ILEA noted that IPS spends millions more to educate students with disabilities than what the state provides.

It’s unclear whether the new authority would assume control of both IPS school buildings and those owned by charters.

The task force also noted that details on how exactly to collect and distribute property taxes would need to be ironed out with fiscal experts at the statehouse. Other topics, the group noted, also require further legal review.

Ahlgren highlighted the lack of details in the recommendations as a key reason why she could not support them.

“I find these recommendations falling into this bizarre zone of simultaneously feeling both too much and not enough, bold in some areas, but overly timid in others, with vague promises that the ecosystem will sort itself out,” she said. “I’ve done enough policy work … to understand the dangers of leaving important elements up to chance — or worse, a legislature which historically has not aligned with the values of this community.”

Before his vote of support, ILEA member Andrew Neal acknowledged to the crowd that “this is an imperfect plan.” But he said he was proud the group recommended mandating transportation, and called on the legislature to adequately fund students with disabilities.

Lawmakers will return to the statehouse on Jan. 5 to resume the legislative session.

This story has been updated to include additional details about the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance’s recommendations and comments from officials and members of the public.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Here are 5 things the mayor and IPS superintendent want in the ILEA recommendations

2025-12-16T16:01:40+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The day before a scheduled vote on recommendations that could impact who oversees Indianapolis schools, Mayor Joe Hogsett and Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson announced their preferred outcomes.

The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance is scheduled to vote Wednesday on final recommendations about the future of the city’s district and charter schools. The ILEA will then send those recommendations to state lawmakers.

The task force is considering two proposals that would limit the power of the elected IPS school board.

One would give oversight of charter and IPS schools to a collaborative board consisting of IPS, mayoral, and charter school appointees. Another would give oversight to an independent Indianapolis Education Authority within the mayor’s office, and create a new secretary of education position.

But notably, Hogsett, the chair of the alliance, and Johnson, a member, didn’t express a preference for either proposal or any other plan for who would run schools.

Instead, their five priorities, which they announced via a Tuesday press release, focus on transportation and buildings, as well as limiting charter authorizers and ensuring schools have funding to serve all students, such as those with disabilities.

Hogsett and Johnson’s five priorities are:

Exempting IPS from the so-called $1 law, which allows charter schools to purchase or lease district buildings no longer used as schools from the district for $1.
Requiring all public schools — including district-run and charter schools as well as Innovation Network schools — to offer transportation or forfeit their share of property taxes. (Legislation passed earlier this year allows all charter schools to receive property tax funds starting in 2028.)
Limiting charter authorizers to two who can approve schools within the boundaries of the IPS school district: the Office of Education Innovation and the Indiana Charter School Board. (Currently, charter schools in Indianapolis use one of three authorizers.)
Have a shared framework for making decisions about buildings to give the community a clear understanding of how decisions about school buildings are made. The press release notes there are more than 103 school buildings for 41,000 students within IPS boundaries.
Make sure all public schools, regardless of type, have resources and funding to serve and be accessible to all students, including students with disabilities, students facing homelessness, and English language learners.

The ILEA was created by state lawmakers and tasked with making recommendations about how the district and area charter schools might share buildings and buses. But lawmakers also gave the task force the ability to make recommendations on other topics, including school governance.

Last month, the alliance said addressing who oversees schools would be key to its recommendations. Hogsett and Johnson said they drew up their priorities for the ILEA’s recommendations after listening to community input.

The ILEA, which has nine members, has met since the summer and most recently had two public comment sessions ahead of Wednesday’s vote.

At one of those sessions on Monday, members of the Indianapolis community raised concerns about the potential impact of the ILEA’s recommendations on the elected school board. Another speaker asked whether the ILEA would recommend repealing the $1 law about building acquisitions — an idea that appears to have growing bipartisan support among Indiana lawmakers.

Members of the public have also sparred over whether the ILEA should recommend limiting the number of authorizers for Indianapolis, and requiring all public schools to provide transportation. Charter advocates in particular have criticized these ideas as an infringement on charter autonomy.

The ILEA will meet to vote on its final recommendations at 6 p.m. on Dec. 17 at the City-County Building at 200 E. Washington St.

Chalkbeat Indiana reporter Aleksandra Appleton contributed reporting.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

What do Indiana lawmakers think of the proposals to change how Indianapolis Public Schools functions?

2025-12-11T21:04:58+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

With the work of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance nearly complete, the future of public schools in the city will soon be in state lawmakers’ hands.

When they’re finalized in a Dec. 17 vote, those recommendations could form the basis of a bill for the 2026 session that could affect not just how students get to and from school and which buildings they learn in, but who runs public education in Indianapolis.

Right now, the ILEA is considering two options for school oversight that would dilute the power of the IPS school board. However, the ILEA’s recommendations aren’t binding. And lawmakers on the House and Senate Education committees are introducing their own ideas that could affect who can authorize charter schools, which schools must provide transportation, and whether charter schools will still be able acquire buildings from school districts for $1.

Indianapolis-area lawmakers on education committees say there is potential for improvement in the city’s school bus transportation. But there’s less agreement over what to do about school buildings and who exactly should govern both IPS and local charter schools.

The outcome may have significant implications for other public school districts. Several education laws that initially only applied to Indianapolis eventually expanded to cover other parts of the state.

Rep. Bob Behning, an Indianapolis Republican and chair of the House Education Committee, said he has started a bill with general concepts, but is waiting for the recommendations to be finalized. He also said that he’s pleased with the group’s work.

The committee will meet for the first time on Jan. 7, and likely only three times before bills need to advance to the full House, said Behning, who wrote the law establishing the ILEA during the 2025 legislative session.

Changing who runs Indianapolis schools proves tough issue

With dozens of bus routes in the city, Democratic Rep. Ed DeLaney said he would be open to a unified solution that also provides transportation for private schools that accept school vouchers.

“The focus on transportation and buildings is critical. That’s the right thing to focus on,” DeLaney said.

Democratic Sen. Fady Qaddoura has introduced a sweeping charter reform bill this year that would require charter schools to provide transportation if they accept property tax revenue, among other changes.

But Behning said he would likely not support a requirement that all public schools provide transportation.

Democratic Sen. Andrea Hunley said that if IPS is required to provide transportation, then local charter schools should be too — or else they shouldn’t be considered public schools.

There’s some overlap between questions about who will run schools and how to manage school buildings. IPS works with some charter schools through its Innovation Network. And independent charters can purchase or lease unused IPS school buildings for $1 under Indiana law.

Behning said if there’s ultimately a new building authority that manages school facilities, repealing the so-called $1 law would make sense. He also said a new shared accountability system could be used to determine which charter and district-run schools stay open and which ones close.

“We had a vision that the authority would kind of determine who would get access,” Behning said. “If you are better performing than x, the facility is available to you.”

Hunley said any shared accountability framework shouldn’t be developed with the intent to close schools, but to measure success. In the future, this could be one data point among many in decisions about whether to close a school, she said.

Indiana is also working on a new state school accountability model due to be finalized in January.

Beyond infrastructure, the ILEA seeks to address who would be the ultimate authority over public schools in the city, as well as who would authorize charters.

One proposal under consideration by the ILEA would give significantly more authority to the Indianapolis mayor’s office; the other would create a new board with appointees from IPS, charters, and the mayor’s office. But many details about those and other plans under consideration remain unclear.

So far, groups supporting IPS have sharply criticized those two proposals, while pro-charter groups have offered some praise but said the ILEA should not restrict charters’ autonomy.

The Indianapolis mayor’s office may be the most logical central authority to make decisions for Indianapolis schools, DeLaney said.

But Behning said he would not support recommendations that restrict the number of charter authorizers in the city, or give the mayor’s office sole power to authorize.

Rather than create a new body to oversee IPS and charter schools, Hunley said the IPS board could be reframed as the authority over all schools in Indianapolis. The district already provides transportation and special education services for more than just its directly enrolled students, she said.

Qaddoura said he would reject any bill to dilute the power of the IPS board.

“IPs should be in control of education in Indianapolis,” Qaddoura said. “I don’t want the mayor’s office engaged in making educational decisions on behalf of the city. IPS has an elected board. Parents can use the election to elect those who reflect their values.”

Could a bill changing Indianapolis schools affect other districts?

Most lawmakers on the House and Senate education committees represent areas outside Indianapolis. But there’s a reason for them to take note of an ILEA bill.

In the past, education legislation that initially applied only in Indianapolis — like a requirement that districts share property tax revenue with charter schools — eventually expanded to other parts of the state. A recent survey by the Indiana Coalition for Public Education indicated statewide concern from district leaders over future budgets as a result of this year’s budget bill that included property tax caps and other changes, like the tax-sharing provisions.

Even within the supermajority, there’s some difference of opinion on school choice. One bill last session, House Bill 1136, authored by Republican Rep. Jake Teshka of North Liberty, would have simply dissolved Indianapolis Public Schools and four other school districts But this year, Terre Haute Republican Sen. Greg Goode has gone in a different direction by authoring a bill to exempt more districts from the state’s $1 building law, which has been rarely used or successful in practice.

Both Teshka and Goode sit on their respective education committees. Neither responded to a request for comment on the ILEA’s recommendations by deadline.

Hunley said that the ILEA process was an alternative to the legislature deciding the future of IPS without community input, as lawmakers did with the Union School Corporation.

“In one sentence, in one line, an entire school district was disbanded without hearings, public comment, or public input,” Hunley said. “There’s very real precedent for the legislature to do that.”

Qaddoura said the threat of unilateral dissolution in Teshka’s bill effectively forced IPS to negotiate via the ILEA to maintain power.

“The goal of ILEA was just one step in the master plan of the general assembly to convert Indiana from a traditional public school state to a fully charters and vouchers kind of state,” Qaddoura said. “Choice at the expense of 1 million students is not a choice.”

Hunley said she has heard concerns from school leaders in the area she represents — which includes portions of the Wayne, Warren, and Perry schools. But more districts should voice their opinions, she said.

“Everyone should be watching,” Hunley said. “If a school board loses the power to govern, then every school district in the state should be worried, because they won’t be the last.”

The ILEA will hold a public listening session on Dec. 15 from 12-2 p.m. at the Madame Walker Legacy Center at 617 Indiana Ave. The group will vote on final recommendations on Dec. 17 at 6 p.m., at the City-County Building at 200 E. Washington St.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

As the ILEA mulls changing how Indianapolis schools are run, here are 5 key unanswered questions

2025-12-11T00:25:43+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A state-mandated task force is one step away from proposing major changes to who oversees public schools in Indianapolis. But even at this late stage, significant questions remain.

The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance is weighing two options that would leave the elected Indianapolis Public Schools board in place but significantly weaken its power. The task force is mulling two possibilities. One model would create a “collaborative compact advisory board” that would oversee both traditional public schools and charter schools. The other would establish a separate authority and create a new position for Indianapolis schools: a secretary of education.

Such a loss of power by the elected IPS board could have profound effects on the city’s schools and change their relationships with students, families, state officials, and others. But beyond that, it’s not clear how much detail for each option the ILEA will include in its final recommendations.

It’s also uncertain whether state lawmakers will adopt the ILEA’s recommendations, or whether they will flesh out the task force’s proposals through new laws or other means.

The ILEA is also weighing recommendations to change how transportation and buildings are managed. One model would create a collaborative advisory board in which schools would voluntarily work together and pay for services. The other would create an independent authority that would manage and possibly dictate services to schools.

The task force is considering both models for each of the two issues; it could recommend a collaborative board for transportation but an independent authority for buildings, for example.

The ILEA will vote to adopt final recommendations on Dec. 17.

Here are a few major unanswered questions that the alliance could address in its final recommendations — and what we know right now.

Who exactly would be in charge of schools?

The proposed collaborative compact advisory board would be made up of an unknown number of appointees from IPS, the mayor’s office, and charter schools. But how those appointees would be chosen is unclear.

Then there’s the other option, which would create the Indianapolis Education Authority. In an initial draft, that authority would have a nine-member board appointed by the mayor. The mayor would have to appoint four of the nine members from the elected IPS board.

But the draft advanced by the ILEA last week removed the requirement to have four IPS board members on the Indianapolis Education Authority, and didn’t specify who would appoint the authority’s members.

It’s also unclear how much either of those options would overlap with the ILEA’s separate recommendations for transportation and buildings.

How much power would these new authorities have?

In both governance models, the IPS board and charter school boards would still exist and report up to a new authority.

But how much power the new authority would have is unclear. It could have the power to impose and collect property taxes and authorize new charter schools. It could also set policies for all schools to ensure charter and IPS schools are held to the same standards — such as guidelines for students with disabilities or discipline.

In theory, the IPS school board and individual charter school boards could still be in charge of day-to-day school operations, including hiring and firing school leaders and superintendents or approving yearly budgets — the most important functions elected boards have.

Collaborative advisory boards for transportation and facilities could allow participating schools to agree on decisions such as transportation zones or opening or closing schools. In contrast, independent transportation or facility authorities that receive property tax dollars directly could dictate some of these decisions to the schools.

Would all students have school transportation?

It’s unclear whether all students would receive transportation to school under the ILEA’s recommendations.

There seems to be some consensus among ILEA members that to bus all students to any school they want to attend — regardless of distance — would be too costly.

But the larger unanswered question is whether all schools would be required to offer transportation to students living within a certain distance of the school.

About half of the 25 charter schools in the IPS Innovation Network use the district’s bus services. Less than half of the 29 independent charter schools provide bus service, according to a September report from the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, which authorizes charters.

Superintendent Aleesia Johnson, who has objected to stripping the district of its authority over transportation, said at an ILEA meeting last month that schools should be required to participate in a transportation service. She said this would address the problem that the alliance is trying to solve, which is how to ensure every school offers transportation.

If schools decline to do so, she said, then they should not receive property tax dollars earmarked for transportation.

Four other ILEA members have told Chalkbeat they would support a requirement for schools to offer transportation: Tina Ahlgren, Barato Britt, Andrew Neal, and Angela Smith-Jones.

But former mayor Bart Peterson, who’s also an ILEA member, said there would need to be limits on how far students could live from their school and still receive transportation.

Will new charter schools be allowed to open?

It’s unclear whether the ILEA will address the issue of opening new schools.

In the proposals, there’s no mention of stopping new public schools from opening in Indianapolis. But in an ILEA meeting last month, Ahlgren and Smith-Jones voiced support for a moratorium on new schools.

“We have to have a pause, because you cannot continue to have just a rolling wheel of change,” Smith-Jones said last month. “To me that feels unstable.”

In practice, such a moratorium would likely disproportionately impact charters, which have grown in number in recent years as the number of IPS-run schools have shrunk, although roughly one-third of charters have closed since 2001.

In a related matter, IPS supporters are also calling for just one charter authorizer instead of the three currently overseeing schools in Indianapolis. Charter school leaders and advocates have opposed limiting the number of authorizers and any moratorium on new schools.

Would charter schools need to give up their buildings?

Few charter schools own vehicles that transport students. But over 20 charter schools own their buildings and a little over a dozen leased them in the 2023-24 school year, according to a report from the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation. Those arrangements include millions in remaining financial obligations.

It’s unclear whether the alliance will recommend that charter schools give up authority over those assets.

“How are property rights exercised by an independent authority over buildings that are owned in lots of different ways by lots of different entities?” Peterson said at the ILEA’s meeting in November.

It’s also unclear whether the ILEA will recommend the state repeal a law that allows charter schools to buy unused school buildings from IPS for $1 under certain conditions. The law has sparked conflict between IPS and charters for years.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Should students have cellphones in class? Indiana said no 2 years ago. Now the law may get stricter.

2025-12-04T21:05:12+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Since Indiana’s school cellphone ban went into effect in 2024, classroom distractions haven’t disappeared. But they have become a little more old school.

Students now pass notes and notebooks, doodle, write poetry, and talk to their neighbors, teachers say. But all of these diversions are less diverting than a phone.

“None of those things come with the FOMO of seeing another kid scrolling on their phone. There’s not a compulsion to write poetry because your neighbor is writing poetry,” said Jon Bernardi, a math teacher in Shortridge High School in Indianapolis. “Kids are talking to each other more, there are fewer distractions in the class, and my morale is better because I don’t have to gripe about the phones.”

As things stand now, the cell phone ban applies only to instructional time, and teachers are allowed to let students use their phones in class for learning.

But more restrictions could be on the way. GOP lawmakers have introduced new bills that would mandate that phones be securely stored at school or left at home during the whole school day. The ban also would extend to all personal devices including laptops and smartwatches, meaning that any learning would need to happen on school-issued devices.

The bell-to-bell ban would further align Indiana with a growing push to limit screen use for learning in order to improve focus and academics. It may also win praise from educators who have seen positive effects from the existing ban. But more restrictions could face pushback from students as well as parents worried about not being able to reach their children in emergencies.

“That was the biggest drawback for families,” said Cindy Baker, executive director of TROY School, a private alternative school in northeast Indiana that’s not subject to the 2024 law but chose to implement a policy when it went into effect. “But honestly, not allowing students to have access to their phone, they’re not getting those random questions from their parents or someone else that upset them. We have some better behaviors because they don’t have access to that.”

Cellphone ban shows promise for academics but implementation varies

Implementation of the cellphone ban has varied across Indiana schools. That’s one reason that Rep. Jake Teshka, a North Liberty Republican, authored the new House proposal for tighter restrictions on phones. Republican Sens. Jeff Raatz and Greg Goode filed a similar bill in the Senate.

“When we have an instructional time ban only, the teacher becomes the enforcer, and that’s one more thing on their plate,” Teshka said. Stopping class to take a phone away, and possibly arguing with a student, is a distraction in itself, he said.

Like the current law, the proposals would grant some exceptions for medical needs, translation purposes, or other reasons outlined in an Individualized Education Program, a service plan for students with disabilities.

At Shortridge, students can keep their phones, but they must be stored in backpacks during class time. Bernardi said most students follow the rules — but when he sees phones out in class, he contacts a dean to come and confiscate them, preempting any possible conflicts with students.

As a small school, TROY asks its 50 students to leave their phones at the front desk and then pick them up at the end of the day, Baker said.

At Northview Middle School in Washington Township schools, students must keep phones in their lockers from bell to bell, said teacher Marissa Tanner. Teachers will confiscate phones and send them to the office for families to pick up. A second offense is an automatic out-of-school suspension.

Tanner said it’s taken some time for families to and students to adapt to the policy and for it to feel comfortable.

“When I do have to confiscate a phone, there really is no longer a fight to turn them over because the kids understand the expectation,” she said.

But locking phones away in secure pouches has had some unintended consequences, like complaints of theft and forgotten phones, said Austin Wilson, a student at Northridge High School in Middlebury Community Schools.

“Getting into class is painfully slow with everyone finding their pockets, and there’s also always a line at the end of class to get your phone back,” Wilson said. “This has caused less teaching time as a side effect, too.”

More than a year in, Wilson said the phone ban is not consistently enforced by teachers. Still, phones aren’t usually a distraction in class for the simple reason that the Wi-Fi signal is not usually strong enough in classrooms.

When students were allowed to keep their phones in their backpacks, they would mostly pull them out to listen to music during independent work time, he said. This school policy worked better, Wilson said.

“I think schools can handle it at their own discretion,” he said. “I don’t know why there needs to be a law for it.”

While implementation has varied, teachers commonly said the cellphone ban has led to fewer fights as a result of social media posts, smoother classroom management, and more in-person engagement.

There are also promising signs about the impact of cellphone bans on academics. One of the first studies looking at the link between cellphone bans and academics found a modest improvement in test scores for Florida students.

Tanner said Northview’s state testing scores have risen since the phone ban went into effect, from 18% proficiency on the math portion of the ILEARN in 2022-23 to 40% proficiency in 2024-25, and 31% to 42% proficiency in English language arts during the same period.

“While this can’t all be attributed to the cellphone policy, the limits on distractions have been a major help in my opinion,” Tanner said.

Lawmakers want to rethink the role of laptops in learning

The bills’ requirements to restrict the use of wireless devices to school-issued ones shows that ongoing concerns about screens could also resonate with some educators. Some Indiana districts have already moved to this model.

For the past two years, Northview has turned to classroom sets of Chromebooks rather than sending devices home with students. Washington Township schools had also limited the use of the devices, Tanner said.

“This policy also holds teachers to higher standards by making sure planning is intentional and technology is used as a tool,” Tanner said.

Indiana is not alone in reconsidering the role of laptops for classroom learning. That represents a reversal of COVID-era policies that sought to give all students a device in order to access online learning.

Some schools have already turned back to physical textbooks and note-taking by hand, said Henry Seton, a New Jersey teacher who has written about this topic. He said that trend is driven by research showing that those are linked to better comprehension and deeper learning. Laptop use in classrooms can be helpful for specific assignments, but requires constant monitoring by teachers, he said.

“Even on school issued Chromebooks, students access addictive games, social media, even their own phones,” he said. “It’s so easy to hit alt-tab.”

TROY offers a bank of Chromebooks for some assignments. But most learning happens through reading together, reading independently, and then transferring the knowledge in a project — like an old-school posterboard.

“It’s hard for our students who might have anxiety or feel overwhelmed seeing all their classes in one place,” she said. “They learn best in a way that is not on a Chromebook.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Local Education Alliance advances proposals diluting power of elected IPS school board

2025-12-04T01:49:59+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A state-mandated education task force has advanced two proposals that would both significantly dilute the power of the elected board governing Indianapolis Public Schools.

In a 7-2 vote on Wednesday, members of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance moved ahead with two potential recommendations to change how local schools are run, but did not indicate a preference for one of them.

The first model would increase the influence of the mayor and charters through a new three-way power-sharing arrangement.

The model’s proposed “collaborative compact advisory board” would consist of appointees from IPS, the mayor’s office, and charter schools. The IPS school board and charter schools’ boards would report to this advisory board, which would collect and levy property taxes and serve as a charter authorizer. The mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, however, which currently serves as a charter authorizer, could also continue in that role.

The second model would concentrate more power in the mayor’s hands by establishing an Indianapolis Education Authority consisting of a mayor-appointed secretary of education. In the version of this model presented last month, the mayor would also appoint a nine-member policy-making board. Four of those nine members would be selected from the elected IPS school board, which along with charter school boards would also report to the policy-making board.

The model would allow the Office of Education Innovation, or OEI, to remain as a charter authorizer. The Indiana Charter School Board would either be another authorizer, or would serve as an appeals board for charter schools seeking to challenge a decision made by the OEI.

Either plan would bring monumental changes to Indianapolis Public Schools and the 54 charters within district borders. The ILEA’s work is taking place against the backdrop of declining enrollment and significant long-term financial issues for IPS, while charter school enrollment in the area has grown. Tensions between traditional public and charters over funding and other resources have also escalated. And in recent years, state GOP lawmakers have sought to take power and funding away from IPS in different ways.

The Republican supermajority that approved the creation of the ILEA is also considering redrawing Indiana’s congressional map to potentially eliminate two Democratic seats statewide and dilute the electoral power of the urban core of Indianapolis.

The alliance was created by state lawmakers to recommend changing how IPS and charter schools could share resources. The ILEA’s members also agreed to advance two options for the management of IPS and charter facilities and transportation that would put power over bus services and school buildings under either a separate authority or advisory board.

The ILEA will collect public input on its three preferred models in two meetings later this month. One will be held on Dec. 10 at KIPP Legacy High School from 6 to 8 p.m., and another will be held on Dec. 15 at the Madam Walker Legacy Center from 12 to 2 p.m.

The group will pick its final recommendations to state lawmakers in a vote at a Dec. 17 meeting, although legislators could also disregard the ILEA’s preferences.

IPS superintendent critical of plans to reduce board’s power

The vote on the three models came after heated public comment Wednesday from both district and charter supporters.

While charter leaders opposed any moves to reduce the number of charter authorizers, parents supportive of IPS urged the alliance to give authority over both district and charter schools to a fully elected IPS school board.

“If charters have concerns about answering to the IPS board, they can campaign to elect members that are favorable to their kids,” said IPS parent Josiah Harris-Adam, referencing previous school board election cycles that have garnered financial support from charter-friendly organizations.

The IPS Parent Council, which supports traditional IPS schools, called on the ILEA to pause Wednesday’s vote to hear more public testimony on the options. The council also decried the 4 p.m. meeting time that they said was inconvenient for many students and families.

Superintendent Aleesia Johnson and IPS teacher and parent Tina Ahlgren were the two votes against the proposals to dilute the power of the current IPS board.

“The elected school board oversees the administration of transportation and facilities for 70% of public school students in our boundary, charter and district,” Johnson said. “It would seem to me that the least disruptive way to proceed would be to leverage that publicly elected board to provide service or set policy for 100% of the public schools within our boundary, charter and district, while still respecting the autonomy and flexibility that many of our charter schools enjoy today.”

But Angela Smith-Jones, who was appointed to the ILEA by Mayor Joe Hogsett, noted that the alliance must consider how state lawmakers will respond to the task force’s recommendations.

Fellow ILEA member and former Indianapolis mayor Bart Peterson agreed, and said the alliance will still be doing a lot of work to address unanswered questions. He also said the task force will take more public input before its final meeting in two weeks.

“I believe we can reach a proposal that we can be proud to put forward,” he said.

ILEA advances options for independent transportation, facilities oversight

Meanwhile, the proposals advanced by the ILEA to change oversight of transportation and facilities have some key similarities.

One option for facilities would be to create another “collaborative compact advisory board” to manage buildings. The board could set accountability and performance standards that could determine which schools receive buildings.

The other recommendation for changing facilities management would create an independent building authority that consists of facilities experts and professional staff.

The transportation options advanced by the task force are similar. One would create an advisory board that would set transportation zones. In this model, schools opting in to the service would pay for transportation services that continue to be run by IPS.

Another model would create an independent transportation authority that would collect property tax dollars and hire transportation contractors.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Here’s when the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance will meet next

2025-11-26T17:38:55+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The Indianapolis Education Alliance will meet Dec. 3 to narrow down possible recommendations for changing who oversees schools and how school buildings and buses are managed.

The meeting is from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the public assembly room of the City County Building, said Shaina Cavazos, director of the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation.

ILEA members acknowledged at their last meeting that in order to recommend changes to building and transportation management — the main task assigned to them by state lawmakers — they need to address school oversight. The group heard four options for doing so, including ones that would drastically limit the power of the elected board for Indianapolis Public Schools.

On Dec. 3, the ILEA is expected to go over the options for how to change the management of facilities, transportation, and school oversight, and narrow them down. The alliance could decide to not pick one of the presented options, and instead combine elements to create a new option, or choose something entirely different, ILEA consultant Michael O’Connor previously told Chalkbeat.

A majority of alliance members told Chalkbeat that they don’t yet have a preferred option for how to change school oversight. However, multiple members said they are considering appointed board members for schools, as well as reducing the number of charter authorizers. Other members, however, support elected school boards.

After the meeting, the ILEA will host public input sessions on the transportation, facilities, and governance models that the group likes best, before voting on its final recommendations to city and state leaders on Dec. 17.

The time and location of that meeting has not yet been announced.

Give the ILEA your feedback on the options for governance, transportation, and facilities from the November meeting here. You can also send general feedback to the ILEA by emailing ILEA@indy.gov.

Chalkbeat reporter Amelia Pak-Harvey contributed to this article.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

What education issues will Indiana lawmakers consider in 2026?

2025-11-18T21:11:28+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

It’s anything but business as usual in the Indiana statehouse.

The beginning of the 2026 legislative session has been dominated by the will-they, won’t-they question of redistricting, which has drawn national attention and left little time for lawmakers and advocacy groups to outline their plans for new legislation — including on education.

“I don’t know about you, but I’ve had an interesting fall,” said House Speaker Todd Huston in Organization Day remarks focused on affordability. “My 2025 bingo card has been turned upside down.”

But while legislative leaders haven’t yet detailed their education priorities for 2026, they have a list of unfinished business to tackle when it comes to schools, including a multiyear deregulation effort and a possible overhaul of the governance of Indianapolis Public Schools.

The upcoming session is a short session ending in March, which means lawmakers won’t have to pass a budget or debate education funding. But past short sessions have brought big changes to education, like the state’s third grade retention requirements and classroom cell phone ban — both passed in the 2024 short session.

This year’s big changes remain to be seen. Lawmakers begin filing bills now through their January deadlines. And advocacy groups like the Indiana State Teachers Association and the Chamber of Commerce, along with Gov. Mike Braun, all typically release their legislative priorities in January.

One idea that’s not returning is a 2024 proposal to expand Education Scholarship Accounts — a school choice fund for students with disabilities — to all students. Sen. Ryan Mishler said he is not planning to resurrect this idea because of the 2025 law to make school vouchers universal beginning next summer.

Here’s what we can expect in 2026.

A school deregulation effort continues

In the 2025 session, House Education chair Bob Behning began what he said was a multiyear effort to overhaul Title 20, Indiana’s education code. Behning confirmed to Chalkbeat that this process will continue in 2026.

This year’s HEA 1002 contained dozens of provisions repealing both expired and existing statutes within Title 20. Among the more notable changes was the end of a requirement that the Indiana Secretary of Education have education and leadership experience.

Other changes removed the requirement that school districts provide a noncharter option for students if they grant a charter and reduced the notice schools must provide if they eliminate transportation.

And a last-minute amendment to that bill dropped requirements that teachers must train in restorative justice, cultural competency, and social emotional support to manage their classrooms effectively.

Behning did not specify which regulations might be considered next.

The future of Indianapolis schools to be determined

In the 2025 legislative session, Indiana lawmakers created the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance to consider how Indianapolis Public Schools and charter schools in Marion County might share transportation and facilities. Now, their homework is due back to lawmakers.

Once the organization’s recommendations are finalized, they are to be submitted to the legislature, which may codify them into laws affecting both charter and traditional public schools in Indianapolis.

The wide-ranging work of the group has considered not just sharing buildings and bus routes, but could also consider a new structure of governance for the school district and the need for a new system of rating schools that could affect which schools are ultimately closed.

A draft of those recommendations is expected Wednesday, with final recommendations due Dec. 31.

Less focus on early education, more on career education

In remarks at a legislative preview event with the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta said his caucus would again call for the state to invest in a robust preschool program.

Republican leaders again said no.

“I guess I’m so old that I remember when having a neighbor, family member, or friend watch your kid for day care was okay, and maybe I missed the dramatic societal consequences of that,” Huston said. “You say now we have to create this colossal structure, and that structure comes with all these costs and constrained supply, and means it just makes the user experience [cost] even more. I think we gotta find the appropriate balance.”

In recent years, lawmakers have taken incremental steps to reduce regulation in the hope of making it easier for operators to run child care centers, and to entice businesses to offer child care to their employees.

But this year has brought additional challenges for families and childcare providers, including a freeze on new child care vouchers until 2027, cuts to reimbursement rates, and uncertainty over federal funding that supports different programs.

Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder said child care providers face difficulties hiring and retaining staff, and that one solution would be to help workers develop new skills and earn more money. But Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray and Huston said professionalization would also lead to higher costs for families.

The Republican leaders also touted the success of past year’s efforts to establish more career and technical education and apprenticeship programs for Indiana high school students to earn workplace experience. Yoder said Indiana students need to keep learning critical thinking skills alongside workplace skills, especially in the context of AI.

Both houses of the Indiana General Assembly officially reconvene on Jan. 5, but Huston told his members to keep the first two weeks of December open “for potential business.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Voters in 5 of 6 Indiana communities, including Avon, approve school referendums

2025-11-05T21:30:10+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Volunteers and district leaders wearing school colors stood outside the Avon United Methodist Church, a popular polling place in the Hendricks County town, handing out information about the only item on Tuesday’s ballot: a referendum for Avon Community Schools to pay for maintaining smaller class sizes, extracurriculars, and competitive teacher pay.

Nearby, members of the Avon High School orchestra played Christmas carols, and a steady stream of people arrived to cast their vote.

One hundred and seventy-three jobs, mostly teachers, were on the line. The vote was six months earlier than planned, due to changes made at the statehouse. And Lt. Gov Micah Beckwith went to Avon less than two weeks earlier to showcase his opposition to school referendums.

Avon Community Schools was one of six school districts with a referendum vote on Tuesday, an election watched by many as a test case for future school property tax measures due to multiple changes by lawmakers.

Unofficial results showed five districts – Avon, Cannelton City Schools, Duneland Schools, Hanover Schools, and Lake Central Schools – passed their referendums, all renewals of previous ones. Northwest Allen Community Schools, the only district with a new referendum, did not.

“We don’t take that support lightly and I’m excited to see all the many ways our students and educators will thrive in the coming years thanks to our community’s support,” Avon superintendent Scott Wyndham wrote in his victory message.

State law allows school districts to seek this additional revenue as a supplement to the local property tax dollars they receive, as well as state and federal funding. Referendums can be for construction, safety, or operating expenses. All six this year were operating referendums meaning they were to fund salaries and programming.

Members of the Avon High School orchestra perform for voters on Tuesday. The school district referendum was the only item on the ballot.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed measures to lower property taxes, which many expect to lower operating revenue for schools, increase how much of that funding some districts must share with charter schools, and restrict referendums to only general statewide elections, rather than during any primary or general election. This year was an exception for school boards that passed a resolution before June 30 to place a referendum on the November ballot.

“Indiana is now a referendum state and it’s only going to become more and more the case,” Wyndham said, adding that school leaders and educators are there to teach kids and provide the best schools possible. “Yet Indiana has put us in a situation where for the last three months we’ve been running a campaign.”

School referendum campaigns are ‘full-time job’

In Avon, the referendum was a renewal of the 2018 referendum, but at a lower rate, and campaign volunteers aimed to share what was at stake with the community.

One example was the orchestra playing outside the polls. Before the 2018 referendum, elementary schools shared teachers for “specials” like art, gym, and music. After the referendum, each school has a dedicated teacher for those classes, and the music program has grown. Avon now has the largest orchestra program in the state with over 1,000 students in grades six to 12 participating, per the district.

While referendum support was generally positive, Avon school leaders said misinformation also caused challenges.

Sarah Parent, an Avon school board member, said the district’s political action committee put in a lot of time and effort, equating it to a full-time job. “And many of us already have full-time jobs.”

Parent, who has three children in the district, added that she thinks referendums are divisive and wants to see more school funding from the state legislature so that schools don’t have to do them, eliminating ”one extra thing that’s dividing the community right now.”

Both Parent and Wyndham encouraged people in Avon to stay involved with the schools and do their research, especially if they have questions about the district or voted against the referendum.

“Win or lose,” Parent said, “there are a lot of big decisions to be made.”

Indiana school referendum election results

Below are unofficial results for the November 2025 Indiana school referendums:

Avon Community School Corporation, Hendricks County: Passed. 64.58% voted yes.
Cannelton City School Corporation, Perry County: Passed. 71.5% voted yes.
Duneland School Corporation, Porter County: Passed. 61.9% voted yes.
Hanover School Corporation, Lake County: Passed. 52.71% voted yes
Lake Central School Corporation, Lake County: Passed. 59.51% voted yes.
Northwest Allen Community Schools, Allen County: Failed. 53.99% voted no.

Chalkbeat Indiana reporter Aleksandra Appleton contributed to this story.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Here’s how many students were held back thanks to Indiana’s retention law

2025-11-05T18:34:31+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Roughly 3,000 Hoosier students are repeating third grade this school year, due to the state’s retention law.

This is the first school year students were held back under the 2024 law that mandates retention for students who don’t pass the state’s reading test, the IREAD-3.

The law sought to address the growing number of students who were promoted to fourth grade without passing the test, which is an indicator of the early literacy skills tied to success in later grades. It has exemptions for certain students such as those with disabilities or those who are learning English, and gives students multiple chances to pass the test, including twice in the summer after third grade.

The state’s department of education presented data on IREAD pass rates and retention to the State Board of Education on Wednesday, revealing the total number of students who were held back for the first time.

“We will be watching those students very closely,” State Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said of the students held back, “to ensure they are readers following this year.”

Statewide, over 84,000 students were tested, and 10,663 didn’t pass the IREAD by the end of third grade. Of those, 6,950 received a good cause exemption to go to fourth grade anyway, 3,040 were held back, and roughly 673 students either left the state or are now homeschooled, per the state’s presentation.

A state dashboard with this data for traditional public schools, charter schools, and private schools is available online.

The number of students held back is lower than estimates during the 2023 legislative session, which said more than 7,000 students could be retained in third grade due to the law, Jenner pointed out to the board. She previously said that she didn’t believe many students would be held back.

The smaller-than-first-estimated retention numbers also follow an increase in IREAD scores last school year where 87.3% of students passed the test, an improvement of 5 percentage points from the previous year.

Anna Shults, chief academic officer for the department of education, credited the impact of statewide literacy efforts and policies to support reading, such as giving students multiple chances to pass IREAD, summer school, and more. She also noted that literacy is a key part of the state’s proposed accountability model for schools.

“We are now ensuring that students that are promoted onto grade four are doing so with an ability to read and show mastery of key foundational reading skills,” Shults said.

Students who didn’t pass IREAD can still go to fourth grade

The state has multiple ways for a student who didn’t pass IREAD to qualify for a “good cause exemption” and be deemed that it’s in their best interest to go to fourth grade.

Those are if a student is in special education, if they are an English learner with less than two years of services, if they were previously held back in third grade or more than once before that, and if they are proficient or above in math on the ILEARN.

Schools have the laws and policies to hold students back, but the exemptions allow conversations on the local level about individual students, Shults said.

This school year, of the students who went to fourth grade with an exemption, nearly 75% were students in special education and nearly 24% were English learners. The remaining roughly 1% were either proficient in math or previously held back.

Indiana will continue literacy support going forward

For students who don’t pass the IREAD, Shults said the state’s focus will be on interventions for those students and what is happening day-to-day for them in school.

And she said the state will continue to make sure educators have what they need to improve literacy rates overall by looking at schools’ reading plans and providing teacher training, literacy resources, testing checkpoints, and supports like tutoring and summer programs.

The state board also heard a report on summer learning labs from Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust. This summer was the fifth year for the program that does English and math education, and it served roughly 12,000 students in 144 locations across the state.

Students take an assessment at the beginning and the end of the five-week program, and Brown said data showed gains across the board for all students.

He added that research also showed gains on state tests following the summer program, and the largest gains were for students who also did tutoring through Indiana Learns in addition to the summer learning labs.

Next, he said, the Mind Trust is looking at ways to replicate the program during other breaks from school in the fall, winter, and spring.

Update: This story was updated on Nov. 6 to include a link to the state dashboard.

Chalkbeat Indiana reporter Aleksandra Appleton contributed to this story.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Why Indiana’s lieutenant governor is door-knocking to defeat a local property tax referendum for schools

2025-10-27T22:42:07+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

As six Indiana school districts seek local property tax referendums to pay for teachers and transportation, Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith joined the campaign to defeat them by door-knocking in Avon.

Beckwith said Saturday in a social media post that he was out in Hendricks County ahead of the Nov. 4 election to encourage voters to defeat Avon Community Schools’ referendum renewal — an unusual move for a statewide official. The referendum funds 170 teacher and staff positions in the district, as well as student programming at Avon High School.

In an interview, Beckwith said it’s not just Avon’s referendum he’s against: All six referendums should be defeated in order to prevent property tax increases.

“Property taxes are crushing too many homeowners, and this referendum would only make it worse,” his post said. “Families deserve relief, not bigger bills. Seniors deserve security, not fear of being taxed out of their homes. And young families deserve a future where owning a home is achievable.”

But supporters of referendums say they’re a critical source of stable funding on top of existing property tax revenue and state and federal funding sources. Operations referendums support staff positions, transportation, and programming, while capital referendums fund construction projects and safety referendums pay for school safety initiatives.

“The Indiana Legislature enacted property tax caps 15 years ago and gave local communities the referendum process as a lifeline if they believe their schools need more funding to be effective,” Avon schools said in a statement. “This is a local issue for local citizens, so we’re confused as to why our Lieutenant Governor — who is not responsible for education policy and does not live in our community — would take an interest in this campaign.”

Property tax reform has been a key issue this year for Beckwith, Gov. Mike Braun, and other Republican leaders. New laws capped the growth in general operating revenue that districts expect to receive from property taxes, restricted referendums to general election years, and implemented requirements that districts share some of their tax revenue with charter schools. And Beckwith said the laws didn’t go far enough because they didn’t provide immediate relief to taxpayers.

An amendment allowed districts to run referendums in the November 2025 election — and made them high stakes for districts that will use the results to inform decisions about staffing through the next year.

Avon schools said in a statement that Beckwith did not contact the district about the referendum.

Beckwith said his office had been contacted by a local organizer opposed to the referendum. He said most voters he spoke to while door-knocking were opposed to the referendum.

“I don’t want to burden Hoosiers,” he said. “I want to give them a breather.”

What voting down a referendum means for schools

In a statement, Avon schools said the district would “prefer the state provide sufficient funding to public schools,” but that until it did, school corporations would have to use referendums “to cover the funding gap.”

Avon’s referendum renewal is primarily aimed at retaining staff positions in order to keep class sizes down, Superintendent Scott Wyndham previously told Chalkbeat. It also supports clubs at Avon High.

The referendum renewal process is “a non-partisan, local campaign to support our students and educators in Avon Community School Corporation,” the statement said.

Its tax rate of 33 cents per $100 of assessed value is slightly lower than the original referendum passed in 2018, which was 35 cents. On the decrease, Beckwith said tax bills would likely increase anyway due to greater assessed values.

In 2011, a referendum put forth by the district failed, leading to larger class sizes, which had a negative impact on academics, Wyndham said.

Beckwith said he doesn’t want to see layoffs, but that districts sometimes use the threat of layoffs to pass referendums. He said existing property tax revenue and state dollars should be adequate to fund schools, and that defeating the referendums would require schools to operate more efficiently.

“I don’t think we have a money problem, I think we have a spending problem,” Beckwith said. “Schools have other funding they can use to keep teachers — they just don’t want to. They want to make sure money is still left to do big projects.”

The district statement said this year’s referendum has been endorsed by groups including the Washington Township Board, the Greater Avon Chamber of Commerce, the Avon Library Board, Avon Oriole Advocates, and the Avon Federation of Teachers.

“These local governing bodies and community entities have a huge stake in the health and vitality of our community and our schools,” the district statement said. “They are far better suited to speak on this local issue than a state-wide elected official who does not live or work here.”

Election day is Nov. 4, with referendums on the ballot for voters in six school districts. Find your polling location and more information here.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana is a step closer to a new grading system for schools. Here’s the latest draft.

2025-10-15T18:30:19+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

State education leaders want to measure schools by what students achieve, not punish schools for what students don’t. And they want to grade schools on more than test scores.

A second draft of an accountability system for Indiana schools was presented to the State Board of Education by Indiana Department of Education officials on Wednesday. The board has until the end of 2025 to approve the new framework, per state law, and is expected to vote on a new framework at its Dec. 10 meeting. Schools would receive grades no later than December 2026.

The proposed grading system assigns points to students based on their academic mastery, measured through test scores, and gives them additional points for other knowledge, skills, and experiences that state education leaders say students need for future success. That includes earning workforce credentials and skills like work ethic and communication and collaboration.

Each student’s overall score is then averaged with other students for a school’s overall grade. Schools are not docked additional points for students who don’t pass tests or master specific skills. Schools receive a letter grade based on a scale of zero to 100 points, with 90 points and above graded as an A and 59 and below as an F.

The blend of academics and skills in the proposed accountability model is the biggest change from previous models, and one that board members and Indiana’s education chief defended during the meeting, saying there are some people who want Indiana to focus just on academic mastery.

“There are other things that matter as well, and this is representative of what we’re really driving towards,” said Katie Jenner, Indiana secretary of education.

She said the new model would prioritize academic mastery and skill development, and stressed that “academic mastery, assessment and accountability matter in Indiana, regardless of what the federal government does or does not do.”

“For people in our country who think that if we have all humans take a test and if they pass or not that determines their success, you are fooling yourself because there are leaders in seats all over our country who probably couldn’t pass the test,” Jenner said. “We have to see the full human picture.”

School grading framework focuses on individual students

Indiana schools have not been graded since 2018 due to changes in state testing and the pandemic. In 2022, Indiana created the Graduates Prepared to Succeed dashboard that includes a profile of each school, but not a single grade. But some families found it too complex. So officials also want the new accountability system to be transparent and easier for people to understand.

By assigning scores to each student first, the proposal incentivizes schools to work with individual students to increase their school grade, instead of focusing on increasing the average of one metric, said Ron Sandlin, chief innovation officer for the state education department, who presented the draft to the board on Wednesday.

That approach to maximizing outcomes for every individual student is a “fundamental shift,” he said.

Overall, the second draft of the accountability model is largely similar to the first draft officials presented to the state board in June. Students who are proficient in a subject on a state exam earn points, but so do students who are approaching proficient – just a lower amount.

However, it does include additional opportunities for students to earn points based on work that schools are already doing to help students who are not reaching milestones.

For example, a student who is deemed to not be where they should be academically in ninth grade, but is able to get back on track in 10th grade would earn points to reflect the work the student and school did. Points are also earned for students who are identified at risk for not passing IREAD as second graders, but pass the test in third grade.

The proposal awards points for the readiness seals in the new high school diplomas. But it also includes a way for students to earn points for the old high school diplomas, as schools transition students from one diploma format to the other.

State education board member Kristin Rentschler said she works with students on a daily basis as a social studies teacher, and while school accountability frameworks are not something students think about, this draft would shift the conversation that educators have with students.

Specifically, it would give hope to students who struggle with test taking because educators can say “that’s not the only thing you are being measured on kiddo,” Rentschler said.

Next up is a public comment period before the final draft in December. An online public comment period is now open through Nov. 17. A public hearing for feedback will be held at 11 a.m. on Nov. 17 in the history reference room at the Indiana State Library, 315 W. Ohio St. in Indianapolis.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

How a hike through the forest and a lesson on listening build a foundation for middle school

2025-10-14T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Before leading a hike at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis, Clare Wildhack-Nolan asked the group of fourth-graders to listen to the birds and insects around them.

Note five colors in the early fall landscape, she urged them, and imagine what it would be like to touch three nearby objects: tree bark, fallen leaves, and mud from the recent rain.

Wildhack-Nolan was not just introducing students to their surroundings but also leading them through a common calming exercise focused on the senses.

The park field trip was hosted by the Peace Learning Center, which for nearly three decades has served thousands of Marion County students and educators. The exercise is one example of the center’s work to introduce students to techniques to recognize and regulate their emotions, treat others with respect and empathy, and work cooperatively.

Such practices have long enjoyed bipartisan support in Indiana. But amid criticism nationally from conservatives who want schools focused solely on academics, Indiana lawmakers this year eliminated a requirement that teachers learn cultural responsiveness, restorative justice, and social-emotional support to manage their classrooms effectively.

The legislation was to go further, but backlash caused lawmakers to retain other training requirements. Still included are requirements that teachers learn to recognize how trauma affects students and help students understand and meet expectations for behavior.

None of the practices targeted in the new law have been banned, however, and the work goes on at places like Peace Learning Center, which works with districts like the MSD of Pike Township, the home district of the students on the hike with Wildhack-Nolan.

“We try to help people see what they need to do to comply, but also, what’s still allowed?” said Peace Learning Center CEO Tim Nation. “We want to help young people learn to manage their emotions so they can sit in classrooms and learn reading and math.”

Good listeners vs. bad listeners

The Peace Learning Center occupies a nearly 100-year-old former estate overlooking a reservoir. Nation and his co-founder found the spot while on a cross-country ski trip through the park in 1997. Back then, the program was an AmeriCorps in-school initiative.

The Peace Learning Center was established in Eagle Creek Park in 1999.

Established in 1999, the center now runs a mix of in-school training for teachers and students and field trips to its Eagle Creek campus. Its Restorative Justice Initiative — which includes staff development, community circles, and peer mediation — has led to decreases in both in-school and out-of-school suspensions at middle and high schools that use the program, according to data from the center.

All fourth and fifth graders at Pike Township have been coming to the center for two years for field trips funded by grants from the Herbert Simon Family Foundation and the Indianapolis Urban League.

The goal at this age is to build communication skills that lead to positive experiences with friends and teachers, which in turn improve attendance and academics. Starting in these grades also gives students a foundation for middle school, when friendships and social skills become more important, facilitators said.

“There’s this element of starting to be a tween, and that’s when a lot of people struggle with friendship issues,” Wildhack-Nolan said.

Back inside the center’s main room, under paintings of Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, and other peace leaders, facilitator Macy Cansdale told the students to act like bad listeners. So they ignored their partners as they talked — turning away, pretending to sleep, or speaking to others. Their conversation partners said these reactions made them feel awkward and confused.

“It’s like when I told my brother about my day, and he just said, ‘OK, that’s nice,’” one student said.

But when the students switched gears and listened attentively, their conversation partners reported feeling happy and important.

In addition to hikes,students at the Peace Learning Center take part in lessons and games to learn listening skills.

The center has not yet compiled data about how these trips affect Pike students’ behavior when they go back to the classroom, Nation said.

But Gregory Nunley, the district’s director of professional development, said the partnership has played a meaningful role decreasing truancy and the number of students referred to administrators for behavior incidents.

“Our partnership with the Peace Learning Center is an important part of our commitment to supporting the whole child,” Nunley said in a statement. “Through interactive, hands-on experiences like nature hikes, cooperative challenges, and team-building, our 4th and 5th grade students learn how to manage emotions, show empathy, build relationships, and make responsible, caring decisions.”

At the end of the listening exercise, Cansdale asked students to think of a few people in their lives who they could practice actively listening to — like their teacher, Sarah James.

James, who also attended the trip last year, said her students returned from the experience curious about the park and its history, which they study during their Indiana history unit. And the lessons on listening and communication made an impression while students are still at an impressionable age.

“My big hope is that with the good listener, bad listener exercise, that we’ll continue doing that in the classroom,” James said.

It’s important for lessons to extend into the classroom, facilitators said, giving students and teachers a chance to practice the skills they learned at the center.

“Everything we teach at the center is an ongoing process,” Wildhack-Nolan said. “It’s something you have to think about, do in practice, on an ongoing basis.”

With their hike through a forested area near the reservoir underway, Wildhack-Nolan called a halt to find out why students were screaming. Was it the spiders?

Students hike through a wooded area near the Peace Learning Center. Some said it was their first trip to Eagle Creek Park.

The students were unanimous: “Yes!”

Wildhack-Nolan assured them screaming was a natural reaction but that it could also lead to safety risks, like running and slipping. The spiders became part of an impromptu lesson on how students could control their reactions, even if they couldn’t control something happening around them.

They could not control the spiders.

But they could take a deep breath and keep moving.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

What happened after Indiana officials called for investigations into teachers’ social media posts?

2025-10-03T19:18:26+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

After conservative activist Charlie Kirk was killed, Indiana officials issued a clear warning: Any teacher making negative comments about his death could face serious consequences.

Two weeks later, the full impact of the calls by Gov. Mike Braun and Attorney General Todd Rokita to investigate and document teachers’ social media posts — and possibly result in their firing or licensure revocation — remains unclear. No cases to revoke a teacher’s license have been filed, and school board meetings where teachers’ statements were in the spotlight have remained mostly tame.

While at least three K-12 teachers have resigned from their positions, the Indiana Department of Education would not say whether it is investigating any teachers for their comments, and no cases have been filed with the state authority ultimately responsible for revoking their licenses.

The school districts where teachers have made controversial posts have been added to the Indiana attorney general’s Eyes on Education portal — which encourages members of the public to report partisan political content in schools — but the office has said it is not investigating the posts. The portal also includes posts from university faculty and staff — a Ball State professor who was fired for her post has filed a lawsuit through the ACLU.

The response at school board meetings since the submissions to the portal were posted has been mixed, with people speaking up both in support of the teachers and applauding the stance of state officials — but overall the atmosphere has been a far cry from meetings during the height of the pandemic that featured hours of public testimony, audience reaction, and occasionally, members of the public removed from the room.

No cases filed with teacher licensing authority

Braun said the state education department had the authority to suspend or revoke licenses for misconduct, and would review teachers’ posts for “political violence.” Misconduct in office is one of the charges that can lead to a teacher losing their license under state law, along with incompetency or “willful neglect of duty.”

IDOE would not say how many reports it has received about teachers’ posts or whether it is reviewing any for misconduct.

The state Office of Administrative Law Proceedings — which is charged with making a decision on teachers’ licenses after the department’s initial investigation — said no cases on teacher licenses have been filed with the office since Kirk’s death on Sept 10.

This formal licensure review process is separate from steps taken by Rokita’s office, which has said it has received hundreds of complaints about teachers’ social media posts.

In the last two weeks, it has added another 15 Indiana school districts and six universities to a portal tracking responses to Kirk’s death by schools, teachers, and university professors, for a total of 22 K-12 entities and eight universities. This includes social media posts, as well as instances where schools allegedly failed to lower their flags in honor of Kirk, and in one case, a letter from a superintendent warning staff of doxing cases.

But the portal is “not intended to provide a basis for legal action against schools or teachers from the Attorney General’s Office,” a spokesperson for Rokita’s office said in a statement, though it could provide a basis for legal action from others.

The office does not investigate the submissions beyond verifying their authenticity.

Instead, the AG has sent a letter to Indiana superintendents and public university administrators outlining how schools as government employers may discipline or terminate educators “making divisive statements that excuse or even celebrate Kirk’s death,” despite First Amendment protections.

“As a legal matter, schools have substantial authority consistent with the First Amendment to terminate or discipline teachers or other educators for divisive or controversial speech,” Rokita’s letter said.

Public employees like teachers have First Amendment rights to speech, including the right to speak on matters of public concern, according to a previous comment by the ACLU of Indiana, but courts will balance that right to speak against the employer’s interest in maintaining an efficient workplace.

School board testimony centers free speech

Chalkbeat reviewed the recordings of the six school boards that have met since the portal added complaints related to Kirk’s death: Elkhart, Lafayette, South Bend, South Gibson, South Newton, and Valparaiso.

In some cases, there was little to no comment from members of the public about the teachers’ posts in question, as the meetings focused on finalizing school district budgets — a typical board task during this time of year. School board members usually cannot respond to public comments or address personnel matters publicly.

In two others, a handful of public speakers who addressed the posts spoke unanimously or near-unanimously in support of teachers named in the portal to applause from others in the room.

The South Newton school board, which represents a district of around 850 students in northwestern Indiana, heard the most speakers at 11. It also heard the greatest variety of opinions, with some community members praising the effectiveness of the teacher named on the portal, and others expressing concern that students had seen her post. The audience in the boardroom remained quiet during each speaker’s testimony.

One overarching theme from speakers was support for teachers who made posts on their private social media accounts that were then screenshotted and shared to a wider audience — sometimes leading to safety concerns both for themselves and their schools.

“Her beliefs and self-expression off the clock to her peers regardless of what a mob of online zealots might suggest have harmed no one. Her departure from the school has done and will continue to do irreparable harm to her students,” said James Manago of a teacher who resigned to the Valparaiso school board.

Another common opinion was that teachers who work with children should be held to a higher standard for speech.

“Our educators should be individuals who are not only well-versed in the subject matter they are teaching but that should be people that our kids can trust and respect and feel safe with,” said Dana Lawrence to the South Newton school board. “An educator’s job comes with great responsibility and fair or not, they are held to higher standards than others.”

Speakers across school board meetings also emphasized the importance of First Amendment rights.

“The rights given to us under the First Amendment do not say ‘Free speech for everyone but teachers,’” said Rebecca Scott to the South Newton school board.

“I may not agree with her post, but at the end of the day, what makes the United States of America the United States of America is … your First Amendment rights,” said Brett Miller to the Valparaiso board. “It’s frustrating as a parent and a resident that we are potentially losing a good teacher because of … the fear of speaking up.”

Meanwhile, others said there were limits to free speech protections.

“Yes, you can have free speech, but that doesn’t mean you can say simply anything you want without consequences,” Andrew Karr told the Valparaiso school board to applause, giving the example of bomb and death threats. “The public approval and seemingly endorsement of killing of people you disagree with should also fall under this category of unacceptable discourse.”

A former teacher said it would be a “dreadful loss” for students for teachers to avoid controversial subjects in the classroom.

“When I was teaching, if some kind of traumatic event happened on the news, I would start every class with ‘well, what do you think?’ And the hands went up,” said Paul Schreiner to the Valparaiso school board. “That was the best experience I ever had when I was a high school teacher. I get the sense … that there is developing an atmosphere of fear to talk about things that are controversial.”

This story has been updated with additional comment from the Attorney General’s Office that specifies the Eyes on Education portal could be used as a basis for legal action by others, but not by the office.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

3 big questions as Indiana prepares to ask for federal education funding flexibility

2025-09-09T19:54:52+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Sometime this month, Indiana will ask the Trump administration for unprecedented flexibility in how it funds and evaluates schools.

The state wants to receive its federal education funding in block grants, and in turn give the money to schools to spend with fewer strings attached.

The potential change is meant to reduce bureaucracy, state officials have said, and allow both the state and school districts to direct the funding to their top goals. It’s welcomed by the U.S. Department of Education, and in line with the Trump administration’s stated goal to give states more oversight of education.

But education advocates worry the state’s plan will take money away from student groups that often need a lot of support, like rural students and English learner students, as well as underperforming schools. Moreover, they say Indiana can already use flexibility in federal law to combine some funds and streamline accountability without seeking a waiver from accompanying regulations.

After concluding public comment on the plan at the end of August, Indiana intends to formally submit the request for a waiver from the Every Student Succeeds Act in September, according to a July presentation. The state will work with federal education officials on the “technical requirements” of the waiver through the fall and winter, the presentation said.

The state education department did not make Secretary of Education Katie Jenner available for an interview about the waiver request before Chalkbeat’s deadline.

What comes next? It’s not clear when — or if — the state might get full approval. The kind of spending flexibility that Indiana is seeking is in a grey area of what Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is allowed to grant, said Anne Hyslop, director of Policy Development at All4Ed, a nonprofit advocacy group.

“The flexibility is unprecedented. These waivers have not been requested before,” Hyslop said.

The federal department invited states to submit ESSA waiver requests in August, and two states — Iowa and Oklahoma — did so earlier this year. Iowa officials said the department is still helping the state with its request.

Ultimately, the Trump administration may have different responses to different parts of Indiana’s plan, Hyslop said.

Here are three more questions education advocates are asking about Indiana’s waiver plan.

Will funding reach the students who need it?

The bedrock of Indiana’s waiver request is more flexibility for the state and school districts to spend their federal Title funding, which pays for everything from teacher training to STEM and childcare programs.

To do this, the state is asking to consolidate many Title funds it receives into a single block grant. Additionally, while the state will not change how it allocates Title funds to districts, it seeks to remove the requirements that spell out what districts must use the money for, allowing them to use it on any activities approved by federal education law.

According to the state’s draft waiver request, this would help districts whose individual Title allocations have been too small to fund meaningful programs, like the 310 districts that received less than $25,000 to educate English learners, or the 230 districts that received less than that amount for students’ academic enrichment.

But advocates have expressed concerns that removing the guardrails of Title funding will mean less is spent on the needs of protected individual student groups, like English learner students. Education advocacy groups have suggested that the state instead use the existing flexibility allowed by the Every Student Succeeds Act to consolidate some funds.

“The state has not demonstrated why additional flexibility is needed beyond what already exists, particularly when that additional flexibility would primarily impact funding specifically designated for at-risk students, English learners, and rural students,” said joint comments from groups including All4Ed, EdTrust, and the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.

Indiana in 2023 consolidated a state grant for English learner students into general tuition support. Teachers and administrators have since raised concerns about the money not being spent on English learner programming, according to a policy paper on the waiver request from the Indiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Using this money without oversight creates an environment in which “there are no consequences” for not serving those students, the paper said.

Consolidating Title III dollars for English learners runs similar risks, and would leave that group of students in Indiana without a dedicated source of funding, said one of the paper’s authors, Trish Morita-Mullaney.

Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said during the August State Board of Education meeting that the state will continue to serve student populations with additional needs. But she added that “for every single grant, there is a pile of compliance paperwork that has to be completed, even if across the board you’re just trying to get kids to read, or just trying to get kids access to STEM,” Jenner said.

If the state offers flexibility, it should also provide districts with information about high-quality, research-backed programs to ensure the money will effectively address student needs, said Thomas Toch, director of FutureEd, an education-focused think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

Will Indiana’s unfinished A-F model be ready to act as the sole accountability measure?

Another ask in Indiana’s waiver request is to use the state’s own A-F school accountability model as the sole metric for school accountability.

The purpose, according to the state, is to create one set of expectations for schools, while better aligning those expectations with the state’s new diploma requirements and focus on career readiness.

But that A-F system doesn’t exist yet. It’s currently under development, with a final draft due to be voted on by the state Board of Education later this year.

“Asking to waive all federal accountability without showing what the new accountability system will look like feels premature,” said Hyslop of All4Ed.

Education groups say it’s also not clear why the state needs to waive federal standards in order to streamline accountability. Other states have put in place streamlined accountability models by aligning state standards to federal standards.

But Indiana’s current draft proposal does not include several accountability measures that are required federally, like a standalone high school graduation indicator and English proficiency rates for English learners, according to comments from EdTrust and other education groups.

The proposal also doesn’t include a plan to identify schools where groups of students are struggling academically, “a bedrock of federal education policy for over 20 years,” wrote All4Ed.

What will happen to students at underperforming schools?

The final component of Indiana’s waiver request would redirect School Improvement Grant funding away from the low-performing schools to other neighboring schools — like charters and microschools. Indiana says the current system has failed to improve underperforming schools, as measured by state test scores and graduation rates.

But education groups say this would make it more difficult to support students who stay at the identified schools and can’t transfer.

Indiana is not alone in declaring the SIG program a failure. A widely cited 2017 report found that schools across the country that received this funding did not improve — and some even declined.

But that report was based on a previous iteration of the SIG program, education analysts said, which required more prescriptive interventions and spread the available funding to more schools. Indiana began allocating the funding on a competitive basis in 2021, giving fewer schools more money and leeway to make improvements.

At the same time, the 2017 national survey missed some local improvements in students’ academic proficiency and graduation rates, Toch said. Schools may have made progress but still be in the bottom distribution of schools.

Still, it may be easier to start a new school to take in students than turn around an existing one, Toch said.

“We don’t want to give up on SIG schools. There is evidence you can make a difference, but to do so, you have to bring in new leadership, new teachers, a new culture,” Toch said.

But an All4Ed study found that four in 10 low performing schools in Indiana had less per-pupil spending after they were identified — making it unsurprising that some schools would remain on the lowest-performing list, the organization said in public comments on Indiana’s plan.

“We are alarmed that IDOE’s request appears to give up on the notion of trying to improve the state’s lowest performing schools,” the comment said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Online schools working with rural Indiana district targeted for closure announce new partner

2025-08-27T21:22:23+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The online schools that partner with a small, rural Indiana district targeted for closure by lawmakers have found a new district partner.

The Indiana Digital Learning School and the Indiana Digital Alternative School will add Beech Grove City Schools as their second district partner while the Union School Corporation continues a legal battle against the state and Gov. Mike Braun to stop the forced closure of the district in 2027.

The provision to close Union schools was added last minute to a sweeping property tax reform bill during the 2025 session.

If Union schools loses its legal fight, it will close its brick and mortar campuses that serve around 292 students as of 2025. But it’s been unclear until now what would happen to the 7,500 or so students statewide who take classes through the two online schools, which are operated by the for-profit company Stride/K12 in partnership with the district.

One possibility is that they will transfer to Beech Grove, said Liz Slinger, executive director for the two virtual schools.

But for now, the company’s contract with Union is active and it will continue to serve those students, Slinger said. New virtual students from around the state will be enrolled in Beech Grove schools for the foreseeable future, unless they express a preference for Union.

Slinger said the two virtual schools will provide Beech Grove students with full services in grades K-12, including dual enrollment classes and the Indiana College Core through Ivy Tech, as well as a credit recovery program.

“Beech Grove is an innovative district, interested in the different ways of serving students,” Slinger said. “Their approach aligns well with ours.”

Beech Grove schools Superintendent Laura Hammack said the district has been exploring online programs for its own community after seeing an “explosion” of enrollment in virtual programs outside the district.

She said the virtual schools’ synchronous curriculum was a draw.

“My bias is that being in school all day every day, that is normal and usual, but … I’ve been needing to better listen to our school community,” Hammack said. She added that families had sought virtual options for medical and mental health reasons.

Hammack said the district was aware of the legal battle that Union was facing, but that leaders spent time learning about the virtual program at Clarksville schools, which is also operated by Stride/K12.

Union schools’ case against the state and Braun is ongoing. Secretary of Education Katie Jenner was recently dismissed from the suit, but a Randolph County Court judge declined to dismiss Braun.

In legal filings, the district has argued that the wording of the provision in the new property tax law forcing it to close actually prevented it from operating beginning with the 2025 school year, because it could not enter into the agreements necessary to hire staff and provide services. But a court decision in July said the district could operate as normal until 2027 while Union’s case proceeds.

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Beech Grove City Schools Superintendent Laura Hammack’s last name.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

A third of Indiana counties lack voucher-accepting private schools, complicating choice expansion

2025-08-07T16:01:12+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Sitting on the Kentucky border, the Christian Academy of Indiana draws students from 56 different ZIP codes in southern Indiana. Some come from as far as 30 miles away and live in counties without private schools.

Families in those distant communities make the drive every day — sometimes carpooling — because they’re drawn to the school’s environment and extracurriculars, and especially its Christian teaching, said Lorrie Baechtel, director of admissions for the school, which is part of a three-school network in Indiana and Kentucky.

“There are lots of good public school options in Indiana. Families come to our Indiana campus more for that mission,” Baechtel said.

The school’s enrollment has boomed in the last four years, driven in part by the expansion of the Choice Scholarship, Indiana’s signature voucher program. That’s made tuition more affordable, Baechtel said. More than 1,200 students attended in 2024-2025, up from around 700 in 2021-22.

That reflects a statewide trend: Voucher use has surged in recent years as Indiana lawmakers loosened eligibility requirements. In 2026, the program will open to all families, regardless of income.

But the Christian Academy’s ability to attract students from far away tells another story too. Even as vouchers have become more accessible, Indiana’s rural students aren’t using them at the same rate as their urban and suburban peers. That’s in part because one-third of counties don’t have a private school that accepts vouchers within their borders, and distance is a factor in parents’ decisions on school choice.

The result is that students who live closer to an urban center — which typically have one or more voucher-accepting private schools — may use vouchers at rates up to 30 percentage points higher than those for students who live in a neighboring district.

That also means rural families may be at a significant disadvantage when the state opens the Choice Scholarship to all, and when private school scholarships funded by new federal tax credits also begin to roll out in 2027.

“If there are no schools there for you to attend it’s unlikely it’s going to be all that useful for you,” said Jon Valant, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution.

More than that, public education advocates say splitting state school funding with vouchers leaves less for the rural public schools these students do attend.

“We’re making the policy choice to fund a lot more choices than we used to,” said Chris Lagoni, executive director of the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association, which represents public schools. “We’re inviting more and more folks to Sunday dinner. It’s a little bit of a bigger meal, but a lot more guests.”

But the state’s Republican lawmakers have dismissed the fears of a hit to public rural schools as a result of vouchers, saying that rural voters support choice and parents want educational options — whether that’s private, charter, or traditional public schools.

Meanwhile, school choice advocates say the latest expansion of the Choice Scholarship, along with a growing preference for smaller learning environments and the rise of voucher-accepting online schools, could mean more private school access for rural areas in the near future.

“I think we’re best when we have a robust ecosystem of private and public options,” said Eric Oglesbee of the Drexel Fund, a nonprofit venture philanthropy organization that funds new private schools in Indiana and throughout the U.S.

Location matters in accessing a private school

Across the state, around 76,000 students received vouchers for the 2024-25 school year — an increase of about 6,000 students from the year before. The program cost the state $497 million last year, and the average voucher recipient came from a household with just over $100,000 in income.

But around one-third of Indiana counties don’t have voucher-accepting private schools within their borders, according to a Chalkbeat analysis of state data, which also shows that voucher use is lower in rural areas than urban ones.

Voucher use can shift dramatically even between nearby areas. For example, around 16% of students who reside in the Madison school district in southern Indiana use vouchers, but that rate drops to as low as 1% in nearby districts that are more rural. Similar trends hold in other areas of the state, like Indianapolis, Evansville, Fort Wayne, and South Bend.

Location matters because driving distance has been shown to be a factor in how parents choose a school.

In a 2024 survey of parent preferences by EdChoice, an Indianapolis-based group that supports vouchers, around half of parents said they would drive a max of 15 minutes for their children “to attend a better school.” Just over a quarter said they would drive no more than 20 minutes, and the final quarter said 30 minutes would be their max.

Concerns about this issue have persisted in the state for years. Alli Aldis of the advocacy group EdChoice pointed to a 2018 report from her organization that called areas of rural Indiana as “schooling deserts.” It estimated that in the 2017-18 school year, around 3% of Indiana students, many in rural counties, lived more than 30 minutes from a charter, magnet, or voucher-accepting private school.

Starting a new school anywhere, but particularly in a rural area, comes with challenges like finding a building, said Oglesbee of the Drexel Fund.

A 2023 Drexel Fund report found that facilities in the state are “inadequate to meet the needs of new entrants to the market.” Though the report notes that real estate is both affordable and available, there are no public sources of facilities funding, and surplus facilities are not available to private schools.

But new laws in Indiana have the potential to change that. House Enrolled Act 1515 established voluntary school facility pilot programs open to both public and private schools to “allow for additional flexibility and creativity in terms of what is considered a school facility,” like colocating with schools, government entities, and community organizations.

Oglesbee said the organization is fielding an explosion of interest from potential new private schools in Indiana, possibly as a latent result of the 2023 expansion to voucher eligibility, which made the program nearly universal.

School succeeds ‘if the community asks for it’

Other challenges to opening a private school include hiring staff and recruiting students, which can be a particular issue in rural areas with both fewer children and licensed teachers, advocates said.

Opening a school also requires a team of people with both education and business experience, Oglesbee said. And they’re more likely to succeed if they have roots in the community they hope to serve.

“I see less of the ‘if you build it, they will come’ idea,” Oglesbee said. “A school is successful if the community asks for it.”

At a recent conservative policy conference, Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston said rural Indiana communities were “super excited” for school choice, and noted that no Republican lawmaker had been beaten in a primary for supporting the policy.

But Indiana voters haven’t voted on school vouchers, and don’t have a legal avenue to overturn the policy, said Chris Lubienski of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University. Last year, voters in Kentucky and Colorado rejected ballot measures in favor of school choice, while Nebraska voters partially repealed a state-funded scholarship program.

“There’s resistance: ‘Why do I want to have my taxes fund a program I can’t use?’” Lubienski said.

In rural areas, support for school choice may actually mean support for transfers between public school districts, said Lagoni.

Ultimately, the Rural Schools Association believes any school receiving state dollars should be subject to the same expectations of transparency and accountability, Lagoni said.

Asked about concerns that rural students often have difficulty using vouchers, Huston said he expects voucher usage to continue to grow once the program becomes universal in 2026-27.

“We want to make sure our policies align with what works best for families,” Huston said.

Vouchers add to financial stress for rural schools

With more school options in Indiana, downward pressure on local tax revenue, and declining population, rural public schools feel pressure to compete. Sometimes that means closing and consolidating schools.

Vigo County schools recently announced plans to close two rural elementary schools as part of a plan to renovate facilities and offer more programming. The school corporation’s enrollment has declined slightly, due in part to an overall decline in the county’s total population, said spokesperson Katie Shane.

More students who reside in the district are using vouchers, although they’re not the biggest reason for the district’s falling enrollment. While 429 students used vouchers to attend private schools last school year, an increase from 252 the year before, around 870 Vigo students transferred to another public school district in the fall of the 2024-25 school year. That reflects a statewide trend.

Without their nearest public elementary schools, students may have to travel by bus for half an hour or more to the nearest school, according to community members who have started a petition to save one of the two schools marked for closure, Hoosier Prairie Elementary School.

“Hoosier Prairie isn’t just about going to school,” said Shyann Koziatek, an educational assistant at the school who also signed the petition to stop its closure. “Kids love to learn and love the routine we have.”

Rural schools also often function as large area employers and drivers of the economy.

“Schools are often the center and identity of the community, how people view who they are,” Lubienski said. “You go and cheer on your football team, it’s where you put on your school play.”

But private schools can serve the same role, choice advocates say.

“If people have stronger educational options, more choices, that only strengthens the community,” said Aldis of EdChoice.

Correction: This map has been updated to reflect the correct locations of Tri-Creek, Tri-County, Tri-Central and Tri-Township schools.

Reporters from the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism at Indiana University Jon Eckert, Charlie Herman, Char Jones, Mitchell Lierman, Mackenzie Lionberger, Eva Remijan-Toba, Maddie Slepski and Jasmine Wright contributed to this story.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana middle schoolers’ English scores have fallen. These schools are bucking the trend.

2025-07-28T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Like their peers nationwide, students at Crawford County Middle School in southern Indiana struggled academically in the pandemic’s wake. Principal Tarra Carothers knew her students needed help to get back on track.

So two years ago, she decided to double instructional time for math and English. Students now spend two periods per day in these critical subjects. Carothers believes the change has been a success, and a key trend backs her up: Crawford’s ILEARN scores in English language arts increased by over 8 percentage points from 2024 to 2025.

But overall, Indiana middle schools are heading in the opposite direction when it comes to English. In fact, despite gains in math, middle schoolers are struggling more than students in other grade levels in English, state test scores show. Since 2021, ILEARN English proficiency rates in seventh and eighth grades have fallen, with the dip particularly pronounced for seventh graders. And while their scores are up slightly compared with four years ago, sixth graders’ performance fell over the past year.

Indiana has made significant and much-publicized investments in early literacy, relying heavily on the science of reading, as many states have in the last few years. But that instructional transformation has come too late for current middle schoolers. Meanwhile, ILEARN English scores for third and fourth graders have risen by relatively small levels since the pandemic, although this improvement has been uneven.

The Board of Education expressed specific concerns about middle schoolers’ performance at a July 16 meeting. “We’ve gotta pick it up and make sure all of our middle school kids are reading, provide those additional supports,” said Secretary of Education Katie Jenner.

Some middle school leaders say strategies they’ve used can turn things around. In addition to increasing instructional time for key subjects, they point to participation in a pilot that allows students to take ILEARN at several points over the school year, instead of just once in the spring. Educators say relying on these checkpoints can provide data-driven reflection and remediation for students that shows up in better test scores.

Middle school an ‘optimum time’ for students’ recovery

Katie Powell, director for middle level programs at the Association for Middle Level Education, said she often asks teachers if middle schoolers seem different since the pandemic and “heads nod,” she said. These post-pandemic middle schoolers are harder to motivate and engage, self-report more stress, and are less likely to take risks academically, Powell said.

When the pandemic hit, “they were young, at the age of school where they’re developing basic reading fluency and math fact fluency,” she said. Current eighth graders, for example, were in second grade when the pandemic shut down schools and many learned online for much of their third grade year. Third grade is when students are supposed to stop learning to read and start “reading to learn,” Powell said.

Powell noted that middle schoolers are in the stage of rapid development with the most changes for the brain and body outside of infancy.

“This is actually an optimum time to step in and step up for them,” she said. “It is not too late. But it’s critical that we pay attention to them now.”

Crawford County Middle School has nine periods every day, and students spend two periods each in both math and English. While many schools have some version of block scheduling, many have a model in which students only go to each class every other day. But at Crawford, students attend every class every day. Their version of block scheduling results in double the amount of instructional time in math and English.

To make this switch, sacrifices had to be made. Periods were shortened, resulting in less time for other subjects. Carothers worried that student scores in subjects like science and social studies would decrease. But the opposite occurred, she said. Sixth grade science scores increased, for example, even though students were spending less time in the science classroom, according to Carothers.

“If they have better math skills and better reading skills, then they’re gonna perform better in social studies and science,” she said.

Meanwhile, at Cannelton Jr. Sr. High School, on the state line with Kentucky, the first three periods of the day are 90 minutes, rather than the typical 45. Every student has English or math during these first three periods, allowing for double the normal class time.

Cannelton’s sixth through eighth grade English language arts ILEARN scores increased by nearly nine percentage points last year.

Schools use more data to track student performance

Cannelton Principal Brian Garrett believes his school’s reliance on data, and its new approach to getting it, is also part of their secret.

Students take benchmark assessments early, in the first two or three weeks of school, so that teachers can track their progress and find gaps in knowledge.

This year, the state is adopting that strategy for schools statewide. Rather than taking ILEARN once near the end of the year, students will take versions of the test three separate times, with a shortened final assessment in the spring. The state ran a pilot for ILEARN checkpoints last school year, with over 70% of Indiana schools taking part.

The Indiana Department of Education hopes checkpoints will make the data from the test more actionable and help families and teachers ensure a student is on track throughout the year.

Kim Davis, principal of Indian Creek Middle School in rural Trafalgar, said she believes ILEARN checkpoints, paired with reflection and targeted remediation efforts by teachers, “helped us inform instruction throughout the year instead of waiting until the end of the year to see did they actually master it according to the state test.”

The checkpoints identified what standards students were struggling with, allowing Indian Creek teachers to tailor their instruction. Students also benefitted from an added familiarity with the test; they could see how questions would be presented when it was time for the final assessment in the spring.

“It felt very pressure-free, but very informative for the teachers,” Davis said.

The type of data gathered matters too. In the past, Washington Township middle schools used an assessment called NWEA, taken multiple times throughout the year, to measure student learning, said Eastwood Middle School Principal James Tutin. While NWEA was a good metric for measuring growth, it didn’t align with Indiana state standards, so the scores didn’t necessarily match how a student would ultimately score on a test like ILEARN.

Last year, the district adopted ILEARN checkpoints instead, and used a service called Otis to collect weekly data.

It took approximately six minutes for students to answer a few questions during a class period with information that educators could then put into Otis. That data allowed teachers to target instruction during gaps between ILEARN checkpoints.

“Not only were they getting the practice through the checkpoints, but they were getting really targeted feedback at the daily and weekly level, to make sure that we’re not waiting until the checkpoint to know how our students are likely going to do,” Tutin said.

Both Davis and Tutin stressed that simply having students take the checkpoint ILEARN tests was not enough; it had to be paired with reflection and collaboration between teachers, pushing each other to ask the tough questions and evaluate their own teaching.

“We still have a fire in us to grow further, we’re not content with where we are,” Davis said. “But we’re headed in the right direction and that’s very exciting.”

Samantha Camire is a summer reporting intern covering education in the Indianapolis area. Contact Samantha at scamire@chalkbeat.org.

Federal funds for low-performing schools would be redirected under Indiana flexibility request

2025-07-24T20:37:38+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana would redirect $25 million in annual federal school improvement funding away from low-performing schools under a state proposal for more flexibility in how it spends federal funds.

State education officials announced last week that Indiana intends to ask the U.S. Department of Education for its federal Title dollars in a block grant with fewer requirements on how the state must spend the money. School districts also would have more flexibility to use their federal funds to support more kinds of programs. The money currently supports specific student groups like English learners and specific activities like professional development and out-of-school-time care.

On Thursday, the Indiana Department of Education shared new details about which grants would be affected and how the state intends to use the funds instead.

Among the changes would be a significant shift in School Improvement Grants, competitive grants that currently fund improvement plans at district and charter schools identified as low performing under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

The state is proposing to instead give these funds to any school that’s “actively seeking to serve students that would have otherwise enrolled in the eligible school,” including microschools, charter schools, and “partnerships with industry or postsecondary institutions.” The new beneficiaries would not need to be considered low-performing.

The proposal says this new approach is not intended to “abandon efforts to improve existing schools, but rather to complement them by ensuring students and families have timely access to better options when needed.” The department would still consider investments in low-performing schools.

“This flexibility ensures students and families no longer depend solely on political will for innovative opportunities to materialize,” the draft says.

The draft proposal also says that the current framework for the School Improvement Grants has failed to produce meaningful results, and that receiving the funds has often come with stigma.

“Expanding eligibility through an innovation grant model allows [local education agencies] and partners to seek support without this public designation,” the proposal says.

Other changes to grants, school grading

Under the flexibility request, school districts would be able to use some of their federal funds as a block grant rather than adhering to the specific requirements of each Title fund.

The state would still calculate and distribute specific Title funds to schools but remove the requirements of each fund, allowing schools to use any of the dollars to fund any activities allowable under ESSA.

The change would reduce administrative reporting requirements associated with each program fund and allow schools a larger pool of money to support programs, according to the draft proposal.

Indiana is also seeking the flexibility to use a single performance system for schools rather than a separate one to meet federal requirements. That new system would be the A-F model that’s currently in development.

The department is accepting feedback on its proposal online through Aug. 25. Officials intend to submit the waiver request in September, and if approved, the flexibility would go into effect in 2026-27.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

How to share your thoughts on Indiana’s plan to revive the A-F grading system for schools

2025-07-24T20:12:42+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A plan to once again assign A-F grades to Indiana schools is officially open for public feedback.

The state is moving forward with a draft first presented in June that would assign schools grades no later than December 2026 under a new legislative mandate. Public comment is now open online; an in-person session will also take place in August.

Indiana has not issued A-F grades to schools since 2018 due to changes in the state testing model, and later, the pandemic. The state in 2022 moved away from a single letter grade to evaluate schools and unveiled its Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) dashboard, which features a profile of each school’s testing and attendance data.

But education officials said some families had found the dashboard to be too complex. Earlier this year, lawmakers mandated that the state develop an updated grading framework based primarily on state test scores and aligned with the state’s new high school graduation requirements.

Unlike under the previous iterations of the grading framework, the proposed plan gives schools credit for students who are progressing in their skills, rather than just those who are proficient, according to the Department of Education’s June presentation.

It works by assigning each student at a school a number of points based on their proficiency on the state tests — the ILEARN in grades 3-8 and the SAT in high school. Students would get 100 points for meeting or exceeding the proficiency benchmarks for those tests, and 90 points for approaching proficiency, in the draft proposal.

It also gives students points for other skills, like attendance, workforce skills, and proficiency on the IREAD, the state third grade reading test.

Schools would then be assigned a letter grade based on the average points generated by all students.

The first public comment period is open now through Aug. 22 online. The Department of Education will also hold an in-person public comment session on Friday, Aug. 22, at 10 a.m. in the Indiana Government Center South, Conference Room C.

After the first public comment period concludes, the Department of Education will present a second draft of the grading framework, as well as host a second public comment period. The State Board of Education must adopt the final draft of the grading system by Dec. 31.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Sex ed, the end of DEI, looser transfer rules: What’s new as Indiana students head back to school

2025-07-21T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The beginning of the academic year for Indiana schools is fast approaching, with Warren Township schools starting this week and the rest of the Marion County districts close behind.

Several education laws passed in the latest state legislative session will go into effect for the first time this school year, including laws mandating teaching fetal development in sex education, the removal of DEI language and instruction, and looser transfer rules.

Here are some changes coming to Indiana schools for the 2025-26 school year.

No more DEI

Indiana joined a long list of states implementing anti-DEI laws with the passage of SB 289. Critics say DEI, which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion, constitutes unlawful discrimination. Indiana lawmakers have been trying to pass a law like this one since 2022. And while the exact terminology used has shifted — from critical race theory to the current focus on “personal characteristics” — the goal of limiting conversations surrounding race has not.

Under the new law, teachers no longer have to complete programming that forces them to “affirm that a person with a certain personal characteristic: (1) is inherently superior or inferior to a person with a different personal characteristic; (2) should be blamed for actions committed in the past; or (3) has a moral character that is determined by a personal characteristic of the person.” Teachers also cannot “compel” students to believe these ideas.

Opponents of the law say DEI initiatives benefit all people and that the basic principles of DEI are just a part of good teaching.

The law, as well as an executive order from Gov. Mike Braun, triggered reviews of state academic standards, instructional materials, grant applications, and programs. The result was the elimination of words such as “diverse” and “equitable” from Indiana Department of Education resources and applications, as well as cuts to several programs. The state ended the Padres Estrellas program, which provided Spanish-speaking workers to help Latino families enroll in the 21st Century Scholars college scholarship program, and certain academic standards are under review to ensure language is compliant with the law.

Sex ed must include information on fetal development

In the coming year, schools will need to publicize more information about their human sexuality classes.

Sex education is optional in Indiana schools; however, schools that choose to teach it will be required to post all materials online and can only use sex education curriculum approved by their school boards. In a consent form sent to parents, schools must inform parents as to whether a male or female teacher will be teaching the class and if boys and girls are taught together.

Finally, schools that offer sex education must include age-appropriate information about consent and fetal development. The law says schools should show “a high-definition ultrasound video at least three minutes in duration, showing the development of the brain, heart, sex organs, and other vital organs in early fetal development.”

Transfer laws loosen

New this year are several laws loosening transfer requirements. Students wishing to transfer no longer have to make a written request specifying how their needs will be better met in their new school district. Students are also now allowed to transfer to a school primarily for athletics.

The Indiana High School Athletic Association’s internal rules, however, institute a one-time transfer limit in order for students to retain full transfer eligibility. The author of the law, state Rep. Cory Criswell, said the new guidelines will offer families greater flexibility in choosing the school that is right for their child.

Faster reporting of bullying

A new law is aimed at keeping parents informed on the progress of bullying investigations. Schools are now required to make a “reasonable attempt” to notify the parents of both the targeted student and the alleged perpetrator in a bullying incident “before the end of the next school day after the school becomes aware of the possible incident.”

The school must also report the conclusion of a bullying investigation to parents by the end of the day following the investigation’s conclusion. Previous rules required parents be notified of an incident within five business days and did not address how families would be notified following an investigation.

ILEARN pilot expands to all schools

The move to checkpoint ILEARN continues after a pilot program last school year. Rather than taking the test once at the end of the year, students will take ILEARN three separate times, with a shortened assessment in the spring. The Indiana Department of Education hopes this will allow families and teachers to ensure a student is on track throughout the year, rather than waiting all year for data.

Third grade retention due to IREAD begins

This is the first year third graders will be held back due to low scores on state testing. Students must pass IREAD-3 to move on to fourth grade — with several exceptions. Students with an IEP and some English learners, as well as kids who pass the math portion of state testing, may be allowed to move on.

In the past, most kids who did not pass IREAD were promoted to the next grade in a practice known as social promotion. According to the Department of Education, over 13,000 Indiana students who failed IREAD in 2023 moved on to the next grade. Lawmakers say this policy is designed to put an end to that, ensuring that every Indiana child is prepared before they enter fourth grade.

Samantha Camire is a summer reporting intern covering education in the Indianapolis area. Contact Samantha at scamire@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana to seek major new flexibility for federal school funding. Here’s what that means.

2025-07-16T21:51:22+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education funding Indiana receives for teaching and learning could be rolled into block grants and distributed to schools to spend with minimal requirements, under a plan presented by officials Wednesday.

The state plans to submit a waiver request to the U.S. Department of Education in the coming months seeking to consolidate the money it receives under the Every Student Succeeds Act, commonly known as Title funding. This money supports specific programs related to professional development, after-school care, English learner education, and more.

Under the state’s request, the specific federal program requirements associated with each grant would be eliminated, both for the state and local school districts. That essentially means schools would be able to use any funding they receive to support any of the Title programs, rather than following current requirements for specific Title funds to serve specific students and purposes.

Title I-A funding, which supports students from low-income backgrounds and is the single largest source of federal K-12 funding, would not be consolidated into the funds given to districts, according to the state, which did not explain why.

If approved by federal officials, the plan would go into effect for the 2026-27 school year.

A common concern about consolidating federal funding in this way has been that it would direct money away from groups of students who need extra support.

But Ron Sandlin, chief innovation officer at the Indiana Department of Education, said Indiana’s goal is to reduce reporting requirements associated with different streams of funding, as well as eliminate the workarounds that some districts have relied on in order to fund programs and teachers, like combining small grants to fund a large project.

“It’s calculated the same, but once it gets to you, you can use it for any activity approved by ESEA,” Sandlin said, referring to the main federal K-12 law. “No longer will you receive Title III money that can only be used on specific activities. You’ll receive Title III money, and then it can be used on any activities.”

The state would create reporting requirements for after the money is spent, Sandlin said, to monitor how much each school spends on serving the populations previously required by the Title funding.

Another part of the state’s waiver request includes combining competitive grants and school improvement funds into an “Innovation Fund” that could be used to support more schools than are currently eligible.

Sandlin suggested eliminating requirements for these funds could benefit more types of schools in Indiana’s school choice landscape.

“Indiana has a robust ecosystem of public education. The federal government has not caught up to us. They continue to force us to funnel things through the traditional geographically located school corporations. … We know we have a very dynamic educational environment that serves students across school types,” Sandlin said.

Another part of Indiana’s waiver request would have the state’s forthcoming A-F grading system pull double duty and serve as its federal accountability system too. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act includes accountability requirements, although the current iteration of the federal law adopted in 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act, is less strict than its predecessor.

Consolidating education funding has been a popular conservative idea under the second Trump administration. Earlier this year, Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner and Gov. Mike Braun expressed support for the idea of giving states more control over education and related funding.

Indiana’s plan comes just days after the Supreme Court ruled the president could proceed with mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education that are part of President Donald Trump’s plan to ultimately dismantle the department.

The plan also follows months of funding whiplash as the Trump administration has threatened to withhold Title dollars from states that teach diversity, equity, and inclusion ideas deemed illegal under its interpretation of civil rights laws. Indiana planned to certify that it did not have any such programs or teachings.

Earlier this month, federal funds supporting after-school programs, migrant education, English learners, adult education, and professional development were frozen as the Trump administration completed a review of the grants.

Indiana’s plan is similar to plans submitted by Iowa and Oklahoma to the federal education department earlier this year. The Iowa Department of Education told Chalkbeat that their plan is still under review.

“Because this is a first-in-the-nation proposal from March 2025, [the U.S. Department of Education] continues to help Iowa identify and pursue potential paths forward to achieve Iowa’s novel requests through a combination of waivers, modernized administrative interpretations, and cost allocation options,” the Iowa department said in a statement.

Indiana officials plan to release the details of the proposal in the next week, after which they will hold a 30-day public comment period before submitting it to the U.S. Department of Education.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

State budget cuts impact Indiana alternative schools

2025-07-10T10:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Options Schools plans to send a letter to the state legislature in the coming months with an urgent plea: Reinstate funding for alternative schools.

Alternative schools provide education to middle and high school students who might struggle in a traditional school setting. The latest state budget slashes funding for alternative schools from more than $5 million in the last state budget to just $760,000 for 2025-2027 that will go to a specific type of alternative school.

The Indiana Department of Education identifies potential alternative school students as those who are parents, intend to withdraw from high school before graduation, work to support their families, or are disruptive in their current school. Alternative schools are often these students’ last chance to get their diploma. They are usually more expensive to run than traditional schools because of low teacher-student ratios and their more specialized curriculum.

Typically, alternative schools receive money in addition to the state’s per-student funding to account for the extra cost of these programs. The new state budget provides only enough money for schools dedicated to educating students in recovery from or struggling with substance abuse. Recovery schools will receive $10,000 per student.

Most of the alternative schools in the state are not accredited recovery schools. Indiana has only one, Hope Academy in Indianapolis, which had 55 students last year. The budget leaves the other 200-plus Indiana alternative schools with a funding gap.

Alternative schools offer flexibility, support

Options Schools CEO Mike Gustin credits the charter network’s success – it has schools across the state – to its focus on what he calls “acclimatization” — addressing challenges that might keep kids out of school. Options offers programming such as art therapy, social-emotional counselors, and a food and clothing pantry.

“If we properly acclimate a student, they’re more likely to attend at a higher rate. Higher attendance means higher credit attainment, high credit attainment means more kids get back on track for graduation,” he said. “But all that talk takes money.”

Typically, Options schools receive more than $500,000 in alternative school funding from the state. It’s adapting to the loss by cutting programs that don’t have a good return on investment, implementing smaller staff salary raises than usual, and making other cuts. As they lose more funds, Gustin worries that more significant programming will be impacted.

Other schools with fewer students took a smaller, but still significant, hit.

Dynamic Minds Academy is an alternative school serving kids with autism that personalizes its curriculum. This summer, Dynamic Minds has 14 graduating students, none of whom finished in four years.

“They needed that extra time that the alternative school programming allows for,” said Dynamic Minds Education Director Samantha Bandy.

Last year, Dynamic Minds received $50,000 in alternative school funding. The loss of funds has led to a hiring freeze, which will affect the school’s ability to maintain a low student-teacher ratio.

“These students, in addition to their academic needs, may have behavioral needs,” said Bandy. “We’re a lot of times their last opportunity to get a diploma, so restricting the kind of funding that we can receive for that programming is a disservice.”

She worries that there will be fewer alternative school programs in Indiana if funding is not restored.

“So you could see a lot more students missing out on opportunities to graduate because districts aren’t going to take the risk to start a program like this,” she said.

Cuts due to $2 billion decrease in state revenue

The cuts can largely be attributed to a grim forecast that predicted the state would have $2 billion less in revenue in the 2026-2027 budget cycle. To meet this moment, state lawmakers looked everywhere they could, trying to find $2 billion in the previous year’s budget that could be cut. Alternative education ended up on the chopping block.

Despite the loss in funds, Gustin remains optimistic. He said that lawmakers, including the Speaker of the House Todd Huston, seemed open to listening to alternative education advocates. He hopes lawmakers will give them consideration if the opportunity comes to re-evaluate the budget.

“They’re terrific supporters, they are always amenable to opening their door and having conversations with us, so that’s where the hope comes from,” he said.

Gustin has written a letter to the legislature that he hopes leaders of the over 200 alternative schools in the state will sign.

A budget re-evaluation would only occur if the state performs better than the forecast predicted, or it receives extra money from the federal government. Most likely, alternative education funding will next be considered in 2027, during deliberation over the new biennium’s budget.

Samantha Camire is a summer reporting intern covering education in the Indianapolis area. Contact Samantha at scamire@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Local Education Alliance emphasizes collaboration, data collection, and student focus at first meeting

2025-06-26T01:26:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The first meeting of the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance set the stage for the group’s work, emphasizing collaboration and maintaining focus on students and their experiences while also keeping historical context and accountability in mind.

“We are here tonight to begin a new chapter of collaboration for the future of education in the city of Indianapolis,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett, chair of the ILEA, at the beginning of the meeting.

The nine-member ILEA was created by state lawmakers earlier this year and could shape the future of charter and traditional public schools in Indianapolis. The group is tasked with examining solutions for facility and transportation management across Indianapolis Public Schools and the charter schools within its borders, as well as addressing school governance structure and efforts to increase efficiency.

The group includes Hogsett and IPS superintendent Aleesia Johnson as well as their appointees and must provide a set of recommendations to IPS, city, and state leaders by the end of 2025.

The recommendations will be a “data driven and actionable plan” that will lead to a “more rational, more equitable, and more sustainable system of school facilities and transportation that benefits all students in Indianapolis,” Hogsett said.

He said the plan will be a roadmap for collaboration between schools and could include ideas such as co-locating, sharing services, and consolidating.

The ILEA will start its work with data collection and members made several requests for data during the meeting. The group could also issue a request for qualifications for an outside firm to help with that work in addition to those from IPS and the mayor’s office already working on data collection, Hogsett said, adding there would be more details about that process at the next meeting.

Johnson stressed the need to also look beyond the data to the historical context and the impact of policy decisions over decades.

“As we are collecting data and doing those things, I don’t want us to lose sight of what has happened over 50 years ago to bring us to this place today,” she said, adding that she also wants to keep in mind the collaboration that has happened.

Wednesday’s meeting included a presentation from Andrew Strope, IPS deputy superintendent, and Shaina Cavazos, director of the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, that gave an overview of the history and the policies shaping education in the city such as the creation of Unigov in 1970, which intentionally left school districts out while unifying city-county government and the 2001 state law allowing for charter schools.

After spending the summer collecting data, the plan is to dive into the data in the fall and then spend late fall working on and refining recommendations before they are proposed by the end of the year, Hogsett said.

The introductory ILEA meeting follows a tense legislative session where the group was created, as well as a proposal aimed to dissolve IPS and replace it with charters. That bill ultimately failed, and a successful plan to redirect some property tax revenue from IPS to charters was approved. Starting in 2028, charter schools, which have grown in enrollment as IPS enrollment has dipped, will receive a portion of property tax funding that has been for traditional public schools in the past.

Money from property taxes is used by traditional school districts for operations including transportation and building maintenance. Charter school advocates have argued that the lack of property tax funding contributes to their struggle to offer transportation to students who want to attend.

And charters are tasked with finding buildings to open in. The $1 law allows charters to buy or lease vacant school buildings for $1, but is often formally challenged when schools try to use it.

During the legislative session, IPS called for a moratorium on new schools in its boundaries, and lawmakers prohibited new charters from July to December of this year, except for those schools approved by the mayor’s office.

On Tuesday, the Indianapolis Charter School Board approved Legal Prep Charter Academy to open in 2026, meaning it would be the first new school to open in Indianapolis since the end of the legislative session.

At the ILEA meeting on Wednesday, a dozen people spoke during public comment, urging the ILEA to make sure all children in Indianapolis have good schools to attend, regardless of the type. Speakers also stressed that a lack of transportation can limit school choice, asked the group to look at school collaboration models that are working, and called for greater school accountability, largely for charter schools.

They told the group it had the opportunity to change the competitive school choice environment in Indianapolis and collaborate in a way that benefits all students.

“You all are going to be asked to make some impossible decisions that will likely upset a lot of people, so thank you all for taking on that burden,” said Arion Clanton, who said he’s worked as both a teacher and a coach.

Clanton told the ILEA that solutions need to be longstanding and not one-size-fits all. He also urged the group to keep in mind the kids and families affected by the systems it is addressing.

Additional public comments submitted online were shared with the ILEA members and will be posted online, Cavazos said.

The ILEA is exempt from the state’s Open Door Law, which requires public agencies to make meetings open to the public; however, it does plan to have multiple public meetings like Wednesday’s. State law requires the group to meet publicly to vote on the final recommendations.

The next public meeting of the ILEA is 6 p.m. July 23 at the City County Building at 200 E. Washington St. A calendar of meetings and agendas is on the ILEA website.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Schools assess fallout after lawmakers snub prominent bills on student mental health

2025-06-20T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Emojis are an important part of morning check-ins for students at some Marion County schools.

After they pick a smiling, neutral, or sad face, they also write a few words to explain their choice. If they skipped breakfast or didn’t get a good night’s sleep, that signals to school staff that they may need a snack or a talk with a trusted adult.

Students in a southern Indiana district learn that not getting basic needs met can cause someone to “flip their lid,” and lose control of their behavior. But they also learn how to reset from that state, and come back fresh the next day.

These are examples of social-emotional learning programs in Indiana schools. Educators say they provide a common language for students, teachers, administrators, and parents to understand a student’s well-being, and in turn improve academic performance, attendance, and school culture.

“You can’t teach a child anything if they don’t feel safe and cared for,” said Tricia Hudson, director of K-8 curriculum at North Lawrence Community Schools.

But putting these programs in place and maintaining them in the current political climate is increasingly challenging for Indiana schools despite persistent needs: Indiana schools saw a 41% increase in bullying incidents from 2023 to 2024, according to the Indiana Youth Institute. And feelings of hopelessness remain higher among Hoosier girls than boys despite an overall decline in self-reported rates of depression.

Indiana legislators this year left several bills on the table that sought to address student mental health, bullying, and counselor shortages, and dropped some requirements related to social emotional learning in teacher training. In April, the Trump administration announced an end to federal grants that supported mental health professionals. And conservative state and national politicians and groups have criticized social-emotional learning as inappropriate in a school environment.

Uncertainty about state and local funding is also an ongoing concern, said Brandie Oliver, a professor in the graduate counseling program at Butler University, because it affects schools’ ability to offer proactive rather than reactive resources.

While most schools offer some mental health support, a much smaller portion effectively address the needs of all students, she said. Without that kind of help, growing anxiety and school refusal can affect students’ attendance and academics.

“The capacity to be able to adequately resource the needs of our students is just not there,” Oliver said. “We’re trying to triage what we see rather than get to the root causes.”

Lawmakers don’t pass bills on bullying, school counselors

The legislative session was “devastating” for student mental health initiatives, said Rachel Van Alstine, a parent and advocate for anti-bullying legislation.

Three bills about the issue championed by her group, the Parent Coalition for Child Safety and Wellness, failed to advance this year. One of them would have changed the definition of bullying to include isolated incidents, and also would have required more tracking and reporting of bullying.

Another bill would have compelled parents and the state Department of Child Services to address bullying behavior by seeking resources for the perpetrator, and the the final bill would have specified that officials must assume students’ mental health is endangered if they learn that their parent or guardian uses illegal substances.

Van Alstine said her group was told by legislators that these initiatives were scrapped due to a tight state budget. But addressing bullying early could save the state money it spends on mental health issues, she said.

“We have the money — but where are we choosing to put it?” Van Alstine said.

Other bills that failed this year would have created ways for victims or perpetrators of bullying to transfer schools.

Proposals that sought to increase the time that counselors can spend with students, or relieve them of other non-counseling duties, also failed to pass despite years of advocacy from counseling groups. Indiana already has much higher ratios of students to counselors than recommended.

When those counselors spend their time overseeing testing or making attendance calls, they’re not able to “help a student change their behavior, or find a reason to wake up and be there,” said Jan Desmarais-Morse, executive director of the Indiana School Counselor Association.

“They may struggle emotionally, have discipline issues, or not meet their full potential because of all the other things getting in their way,” Desmarais-Morse said. “That’s our job, to help remove barriers.”

Indiana lawmakers again tried to allow chaplains to serve as public school counselors, but the bill failed.

One of the few proposals related to mental health that passed the state legislature focuses on how quickly schools must report bullying to parents. The new rule going into effect July 1 says schools must make a “reasonable attempt” to notify parents that the school is investigating a bullying incident “before the end of the next school day after the school becomes aware of the possible incident.”

The school must also report the conclusion of the investigation to parents before the end of the next school day. Current law gives schools five days to report a bullying incident to parents and does not address investigations.

Lawmakers also increased the Secured School Safety Grant Program by $2.6 million in each of the next two years. The program can fund mental health programs, along with school resource officers and other safety initiatives.

In a last-minute move, Republican legislators removed teacher training requirements related to social-emotional learning, cultural competency, and restorative justice, arguing that they were not relevant to schools’ core purpose.

“Teachers should focus on academic rigor, math, science, reading, and writing, technical skills, instead of this emotional regulation, empathy, and etcetera,” said Republican Sen. Gary Byrne.

But the move drew significant pushback — even in one instance from a fellow conservative legislator, Sen. Ron Alting, who said that “the best counseling I’ve had in my whole life was from my teachers and my coaches.”

Schools help students understand their emotional status

Despite the hostile political environment, some schools are proceeding with mental health programs, often through community partnerships, although these are easier to form in urban districts than rural ones, Desmarais-Morse noted.

Districts may also turn to discretionary grants, but these don’t offer the same reliable funding for counselors and mental health initiatives as consistent state aid.

Offering these services in schools removes transportation, scheduling, and access barriers for families, said Oliver, the Butler professor, and students are more likely to complete a series of counseling sessions.

But on the flip side, fully implementing these programs can take years — much longer than the life of a typical grant.

North Lawrence Community Schools in Bedford, Indiana was among five districts to receive funding and support from Butler University to sustain in-school social emotional and mental health programs. Providing mental health services in every school was a promise the district made to the community made in 2020 when it underwent school consolidation, said Hudson, the curriculum director.

The district tries to funnel grant funding into support for several longstanding programs: The district has since 2018 trained all staff — certified and not — in Trust-Based Relational Intervention, or TBRI, a framework to address student behavior. TBRI provides a common language for educators and students to understand their emotional state, said Megan Shipley, the district’s school health coordinator.

Teachers also practice the principles of TBRI, like recognizing when they’re “flipping their lids,” a term for becoming overwhelmed.

The district also uses grant funding to place specialists in schools from Centerstone, a community mental health system. These specialists can help identify students who need more comprehensive interventions, and offer it at school.

But now the district may need to seek alternative funding sources to sustain a family engagement specialist position. It’s currently funded by the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, but the grants associated with that law were recently discontinued by the Trump administration.

“Our job is to make such a strong case that these roles are essential that you can’t say, ‘oh we’ll be fine without that,’” said Hudson.

In Indianapolis, 13 schools use the Building Dreams platform from the Fight for Life Foundation, which allows educators and parents to communicate about student behavior, both positive and negative. The program has been provided for free to some schools via fundraising and grants. But at least one of those schools will need to find new funding to sustain the program beginning next year.

The system allows students to report both their own mood — via the morning check-ins — as well as concerns or conflicts with peers that trigger a series of interventions from school personnel, said Fight for Life founder Marlin Jackson.

“We want to create an environment where students feel, ‘they’re paying attention to me. They support me. I feel understood so I want to be here,’” said Jackson, a former Indianapolis Colts player.

At a recent panel discussion about Building Dreams, educators observed that regular check-ins had reduced negative behavior and helped students learn to articulate and cope with their feelings.

“It gives you a chance to express your emotions,” said Joshua Lopez-Martinez, a fifth grade student recognized at the panel for his consistent use of the platform. This in turn builds trust with teachers, he added: “Everyone should be able to do that.”

The practice of giving their classmates compliments made students kinder and more self-aware over the course of the year, said Daria Parham, executive director of schools at IPS who used to be the principal of Frederick Douglass School 19, which uses Building Dreams.

“It creates a sense of belonging, and that sets the tone for learning,” Parham said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

What the new state budget and property tax reform mean for Marion County schools

2025-06-17T18:13:44+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

When he considers future budgets for Wayne Township schools, Superintendent Jeff Butts knows times are about to get tougher. But he’s also grateful for what didn’t happen.

“There’s always that mantra of it’s better than it could’ve been, not as bad as it initially was,” he said.

Marion County school districts will soon receive more money from the state but lose millions in local tax revenue, creating a funding gap that could affect operations and student services, including building maintenance and bus replacement.

With the threat of a recession looming, schools in Marion County only received modest increases from lawmakers this year to their two-year education budgets. And district leaders are still dissecting what sweeping property tax reform will mean in the near future.

At the same time, district leaders like Butts feel grateful to have avoided deeper cuts in a year when state budget forecasts drove big reductions in other areas.

The 11 traditional public school districts in Marion County are projected to see an increase of $75.1 million in state funding over the next two years, according to an analysis of Indiana House Republicans’ projections by WFYI, Chalkbeat Indiana, and Mirror Indy.

That amounts to about a 2% increase across the county each year — but that’s not distributed evenly. The districts’ increases range from 1.1% to 4.4% in the upcoming school year across Marion County. Seven districts are projected to receive less than the 2.4% year-over-year increase in the inflation rate.

Even as state funding ticks up, districts in Marion County are expected to lose a total of $40.4 million in local property tax revenue in 2026 and 2027 — a critical funding source for transportation, facilities, and utilities. Because Indiana law limits transfers between the education fund, which includes state dollars, and the operating fund, which includes property tax revenue, leaders say they’ll now have to make hard decisions about what types of building maintenance and repairs to take on — and when to do those projects.

The new fiscal environment has also left some district leaders feeling cautious about future spending on everything from employee raises to new construction projects.

Tax changes will cut local revenue for schools

Indiana’s traditional public schools are primarily funded in two ways: state support in the form of per-student funding, and local property taxes. Each type of funding is designated for specific needs — state dollars cover classroom instruction, while local taxes support operations like transportation and building maintenance.

The bulk of state funding comes through the tuition support formula, which allocates money based on student enrollment at each district. Districts receive a foundation grant per student, plus additional funds through complexity grants for students from low-income families. The state also provides targeted grants for special education, career and technical programs, and academic honors.

In the newly approved state budget for 2025-26 and 2026-27, total K-12 funding increased by 2% each year, but not all of that money goes to traditional public schools. Charter schools and the private school voucher program are also supported from the same funding pool.

Districts with large funding gains are the ones projected to enroll more students overall, or more students requiring additional services, like students with disabilities.

State student funding for Franklin Township is estimated to grow by nearly 8% over the next two years. During the same time, funds for the Non-English Speaking Program will increase by nearly 24%.

At Indianapolis Public Schools, the county’s largest district, the state’s per-student funding will grow by an average of about 2% each year.

In Warren Township, state funding is estimated to inch up by 3.2% through mid-2027. Superintendent Tim Hanson said the district’s enrollment has stayed flat for about five years and “in this environment, flat enrollment is not a good thing.” While he said he feels fortunate the district didn’t take deeper cuts, he said enrollment is going to be a big focus for the district going forward.

In addition to state funds, local property taxes paid by homeowners and businesses flow into the operations fund and debt service fund, which pay for buses, utilities, and school maintenance and construction.

But property tax relief pushed by Gov. Mike Braun and approved by lawmakers will reduce that revenue stream. The measure, known as Senate Enrolled Act 1, gives homeowners a credit on their homestead property tax bills, with additional credits for veterans, seniors with disabilities and others.

Lawrence Central High School students work on projects in class on Sept. 29, 2023, in Lawrence Township, Indiana.

As a result, Beech Grove City Schools are expected to lose 3.7% of local funds in 2026 and 5.4% in 2027 — the most of all Marion County districts.

Butts, the Wayne Township superintendent, said that while his district “will see modest increases in our property tax revenue, they’re not nearly where they would have been without the language of Senate Bill 1.”

Another change to school funding is coming in 2028. That’s when traditional public schools will be required to share property tax revenue with charter schools. The change is expected to direct about $4.7 million to charter schools across the state in the first year, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.

Unlike traditional districts, most charter schools have not historically received local property tax funding. But a law passed two years ago requires districts in Marion County to share a small amount of property taxes with eligible charter schools.

The changes are expected to reduce all local school district funding by $408 million in Indiana over the next two calendar years, based on what schools would have received under the current law.

Marion County districts start planning for funding loss

Several district leaders said they and their staff are still working to understand what the funding changes mean for their districts. While some of them said it’s too early to know exactly how they’ll respond, they stressed their dedication to students and families.

“We will continue to strive to be a district of destination, welcoming all families who seek a high-quality public education for their child,” said Dana Altemeyer, spokesperson for Lawrence Township Schools.

Kirk Farmer, chief financial officer for MSD of Decatur Township schools, told the school board in May that school districts don’t know the effect of changes to property taxes because the new law affects each parcel of property differently.

“We have to realize it’s going to be a substantial change in the way that schools are funded and how funds flow to school districts,” Farmer said, noting that Decatur is in a “significantly strong” position to navigate the challenges.

Other school leaders gave a glimpse into the topics they are thinking about as they review the effect of these funding changes

In Wayne Township, Butts said the district has already slowed spending after COVID relief funds ended. And due to new tariff policies, he’s expecting school buses and building materials to increase in cost too.

Plus, Butts said the modest increases in tuition support will make teacher contract negotiations challenging this year.

“We definitely need to look at ways that we can increase compensation for our teachers as we look forward, but with 1.1% and 1.3% increases, that’s going to be pretty hard to do,” he said.

As Warren Township schools plan for the years ahead, Hanson, the superintendent, said he’s focused on three things: protecting student learning, preventing layoffs and operations that are safe and sustainable.

At the Warren school board meeting in April, the district’s chief financial officer Matt Parkinson said officials are preparing to evaluate how new restrictions on when schools can issue debt will affect future construction projects.

The district already shares more than $100,000 with charter schools under existing law, and expects that to grow as new property tax sharing phases in over time.

“This creates a new moment for us in terms of how we operate and some of the decisions that we’re going to have to make,” Parkinson said during the April meeting. “We’re in a strong place financially, but it’s going to be a new challenge.”

Lawmakers will begin to plan for the next two-year budget in the 2027 legislature.

Chalkbeat Indiana reporter Amelia Pak-Harvey and WFYI reporter Sydney Dauphinais contributed to this article.

Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Eric Weddle is WFYI’s education team editor. Contact Eric at eweddle@wfyi.org or follow him on X at @ericweddle.

Over 240 Indiana high schools exceed FAFSA completion target as state moves closer to 60% goal

2025-06-02T13:47:32+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

When it comes to getting students to apply for college aid, Principal Jason Ridge thinks his school is ahead of the curve.

Two years ago, Indiana adopted a requirement for students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, with some exceptions. The state set a goal for 60% of high school seniors to file the FAFSA by April 15, the deadline for preference for state aid — but in Blackford County, where Ridge leads Blackford Junior-Senior High School, 82% of students filed it.

Organizations such as Heavin College & Career Readiness Services and INvestEd provided significant help. They and school counselors were available to Blackford families throughout the school year to discuss the FAFSA process. And promoting broad awareness of the FAFSA requirement was also key, Ridge said, even though 70% of Blackford students ultimately don’t pursue higher education.

“If you’re going to get that many kids to complete it, you’re going to have to get buy-in from your superintendent. You’re going to have to get buy-in from classroom teachers. The best thing they did is they set it up as a graduation expectation that you’re going to get that done,” he said.

Blackford County is well above the statewide FAFSA completion average, but Indiana higher education officials are still celebrating the rise in FAFSA filings for the 2025-26 cycle.

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education, or CHE, reported that 55% of Hoosier seniors filed it before the state’s priority deadline of April 15, with 241 Indiana high schools exceeding the 60% statewide goal by that date. As of May 14, CHE’s dashboard showed 57.4% of students had filed it. And 68.6%of 21st Century Scholars — students who can receive free tuition at in-state public colleges and universities under certain conditions — had filed. Last year, as of mid-May, nearly 43% of all seniors had completed it.

“The completions we have achieved at this point in the cycle we typically wouldn’t even see at the end of June,” the commission said in a statement. “This year’s success has shown that achieving 60% overall by April 15 is possible.”

The federal deadline for this FAFSA cycle is June 30, 2026. As of May 23, Indiana ranked 11th for FAFSA completions nationwide. The commission and INvestEd, a free FAFSA assistance resource, credited a functioning form and continuous communication for the uptick. Unlike a year ago, the FAFSA hasn’t encountered a host of technical problems.

But higher education officials and advocates are tracking changes at the federal and state levels that could have an impact on financial aid, including President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, which oversees the FAFSA.

CHE said “states and institutions are awaiting federal budget updates to be finalized before knowing how the Pell Grant, other federal grants, Federal Work Study and federal student loans will ultimately be impacted.”

Bill Wozniak, vice president of communications and student services at INvestEd, believes that there will eventually be clarity about the federal situation.

“Every year, there’s something. The only constant in financial aid is change,” Wozniak said.

At the state level, lawmakers cut operating budgets for CHE and public colleges by 5%. However, Indiana’s two largest need-based financial aid programs, 21st Century Scholars and the Frank O’Bannon Grant, were untouched by legislators.

CHE’s estimated allocation for fiscal 2026 Frank O’Bannon grants will be $175 million, down from the estimated $225 million for fiscal 2025. But the commission reported that the $175 million would still be higher than the amount awarded three years ago.

FAFSA form free of big glitches this year

Higher education officials said the 2025-2026 FAFSA cycle has progressed much smoother than last year’s.

For example, this year, the form was available in November instead of December, and current data was accessible on the agency’s dashboard and ScholarTrack, according to CHE. The state, colleges, and universities received student data quickly and with only “minimal glitches” unlike the previous year, the commission said.

Wozniak said the latest version of the form, which is supposed to be easier and faster to complete than the previous document, is meeting expectations.

“The form was working most days, and the things that over the last couple of years were put in place to make the form filing simpler now were working,” Wozniak said. “The processing is happening. The schools are getting the information. The state is getting the information from Washington, and we’re back to normal business.”

Even though Indiana’s first-come, first-served deadline of April 15 for state funds has passed, Wozniak said families will continue to file, and the number of completions will keep increasing until this cycle ends at the end of June next year.

“We’d like everybody to have it all done on April 15, but that’s never the case,” he said. “There are people on June 20 that say, ‘I’ve changed my mind. I’m going, and I’m going to file that FAFSA,’ because they were certain they weren’t going.”

Reach Chalkbeat Indiana at in.tips@chalkbeat.org

Education politics in Indianapolis hit a new low. Will IPS and charter schools overcome it?

2025-05-27T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

An Indianapolis Public Schools board member, elected with the backing of charter-supportive groups, found a sticky note slapped on her windshield that read “F--- you.”

An anonymous text message sent to Indianapolis residents featured one pointed remark: “Did you know that IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson makes nearly $300,000 a year?”

And one charter school leader said he was even accused on Facebook of stealing milk from the school’s goat.

The backdrop for these and other attacks in the Indianapolis education community was a legislative session that included a proposal by state lawmakers to dissolve the district completely and replace it with charters. Legislators ultimately rejected that idea, but they did decide to redirect some property tax revenue from IPS to charters and to create an advisory board focused on school resource sharing.

Disagreements between charter supporters and those who favor traditional public schools are far from new. But the session generated perhaps the nastiest atmosphere in the city’s education community since Indiana allowed charters to open nearly 25 years ago.

The bad vibes began before the session even started. Last September, a group launched a website that highlighted the “hypocrisy” of certain traditional public school advocates who sent their children to charters. In March, a person at a school board meeting held up a photo of a prominent charter school supporter — Mind Trust CEO Brandon Brown — and ripped it in two. In April, a school board member was criticized for “liking” a Facebook comment that had a suggestion for external groups forcing changes to IPS: “We should put these people in holes, not roles.”

This political environment often seemed not to be focused on those who’d be most affected: students.

“I feel like the adults aren’t fighting for the kids at this point,” said Dale Edwin Potter, a senior at Shortridge High School. “They’re fighting for themselves.”

All of that adds pressure to the new Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, the members of which were announced on Friday. Their daunting task: to brainstorm a future for Indianapolis education in which IPS will have to share building and transportation resources with charters — a potentially dramatic power shift.

The venomous political climate highlights big questions for the panel that also apply to Indianapolis as a whole: Will the group help officials and community leaders collaborate to find solutions that provide what students need? Or will the panel, which can meet behind closed doors, only exacerbate the split?

Some charter advocates say they are hoping the future brings cooperation.

“I’m always hopeful and willing to extend the olive branch to the other side, to listen to what they want to hear, to listen to their perspective, to respect their position,” said LaToya Tahirou, a parent active in the Stand for Children Indiana organization that has pushed the district to partner with more charters. “I’m not so close-minded that I don’t want to hear anything that they want to say.”

But some IPS supporters see such calls for unity as disingenuous, given the gains charter schools made this session. And they’re also worried about a different issue: a future with increased funding for universal private school vouchers. That shift could create an even fiercer scrum for money and students than the one today.

“Competing for the same limited amount of money is not exactly conducive to building partnership,” IPS school board member Gayle Cosby said.

Legislative session highlights Indianapolis school choice debate

The city’s long and complex relationship with school choice is at the heart of how both sides of the debate will move forward.

The charter sector has grown since the creation of the charter law in 2001, and now includes over 50 schools within Indianapolis borders alone that educate over 22,000 students. IPS, meanwhile, has lost students yearly while undergoing multiple rounds of school closures and currently serves about 21,000 students in its traditional schools.

Charter critics have long argued that the goal of influential pro-charter organizations is to destroy IPS. They also say that these organizations — often grouped together as the Mind Trust, Stand for Children Indiana, and RISE Indy — get major help from wealthy donors, which unfairly tilts the playing field. And they argue that the white male leadership of some of those groups is exploiting students of color as they undermine traditional public schools.

Charter supporters argue that charter schools operate with little to no property tax dollars while showing better academic results — particularly among students of color whom IPS has historically failed to serve. And parents affiliated with Stand for Children say that implications from charter critics that other people tell them what to say is insulting.

The school board, meanwhile, sits in the crosshairs of these and other arguments.

Campaign donations to board members from charter-friendly groups fuel a belief among charter critics that the board is controlled by these groups. But charter groups don’t necessarily act in public like they run the board: Parents affiliated with Stand for Children, for example, have tried to get the board to partner with charters.

During the legislative session, the decisions prominent officials and advocates have made about where to send their own children to school did not escape scrutiny.

One website launched months before the session took aim at charter critics who sent their children to charter schools such as Christina Smith of the Indianapolis Education Justice Coalition and Cosby. The site, which says their choices “reveal that they know charters provide opportunities IPS can’t,” does not publicly say who created or supports it.

Such arguments are similar to claims from supporters of private school vouchers that those who oppose vouchers yet send their own kids to private schools are hypocrites.

Cosby and Smith acknowledged that they have sent their children to charter schools. But they said there is still a need for charter accountability, and that school choice should not come at the expense of traditional district schools. Cosby, who was criticized for “liking” a Facebook comment insinuating violence, later told Chalkbeat she did not read the comment in its entirety and removed her “like.”

Brown, the Mind Trust CEO, said he expects, to some extent, to be the punching bag when working to change system-level policy.

“We also can’t respond to relentless attacks all the time, because it’d literally be all that we do,” Brown said. “And I think that there’s a big difference between advocating forcefully for policy and relentlessly attacking, personally, your opponents.”

RISE Indy, meanwhile, has rejected claims that its intent is to destroy IPS. The nonprofit also has given college scholarships to students in both traditional public and charter schools and has a leadership training program that several IPS board members have completed

Some hope IPS and charter schools can regroup

What’s not in much dispute is that the new laws from this session created winners and losers.

Property tax reform estimated to cost districts millions spurred teachers from IPS and across the state to rally at the statehouse in April.

Charter schools will likely receive thousands of dollars more per pupil in new property tax revenues. IPS is projecting the closure of schools and the loss of millions in funding, due to charters’ new share of revenue and other state tax reforms.

Some are hoping that the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance led by Mayor Joe Hogsett will promote collaboration and reduce inefficiencies. Hogsett’s office did not respond to requests for interviews about the organization, but the mayor has said there will be opportunities for community input and for public meetings.

The group includes appointees from the mayor and the superintendent, including one parent from a traditional school and one parent from a charter school.

But others worry about the competition district-run schools and charters may see in coming years from private schools. While a vast majority of Hoosier families could already use vouchers before this year, lawmakers this session changed state law to allow any family, regardless of income, to receive taxpayer money to help cover private school tuition.

As Potter, the 18-year-old Shortridge High student, prepared to graduate this month, he wondered about the uncertainty of his younger brother’s future in IPS.

“I do think both sides need money,” Dale said. “And I still don’t think it was right to just take money from charter schools or take money from public schools.”

At the same time, Joel Gilesealle wants more students like him to be able to participate in the dual-credit classes he’s taken as a student at the Believe Circle City charter high school.

“I see what the school does for me and I see what the teachers do for me and I’m like, imagine what they could do if they had more money,” said Gilesealle, who testified at the statehouse this year to support more funding for charter schools.

But Potter believes the charter sector and IPS can still salvage their relationship.

“I still think there’s hope for IPS,” he said. “And there’s hope for what we can still do and become.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Local Education Alliance members announced by mayor and IPS

2025-05-23T21:09:32+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Mayor Joe Hogsett along with the Indianapolis Public Schools Superintendent Aleesia Johnson and the IPS school board announced the members of the new Indianapolis Local Education Alliance on Friday.

The nine-member board, led by Hogsett, was created by lawmakers in this year’s legislative session and is tasked with examining the potential for IPS and charters to share buses and buildings as well as other “topics such as governance structure and increasing efficiency.”

“The goal of the alliance is to deepen collaboration across traditional public and public charter schools and support a strong academic experience for all students,” per the announcement from Hogsett’s office.

The creation of the board occurred during a legislative session that also included a proposal to dissolve IPS and replace it with charters that ultimately failed, and a successful plan to redirect some property tax revenue from IPS to charters.

According to the announcement, the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance members — in addition to Hogsett and Johnson — are:

Bart Peterson, former mayor; former CEO of Christel House International; former senior vice president of corporate affairs and communication for Eli Lilly and Company (mayoral appointee).
Maggie Lewis, majority leader of Indianapolis City-County Council; CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis (mayoral appointee).
Angela Smith-Jones, associate vice president for state relations, Indiana University; former deputy mayor of economic development; former general counsel for the Indy Chamber (mayoral appointee).
Tobin McClamroch, managing partner, Dentons Bingham Greenebaum; chair of the Marian University Board of Trustees, (mayoral appointee).
Barato Britt, President/CEO, Edna Martin Christian Center (IPS Board President appointee).
Tina Ahlgren, teacher, H.L. Harshman Middle School; Hoosier Educator of the Year, 2024; IPS Teacher of the Year, 2014 (IPS district-managed school parent appointee).
Andrew Neal, CEO, Outreach Indiana; former Chief Operating Officer, Brookside Community Development Corporation (IPS innovation school parent appointee).

The group is not subject to the state’s open meetings law.

Hogsett called the members “accomplished civic leaders” and said he’s confident the group “will create a plan that ensures a stable, sustainable and collaborative path forward for our schools.”

Johnson added that the ILEA is an “opportunity to hear the diverse perspectives” of Indianapolis leaders as they create recommendations about the future of the city’s schools.

“We remain committed to advocating for our families, students, and staff throughout the course of our engagement with the ILEA,” she said in the release.

The organization is required to meet for the first time before July 1 and details about the meetings will be shared “in the coming weeks,” per the mayor’s office.

The announcement also noted that “opportunities for public comment and community input will be made available.”

The ILEA must submit recommendations to the state education secretary and legislators for consideration by the end of the year. The Friday announcement also noted that the group will report back to the city and district.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Sex ed, DEI, parent rights: New Indiana social-issue laws dictate what schools must and can’t do

2025-05-16T18:39:31+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and s tatewide education news.

For years, Indiana lawmakers tried but failed to change how schools handle issues related to race, sexuality, parental rights, and more.

In 2025, they finally succeeded.

As the Trump administration advanced conservative priorities through executive orders and other moves, state lawmakers have banned schools and teachers from implementing certain concepts about race and identity, including that a person should be blamed for “actions committed in the past.” That’s something they have tried to do since 2022.

They’ve also required school boards to post their sex education materials online, and codified parental rights over their children’s health care and education — two more ideas that didn’t make it through the legislature in past years.

The result is a suite of new social-issue laws affecting public schools that will go into effect in July, which could chill classroom speech and lead teachers to avoid topics “that could cause offense,” said Jonathan Friedman, an official at PEN America, which supports protections for freedom of expression.

“Across a number of states, it’s clear that the election of Trump has given legislators a green light to unleash education bills of their liking with fewer brakes and fewer boundaries,” said Friedman.

Despite the momentum, not all social-issue legislation made it over the finish line this year.

For example, a wide-ranging bill to ban teaching that racism and exclusion are part of the national identity died in committee. Another controversial bill to allow chaplains to serve as public school counselors that passed the Senate did not receive consideration in the House.

Here’s what these new laws will require of K-12 schools and teachers.

Ban on teaching ‘personal characteristics’ echoes DEI orders

Indiana lawmakers have tried since 2022 to pass a law limiting discussions of race and racism in schools.

While the terms for the ideas they’ve targeted have changed — from critical race theory and divisive concepts to diversity, equity, and inclusion — the bills have generally sought to ban teaching that any person is superior to another based on their personal characteristics or should feel guilty for historical events based on those characteristics.

But the proposals have faltered in the past in the face of intense criticism from educators and others who say the language would chill classroom discussions of history.

This year, however, SEA 289 passed into state law against the backdrop of federal and state orders banning DEI practices throughout the public sector. Those practices, Republican leaders have said, constitute unlawful discrimination.

The original bill introduced this year would have required schools to post curricular, instructional, and training materials related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and nondiscrimination, as well as race, ethnicity, and sex. It also would have banned schools from compelling students or teachers to “affirm, adopt, or adhere” to beliefs that a person’s character or relative worth could be determined by their “personal characteristics,” or that they could be blamed for past actions based on those characteristics.

As passed, the new law prohibits public schools from requiring employees to attend training sessions that include these ideas. It also says teachers can’t “implement” any of these ideas or “compel” students to do so — a slight departure from past bills that said teachers couldn’t “promote” these concepts during instruction.

It’s not yet clear how educators, schools, and parents will interpret this language,

said Chris Daley of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana. It’s possible, he said, that people could use it to target teachers who teach lessons that a parent objects to.

However, he said the language indicates a teacher would need to “clearly go beyond just including information about these topics in a lesson” in order to run afoul of the law. For example, a teacher would have to require students to take an action, such as writing a report.

Furthermore, the far-reaching law prohibits state employers and schools from making hiring, admission, and scholarship decisions based on a person’s personal characteristics, like race, religion, and national origin. (The law specifically allows privately funded college scholarships based on personal characteristics.)

As part of these revisions to the original legislation, the law changes the criteria for the Next Generation Hoosier Minority Educators scholarship fund, replacing the requirement that a teacher candidate is Black or Hispanic with a requirement that they work in an underserved county — listed as Allen, Marion, Lake, St. Joseph, or Vanderburgh counties.

The scholarships, established in 2023, provide up to $10,000 per year of college for high-achieving students who commit to teaching in Indiana.

Sex ed: School must post material, teach consent

Under SEA 442, Indiana now requires schools to publicize more information about their human sexuality instruction, if they teach such courses at all.

Sex education is not required in any school other than instruction on HIV/AIDS, and under the new law, it remains optional.

But school boards in districts that choose to provide the instruction must post all of the relevant learning material online. The law states that schools can’t use any sex ed curriculum that hasn’t been approved by their school boards, which is true of curriculum on other topics, too.

The original Senate version of the bill went a step further and required school boards to also approve information about whether a male or female teacher would teach the course, and whether male and female students would be taught together.

The new law requires schools to put that information in the consent form sent to parents before sex ed instruction takes place.

Critics of the law pointed out that Indiana law already allows parents to review sex ed curriculum materials and opt their students out of any such instruction.

“Transparency is already the expectation,” said Cindy Long of the Indiana Association of School Principals at a hearing on the bill.

Supporters, however, said the law makes it easier for parents to find the information.

The law also says schools that do teach sex ed must show a medically accurate, age-appropriate presentation of fetal development as part of the course. They must also teach the importance of consent in sexual relationships.

Social-emotional learning not required for teacher training

HEA 1002 includes dozens of changes to education code that would reduce schools’ workload, said Rep. Bob Behning, the Republican chair of the House education committee.

But one of the most controversial provisions drops state guidelines that teacher preparation programs include training on social-emotional learning, cultural competency, and restorative justice. These terms that have come under fire from conservative groups that say they teach children values that might be contrary to what they learn at home.

Originally, this language — added as a Senate amendment late into the legislative process — also stripped requirements related to positive behavioral intervention and trauma-informed care, too. But those provisions were restored by a conference committee led by Behning after public outcry.

Critics said practices targeted by the bill are considered best practices that reduce suspensions, expulsions, and behavioral incidents in classrooms, while supporting academic achievement.

Russ Skiba, an Indiana University professor emeritus whose research has found that Black students face higher rates of exclusionary discipline than white students, said changes in the way teachers learned about discipline practices in the early 2000s had a notable impact on reducing disparities. New federal and state guidelines did too, he said.

“The legislature has an important effect just in saying something ought to be focused on,” Skiba said, citing the science of reading as another example. “Suspensions and expulsions went down because of leadership from the top.”

Republican lawmakers defended the changes, saying that they didn’t ban any practices but only removed requirements.

Behning, who declined an interview about the law, notably authored a 2015 law that provided grants for schools to train teachers in alternative methods for student discipline, including “positive behavioral intervention and support, restorative practices, and social emotional learning.”

Lawmakers prioritize parental rights in student records law

Indiana lawmakers also this year passed a parental rights law with implications for schools.

SEA 143 says governmental entities may not “substantially burden a parent’s fundamental right to direct the upbringing, religious instruction, education; or health care” of their child, unless there is a compelling governmental interest.

Though the law had the support of many GOP lawmakers, some argued it could be interpreted to actually give the government more clearly defined rights over parents. Other critics raised concerns about the law’s treatment of minors’ constitutional rights.

The law specifies that schools cannot advise a child to withhold information from their parents, or deny parents access to information related to a child’s health care, or “social, emotional, and behavioral well-being.”

Though many of the examples offered in support of the law concerned state agencies like the Department of Child Services, some speakers at public testimony also wanted it to apply to when a student chooses to go by a different name or gender identity at school. A law passed in Indiana in 2023 already requires schools to notify parents when their students wish to make these changes.

At the same time, parents are prohibited from using the law to access a “medical treatment, service, or procedure” for the child that has been banned in Indiana, such as an abortion or gender-affirming care.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

IPS opens nominations for Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, launches transportation survey

2025-05-05T17:02:11+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana’s controversial property tax changes will not affect Indianapolis Public Schools operations in 2025-26 — but in later years, they’ll mean “giant cuts” to the district’s budget and require “gut-wrenching” decisions, Superintendent Aleesia Johnson said Friday.

The district is also accepting nominations for people who wish to serve on a new state-mandated group that will examine resource-sharing between IPS and charter schools.

Senate Bill 1, which state lawmakers passed last month, not only reduces the amount IPS will receive in property tax revenue beginning in 2026, but also requires the district to share that revenue with charters in 2028.

Lawmakers also created a new Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, which will examine the sharing of transportation and building resources between the district and the roughly 50 brick-and-mortar K-12 charter schools within its borders.

IPS will bring in roughly $5 million less in property taxes in 2026 than it would have under previous property tax law; roughly $4 million less in 2027; and roughly $5 million less in 2028, according to the latest fiscal analysis for SB 1. The district previously estimated that SB 1 would make IPS lose as much as $96.8 million from 2026 to 2032.

Johnson said SB 1 creates a “win-lose framework” that incentivizes competition between schools over an even smaller pot of funds.

“Our community worked tirelessly to stop this bill because we know there’s no way we can move forward with such giant cuts to our budget without gut-wrenching decisions at IPS,” she said.

“We will vigorously pursue savings and cost reduction opportunities,” Johnson added. “But we will do so while keeping stability for students and families at the forefront.”

Johnson also announced that nominations are open for the three ILEA members who are to be appointed by the superintendent and school board President Angelia Moore. The superintendent’s appointees must be one parent of a traditional IPS school and one parent of a charter school in the district’s autonomous Innovation Network. The board president’s appointee must live in district boundaries.

Johnson or her representative will also serve on the alliance.

The district is also launching an online transportation survey to help inform the ILEA’s members on recommendations for improving school transportation, Johnson said.

“While I’m deeply concerned about the scale of changes ahead, we will strive to continue to engage our community deeply,” Johnson said.

IPS will host a series of town halls to provide the public with a detailed analysis on the impact of the recently passed state laws. IPS plans to organize the town halls before the ILEA’s first meeting in June, Johnson said.

“IPS is more than 150 years old,” Johnson said. “We’ve been here a long time as the pillar of this community, and we are going to be here a long time to come.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana lawmakers expand voucher eligibility, increase school funding in budget

2025-04-25T05:31:24+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

All Indiana families will be eligible for school vouchers starting June 2026, an expansion expected to cost the state around $93 million, according to the state budget that lawmakers passed early Friday. It’s now on its way to Gov. Mike Braun’s desk.

The latest budget maintains 2% increases in K-12 tuition support for public schools each of the two years of the budget, with additional funds allocated in 2026 for the Choice Scholarship voucher expansion.The increases also include the $160 million curriculum materials fund that schools currently receive as separate dollars.

In total, the state will spend approximately $9.4 billion in fiscal year 2026 and $9.6 billion in fiscal year 2027 on K-12 funding, up from around $9 billion in 2025 — which includes basic funding that all students receive, as well as categorical dollars for educating students in poverty, in special education, or English learner programs.

Delaying the voucher expansion to the second year of the budget is a compromise between Gov. Mike Braun and House budget writers, who wanted to see vouchers open to all beginning in fiscal year 2026, and Senate lawmakers who ruled out a voucher expansion over concerns that this year’s tight budget would impact the funding available. The state’s voucher program cost around $439 million in 2023-24, the latest figure available from the state.

The latest state revenue forecast showed $2 billion less than expected for the next biennial budget.

“We’ll be able to do that in the second year and give those parents the choice that I think they deserve,” said Rep. Jeffrey Thompson, chair of the House Ways and Means committee, at a media briefing on Wednesday.

The budget passed over the objections of Democrats in the General Assembly, who characterized the voucher expansion as a subsidy to wealthy families.

“This is a choice to prioritize the wealthy while leaving working families and our public schools behind,” said Rep. Carey Hamilton.

They also expressed concerns over a provision in the budget bill giving Gov. Mike Braun the power to appoint the entire Indiana University Board of Trustees. Currently, three members of the nine-member board are alumni and elected by alumni.

“It concentrates power instead of dispersing it. It silences stakeholders instead of engaging them,” said Democratic Rep. Mitch Gore.

Schools will also be grappling with the effects of Senate Enrolled Act 1, which reduces property taxes and requires districts to share some local revenue with charter schools. The proposal is expected to cost school districts around $744 million over the next three years.

Here are some other notable changes in education funding in the final budget:

Lawmakers have opted to keep funding for virtual students at 85% of the amount that brick-and-mortar students receive in current law. This is a compromise between the House — which proposed giving these students equal funding — and the Senate, which wanted to reduce the funding to 70% over ongoing concerns about virtual schools’ performance and transparency.
A new Freedom and Opportunity in Education line item has been reduced to $50 million per year from $86 million per year that House and Senate lawmakers allocated to the fund. These dollars are intended to pay for Indiana Department of Education initiatives, like the statewide teaching jobs website and the expansion of the ILEARN checkpoint pilot.
The allocation for teacher appreciation grants has been reduced from $37.5 million per year to $35.6 million per year.
The distribution for summer school has been reduced from $18.3 million per year to $17.4 million per year.
The administration of the Career Scholarship and Education Scholarship accounts shifts from the state Treasurer’s Office to the Education Department. Each program would receive $10 million per year.
Gifted and talented education stands at $15 million per year after initially facing cuts.
Lawmakers did not restore funding for the dual immersion pilot program, Dolly Parton Imagination Library, or the internet connectivity fund — cuts made early in the budget process.
The final budget restores the $52.6 million in the Charter and Innovation Network School Grant program, which offers those schools $1,400 per student. But it removes funding for the Charter School Capital Grant, a $25 million line item allotted in 2023-24 for facility needs.

On Thursday morning, lawmakers sent SB 287 allowing school board candidates to choose a partisan political affiliation to the governor’s desk.

They also voted through SB 289. After several changes throughout the session, this bill now prohibits state universities, public schools, and their employees from teaching or training that “a person having a specific personal characteristic is inherently superior or inferior to a person having a different personal characteristic,” that those characteristics determine a person’s character, or that a person should be blamed for actions committed in the past.

The bill prohibits public employers and employees from implementing any of these ideas or compelling students to do so.

The bill also changes the criteria for state-funded teaching scholarships that previously were awarded to Black or Hispanic candidates to instead go to candidates who live and work in underserved counties, defined as Allen, Marion, Lake, St. Joseph, and Vanderburgh counties.

Reporter Amelia Pak-Harvey contributed to this story.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Lawmakers end racial and ethnic studies course mandate, make more education changes as session ends

2025-04-25T04:08:06+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers wrapped up the 2025 legislative session early Friday with a final vote on a two-year state budget that provides a 2% annual increase in funding for schools and establishes a universal school voucher program to begin next year.

They also passed several education bills that are poised to transform teaching and learning in Indiana. Among them was a 116-page deregulation bill with provisions that end requirements for high schools to offer at least one semester of an elective racial or ethnic studies course per school year.

This 11th-hour change apparently came at the request of the Indiana Department of Education after correspondence from the U.S. Department of Education regarding state code, Republican Sen. Jeff Raatz said late Thursday in floor discussions about House Bill 1002.

The U.S. Department of Education recently ordered states to certify in writing that they’re not participating in what the Trump administration says are illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, or else risk losing federal funding. Raatz did not specify if that was the correspondence he was referring to. The administration’s effort has run into roadblocks in the courts.

Raatz said $1 billion in education funding for federally funded programs like school lunches was at risk if lawmakers didn’t remove the course requirement.

But the change in Indiana code doesn’t prohibit schools from offering such courses. And the federal Education Department has said that “schools with programs focused on interests in particular cultures, heritages, and areas of the world would not in and of themselves violate” federal civil rights law as it relates to DEI, “assuming they are open to all students regardless of race.”

“Sometimes I have to do things I don’t necessarily want to do,” Raatz said in response to questioning from Democratic Sen. Greg Taylor, who authored the 2017 law about the racial and ethnic studies courses. “But bottom line is, we cannot as the state of Indiana … forgo a billion dollars in our education system.”

“Are you going to tell me that we’re not brave enough to hold pat on an elective course for kids because the federal government says ‘we could cut your funding’?” Taylor said in comments, referring to the law as one of his chief accomplishments.

State lawmakers this year have also leaned into other culture war issues they previously declined to take up against the backdrop of a changing political landscape.

One bill will allow school board candidates to declare a political party, ending the state’s practice of nonpartisan school board elections. Another prohibits state employees, including teachers, from teaching or training that moral character is determined by people’s “personal characteristics,” or that they should be blamed for actions committed in the past, in an echo of several attempts to pass such legislation in recent years.

And Gov. Mike Braun has already signed an expansion of the restrictions on transgender women competing on women’s sports teams that affects colleges and universities.

But not all legislation this year tackles social issues.

State leaders hope that new requirements for math education in line with the push to implement the science of reading will lead to a boost in math scores similar to students’ gains in literacy. And with a new framework for categorizing and reducing absences, they hope to address an absenteeism rate that has remained stubbornly high since COVID.

Here are the education bills that passed the 2025 legislative session. Those already signed by Braun have been marked with an asterisk. The rest are on their way to his desk.

*SB 1: Property tax relief.

Description: The property tax reform bill was amended to change how and how much residents would receive in property tax deductions and credits. The bill also now includes parts of SB 518, which requires school districts to share property tax revenues for operations with charter schools. Read more.

*S B 143: Parental rights.

Description: Stipulates that the government may not interfere in a parent’s right to direct the upbringing of their child unless there is a compelling governmental interest. It also specifies that the bill cannot be construed to allow a parent to access medical care for their child that the child is not legally allowed to have, such as puberty blockers and other gender-affirming care currently banned for minors in Indiana, according to examples given in committee.

SB 146: Teacher compensation.

Description: Increases minimum teacher salaries to $45,000.

Indiana bill to allow party affiliation in school board elections heads to governor’s desk

2025-04-24T16:00:27+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A proposal to allow school board candidates in Indiana to declare a party affiliation is heading for the governor’s desk after some uncertainty about the final language of the bill.

Under changes approved by the House, Senate Bill 287 allows school board candidates to state a party affiliation, identify as independent, or remain nonpartisan in general elections. In Indiana, school board elections are currently nonpartisan.

But lawmakers have tried to change that for several years amidst increased tensions over COVID-related school closures and mask and vaccine policies, as well as subsequent fights over curriculum and teaching.

Up until now, the idea has failed. The proposals have faced significant opposition from educators and advocates who expressed concern that partisan politics would detract from a school board’s primary duties to choose a superintendent, approve a budget, and set policies.

But supporters of the bill this year said politics already influence how schools operate, and that allowing candidates to declare a party would provide more information about their values to voters. Some lawmakers supported the idea that the bill would help more conservative candidates win school board seats.

The bill allows county parties to challenge candidates’ stated affiliation if they did not vote in that party’s two most recent primary elections, or obtain written certification from the county party chairman that they are a member of the party.

It also provides raises to school board members to an amount not more than 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher in that school district. That salary is currently set at $2,000.

Initially, the bill as passed by the Senate would have required candidates to state an affiliation and go through the primary election process, just like other candidates.

Senate lawmakers initially planned to agree with the House’s changes. But that concurrence was withdrawn, and the bill was sent to a conference committee, which is tasked with finding a compromise between the two versions.

The conference committee briefly met Monday and discussed reverting the bill to its Senate version. But on Tuesday, lawmakers appear to have changed their minds again, filing another concurrence on the bill as passed by the House. The concurrence prevailed on Thursday.

It’s not clear what lawmakers disagreed on, nor how the dispute was resolved.

Republican Sen. Gary Byrne, the bill’s author, did not immediately return a request for comment.

The bill is now on its way to the desk of Gov. Mike Braun. If Braun signs it, it would take effect in July. However, there are no school board elections in Indiana this year.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Education bill tracker: What bills will lawmakers pass as the legislative session comes to a close?

2025-04-18T14:24:14+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Update, April 25: The legislative session ended early this morning. Here are the bills that passed as well as details on the state budget.

The 2025 legislative session is likely to bring big changes to Indiana schools, from how they receive funding to what students learn and how teachers teach.

As part of our coverage this year, Chalkbeat Indiana is tracking this year’s biggest education bills as they move through the statehouse.

This year, bills must receive a third reading in their originating chamber by Feb. 20 or else they’ll be considered dead before they move to the opposite chamber. They must receive a third reading in the opposite chamber by April 15.

Several high-profile bills did not receive committee hearings in the first half of session. These bills can be considered dead unless their language is added by amendment to another bill. Some of these bills include:

HB 1136, which would have dissolved Indianapolis Public Schools and transitioned all its schools into charter schools.
HB 1501, which would have turned over IPS school buildings and transportation to a centralized board.
HB 1394, which would have given schools the authority to deny enrollment to undocumented immigrant students. (Another immigration bill, HB 1531, originally required school districts to report how many undocumented students are enrolled each year, but this language was removed from the bill.
SB 257, which prohibited teaching that certain concepts like discrimination are part of the U.S. national identity.

More information about how a bill becomes a law is available here. You can also find more information on the two education committees here.

This year is a long budget session, which means lawmakers must adjourn by April 29.

Bills highlighted are moving forward this year. Bills with an asterisk have been signed by Gov. Mike Braun.

Some bills are noted to be in conference committee or headed to a conference committee, meaning the originating chamber has disagreed with the amendments made by the opposite chamber, and a committee made up of lawmakers from both chambers is meeting to hash out an agreement. A concurrence means the originating chamber agrees with the amendments made.

Once a bill passes in the senate and the house, it needs to be signed by Speaker of the House Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray before heading to Gov. Mike Braun to sign into law.

Education bills in the Indiana Senate

Senate lawmakers had until Jan. 9 to file bills and until Feb. 20 to pass bills in the Senate.

*SB 1: Property tax relief.

Status: Signed by the governor. Read more.

SB 8: School referendums.

Description: Provides that school referendums may be placed on the ballot only at a primary election conducted in a general election year or a general election. Changes the timeline for a school district to renew a referendum. Provides that in a local public question, a school corporation must provide the total amount of property tax revenue expected to be collected each year.

Status: Proposals from SB 8 were included in amendments to SB 1.

SB 11: Minor access and use of social media.

Description: Parental consent for social media use for those under 16 years old.

Status: Passed the Senate.

SB 16: Expulsion and suspension.

Description: New requirements and restrictions for suspension and expulsion in public schools, including that students may only be suspended or expelled if it’s necessary to minimize physical harm and school disruption. Requires schools to provide services to suspended students.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Development.

S B 34: Literacy endorsement.

Description: Reduces hours and requirements to receive required literacy endorsement for licensure renewal

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Development.

S B 35: Cursive writing.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Development.

S B 36: Counselor time with ratio exemption.

Description: Mandates that in 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 a school shall ensure that at least 60% of a school counselor’s time is devoted to providing direct services to students. In 2027-2028, that goes up to 80%.

Status: Heard in the Committee on Education and Career Development on Jan. 15 but did not return for a vote.

S B 67: Secured school safety grants.

Description: Grant from the secured school fund to be used to provide funding for school employees to receive youth violence early intervention training. Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Development.

S B 110, SB 496: School based health centers.

Description: Requires DOE and DOH to establish a program to help schools establish health centers.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Development. S B 132: Childhood obesity study topics.

Description: Establishes the childhood obesity commission as a temporary commission to study childhood obesity.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Family and Children Services.

S B 143: Parental rights.

Status: Signed by the Senate President Pro Tempore and House Speaker on April 9 after the Senate concurred with House amendments.

SB 146: Teacher compensation.

Description: Makes several changes to teacher compensation and benefits:

Increases minimum teacher salaries to $45,000.
Provides 20 days of paid parental leave for full-time teachers.
Joins the interstate teacher mobility compact.

Status: In conference committee. Read more.

S B 168: Resident tuition.

Description: Would make undocumented students who have graduated from Indiana high schools eligible to pay the resident rate for tuition at state universities.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Development.

S B 213: K-12 education funding.

Description: Establishes a $65,000 minimum salary for teachers, raises the income cap to participate in the On My Way Pre-K program, specifies increases for school funding, appropriates funding for teacher recruitment and retention.

Status: Referred to Committee on Appropriations.

S B 228: PAC contributions.

Description: Provides that a political action committee (PAC) may not make total annual contributions in excess of an aggregate of $5,000 apportioned in any manner to a specific candidate for a school board office.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Elections.

S B 229: Mandatory discussion.

Description: Requires a school employer to discuss certain items with the exclusive representative of certificated employees.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Development.

S B 230: Collective bargaining.

Description: Requires a school employer to collectively bargain with the exclusive representative of certificated employees programs and matters related to school safety and associated working conditions.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Career Development.

S B 235: DEI prohibitions.

Description: Prohibits state agencies and educational institutions from taking actions that the bill defines as related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including holding training or influencing the composition of employees with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity. Bans state entities from promoting opinions on a list of 16 concepts including bias, allyship, cultural appropriation, microaggressions, social justice, heteronormativity, and gender theory. Prohibits entities from using funds for a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office or officer. Allows the state Attorney General to compel agencies to comply. Status: Language from this bill has been added to SB 289.

*S B 249: Teacher compensation.

Status: Signed by the governor.

S B 255: Education matters — licensing, religious instruction, bullying.

Description:

Allows secondary students to receive religious instruction during the school day equivalent to the time spent attending an elective course.
Requires the Department of Education to grant initial practitioner licenses to individuals who hold degrees in STEM subjects and have completed a certain number of teaching courses.
Requires schools to inform the parents of both the victim and perpetrator in a bullying incident before the end of the day that the school was made aware of the bullying.

Status: In conference committee.

S B 257: Civic education — required and prohibited concepts.

Description: Requires schools that teach American history and government to teach principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the United States. Prohibits this instruction from teaching that the national identity or culture has been established by racial identity or racial discrimination, gender identity or gender discrimination, victimization, class struggle, a hierarchy of privileges, or systemic exclusion.

Status: Heard in the Committee on Education and Career Development on Feb. 5, but did not return for a vote.

SB 285: Comparative college and career information.

Description: Creates a dashboard to compare the average costs, wages, debt, and qualifications for degrees and in-demand jobs.

Status: Passed the Senate. Referred to the House Education Committee.

S B 287: Partisan school boards.

Description: Requires candidates for school board offices to be nominated in the same manner as candidates for all other elected offices are nominated. Modifies the annual amount that the governing body of a school corporation may pay a member of the governing body from $2,000 to an amount not to exceed 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher employed by the school corporation.

Status: In conference committee.

S B 289: Nondiscrimination in employment and education.

Description: Prohibits state entities and public schools from requiring employees and students to affirm beliefs that any particular race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or national origin is superior to any other, or can be blamed for the past actions of individuals who share the same traits.

Status: In conference committee.

SB 299: Local public questions.

Description: Changes the required language for property tax referendums.

Status: Referred to Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy.

SB 308: Intimidation.

Description: Provides that intimidation is a Level 6 felony if the subject of the threat is a public school, a state accredited nonpublic school, or a charter school.

Status: Referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law.

SB 319: Chronic absenteeism.

Description: Requires the Department of Education to study and make recommendations on the categorization of student absences, create a list of best practices to reduce student discipline related to absenteeism, and other changes related to absenteeism.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 330: School air quality study.

Description: Requires the Indiana department of health to conduct an air quality study of every school located in Indiana.

Status: Referred to Committee on Health and Provider Services.

SB 335: Teacher retention grant program.

Description: Creates the teacher retention grant.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 336: Property tax revenue shared with charter schools.

Description: Removes and repeals provisions that require school corporations located in certain counties to share operations fund property tax funds.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 343: Tenure and viewpoint law changes.

Description: Makes changes to last year’s law prohibiting universities from offering tenure to professors on the basis of their speech and requiring universities to develop a complaint process on this subject.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 348: Waiving requirements for accredited schools.

Description: Requires (instead of allows) the state board of education (state board) to approve an application to waive compliance with certain provisions requested by a school or group of schools under the performance based accreditation law.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 358: Various education matters — voucher eligibility, curricular materials.

Description:

Provides that a school may be an eligible Choice Scholarship school if the school obtains provisional accreditation from a national or regional accreditation agency.
Requires the department to determine the feasibility of making certain math and English/language arts curricular materials available to public schools.
Language on counselors has been removed.

Status: In conference committee.

SB 359: Student well-being and resilience.

Description: Establishes a resiliency program at public schools to help students build resilience and grit by learning to manage their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

Status: Passed the Senate. Referred to the House Education committee.

SB 365: Education matters — outcome reports.

Description: Requires reports of student outcomes out of certain career and technical education and postsecondary programs.

Status: Senate concurred with House amendments.

SB 366: Education matters — preschool requirements, school board vacancies, school transfer requirements

Description:

Ends a provision allowing parents to request to transfer their children to school districts outside their legal settlement for better accommodation reasons.
Removes a requirement that a superintendent must discuss a plan for annual performance evaluations with a teacher or the teacher’s representative.

Status: Senate concurred with House amendments.

SB 373: Education — summer school, Department of Education authority.

Description: Would change summer school reimbursement to a per-student instead of program cost basis. Also requires that the evaluation process for STEM and reading materials must include the age appropriateness of the content. Proposed amendment would create a mastery-based education pilot program. Proposed amendment would create boards to make recommendations on school districts’ facility and transportation use. Read more.

Status: In conference committee. Read more.

SB 396: Age for compulsory school attendance.

Description: Lowers the age of compulsory school attendance to 5.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 403: Charter school requirements.

Description: Provides that access to financial data for local schools requirements apply to charter schools.

Status: Passed the Senate. Referred to the House Education Committee.

SB 442: Instruction concerning human sexuality.

Description: Provides that, if a public school provides any instruction to students concerning human sexuality, the school’s governing authority must publish certain information concerning the instruction online.

Status: In conference committee.

SB 448: Higher education — degree and credential matters.

Description:

Requires that, beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year, at least 50% of the students in a freshman class at a state educational institution must be residents of Indiana.
Requires the Indiana management performance hub to annually report certain credential information on its website.
Requires the secretary of education to establish a plan to develop a market driven stackable credentials and qualifications framework.
Provides that before the commission approves or disapproves a degree or program, a state educational institution shall provide, and the commission shall consider, certain information regarding the degree or program. Requires the commission to: (1) review each degree or program for approval or disapproval at least one time every 10 years, (2) outline a process for degree and program monitoring, improvement, suspension, and closure, and (3) publish certain information.

Status: Senate concurred with House amendments. The latest version of the bill removes the requirement that 50% of freshmen in a state educational institution must be Indiana residents.

SB 479: Transportation for gender transition procedures.

Description: Makes assisting a child in procuring a gender transition procedure a Level 6 felony, but does not apply to a child’s parents, or someone that has permission from the child’s parents.

Status: Referred to Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law.

SB 481: Real world and finance curriculum grant funds.

Description: Establishes the real world readiness grant program to provide grants to eligible schools to better prepare students for life after graduation.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 482: Absenteeism.

Status: In conference committee.

SB 483: Home school regulation.

Description: Requires a parent who withdraws the parent’s chronically absent child from a public school in order to homeschool the child to present a curriculum and courses the child will complete while homeschooled and meet regularly with the superintendent of the school from which the child is withdrawing.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 501: Discussable items for teachers.

Description: Requires a school employer to discuss items related to working conditions with the exclusive representative of certificated employees.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

SB 518: School property taxes.

Description: Requires school districts to share property tax revenue with charter schools and other school districts that enroll students who have legal residence in that school district.

Status: Passed the Senate. Heard in House Ways and Means on Mar. 5. Proposals from SB 518 were included in amendments to SB 1.

SB 523: School chaplains.

Description: Allows chaplains to work or volunteer in public schools providing secular support or nonsecular support if the student and their parent provide permission.

Status: Passed the Senate. Referred to the House Education Committee.

SB 531: Ban on corporal punishment in schools.

Description: Prohibits the use of corporal punishment on students but makes exceptions for the use of reasonable and necessary force in certain situations.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education and Career Development.

Education bills in the Indiana House

House lawmakers had until Jan. 14 to file bills and Feb. 20 to pass bills in the full House.

HB 1002: Deregulation.

Description: With more than 70 provisions, this 130-page bill repeals and removes both expired and existing education statutes within Indiana code. Some notable points include:

Removes a requirement that if a governing body grants a charter to a charter school, they must also provide a noncharter school for students to attend, allowing districts to become all-charter.
Removes requirements for the secretary of education to have teaching and education leadership experience.
Reduces the notice that schools must provide if they eliminate transportation.
Ends the practice of interdistrict transfers by reason of better accommodation.
Removes a penalty for not conducting the minimum number of student instructional days.
Specifies that a charter organizer filing a consolidated audit must include a breakdown of the activities, financial position, and functional expenses for each charter school.
New amendments attempt to clarify when schools can charge fees, and remove requirements for social-emotional learning, trauma-informed care, and restorative justice. Read more.

Status: In conference committee.

HB 1022: Antisemitism.

Description: Provides that “antisemitism” has the meaning set forth in the May 26, 2016, working definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Provides that an act of antisemitism constitutes a discriminatory practice.

Status: Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

HB 1028: Homestead property tax freeze.

Description: Freezes an individual’s property tax liability attributable to the individual’s homestead based on the date on which the individual acquired an ownership interest in the homestead.

Status: Referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

*HB 1041: Student eligibility in interscholastic sports.

Status: Signed by the governor.

HB 1045: Teacher compensation.

Description: Includes school social workers and school psychologists in the definition of “teacher” for purposes of the requirement for school corporations to expend a certain percentage amount of state tuition support on teacher compensation.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1064: School athletic events.

Description: No longer requires a school corporation to offer a cash payment option at athletic events. Amended to allow students to request to transfer school districts for athletic reasons.

Status: House concurred with Senate amendments.

HB 1069: Tuition caps.

Description: Requires that, except for cost of living adjustments, the tuition rate and mandatory fees at specified postsecondary educational institutions may not increase from the time the student initially enrolls until the student graduates for an undergraduate student who is an Indiana resident.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1070: Hunger-free campus grant program.

Description: Establishes the hunger-free campus grant program to provide grants to state educational institutions for purposes of addressing food insecurity among students

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1071: Resident tuition rate.

Description: Would make undocumented students who have graduated from Indiana high schools eligible to pay the resident rate for tuition at state universities.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

*HB 1102: Contracting for preschool programs.

Description: Removes language restricting school corporations from entering into a contract with a religiously affiliated nonprofit preschool program.

Status: Signed by the governor.

HB 1136: School corporation reorganization.

Description: Provides that, if more than 50% of students who have legal settlement in a school corporation were enrolled in a school that is not operated by the school corporation on the 2024 fall average daily membership count date, the school corporation must be dissolved and all public schools of the school corporation must be transitioned to operating as charter schools.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1160: Student immunizations.

Description: Provides that a student enrolled in a health profession education program may not be required to receive an immunization as a condition of clinical training or clinical experience required by the program when the student has a medical or religious exemption.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1163: School wellness grant fund.

Description: Establishes the school wellness grant fund to provide grants to school corporations to support local wellness initiatives developed by the school corporation.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1164: School transportation.

Description: Provides that the governing body of a school corporation must minimize or eliminate school bus route stops that require a student to cross certain roads.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1173: Ban on university practices.

Description: Provides that a state university may not investigate or discipline student speech concerning politics, affiliations, perceived bias, prejudice, stereotypes, or intolerance, as long as the speech is protected under the First Amendment. Bans universities from considering a student’s race for admission, financial aid, or scholarships.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1195: Pornographic material.

Description: Requires school governing bodies to adopt procedures allowing community members to request that sexually explicit material be removed from schools. Requires schools to make catalogues of all curricular and library materials available online.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1201: Education matters.

Description: An omnibus bill focused on absenteeism and graduation.

Requires the Department of Education to create a list of best practices to reduce chronic absenteeism and to establish a categorization framework for excused and unexcused absences.
Requires public and private schools to adopt policies in line with the department’s categorization framework.
Prohibits a public school from expelling or suspending a student solely because the student is chronically absent or a habitual truant.

Status: Passed the House. Referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development.

HB 1207: Space science and technology grant program.

Description: Establishes the space science and technology grant program to provide grants to public and private schools to develop and implement educational opportunities focused on atmospheric and outer space exploration.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1210: Student behavior.

Description: Establishes the behavioral health fund for the purpose of improving funding for individualized education programs that have a behavioral intervention plan component for certain schools. Provides a procedure for a principal to place an aggressive student, who has been removed from a class, into the aggressive student’s original class, another appropriate class or placement, or in-school suspension.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1222: Resident rate tuition.

Description: Would make undocumented students who have graduated from Indiana high schools eligible to pay the resident rate for tuition at state universities.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1229: Local government finance.

Description: Abolishes property taxes and proposes a new fee and funding structure for schools to offset lost revenue.

Status: Referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

HB 1230: School board elections.

Description: Each school board candidate’s political party must be displayed on the ballot.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1231: Display of the Ten Commandments.

Description: Requires each school corporation to display the text of the Ten Commandments in each school library and classroom.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1246: Comprehensive student support program.

Description: Establishes the comprehensive student support program for the purposes of funding the formation and staffing of school based and district level comprehensive student support teams, and improving staffing ratios for student support personnel.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1253: Child care changes.

Description: Various changes to child care requirements, including removing the requirement that children receiving care from a school must be children of students or employees.

Status: House concurred with Senate amendments.

HB 1256: College savings tax credit.

Description: Increases the college savings tax credit.

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1258: Teacher compensation.

Description: States that after June 30, 2026, a school corporation shall expend an amount for teacher compensation that is not less than an amount equal to 70% (instead of 62%) of the state tuition support distributed to the school corporation

Status: Referred to the Committee on Education.

HB 1285: Special education.

Description: Makes several changes to special education practices, including:

Prohibits schools from adopting policies to prevent parents from recording IEP meetings.
Requires schools to employ one person who has obtained nonviolent crisis intervention training.

Status: Returned to the House with amendments after passing the Senate.

HB 1303: Sex education.

Description: Specifies that if a school provides sexual health education, the instruction must be comprehensive.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education.

HB 1306: Classroom supplies tax credit.

Description: Increases the maximum amount of the income tax credit for classroom supplies from $100 to $300.

Status: Referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

HB 1321: Social media use by minors.

Description: Prohibits social media use by minors without parental permission.

Status: Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

HB 1326: Student and teaching scholarships.

Description: Removes the income requirement and lowers the age threshold for a student to receive a scholarship from a Scholarship Granting Organization to attend a nonpublic school. Also makes changes to teaching scholarships.

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate Education Committee. Reassigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

*HB 1348: Private school and home school diplomas.

Status: Signed by the governor.

HB 1368: School referendums.

Description: Provides that school referendums can only be placed on the ballot during general elections.

Status: Referred to Committee on Elections and Apportionment.

HB 1394: Authority to deny enrollment to unlawful immigrants.

Description: Authorizes a school corporation to deny an immigrant student enrollment in a school operated by the school corporation if the school corporation determines by a preponderance of the evidence that the immigrant student is present in the United States in violation of law.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education.

HB 1405: Student bullying and abusive behavior.

Description: Revises the definition of “bullying”. Requires each public school, including a charter school, to track, monitor, and analyze specified aspects of bullying.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education.

HB 1406: Contracts with CSA providers.

Description: Provides that individuals and entities that participate in designated and approved course sequences, career courses, apprenticeships, and programs of study leading to industry recognized credentials or work based learning courses (participating entities) may be awarded a contract for a public works project at any contractor tier.

Status: Referred to Committee on Employment, Labor and Pensions.

HB 1414: ABA therapy.

Description: Requires the office of the secretary of family and social services to study and prepare a report on applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy services, and prohibits the office of the secretary from amending any Medicaid waiver or the Medicaid state plan to reduce or limit applied behavior analysis therapy services until the general assembly has reviewed the report.

Status: Referred to Committee on Public Health.

HB 1496: State educational institution administration.

Description: Prohibits use of state or federal funds by a state educational institution for policies or programs and campus activities outside the classroom that advocate for campus diversity, equity, and inclusion or promote or engage in political or social activism.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education

HB 1498: A-F Grades

Description: Requires the DOE to create a new A-F grading metric for schools. Read more here.

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate. Returned to the House with amendments.

HB 1499: Literacy

Description: Creates more exemptions to the third grade retention requirements, particularly for English learner students at some schools.

Status: Passed the House. Passed the Senate. Returned to the House with amendments.

HB 1500: Teacher appreciation grants

Description: Amends the requirements for teacher appreciation grants to include only teachers in high-need areas whose students demonstrate annual growth.

Status: Passed the House. Referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development.

HB 1501: School facilities and transportation.

Description: Requires school districts where more than 50% of local students attend schools not operated by the district to participate in a pilot centralized school facility and transportation board, which will be charged with rethinking facility use and transportation, levying referendums and distributing tax revenue.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education.

HB 1508: Middle school instruction.

Description: Requires each school corporation to include instruction on fetal development as a part of the health education curriculum for students enrolled in grades 6 through 8.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education.

HB 1515: Education matters — private school police departments.

Description: Provides that a student must be withdrawn from enrollment in a school corporation’s virtual education program if the student accumulates 10 consecutive or 18 cumulative unexcused absences. Provides that a land use application for any approval that is required by a unit for a public school, charter school, or nonpublic school may not be denied for the sole reason that the requesting entity is seeking to establish a public school, charter school, or nonpublic school.

Status: In conference committee. The latest version of the bill removes the provision regarding police departments for nonpublic schools.

HB 1539: Education matters — bullying and misconduct

Description: Allows a district to transfer either the victim or alleged perpetrator of a bullying incident to another school within the district. Requires schools to notify parents within 24 hours of a student making an allegation of misconduct against a school employee.

Status: Passed the House. Referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development.

HB 1629: Communism.

Description: Requires the department of education to develop curricula or approve instruction regarding the history of communism.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education.

HB 1634: Math.

Status: House concurred with Senate amendments.

HB 1636: Dynamic Choice Scholarship.

Description: Allows voucher students to elect to receive a Dynamic Choice Scholarship, which allows more uses than a traditional Choice Scholarship, similar to the allowed expenses under an Education Scholarship Account.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education.

HB 1640: Preschool.

Description: Expands eligibility for On My Way Pre-K to all 4-year-olds, regardless of family income or parents’ job or education status.

Status: Referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs.

HB 1644: Student voting.

Description: Provides that a document issued by a postsecondary educational institution is not sufficient proof of identification. Modifies the residence requirements for a college student voting.

Status: Referred to Committee on Elections and Apportionment.

HB 1652: Universal vouchers.

Description: Removes the income requirements for Choice Scholarships.

Status: Referred to Committee on Education.

HB 1658: Tax credit for teacher professional development.

Description: Provides a tax credit for professional development.

Status: Referred to Committee on Ways and Means.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Teachers turned out to protest property tax bill. Senators passed it anyway.

2025-04-15T04:02:21+00:00

Hundreds of Indiana teachers rallied at the statehouse Monday to protest a property tax reform bill that would cost the state’s school districts an estimated $744 million over the next three years.

The planned rally — part of the Indiana State Teachers Association’s day of action — came in the final days of a legislative session, which features several bills that could significantly alter the future of the state’s public education system.

Perhaps the most significant legislation is Senate Bill 1, which focuses on property tax reform. The bill has been criticized by school districts and other public entities concerned with the impact that it would have on their budgets. The latest version of the bill would offer a maximum $300 tax credit for homeowners and other deductions, while also giving local governments the option to raise local income taxes to offset the loss in property tax revenues.

After over eight hours of session, senators narrowly voted around midnight to agree with the changes to the property tax proposal made by their House counterparts. That means the bill will now make its way to the desk of Gov. Mike Braun, who has expressed support for it. Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, meanwhile, called for the governor to veto the bill in a social media post over the weekend.

In an exchange, Democratic Sen. Fady Qaddoura pointed out that schools would lose over $700 million in property tax revenue compared to current state law. But Republican Sen. Travis Holdman said schools would still gain property tax revenue year over year under the changes brought by the bill, but that the revenue would grow at a slower rate than under current law.

Sen. Andrea Hunley also asked for more clarity on how the changes in the bill would impact schools beyond the fiscal projections that extend to 2028.

The Senate spent much of its time Monday discussing its version of the state budget, which does not include universal vouchers or equal state funding for virtual schools — two provisions of the House version of the budget. Though Democratic senators proposed several dozen amendments, the education funding proposals remained largely unchanged from the version lawmakers introduced last week.

The budget will return for a final reading and vote in the Senate Tuesday. But a conference committee will likely need to hash out the differences between the two chambers’ versions of the funding proposals.

At the rally, teachers and union members at the rally also voiced concern with other legislative efforts, including the dissolution of the Union School Corporation and a requirement to share property tax revenues with charter schools in SB 1.

They also decried two amendments to Senate Bill 373, which House lawmakers discussed Monday. One amendment would create a mastery-based education pilot that they say would skirt collective bargaining rights. The other would establish the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, which would examine how Indianapolis Public Schools and charters within its boundaries could share resources.

“The way it is currently, education — public education as we know it — will begin to disappear,” said Jenny Noble-Kuchera, president of the Monroe County Education Association. “And our children are the victims.”

SB 373 will be eligible for a third reading and vote ahead of the deadline for bills to clear their opposite chambers on Tuesday.

The rally caused at least four school districts to close or offer asynchronous learning days for students due to the high number of teachers that announced they would not show up for school Monday.

‘You’re advocating for the future of learning’

Educators with Indianapolis Public Schools and Monroe County Community School Corporation — both of which announced asynchronous learning days for Monday — worried about the impact of property tax reform and the requirement to share revenues with charter schools.

Under SB 1, IPS would lose roughly $14 million over the next three years. IPS has estimated it would lose $96 million through 2032. Those figures include the impact of proposed revenue sharing with charter schools, which would begin in 2028 and would grow to the full required amount in 2032.

Monroe County schools would lose roughly $17 million in the next three years under the bill.

Mary Garner, an English teacher at Shortridge High School in Indianapolis, said IPS already does more with less. She noted that the district doesn’t receive the state funding for students who leave a charter school and come back to IPS after the state-designated count day.

“We’re going to do that on even less,” Garner said. “And at some point that system’s going to break.”

In a statement, Kim Reier of the Indiana Charter Innovation Center — a new group that advocates for charters statewide — said that all public school students deserve fair funding.

“Ensuring public charter schools have access to local operational funding helps fulfill Indiana’s long-held promise for public school choice and honors the decisions of the 56,000 public school parents and students who are choosing public charter schools,” Reier said.

In her speech to the crowd at the rally, Indianapolis Education Association Vice President Monica Shellhamer lamented the lack of teacher representation on the proposed Indianapolis Local Education Alliance. And her support for the Union School Corporation drew strong cheers from the crowd.

“We cannot stand by and let the legislature decide what schools should be open and what districts should be closed,” Shellhamer said.

Meanwhile, Rep. J.D. Prescott, the Union City Republican who offered the amendment to dissolve Union School Corporation, cited Union’s declining enrollment and poor reading test scores to justify his proposal.

But Union Superintendent Galen Mast said the district’s IREAD pass rate — which was 44% in 2024 — accounts for both in-person and virtual students. The pass rate just for students at its brick-and-mortar Union Elementary School, he noted, is much higher. The 2024 pass rate for that school was 75%.

“It’s not democracy,” he said of the attempt to dissolve the Union district. “It’s authoritarianism.”

Meanwhile, other educators outside of IPS and Union also worried about what the legislation would mean for their own school district’s future.

“We know everything that’s happening to IPS is headed our way out in the suburbs,” said Rita Maxey, a teacher at Lincoln Middle School in Pike Township, where residents have strongly opposed the expansion of charters. “It’s only a matter of time.”

Ahead of the rally, Republican Rep. Andrew Ireland of Indianapolis filed an amendment to Senate Bill 373 that would forbid school districts from converting scheduled instructional days to virtual instructional days because of a “planned or coordinated absence of teachers” due to a protest or political advocacy event.

Ireland withdrew his amendment but said he would bring it back next year.

But Lyra Palmer, a fourth grader at Butler Lab School 55 in IPS, was happy to join her younger sister Fiona in advocating for public school funding at Monday’s rally.

“This is an amazing use of a school day,” Lyra said. “Instead of going to school and of course learning, which is important, you’re advocating for the future of learning.”

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana school districts move to e-learning on Monday as staff protest potential school cuts

2025-04-14T01:34:20+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Several Indiana schools, including Indianapolis Public Schools, announced closed buildings or an online learning day on Monday, a day of action for the state teachers union that will feature heavy pushback against a proposed property tax reform bill slashing funding for public schools.

The announcements from the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township and the Monroe County Community School Corporation on Friday come in the waning days of a legislative session that could carry a huge financial hit for school districts. The Senate Bill 1 property tax relief bill would decrease a significant revenue source for school districts, which would also have to share property tax revenues with charter schools.

The combined effects of both changes would cost school districts roughly $744 million over the next three years.

The Union School Corporation — which would also be dissolved under the same tax reform bill — also announced on Friday that it would cancel school on Monday and offered buses for students, staff, and parents to ride to the statehouse.

And on Sunday evening, Indianapolis Public Schools announced an asynchronous learning day on Monday, after the district insisted that it would not shift classes, in part because of the hardship it could create for families.

“We recognize that many staff members will be attending a Day of Action at the Indiana Statehouse on Monday, April 14, and we support the advocacy of our staff members, along with the advocacy demonstrated by so many of our families,” the district said in a statement Sunday night. “Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to identify enough staff coverage to feel confident in our ability to safely operate schools on Monday, April 14, while staff members are out.”

Because IPS has already used up its allowed asynchronous days for the school year, the district will add an additional in-person day to its school calendar. The last day of school for students will be May 23, and the last day for staff will be May 27, the district said.

“If your student attends an IPS Innovation school, please check with your student’s individual school for details regarding this issue,” the district said in its statement.

In a memo to families on Friday, the Union School Corporation also said it would make up the day off with an e-learning day on April 18.

“While MCCSC acknowledges the disruption this may cause for families, the urgency to advocate for public school funding has never been greater,” the Monroe County school corporation, which is estimated to lose roughly $17 million by 2028 under the latest version of the bill, said in a statement. “Tens of millions of dollars are at stake with proposed legislation, including Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 518. If passed, this legislation could have devastating consequences for public education across Indiana.”

The district said that administrators, teachers, and staff would attend the day of action.

In Pike Township, the district said there were 184 planned teacher absences on Monday, but did not indicate whether those were due to the union’s day of action. (The district had just over 700 teachers in 2023-24).

The district said in a statement that after-school tutoring would be canceled, but that the e-learning day would not impact other after-school activities.

This story has been updated to include statements from IPS and the Union School Corporation.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana senators leave universal private school vouchers out of budget bill over cost concerns

2025-04-10T22:36:27+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Republican senators’ state budget bill would not change the state’s private school voucher program to make it universal, despite support for the idea from Gov. Mike Braun and other lawmakers.

The budget blueprint unveiled by senators Thursday maintains a 2% increase in K-12 tuition support as proposed by the House. And it would cut funding for virtual schools, a big departure from the blueprint proposed by House Republicans, who want to put virtual school funding on par with aid to in-person schools.

The Senate budget bill would also change funding levels from the House budget when it comes to career-focused scholarship accounts and for accounts focused on students with disabilities.

GOP senators indicated they aren’t opposed to universal vouchers but have worries about the cost. That could set up a high-profile debate among Republican state leaders. The House version of the budget includes universal vouchers. Braun campaigned on the idea last year and included them in his own budget blueprint in January. Several states, including Indiana, have dramatically expanded vouchers in the last few years.

The Senate’s proposed two-year state budget comes as districts brace for sweeping financial implications from separate legislation — Senate Bill 1 — that’s focused on property tax reform.

That property tax legislation, which was amended on Wednesday to include an even higher maximum tax credit of $300, is now estimated to cost school districts roughly $744 million over the next three years, according to the latest state legislative analysis.

Republicans are stressing that their plan provides relief for taxpayers. The Senate’s tax reform proposal provides homeowners tax deductions and credits, while allowing local governments to raise local income tax rates.

Speaker Todd Huston also said that property tax revenues have increased for schools year over year.

“They’ve had a few good years,” he said of schools before the House vote on Senate Bill 1, which the House passed Thursday. “We can ask them to do a little more with less to support our taxpayers.”

But Democrats expressed concern over both the state budget and the tax reform legislation, saying that the change shifts the burden to local governments to raise income taxes in order to account for the loss in revenue.

“It is a mirage,” Democratic Rep. Greg Porter told the media after the House advanced Senate Bill 1. “It hurts public education.”

Cost of universal vouchers concerns Indiana senators

Making vouchers available to all families regardless of income would cost the state an additional $89 million in 2026 and $95 million in 2027, according to previous estimates from the Legislative Services Agency.

The state spent about $439 million on vouchers in the 2023-24 school year.

“It’s not that we don’t want to do the vouchers,” GOP Sen. Ryan Mishler, chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, told reporters. “It’s just, how do we pay for it?”

The Senate budget also suggests funding virtual schools at 70% of basic K-12 tuition support, below their current level of 85%. That’s very different from the House Republican proposal, which calls for funding virtual schools at the same level as brick-and-mortar schools.

Virtual schools have come under increased scrutiny in recent years, particularly through a federal indictment of former virtual school leaders accused of falsely inflating enrollment numbers and defrauding the state of millions of dollars.

“We just felt there are still some issues in the virtual space,” Mishler told reporters.

There are a few other items in the Senate’s budget that differ from the House budget.

The Senate is proposing $9.5 million for Career Scholarship Accounts, which offer career-based training for students, for each year of the two-year budget. The House is proposing $15 million for each year. Current funding for the accounts is $10 million this year.
The Senate’s budget bill provides $10 million each year for Education Savings Accounts, which fund educational services for students with disabilities. That’s the same as current funding. The House’s budget proposes $15 million.

The Senate budget bill does match the House budget proposal when it comes to funding for school safety grants ($27.1 million annually) and gifted and talented programming ($15 million).

It also includes the $86 million annual amount for the Freedom and Opportunity in Education fund, which would give the Indiana Department of Education flexibility to fund initiatives such as student learning recovery grants.

Districts expect to collect less in property taxes

The Senate’s proposed property tax reform would cut many school districts’ revenue significantly, with Indianapolis Public Schools set to take a relatively big hit.

The latest fiscal note for Senate Bill 1 projects IPS would bring in roughly $5 million less than it would have otherwise received in 2026, followed by roughly $4 million less in 2027 and another roughly $5 million cut in 2028.

These estimates account for the property taxes IPS also must give charter schools starting in 2028.

Below are the projected revenue cuts for other Marion County districts under Senate Bill 1.

Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township: $538,440 in 2026, $369,450 in 2027, and $484,640 in 2028.
Franklin Township Community School Corporation: $1.5 million in 2026, $869,120 in 2027, and $1.4 million in 2028.
Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township: $1.5 million in 2026, $341,140 in 2027, and $853,430 in 2028.
Metropolitan School District of Perry Township: $3.1 million in 2026, $4 million in 2027, and $6.5 million in 2028.
Metropolitan School District of Pike Township: $850,430 in 2026, $58,200 in 2027, and $132,460 in 2028.
Metropolitan School District of Warren Township: $1.8 million in 2026, $1.9 million in 2027, and $2.8 million in 2028.
Metropolitan School District of Washington Township: $3 million in 2026, $4.1 million in 2027, and $6.1 million in 2028.
Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township: $2.3 million in 2026, $3.3 million in 2027, and $5.9 million in 2028.
Beech Grove City School Corporation: $475,100 in 2026, $711,230 in 2027, and $1.3 million in 2028.
Speedway City School Corporation: $288,510 in 2026, $433,280 in 2027, and $584,300 in 2028.

The legislative session ends on April 29.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana plans to comply with Trump push to ban DEI from schools

2025-04-09T21:43:13+00:00

The Indiana Department of Education will comply with a federal order to remove diversity, equity, and inclusion from schools, saying it will collect signed forms from schools and districts saying they will abide by the Trump administration directive.

The department “fully intends to sign the certification,” said department spokesperson Courtney Crown in a Wednesday email to Chalkbeat.

Indiana’s move comes in response to the U.S. Department of Education April 3 announcement that states will have to certify schools are in compliance with the administration’s controversial interpretations of civil rights law. States that don’t agree to this certification will not receive federal funding, the department said.

Federal funding represents about 10% of all K-12 funding nationwide but makes up a larger share of local budgets in high-poverty districts.

By certifying that their schools do not use or promote DEI, state education officials would be promising that all of their school districts are in compliance. They would also be acknowledging that they could be liable for fraud under the False Claims Act if they request federal funds and are later found to be in violation of the law.

Trump has moved aggressively to root out DEI from the federal government and other institutions. In January, he signed an executive order seeking to withhold federal funding from schools that he said were promoting “discriminatory equity ideology.” The president and his allies say DEI amounts to unlawful and harmful discrimination, but critics allege Trump’s attacks unfairly malign diversity programs that help students.

Initially, federal officials gave state education departments 10 days to certify, but the Trump Education Department has extended that deadline to April 24. A national teachers union is asking the courts to block enforcement of the federal department’s directive.

Crown noted that signing the certification in response to the federal directive aligns with Gov. Mike Braun’s Jan. 14 executive order, in which he replaced “DEI in government with MEI.” The latter indicates merit, excellence, and innovation.

Both the federal education department and Braun say their respective directives aim to enforce compliance with Title VI, a provision of federal civil rights law that bars discrimination on the basis of race or shared ancestry, and the June 2023 Supreme Court of the U.S. ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

The court ruled that race-conscious admissions were unconstitutional, however universities could consider an applicant’s discussion of how race impacted their life. The Trump administration however, interprets the ruling to mean many common diversity practices represent illegal discrimination. As a result, programs to mentor teachers of color or efforts to reduce racial disparities in school discipline could face increased scrutiny.

And Braun’s executive order says that “state funds, property, or resources” can’t be used to support DEI positions, departments or activities if they grant preferential treatment based on “race, color, ethnicity, or national origin.” The state also won’t support requiring training and programming that does the same, and there can be no mandates to disclose pronouns.

The order also closed the state’s Office of Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity.

Per the order, executive state agencies will review DEI positions, departments, activities, procedures and programs to make sure they are in compliance with the Supreme Court Decision by April 30, with a report to the governor and legislative council due July 1.

At the same time, a Senate bill aiming to address “unlawful discrimination” is moving through the Indiana Statehouse.

The first version of the bill was more sweeping and aimed to close DEI programs, but a version that advanced out of committee on Monday now focuses on preventing discrimination by not allowing actions, such as enrollment and hiring, based on someone’s personal characteristics. It also includes civil penalties for violations.

Lawmakers said the bill was an effort to codify executive orders from Trump and Braun, as well as the Supreme Court decision on admissions.

The bill now goes to the Indiana House. Bills must pass out of the opposite chamber by April 15, and lawmakers must adjourn the legislative session by April 29.

Chalkbeat national editor Erica Meltzer contributed reporting.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

New Indiana House tax reform plan adds in districts sharing some property tax revenue with charters

2025-04-04T23:04:37+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The newest Indiana House Republicans plan for property tax reform promises to save homeowners $1.1 billion in property taxes — but it’s not yet clear who will benefit or how this iteration will affect schools.

Additionally, lawmakers said Friday that a plan to require Indiana school districts to share some property tax funding with charter schools in Senate Bill 518 would be added to the larger property tax bill, Senate Bill 1.

Republican House Speaker Todd Huston and Republican Ways and Means Chair Jeff Thompson unveiled Friday their version of SB 1, which will be heard and voted on Monday morning in the ways and means committee. It includes changes to property tax deductions and credits, as well as other changes aimed at reform, they said.

Under their plan, Huston and Thompson said, more than half of all Hoosiers would pay less property tax in 2026 than 2025. But they did not provide details of which homeowners would benefit or how homeowners could determine if they would pay less.

It’s also not immediately clear what effect this version of SB 1 would have on Indiana school districts, which rely on property taxes to supplement state funding. The first version of property tax reform from Gov. Mike Braun would have cost schools and other local government entities around $1.2 billion in 2026 and up to $1.6 billion in 2028. The plan passed by Senate lawmakers in February — and panned by Braun — would have reduced this hit to around $300 million in 2026 and $800 million in 2028.

This effect would likely be multiplied if districts were required to share the tax revenue they receive for operations, debt service, and capital projects with charter schools, as well as referendums, as outlined by SB 518. Huston said Friday that the House version of SB 518 would remove the sharing of debt and capital fund levies, but that otherwise the idea fit well with House Republicans’ priorities.

Lawmakers said more information would be available after the House Ways and Means Committee Monday.

As in previous versions, the House amendment to SB 1 would require that property tax referendums be held only during general elections. It would also create a Property Tax Transparency Portal to allow taxpayers to compare their bill to proposed rate changes.

Huston placed the onus of ballooning property tax bills on local governments raising revenue to cover debt. Reforms will allow homeowners to understand their bill, rather than solve an “algebraic equation,” he said.

“I think it’ll be more transparent to the residents and their communities about what their taxes are, and if they’re going to raise them, what the cost will be,” Huston said.

In a statement, Rep. Greg Porter, the ranking Democrat on the ways and means committee, said the newest draft of the plan was “far from a solution.”

“Our schools will lose money, especially with Senate Bill 518 rolled into the plan diverting property tax dollars to charter schools so the state can pay even less,” the statement said. “This plan encourages local governments to raise their local income tax rate, so you’ll get more money in your right pocket but have to pay more out of your left.”

Bills must pass out of committee by April 10. The legislative session must conclude by April 29.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Partisan school board elections bill moves closer to Indiana governor’s desk

2025-03-31T22:10:17+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A bill to give Indiana school board candidates the option to run as Republicans or Democrats has passed a key vote in the House and could soon head to the governor’s desk.

But the changes that House lawmakers made to Senate Bill 287 may first require a stop in a conference committee, where legislators from both chambers would hash out a final version.

The bill passed by the House on Monday gives school board candidates the option to state a party affiliation, identify as independent, or remain nonpartisan in general elections. It creates mechanisms for county parties to challenge an affiliation, and provides that a straight ticket vote does not apply to school board offices. It also provides raises to school board members.

The bill passed by the House doesn’t require a primary election for school board candidates. However, in the version passed by the Senate, the bill would have required school board candidates to go through the same primary process as other political candidates.

The bill’s sponsor in the House, GOP Rep. J.D. Prescott, said that disclosing party affiliation would drive up voter turnout in school board elections and help voters choose a candidate that aligns with their values.

“Politics are already in our schools, whether we like it or not, influencing everything from how schools handled COVID-19 to budgets, tax rates, debt, curriculum choices and more,” he said. “Just because our elections are nonpartisan, certainly doesn’t mean the candidates and board members are.”

A version of this proposal has been repeatedly brought forward by Indiana legislators since school boards became a hotbed of conflict during the pandemic over issues like masking and school closings. It previously stalled due to concerns over the effect it could have on school boards. Board members’ primary responsibilities are approving a school budget and hiring a superintendent.

Most public testimony on the proposal this year and in years past has been in opposition.

Democratic lawmakers, too, have rejected the idea. Among several arguments they made on Monday, Democrats said the bill actually disincentivizes voters from learning more about their school board candidates, and possibly creates an opportunity for candidates to disingenuously state a party affiliation for political advantage.

“[Voters] don’t care if it’s a Democrat or Republican, they just want to make sure our kids’ needs are being served,” said Rep. Cherrish Pryor, a Democrat who spoke in opposition to the bill.

Rep. Tonya Pfaff, a Democrat, also raised concerns about conflicts with the Hatch Act, which bars certain government employees from partisan political activities.

And Democratic Rep. Chuck Moseley, a former member of the Portage Township School Board, rejected the argument that politics on school boards is a fact of life.

“We kept politics out of that for one specific reason, because we were representing not just the taxpayers of that school corporation, we were also representing the kids that were in that school,” he said. “We had a responsibility to the parents of those kids that we wouldn’t interject our political thoughts and ideology into school board decisions.”

But some GOP lawmakers explicitly supported the possibility that the bill could help conservative candidates.

Rep. Hunter Smith said the educational landscape has been “growing increasingly and covertly more political for decades,” to the point that district curriculum directors could not find curriculum “void of slanted cultural endorsements and ideologies.”

“I believe this measure will promote leadership more in line with the values of Indiana’s over 2 million parents who entrust their children to our schools every week,” Smith said.

Under the bill, in order to state a party affiliation, a school board candidate must have voted in that party’s two most recent primary elections, or obtain written certification from the county party chairman that they are a member of the party. A candidate’s affiliation could be challenged if they don’t take one of these steps.

The bill also raises pay for school board members from $2,000 as in current law, to an amount not more than 10% of the lowest starting salary of a teacher in that school district.

It would take effect this July; however, there are no school board elections in Indiana in 2025.

The bill passed the House 54-40, with several Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. The Senate will vote on accepting or rejecting the changes made in the House.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Proposals to drop social-emotional learning, allow schools to charge some fees advance in Indiana

2025-03-26T22:27:15+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana teachers will no longer be required to train in social-emotional learning, trauma-informed care, or cultural competency if an amendment passed in committee Wednesday becomes law. And another amendment would mean some fees for students and families could return.

The amendments were added the week after the Senate Education and Career Development Committee heard public testimony on House Bill 1002, a 135-page proposal primarily aimed at removing some requirements in Indiana education code.

One amendment drops requirements that all Indiana teachers must train in practices like social-emotional learning and trauma-informed care — defined as support for students who have experienced trauma that may interfere with academics — as well as cultural competency and restorative justice.

The practices have long come under fire from conservative groups that say they inappropriately push liberal ideology that is at odds with what children learn at home. The fight seems to have gained momentum after the Trump administration issued new federal guidance promising to root out indoctrination in schools.

But educators and advocates for the practices say they have a place in the classroom. They say social-emotional learning helps students learn to manage stress. And districts like Indianapolis Public Schools have turned to restorative justice practices to de-escalate student conflicts and reduce disproportionate rates of discipline.

The amendment also removes evaluating “social, emotional, and behavioral functioning” from the defined responsibilities of a school psychologist.

The amendment further says school improvement plans would no longer have to incorporate “culturally appropriate strategies for increasing education opportunities” for student groups at the school, including different racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. The change speaks to new federal guidance, including a Feb. 14 Dear Colleague letter from the U.S. Department of Education, that such consideration of race in educational settings is unlawful.

Republican Sen. Gary Byrne, who authored the amendment, said social-emotional learning and trauma-informed care “minimize the focus on core academics,” and add to the demands on teachers “who already claim to be overworked and underpaid.”

He said students, too, report higher rates of sadness or hopelessness than before these practices were common.

“Teachers should focus on academic rigor, math, science, reading, and writing, technical skills, instead of this emotional regulation, empathy, and etcetera,” Byrne said. “Teachers are not therapists, nor should they be treated as such. Licensed mental health professionals are better equipped to handle the social-emotional aspects of a student’s life.”

The amendment passed on party lines over opposition from Democratic lawmakers. Although the education committee typically hears testimony from the public the week before they amend and vote on bills, there was no public testimony Wednesday on these amendments.

Democratic Sen. Andrea Hunley, a former teacher and principal, said the changes made don’t prohibit teachers from training in these practices and implementing them on their own.

“Just because we strike this out of the bill and say it’s no longer the policy of the state of Indiana doesn’t mean it’s not a best practice,” Hunley said.

What can Indiana schools charge fees for?

The school fees amendment gives schools more authority to charge for materials that aren’t textbooks or laptops — somewhat of a departure from the legislature’s 2023 move to abolish textbook and curriculum fees for families.

Education committee Chair Sen. Jeff Raatz and other Republican lawmakers said that law didn’t offer enough specificity about what schools could charge fees for, leaving a gray area regarding things like uniforms and field trip fees.

Curriculum is defined in state code as “systematically organized material designed to provide a specific level of instruction in a subject matter category, including books, hardware that will be consumed, accessed, or used by a single student during a semester or school year, or digital content.”

Rogers’ amendment says schools can charge a “reasonable fee” for materials that don’t fall under this category.

But Democratic lawmakers said the language needed more clarity — and perhaps a list of examples of what’s acceptable.

Districts have said the $160 million appropriated in the last state budget to provide curriculum materials to all public and some private school students was not nearly enough, leaving them to cover the difference from their general budgets.

But education leaders, including Secretary of Education Katie Jenner, have said that some districts have fallen well below their state allocation for curricular materials.

This year’s budget proposal rolls the curriculum fund into the base tuition support that schools receive.

House Bill 1002 will be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee before it moves to the full Senate.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Lawmakers revive plan that could lead to IPS sharing buildings and buses with charter schools

2025-03-26T20:22:02+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers have revived a proposal that could lead to Indianapolis Public Schools sharing its school buildings and transportation systems with local charter schools.

The plan creates a nine-member Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA) made up of district, charter, and city leaders who would be charged with creating a school facility and transportation plan for the city.

The recommendations made by the body would not be binding. But they could be far-reaching, as members would be tasked with developing strategies related to facility use and transportation, including any “structural changes necessary … for a collaborative system of schools that can serve all students within the geographic boundaries of the school city fairly,” the amendment says.

Only IPS would be required to participate in such a group. Other districts could opt into pilot programs that would create independent boards to oversee school facilities and transportation systems, including by authorizing property tax referendums.

The proposal has been significantly pared down since the original version, House Bill 1501, did not move through the chamber before a mandatory deadline.

Author Rep. Bob Behning said last week he would add the language to another bill, and did so with an amendment on Wednesday to Senate Bill 373, a broad education matters bill.

The ILEA would begin meeting in July 2025 and submit its recommendations to lawmakers and the state education secretary by December 2025 under the bill.

The plan is the latest version of a push by Indiana lawmakers this year to exert control over Indianapolis schools and direct more resources to the city’s charter schools. In addition to HB 1501, lawmakers are also moving to require the district to share more local revenue with charter schools. On the extreme end, House Bill 1136 would have dissolved the district completely and replaced it with charter schools, but it didn’t advance this session.

The moves have drawn strong condemnation from IPS leaders and triggered public infighting between charter advocacy groups and those critical of their work.

During Wednesday testimony on the amended Senate bill, IPS board member Allissa Impink acknowledged the changes to Behning’s original proposal that would reduce the bill’s mandates.

The original version would have required any district where more than 50% of students were enrolled in schools not operated by the district — such as charter schools — to participate in boards that would oversee their facilities and transportation. The districts would have been required to eventually turn over control of their facilities and transportation to the newly-created boards, which would also have the ability to pass property tax referendums.

In addition to IPS, this included Gary Community School Corporation, Union School Corporation, Tri-Township Consolidated School Corporation, and Cannelton City Schools.

Under the amended senate bill, school districts other than IPS could opt in to participate in these boards. But like the original proposal, the new boards would have the power to approve or deny property tax referendums beginning in 2026. Beginning in 2028, the boards would take control of participating school boards’ facilities and could impose property tax levies.

Impink said the amendment needed further changes to ensure that the ILEA would not be a “quasi-government entity,” and that its authority would be advisory only.

“Please consider centering local leadership, respecting our democratic governance and making a commitment to a process that invites — not overrides — our public input,” Impink said.

Behning said he would work with Impink on some of her recommendations.

In a statement, IPS said the district first proposed the idea of the ILEA to act as an advisory board that would report to the IPS Board of School Commissioners “for the purpose of solving educational complexities that exist within the IPS boundary.”

The district said the current proposal is “more heavy-handed bureaucratic oversight” that would reduce local decision making around all students’ “access to good schools, transportation and facilities.”

Critics of the plan said the newest proposal still represented a state overreach into local authority.

They blasted lawmakers for reviving the proposal as an amendment to an unrelated education bill, while IPS is on spring break. Others pointed out that only IPS had been singled out for a mandatory advisory group.

“You can’t name a school district in the entire state that offers more school choice than IPS already does,” said Adrea McCloud, an IPS teacher. “This level of school choice and options is proof that our democratically elected school board is fully competent and able to do the job we elected them to do.”

Portions of Behning’s plan to create voluntary consolidated transportation boards received support from charter and private school choice advocates and parents. They said a lack of transportation prevented students from attending the schools of their choice.

Christina Cockrell, a charter school teacher, told lawmakers she purchased a van to provide school transportation. She said one of her students took two buses and 90 minutes to get to school on time.

Indianapolis school choice advocates from The Mind Trust and Stand for Children also called for IPS and charter schools to collaborate through the proposed ILEA.

Nationwide, enrollment declines are leaving some districts with an “overabundance of school buildings and structural financial challenges,” said Katie Beth Mueller, senior director of policy at The Mind Trust.

“The educational landscape has changed, and our policies must adapt to support the needs of students and families,” she said.

Lawmakers did not vote on SB 373, although they could hear it again in the Senate education committee as early as next week.

Correction: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of IPS board member Allissa Impink’s name.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana partisan school boards bill moves forward with changes. What happens next?

2025-03-12T20:54:30+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers want to give school board candidates the option to declare their political party on the ballot, ending the traditionally nonpartisan designation of these seats.

But the latest version of the controversial proposal moving through the Statehouse stops short of mandating that school board candidates must be nominated by political parties and go through the primary process like other offices. Those provisions around nominations and primary elections were contained in Senate Bill 287, which narrowly passed the Senate in February and headed to the House for consideration.

On Wednesday, the House Elections Committee removed those provisions and instead inserted the language of its own House Bill 1230, which died in the House earlier this session. The revised Senate Bill 287 now would instead give candidates the option to declare a party, run as an independent candidate, or run as a nonpartisan candidate, with procedures for political parties to challenge these affiliations.

Indiana lawmakers have tried in the past to pass bills on partisan school boards.

Supporters of these measures, including SB 287 author state Sen. Gary Byrne, say a party designation provides voters more information about who they’re voting for.

“It would be great if citizens researched their political candidates. But that simply isn’t reality,” said Juanita Albright, president of the Hamilton Southeastern School Board, in March 5 testimony to lawmakers.

Albright, a doctor, who said she was speaking only in a personal capacity, recounted meeting voters during her campaign who did not know who the school board candidates were or what they stood for.

“If I cannot get my patients to eat healthy and exercise on a regular basis, they’re probably not going to research their political candidates,” she said.

But Senate Bill 287 and other past proposals have faced intense opposition from education officials, teachers, and others who say they unnecessarily inject partisan politics into offices whose primary responsibility is to hire a superintendent and approve a school district budget.

“We’ve never sat around as a table and asked what our partisan political affiliation is. We don’t do that — we focus on kids,” said Heather Reichenbach, board president of Warsaw Community Schools during testimony. “Across Indiana, the overwhelming majority of school boards are successful because they are apolitical.”

Senate Bill 287 now heads to the House for a vote. If the bill passes the House, its significant changes likely mean it will head to a conference committee where House and Senate lawmakers will attempt to agree on a final version.

The House Elections Committee also discussed on Wednesday a bill that would remove student identification cards issued by state colleges and universities from the list of documents that can be used to confirm a voter’s identity at the voting booth. Proponents said the move would mean that college students have to follow the same procedure as any other voter in Indiana.

But the committee heard testimony from several college students who said the move would effectively disenfranchise their peers who live in Indiana the majority of the year, but don’t have driver’s licenses or other forms of state-issued identification.

This proposal, Senate Bill 10, will likely return for a vote next week.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Scholarships for career-driven Indiana teens are growing and gaining fans, but lack transparency

2025-03-11T19:17:59+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

This story is a partnership between Chalkbeat Indiana and journalists at the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism at Indiana University.

Three times a week, Milan High School senior Katherine Prifogle drives across the Indiana-Ohio border to Whitewater Aviation, trading her high school classroom for a cockpit.

The Indiana Career Scholarship Account, known as CSA, funds her trips to Ohio for aviation lessons. Prifogle hopes to eventually earn her pilot’s license.

The state-funded program started in 2023 to supplement career and technical education for Indiana sophomores, juniors, and seniors in public or private schools. For small schools like Milan High School, where funding is limited and opportunities for early career experience are rare, the CSA program fills a gap and enables students like Prifogle to gain creditable work experience based on individual students’ desires and interests.

“Our school is in a low-income area, so it’s an opportunity that most of the students wouldn’t be able to get otherwise,” said Zarah Hileman, a counselor at Milan High School.

The scholarship program is growing in more ways than one. Participation soared from around 200 students in the 2023-24 school year to 1,900 students this year, and the program is at full capacity. The Indiana General Assembly is considering boosting its funding from $10 million to $15 million in the next state budget. And new state graduation requirements could soon lead more students to using the program, and lawmakers are also moving toward making private school vouchers like the CSAs available to all Indiana families regardless of income.

But at the same time, the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism in collaboration with Chalkbeat found a glaring lack of transparency regarding how the CSA money is allocated and which employers get it.

Three state agencies jointly administer the Career Scholarship Accounts: the Department of Education, the Commission for Higher Education, and the Indiana State Treasurer’s Office. All three denied records requests for invoices related to spending and total distribution to each company receiving the funds in 2023 and 2024.

Startup Moxie students tour businesses, hear from business leaders, and prepare for careers through professional headshots and practicing their professionalism.

A representative from the Treasurer’s Office said the office was “unable to publish information requested externally.” The office also said: “Under state law, information on student funding allocations and spending is provided to the Indiana Department of Education and the Commission for Higher Education.”

Qualified expenses for CSAs, which lawmakers established in 2023, include everything from clothing and gas to business materials and technology, according to the state. But the lack of public records means it’s difficult to track what’s paid for and the price tag for various items.

The state’s CSA website lists 54 companies, 10 public schools, four private schools, and two charter schools as program participants. The Arnolt Center and Chalkbeat contacted all the listed participants. Only 10 of them responded, and five of those said they did not know why they were listed on the CSA website as a participating school or employer.

One such participant is Gaylor Electric, whose CEO is former GOP Rep. Chuck Goodrich, author of the CSA law. Gaylor is listed as a CSA partner. But Jeff Bryant, director of Gaylor University — Gaylor Electric’s training arm — said in an email that the company has not received or requested CSA funds, although it has hired students who have participated in the program.

Goodrich also did not respond to requests for comment about the program’s transparency and Gaylor’s role.

Students, businesses see benefits from Career Scholarship Accounts

Students can use the Career Scholarship Accounts to work on their broader business skills, not just to learn a particular trade or industry.

For example, some schools are using the CSA program to encourage students to join other programs like Startup Moxie, an entrepreneurship program located in Elkhart County that lets students use the CSA money on tools and materials.

Currently, 24 students are using Startup Moxie to tour local business facilities, get to know the owners, and develop their networking skills.

“I’ve seen students just year after year, student after student, that come into the program not extremely confident or not sure what they want to do after high school,” Startup Moxie Director Kris Weimer said. “It’s important for students to have this opportunity to help set them up for whatever’s next in their life.”

Concord High School has a list of career and technical education programs for their students to take on campus. However, Concord High School Principal Seth Mulnar said those courses cannot replicate networking opportunities with local business leaders or the diverse career-focused experiences that CSA programs like Startup Moxie can.

“I like the aspect of Startup Moxie that we are given an environment that fosters us to explore the entrepreneurship side of things and goes against the grain of traditional school,” said Max Malloy, a senior at Elkhart High School in the Startup Moxie entrepreneurship program. “It gives us a different path if we want to go out in our community and do something that is worthwhile.”

For companies, the CSA program is an opportunity to introduce a new generation of workers to the trades.

James Robertson, the owner of Armor Air, which offers HVAC, plumbing and air conditioning services, got set up with the Department of Education and partnered with Cardinal Ritter High School to teach students how to become HVAC technicians.

“We struggle to find people in the trades anymore,” he said.

While it’s the first year Armor Air has participated, Robertson said that some students are showing significant interest in the industry, enrolling in classes and asking for job interviews.

Cardinal Ritter High School Vice Principal Erik Longenecker said he had spent all of the 2022-2023 school year looking to fund career training programs for the juniors and seniors. When he found out about the CSA program, he encouraged students to apply for the 2024–2025 . Ultimately, the school received funding for 94 students.

In addition to the HVAC program, Cardinal Ritter offers CNA and cybersecurity training using CSA funding.

While there’s positive feedback about the scholarships, school administrators have acknowledged room for improvement.

The only criticism Longenecker has for the CSA program is their disbursement of funds throughout the year. While the program provides up to $5,000 annually, it is disbursed quarterly.

“It’s unique and makes it challenging when trying to pay for things upfront,” Longenecker said.

A student can roll over a maximum of $1,000 in funds into the next school year, and unused funds for an account are returned to the state once a student in the CSA program graduates high school.

Rather than paying students the full amount directly, scholarship funds are administered by the program directors to ensure that students’ needs are met. When students request funding to pay for specific needs, money can be taken from the account to cover the costs, according to Longenecker.

Concord High School Associate Principal Kendra Divine stressed that the program’s clear goal is to help students develop skills, and isn’t just a chance for teenagers to get “a wad of cash and then they go buy Skittles or something.”

“It’s more, this is the purpose of it, here’s what you’re going to use it for, and we are going to assist you while you use it. That’s how it works,” Divine said. “It’s not like you can do this and be $5,000 richer.”

But the limits on how the CSA money can be spent doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to learn notable details about how the program works.

Whitewater Aviation in Ohio, where Prifogle takes her flying lessons, sends a bill for them to Milan High School, which then works with the CSA program to pay the bill.

To facilitate this process, there is a third-party administrator of the program, ClassWallet. The State Treasurer’s Office sends the company quarterly payments to cover its expenses.

ClassWallet denied multiple requests for interviews about how the program functions. Several states have given ClassWallet contracts to help manage education choice programs, including Alabama, Arkansas, and North Carolina. The company has also expressed an interest in doing business with Tennessee to help oversee its recent school choice expansion.

New graduation requirements could boost prominence of CSAs

The Indiana Department of Education says the CSA program is designed to work in conjunction with — and not replace — the state’s dedicated career and technical education funding, which nearly 268,900 students used in the 2023-2024 school year.

The typical career and technical education approach backed by state funding “is providing that education in a school-like lab environment, where the CSA is allowing the education to take place at the place of business,” Jesse Webb, director of career and technical education for Fort Wayne Community Schools, said.

While CSA dollars can be used to attract students, schools cannot stack CSA dollars on top of the state’s grant funding for career and technical education, because schools can’t accept both.

The Indiana General Assembly is considering boosting Career Scholarships Account funding from $10 million to $15 million in the next state budget.

Mike Schimpf, superintendent of North Central Parke Community School Corporation, applied for his district to use CSA funding for students to enroll in a commercial driver’s license program, which is currently being funded through state career and technical education dollars.

Students who rely on career and technical education funding often take several courses on their graduation track. That means the funding those students can use from CSA can ultimately be less than the career and technical education funding available to them, Schimpf said.

Nevertheless, the Indiana General Assembly’s draft two-year budget that would increase the CSA’s funding to $15 million isn’t the only state policy change that could increase the scholarships’ prominence.

In December, the State Board of Education approved new graduation rules that allow students to earn seals from one of three “pathways” to enrollment in college, careers, or enlistment in the military.

Students can earn an Honors Employment seal on their diploma through 150 hours of work, which can now include a work opportunity paid for through CSAs.

Schools must implement the changes for diploma requirements by the 2028-29 school year. However, schools can choose to adopt the new graduation rules as soon as next school year, which could accelerate student interest in the CSAs and lead to increased state funding for them.

During the debate about revising Indiana’s graduation requirements, officials initially floated a plan to require more students to gain work experience in order to graduate. They backed off that plan in the final rules approved by the state board. State policymakers see CSAs as a means to help high school students get financial support so they can get jobs after graduating, similar to how financial aid helps college students pay for higher education.

“There is not a mechanism for high school students to receive financial aid for college classes, so the CSAs have been a game-changer,” said state Rep. Wendy McNamara, a Republican and director of Early College High School in Evansville.

Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Chuck Goodrich is a former Indiana House Representative and correct the location of the school where Rep. Wendy McNamara is a leader.

Jon Eckert, Charlie Herman, Char Jones, Mitchell Lierman, Mackenzie Lionberger, Eva Remijan-Toba, Maddie Slepski and Jasmine Wright are reporters from the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism at Indiana University.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Virtual school funding in Indiana could spike. But by how much?

2025-03-10T19:20:53+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers could soon approve a big spending hike on students who attend virtual schools, giving them the same base funding as students who attend in-person classes.

This would be a change after lawmakers slashed funding in 2019 for virtual schools to 85% of the per-student amount that in-person schools receive, citing concerns about their low performance.

House Republicans have recently pushed to equalize these two funding levels. House Speaker Todd Huston’s office said in a Friday statement that caucus members “believe parents and families should have the freedom and flexibility to educate their children in the way that works best for them.”

As a result, the two-year budget approved by House lawmakers and now moving through the Senate would increase per-student base funding for some virtual public schools by as much as 50%, according to projections. Meanwhile, the budget would provide districts that primarily educate students in person increases in base funding that are much smaller.

The new funding system would reward virtual schooling, which has a checkered track record in the state, and by extension the for-profit companies that have partnered with districts to provide it.

Two virtual charter schools in Indiana are facing an ongoing federal criminal case as well as a civil suit brought by the state’s attorney general. Another virtual program landed in hot water for offering what state lawmakers described as enrollment incentives in violation of state law.

At the same time that they are moving closer to this huge funding boost for virtual students, lawmakers also appear to have drastically undercounted the number of students from low-income backgrounds who attend virtual schools. As a result, the extra funding these schools receive to educate these students has dropped by as much as 100%.

Wade Coggeshall, a spokesperson for Indiana House Republicans, attributed this to “some inconsistencies in this data” that budget analysts are working with the Indiana Department of Education to identify.

It’s not clear how many schools the data “inconsistencies” affect, or what adjustments lawmakers might make as a result.

If legislators don’t revisit this issue, they could be cutting money earmarked to help districts educate these particular students, known as “complexity funding.”

But if lawmakers do revise this specific student count upwards, then state funding for virtual students could rise still further. It would also mean that districts who send students to virtual school could get a significant funding bump, which others that only provide in-person learning would miss out.

One trend that this budget plan doesn’t address: Indiana school districts’ complexity funding — which pays for additional teaching and counseling positions — has been declining for years due to what critics describe as a flawed methodology for counting children who live in poverty.

Indiana calculates this funding for every school based on the number of students who are in foster care or receive benefits through two federal programs: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. But districts say this method adds barriers for families, and misses students who would qualify under another metric like the National School Lunch Program.

“When you put the onus on individuals, it’s a big hindrance,” said Rep. Greg Porter, a Democrat and the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee

Statewide, the draft budget passed by the House would cut complexity funding by $50 million from 2025 to 2026, from around $710 million to $660 million, according to the bill’s fiscal note compiled by the Legislative Services Agency. In the last budget, this funding remained basically flat year over year.

Base funding grows for virtual schools despite complexity issue

Even without a future adjustment in complexity funding, base funding for virtual schools is poised to grow if virtual students are funded at 100% of the per-pupil amount.

In some cases, much of this funding will go to private, for-profit online education companies that have contracted with public Indiana school districts to run virtual schools. While the details of these partnerships are not readily available, typically the district keeps a small portion of state funding and pays the rest to a company to operate a virtual school.

The programs are typically free to students and open to enrollment outside the school district’s boundaries.

Because these students are public students, they deserve “the same resources and opportunities, regardless of their location or mode of instruction,” said Brooke Gabbert, senior director of communications for Stride, a for-profit online education company previously known as K12 that operates six virtual programs in two districts and one charter school in Indiana.

“We believe all public school students should be funded equitably,” Gabbert said in a Friday statement. “Indiana’s school funding policies should not tell thousands of families that their children are worth only 85% of what other public school students are worth.”

The Clarksville School Corporation represents how the proposed budget could be a boon for virtual school funding.

The budget projections estimate Clarksville schools will enroll 1,500 brick-and-mortar students and around 6,700 virtual students by 2026. Its base funding is projected to grow by 52% to around $57 million in 2026, but its complexity funding would decline by 76% to just $1.6 million.

District spokesperson Brian Shaw said the administration is aware of the decline but unsure of the reason, and has asked the Indiana Department of Education for an explanation.

Clarksville contracts with Stride to provide virtual schooling. Shaw said the district shares 94% of its virtual school program revenue with Stride, but did not give a dollar figure for the contract. Stride is responsible for hiring and paying teachers.

The school’s 2021 financial report, the most recent available, indicates the school paid $12 million in 2021 for the education of around 2,300 virtual students.

The superintendent of Clarksville schools is Tina Bennett, the wife of Tony Bennett, the former Indiana schools superintendent who is now president of schools at Stride. In 2013, Bennett resigned as Florida’s top K-12 official in connection with questions about how he handled an Indiana charter school’s rating on the state’s accountability system.

In a statement, Shaw said: “Dr. Tina Bennett filed all necessary public disclosures for potential conflict of interest since Clarksville Schools engaged in the contractual relationship with Stride, and the Clarksville Community Schools Board of School Trustees has accepted that disclosure in a public meeting each year.”

During the 2023 budget session — the last time Indiana lawmakers attempted to raise funding for virtual students — Indiana Capital Chronicle reported that Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston consulted for Stride. At the time, Huston said at the time that he stayed out of the discussions on funding for virtual charter schools, but that his caucus wanted to see equal funding for students.

Huston also previously served as Tony Bennett’s chief of staff when he was Indiana’s state superintendent.

Gabbert said in her Friday statement that Huston ended his consulting relationship with the company on March 1. (Huston’s office said the end date was Feb. 28.)

Both Huston’s office and Gabbert said Huston has not performed work on Stride’s behalf in Indiana.

Gabbert also said that Tony Bennett would retire from the company on March 21.

Like Clarksville, the Union School Corporation contracts with Stride.

The district is projected to enroll just 224 brick-and-mortar students but 8,000 virtual students. Union schools’ base funding would increase by 25% to around $58 million in 2026, according to budget projections. It’s not clear how much of those dollars will go to Stride. The district paid $41 million to the company in 2021 for the education of around 6,000 students, according to its 2022 financial report.

But the same budget estimates show that Union schools’ complexity funding would fall from $10.5 million this year to $1.2 million in 2025, a decline of 82%.

Representatives for the district did not return a request for comment.

Representatives for Indiana Connections Academy and Indiana Connections Career Academy referred a request for comment to House Republicans. The virtual charter schools are operated by the for-profit company Pearson and this year enroll 5,400 and 900 students, respectively, according to budget projections.

Indiana Connections Academy would receive an increase in base funding of around 28% to $37.8 million in 2026. Yet it would lose all but 0.2% of its $4 million in complexity funding.

Its sister school would get a 34% foundation amount increase to $7 million in 2026 but would lose all of its complexity funding, which is currently $521,000.

Complexity funding for districts is complicated — and declining

Porter, the Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee said the potential data issues with complexity funding don’t affect funding for Indiana’s brick-and-mortar public schools, although he did not explain why.

But irrespective of those issues, some of Indiana’s largest public school districts are also projected to lose the complexity funding for students from low-income backgrounds in the next two-year budget, due to the way the state counts students who qualify.

This has been an ongoing trend, according to studies by groups like the Indiana Urban Schools Association. Ahead of the last budget session, Fort Wayne schools officials told lawmakers in 2022 that around 67% of students qualified for the subsidized meals, while just 29% were identified under the method based on food assistance and foster care.

This steady decline in funding is linked to a decline in the number of students in qualifying programs. But the actual numbers of these students is not readily available. House Republicans said that information rests with the state education department, which did not reply to a request for the number of students included in the complexity count this year or in past years.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to hear the state budget bill in its March 11 meeting.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org

Future of property tax revenue for IPS and charter schools fuels intense debate

2025-02-28T04:09:13+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Discussion of legislation that would require Indianapolis Public Schools to share property tax revenue with charter schools dominated the roughly two hours of public comment at the Indianapolis Public Schools board meeting on Thursday.

The debate over Senate Bill 518, which the state Senate has passed, underscores the tensions between IPS and the charter school community. House lawmakers have also adopted a budget proposal to cut property taxes, which would also affect district revenue.

Nearly 100 people signed up to speak. Speakers advocated for and against the bill, as well as for and against charter schools. However, the loudest applause came for those speaking against the bill and urging the board to take a stronger stance against it.

Ahead of public comment, board members Allissa Impink and Gayle Cosby, said they oppose Senate Bill 518 and that it is part of a larger effort to defund public schools by making traditional public schools and charter schools compete for the same funding.

Impink said the statehouse can fully fund schools and that the community must call on lawmakers to do so.

Cosby said the bill “has all of us collectively sinking in the same leaky boat.”

Public speakers discuss funding levels, school resources

It’s unclear how much revenue IPS would lose under the proposed Senate bill. The district would need to share certain revenue streams, such as any future voter-approved referendums, as early as 2026. But perhaps the largest chunk of funding would come from the district’s operating revenues, which the district would have to share beginning in 2028.

Several speakers made comments similar to those from Cosby and Impink.

Parent Simona Santabarbara said she was against the bill, but not against charter school families. She said that the children are watching how this moment is handled.

“The stakes are too high for us to not fight together,” Santabarbara said.

However, the majority of speakers either spoke for or against the bill or charter schools in general.

Speakers opposed to the bill said they worried it would lead to program cuts and school closures.

Monica Shellhamer, a teacher at Christian Park School 82, asked the board to take action against the bill, not just talk.

“We need action to make sure all our students have the resources we need,” she said.

But speakers backing the bill said it would allow schools to be funded equally, and said additional funding would allow charter schools to offer transportation, making them more accessible to more families.

Those who advocated for charters also stressed they felt ignored by the board.

LaToya Tahirou, a parent associated with Stand for Children, said she’s about promoting schools that close the opportunity gaps and allowing for families to choose. She added that she sees “more division being created when we need to come together and let everyone be heard.”

Some also raised the issue of advocacy groups. Those against charter schools urged the board not to negotiate with groups that support charter schools. Some called out the Mind Trust, Stand for Children, and RISE Indy — groups that run their own programs and also support charter schools — for the division.

Stand for Children and RISE Indy have political action committees that have also donated tens of thousands to IPS school board races.

In a statement after the meeting, the Mind Trust said it supports calls “from parents, students, and community members for IPS leadership and board members to collaborate with charter schools to strengthen our city’s public school system so that all students have the resources they need.”

RISE Indy also stressed the importance of providing resources for all kids, and said they will continue to fight for those “who have been deprioritized.”

In addition to the bill requiring IPS to share property tax revenue, lawmakers introduced a bill that would dissolve IPS and its elected school board and replace it with charter schools overseen by an appointed board. They also floated a bill to remove the district’s power over transportation and facilities.

Those bills hadn’t advanced by the midpoint of this year’s legislative session, although lawmakers could incorporate the same bill language into other legislation later in the session.

Some say IPS should reconsider charter collaboration

Some asked the board to rescind a resolution that reaffirmed its commitment to collaboration with charters, which the school board approved in May.

That resolution came after significant pressure from pro-charter parents, who last year demanded that IPS partner with more charter schools where students of color are successful.

Several speakers also called for a moratorium on new schools. Last week, the school board called for a moratorium on new schools in the area for the next two years. IPS officials have stressed that splitting revenue among over 100 schools within district boundaries will result in no school truly receiving enough.

Charter school authorizers are ultimately responsible for approving new charters in Indianapolis. Authorizers that have approved schools within IPS borders in recent years include Mayor Joe Hogsett’s Office of Education Innovation, the Indiana Charter School Board, Ball State University, and Education One at Trine University.

But charter leaders have argued that additional funds to charter schools will help pay for higher teacher salaries and better transportation. Groups advocating for charters opposed a moratorium, arguing that charters have delivered better results for families while also having to operate with significantly less public revenue than IPS.

Charter supporters have also pointed out that IPS recently launched new schools.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Where education funding stands at the midpoint of the Indiana legislative session

2025-02-20T22:10:11+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana House lawmakers on Thursday approved their version of the next state budget, sending the proposal to the Senate to consider how to shape education funding for the next two years.

The House draft is similar to the proposal first outlined by Republican Gov. Mike Braun earlier this year, including an approximately 2% annual increase in tuition support, which funds both public schools and private school vouchers.

But lawmakers have also restored funding that would have been cut to gifted and talented education and folded curriculum costs into the base funding that schools receive.

The budget passed over the objections of House Democrats, who called for universal eligibility for preschool vouchers, as well as more funding for traditional public schools.

But the Republican architects of the budget rejected their amendments, saying that they fund students, not schools.

“Public schools would get lots of money next year if parents chose to send them there,” said Rep. Jeffrey Thompson, author of the budget bill and chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

The Senate will now consider the budget. Senators have already passed property tax measures that will likely lower the property tax revenue available to schools, though not as much as an initial proposal by Braun. Those tax measures will now move to the House for consideration.

Here is where education funding stands at the midpoint of the legislative session.

Education budget changes textbook funding distribution

Republican lawmakers are still proposing an approximately 2% increase in tuition support each year of the budget, or around $180 million more in 2026 and $370 million more in 2027. This figure is in line with Braun’s proposed increase for tuition support.

But the total budgeted for tuition support in the new draft of the budget looks higher because lawmakers would like to roll the funding that schools receive for textbooks into the foundational amount schools receive for educating students. Thus the total budget for tuition support is $9.4 billion for 2025-26 and $9.6 billion in 2026-27.

Schools received $160 million for curriculum costs in 2025.

“By putting it in the foundation that’s going to grow as we grow the foundation throughout the years,” Thompson said.

This fund will also cover a proposal to make school vouchers universal for all families, regardless of income, which would cost the state around $89 million in 2026 and $95 million in 2027, according to an estimate from the Legislative Services Agency, or LSA. In total, the Choice Scholarship program is expected to cost around $622 million in 2026 and $674 million in 2027.

The graph below from LSA shows a breakdown of tuition support expenditures. Foundation amounts are the base funding that schools receive to educate all students, while complexity dollars go to students from low-income backgrounds.

A screenshot of the Indiana Legislative Service breakdown of tuition support in the proposed state budget.

Under the new budget proposal, the tuition support will also fund virtual students at 100% of the foundational amount, rather than 85% as is currently law.

In other education funding, lawmakers have proposed $86 million per year for the Freedom and Opportunity in Education fund, up from $25 million per year in the first draft of the budget. This fund is a new line item intended to give the state Department of Education flexibility to fund priorities, such as expanding the new ILEARN checkpoint test, operating the state teaching jobs board, and funding student learning recovery grants.

Furthermore, Gifted and Talented Education funding has been restored to $15 million per year after facing a cut to $13 million per year in the first draft of the budget. The second draft also adds funding to the budget earmarked for adult learners.

However, Republican lawmakers did not restore funding for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library despite calls from their Democratic colleagues to do so.

They have also kept summer school funding flat at around $18 million, though another bill will allow the Department of Education to differentiate funding for these programs based on the type and length of the course.

Finally, lawmakers are increasing the annual allocation for Education Scholarship and Career Scholarship accounts — two voucher-like programs used to pay for students with disabilities to receive services outside of schools and for high schoolers to take career training with private companies.

Both programs will each receive $15 million per year — less than the $25 million initially proposed for Education Scholarship Accounts, but more than the $11 million first proposed for Career Scholarship Accounts.

Revised property tax relief bill still affects school funding

Indiana Senators, meanwhile, have passed a property tax relief bill that mitigates the initial impact of Braun’s proposal to cap property taxes. That proposal was expected to cost schools and other local government entities around $1.2 billion in 2026 and up to $1.6 billion in 2028.

The revised Senate Bill 1 is now expected to cost these entities around $300 million in 2026 and $800 million in 2028. (Braun has suggested he would consider vetoing the bill if it doesn’t provide more relief to taxpayers.)

It may also have other effects on funding because it restricts the years that schools can hold referendums to general elections instead of both general and primary elections.

According to a revised report from the Office of Fiscal and Management Analysis, Senate Bill 1 would reduce funding to Indianapolis Public Schools by an estimated $1.2 million in 2026 and up to $2.9 million in 2028.

Other districts in Marion County are projected to lose:

Beech Grove City Schools — $139,000 in 2026 up to $364,000 in 2028.
Franklin Township Schools — $241,000 in 2026 up to $443,000 in 2028
MSD of Decatur Township — $37,000 in 2026 up to $68,000 in 2028
MSD of Lawrence Township — $33,000 in 2026 and $740 in 2028
MSD of Perry Township — $60,000 in 2026 up to $492,000 in 2028
MSD of Pike Township — $566,000 in 2026 up to $1.4 million in 2028.
MSD of Warren Township — $338,000 in 2026 up to $759,000 in 2028
MSD of Washington Township — $1.2 million in 2026 up to $3.1 million in 2028
MSD of Wayne Township — $780,000 in 2026 up to $2 million in 2028
School Town of Speedway — $71,000 in 2026 up to $166,000 in 2028

Senate Bill 1 has passed the Senate and will now move to the House for consideration.

Another bill, Senate Bill 518, also passed a final vote in the Senate Thursday. It requires districts to share some property tax revenue with charter schools. Property tax revenue funds schools on top of the state tuition support described above, and currently, only districts in a handful of counties must share some of this revenue with charter schools.

An amendment Wednesday delayed some of the sharing provisions until 2028.

But the Republican supermajority voted down several amendments by Senate Democrats that would have instead sent the issue to a summer study committee, required audits of charter schools receiving property tax revenue, or reduced the amount that charter schools receive.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

The science of reading could inspire Indiana to change math instruction. But how?

2025-02-10T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Two years after Indiana made big changes to reading instruction, state policymakers want to see a similar shift in math.

A bill advancing through the state legislature would place new requirements for math instruction on teacher prep programs, while also requiring schools to screen young students for math proficiency and offer interventions for those who need them.

House Bill 1634 would also require older students who are proficient in math to be auto-enrolled in advanced math courses.

The idea behind the bill is based on Indiana’s reading overhaul, which over two years has changed the way universities train teachers and the way teachers teach reading, aligning both to a set of practices known as the science of reading.

Lawmakers and state education leaders have linked the state’s reading efforts to its performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which this year showed that Indiana students improved their reading scores even as reading scores nationally continued to decline.

“Hopefully we can do something similar to that in regard to math,” said Republican Rep. Jake Teshka, the bill’s author.

But while Indiana followed in the footsteps of states like Mississippi to implement the principles of the science of reading, the template for overhauling math isn’t so clear-cut.

Only a handful of other states have passed laws requiring screeners or extra training for elementary teachers in math. There’s also less research about the best way to teach math, though advocates broadly describe two camps that emphasize either explicit instruction or student-led discovery.

Students in fourth grade improved their math scores on the NAEP slightly, but Indiana’s eighth graders continued to decline, a trend that began in 2019.

And the state may face pushback from teachers and teacher prep programs as it did with the reading changes, which required extra training and monitoring on top of existing requirements.

“There’s not a recipe in our country that we can just take from another state that has scaled the work and do it,” said Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner at a hearing on the bill. “It’s an opportunity to move with urgency but also learn throughout the process.”

House Bill 1634 passed unanimously out of the House Education Committee on Wednesday.

What the bill means for teachers and prep programs

The bill tasks the Department of Education with developing guidelines for teacher preparation programs, in order to ensure that the curriculum they’re using is “aligned with evidence-based instructional strategies to promote: conceptual understanding; procedural fluency; and real world problem solving.”

The department must also review the state’s teacher prep programs to ensure they’re following these rules. Those who aren’t could face losing the “right to use the word ‘accredited.’” The state instituted similar requirements when it changed mandates for reading instruction two years ago.

A lot of the math instruction in schools today combines procedural and conceptual instruction, said Sarah Powell, a professor of special education at the University of Texas at Austin, whose research focuses on math.

But she added that in the last couple of decades, schools heavily emphasized conceptual understanding, or why a problem-solving approach works, rather than procedural understanding, or how to do the steps to solve a problem.

The issue with conceptual understanding is that “people learn through modeling or practice,” she said.

“You watch a YouTube video, pause it, practice, and finally you can tile your bathroom,” Powell said.

Since the push for the science of reading gained national attention, educators have applied a similar lens to math.

“A lot of schools are saying, wait a minute — if we have to explicitly teach reading, do we have to explicitly teach math?” Powell said. “We have a lot of evidence about the best ways to learn math, but not a lot of the best ways to teach math have been in place.”

Still, some researchers are wary of a mandate to teach math in any one specific way, especially when that mandate creates a burden for universities.

Enrique Galindo, an associate professor of mathematics at Indiana University who spoke in a personal capacity, said there’s likely not just one solution. Instead, teachers should be prepared to utilize a number of different strategies for different students who have different strengths.

“I think the problem is when legislation wants to mandate what to teach and how to teach, it basically does not trust higher education institutions that the state funds with taxpayer dollars to do their work,” Galindo said.

The main issue with a procedural-based approach “is that it doesn’t develop the kind of thinkers we need today to be successful in society,” he said.

“We need to prepare students who are problem solvers, who understand what they’re doing,” he said. “In the past we valued just getting to the right answer. But now you need to know how you do it, and how to explain it to others.”

(Powell and Galindo spoke to Chalkbeat before the details of the Indiana bill were available.)

Indiana lawmakers hope to avoid the duel of philosophies that marked the science of reading debate.

Rep. Bob Behning, a Republican and the chair of the House Education Committee, pointed out that teachers who had been trained in one method of teaching literacy — like balanced literacy — had to relearn techniques.

But less formal training in math in many instances for teachers in training may mean that educators are less comfortable tackling the topic.

Jenner said the state is seeking philanthropic contributions to help with the costs of implementing voluntary professional development for teachers aimed at boosting their confidence in teaching math.

In 2022, the Lilly Endowment gave around $85 million to place literacy coaches in Indiana schools and offer teachers stipends for taking professional development in the science of reading, among other literacy initiatives.

“Not every teacher who teaches math is in love with math,” Powell said. “A lot of elementary teachers, they love reading and want students to be readers.”

What the math bill means for students

The bill would require students in grades K-2 to take numeracy screeners, while those in older grades would continue to take the state math test, the ILEARN.

Students who score low on these screeners and tests would qualify for interventions, which must also be aligned to the ideas of conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and real-world application, and happen on top of their regular classroom instruction.

Powell said schools have long recognized the power of reading instruction and intervention, but fewer schools take the same approach with math. Early math intervention could help students build skills for future grades, and eventually, future careers.

“If you have a hard time adding and subtracting, guess what, multiplication and division are hard,” Powell said.

Galindo said another solution for schools could be hiring math coaches who work with teachers to provide feedback and help prepare lessons. If a school provides numeracy screeners to young students, the screeners should narrowly define the skills students need at that age, he said.

In addition, the bill would require that students who demonstrate proficiency in math in middle school on the ILEARN or through their grades be enrolled in an advanced math class in the next grade. This idea drew some concerns from educators who said proficiency does not necessarily mean that a student is ready for advanced math.

When the House committee passed HB 1634, there was a round of applause for Jenner for the state’s recent NAEP reading results.

“I believe our schools will continue to improve, because the better a kid can read, the better they can do math,” said Democratic Rep. Tonya Pfaff, a math teacher.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Lawmakers advance bills on DEI, sex ed, chaplains in schools

2025-02-05T22:59:36+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana senators discussed and passed controversial bills on Wednesday about social studies curriculum, sex education materials, and chaplains in public schools.

One would require schools to seek school board approval for and publicize information about their sex ed curriculum. Another would allow chaplains to work as counselors in public schools. Lawmakers also discussed legislation to restrict how teachers can approach issues like race, class, and privilege in history and social studies lessons, as well as a bill that takes aim at diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum and training

Most of the bills echo proposals that failed in past sessions and have sharply divided Democrats and Republicans. But the bills are now moving forward in a vastly different national political landscape, one where some of these ideas have support from President Donald Trump and his administration.

Lawmakers have until Feb. 20 to approve bills in their respective chambers. That means committees have a few more weeks to complete their work and advance bills to second and third readings to the full chamber.

Notably, the House Education Committee was poised to consider a bill Wednesday expanding Indiana’s law banning transgender girls from girls’ sports at the collegiate level. But lawmakers removed the bill from the agenda.

Here’s more on what the Senate Education Committee discussed and did Wednesday.

‘Teachers shouldn’t be encouraging those pessimistic views’

Senate Bill 257 would require teachers to base history or social studies instruction on the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the United States. It also prohibits teachers from teaching that the U.S. national identity or culture has been established by racial identity or racial discrimination, gender identity or gender discrimination, victimization, class struggle, a hierarchy of privileges, or systemic exclusion. It would apply to all schools that teach these subjects.

It was authored by GOP Sen. Spencer Deery, who said he was concerned about statistics showing that young people have adopted a grim view of U.S. history, including one survey finding that more than half of young people are in favor of writing a new constitution.

“Teachers shouldn’t be encouraging those pessimistic views,” Deery said.

Deery argued that these views are “trendy, but short-sighted” and prevalent in school curriculum throughout Indiana and the United States. He denied that the bill would affect teachers’ ability to teach historical events like the Holocaust.

“Those things can be examples of ways we fell short of our ideals, or how we progressed from those shortcomings,” he said. Deery also authored last year’s controversial law on “intellectual diversity” and tenure at colleges and universities.

But Sen. J.D. Ford, a Democrat, asked whether teachers would feel uncomfortable teaching the Constitution, if they could not mention that the Constitution permitted enslavement and included the Three-Fifths Compromise, which were both forms of discrimination.

Deery said that the bill does not prohibit teaching that racial discrimination occurred, but does prohibit teaching that the country’s identity is rooted in racial discrimination.

In response to a request from Sen. Shelli Yoder, a Bloomington Democrat, to see the Indiana-specific data of these surveys, Deery said he believed most teachers were already in compliance with the provisions of his bill.

Public testimony was largely opposed to the bill. Education committee chair Sen. Jeff Raatz, a Republican, eventually decided to postpone a vote on the bill until next week to make technical corrections.

Chaplains as school counselors bill returns

Meanwhile, Senate Bill 523 revives a proposal from last year that would allow school chaplains to work as counselors in public schools on a paid or volunteer basis.

But this year’s version seeks to address past criticisms by requiring that the chaplains have some counseling experience.

Communication between students and chaplains would be confidential, with a few exceptions. Chaplains would provide secular “advice, guidance and support,” but could provide nonsecular support to students if a student and the student’s parents allowed it.

Bill author Sen. Stacey Donato, a Republican, said chaplains already work in public schools for sporting and other special events and could help students in crisis.

“Chaplains are not a new concept. The idea of a chaplain is not to convert people to a different religion. They are there to support people, regardless of their faith,” Donato said.

But Indianapolis Democratic Sen. Fady Qaddoura said in most other contexts, chaplains work with adults, rather than children. He asked what kind of secular support a chaplain could provide, to which Donato suggested tying shoes, zipping coats, and opening ketchup packets.

During testimony, Christopher Lagoni, executive director of the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association, said church leaders already volunteer in schools and sometimes eat lunch with students, for example. He did not know of any working as counselors.

Both the Indiana School Boards Association and the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents also expressed support for the bill, saying it allowed for local control.

But ACLU of Indiana Executive Director Chris Daley expressed concern that the bill would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause. Other speakers during public testimony — including religious leaders — questioned whether chaplains had the right training to work with students.

The bill passed out of the education committee on party lines.

Schools must publicize sex ed curriculum

Senate Bill 442 would require a public school that teaches sex education to obtain school board approval for the curriculum by submitting information about topics that will be taught, whether a male or female teacher will lead the course, and whether male and female students will take the course together.

The district must also publicize this information on its website.

Track Indiana education bills moving through the Statehouse

Indiana law currently does not require schools to teach sex education other than providing information about HIV, but those that do must emphasize abstinence. In 2023, lawmakers prohibited any human sexuality instruction before third grade.

Before the vote, senators approved an amendment to remove private schools from the requirements. They voted down an amendment that would require any sex ed curriculum to include instruction about contraceptives, consent, and healthy relationships.

The bill passed on party lines Wednesday. Qaddoura expressed concerns that the bill would lead to political fights at school board meetings.

“It will really rile up people against our school boards in different communities,” Qaddoura said.

Senators poised to pass anti-DEI bill

The Senate as a whole has already taken a major step toward restricting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in schools.

On Tuesday, Senate Bill 289 advanced through second reading of the Senate, with an amendment to incorporate some of the language of Senate Bill 235.

The bill would restrict mandatory diversity training in public K-12 schools and ban the hiring of DEI trainers and consultants at state universities. SB 289 also requires schools to post instructional and curricular materials online that relate to DEI, race, ethnicity, sex, or bias.

The combined bill does not include a long list of concepts initially included in SB 235 — like bias, allyship, cultural appropriation, microaggressions, social justice, heteronormativity, and gender theory. Bill author Sen. Tyler Johnson, a Republican, saying he felt “like we couldn’t define some of the terms in there.”

But the bill does define DEI as any effort to manipulate the composition of employees with respect to race or sex, to provide differential treatment on the basis of those characteristics, or other training or policies not expressly required to comply with federal law.

The bill could pass the full Senate as early as Thursday.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org

Draft budget has more for tuition support, less for gifted learners, zero for Dolly Parton library

2025-01-31T14:11:25+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Funding for gifted learners, dual immersion programs, and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library is on the chopping block in the proposed state budget, while tuition support is increasing, as Indiana faces a leaner two-year fiscal period.

In total, the 2025-27 state budget draft outlines an increase of around 2% each year in overall education funding, alongside cuts to several K-12 and library programs and initiatives.

Education officials say some of those cuts are necessary to increase tuition support, the primary funding mechanism for both public schools and private school vouchers.

The budget proposal from House lawmakers is just the first step in a months-long budget process in which legislators could restore funding. It also likely doesn’t capture the full effect of lawmakers’ policy priorities this year, which include caps on property tax growth as well as universal school vouchers.

It reflects the pressure on the state to fund K-12 education, which makes up nearly half — $21 billion — of the state’s two-year budget, amidst ongoing inflation, a Medicaid deficit, and the end of federal pandemic funding.

In a presentation to the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday, Secretary of Education Katie Jenner — who made recommendations that lawmakers then incorporated into the draft budget — said she looked through the whole budget to find places to streamline in order to increase funding for tuition support.

“I’ll be honest with you, I want all the things. … But noting that we had to make some decisions, I went through with a red pen and cut about 20.5 million in order to try and get that tuition support number up,” Jenner told lawmakers. “Glad to add that back in if we have the money.”

Indiana Department of Education representatives did not reply to a request for more details about what was cut. But a comparison of the proposed budget to the 2023-25 budget shows some key areas where funding is being cut, added, or held flat.

Here are a few highlights from the 2025-27 budget proposal.

Funding cuts: Dolly Parton’s library, computer science

The budget proposal includes 5% cuts to the Department of Education and the State Board of Education, per directives from GOP Gov. Mike Braun that state leaders find savings within their departments. That reduces funding for the department from $19.9 to $18.9 million annually, and funding for the board from $1.9 million to $1.8 million annually.

Other cuts include:

All funding is cut for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which received $2 million in 2023-24 and $4 million in 2024-25 — its first two years operating in Indiana. The library offers free books to children under 5 in around 85 counties in Indiana funded by a combination of state and local funding.
All funding is cut from the Career Advising Grant program, which received $10 million in 2023-24 and $15 million in 2024-25.
All funding — $425,000 — is cut from the Dual Immersion Pilot Program.
All funding — $3,415,000 — is cut from the School Internet Connection fund.
Funding for Gifted and Talented Education is cut from $15 million annually to $13 million annually in the two-year budget.
Funding for the State Library is cut from $3.7 million annually to $2.6 million annually. Additionally, funding for statewide library services is cut from $1.5 annually to $1.43 million annually.
Funding for the Next Level Computer Science program is cut from $3 million annually to $2.5 million annually.
Funding for the David C. Ford Educational Technology program is cut from $5 million annually to $3 million annually.
Funding for Alternative Education fund — which includes $10,000 for each child in recovery from alcohol or drug abuse who attends a certain kind of charter school — is cut from $5.3 million annually to $800,000 annually.

Funding increases: Tuition support, ILEARN pilot

One of the primary increases in funding in the budget proposal is for tuition support, which would increase by around $181 million in 2026 and $365 million in 2027, for a total allocation of $9.4 billion by 2026-27. That funding supports public schools, including charter schools, as well as private school vouchers.

According to a fiscal analysis from the Legislative Services Agency, making vouchers universal would increase state expenditures by an estimated $88.6 million in 2026 and $94.6 million in 2027. The state spent roughly $439 million on its voucher program for the 2023-24 school year.

Additionally, Education Scholarship Accounts, a voucher-like program for students with disabilities, would receive $25 million per year in the budget proposal, up from $10 million in each year of the last budget. Career Scholarship Accounts, which fund career training for high schoolers with private companies and organizations, will receive $11 million per year in the next budget, up from $10 million each year of the last budget.

A new addition to the budget is a $25 million per year Freedom and Opportunity fund, which will support the following, according to a Department of Education budget presentation to the House Committee on Ways and Means:

$11 million to expand the ILEARN checkpoint pilot
$4.5 million to develop and deploy an interactive advising tool to help implement the new diploma requirements
4.26 million to sustain the state teaching jobs board
$5.5 million to recruit English learner, special education, and STEM teachers

Funding is flat for summer learning, literacy programs

The budget notably does not propose additional funding for curricular materials, which will be held at $160 million per year.

Some schools have reported that their share of those funds has not been enough to pay for books and materials for all students, requiring them to dip into their general budgets to cover the cost.

The budget proposal also keeps funding flat per year for excess special education costs at $29 million, and summer school, at around $18.4 million.

Addressing increased costs in these categories may come down to budgeting. In her Ways and Means presentation, Jenner said there are schools that were spending less than their allocation for curricular material.

Jenner has also hinted at reprioritizing funding for summer school to focus more on required literacy intervention, and less on physical education costs, which currently eat up a large share of summer school funding.

The budget proposal also maintains $50 million per year for academic improvement initiatives. According to Jenner’s presentation, these funds would support the following:

$17.5 million for programs like the Summer Learning Labs, a summer acceleration program operated by The Mind Trust.
$20 million on literacy initiatives like the Literacy Cadre.
$10 million for outcome-based funding for staff who have improved students’ literacy skills.
$2.5 million for Crossing the Finish Line.

Policymakers have not publicly proposed a figure for the Indiana Learns program, which provides families with $1,000 in state funds for private tutoring.

The House Ways and Means Committee, which helps draft and advance the state budget legislation, has yet to schedule its next meeting.

Chalkbeat Data and Graphics Reporter Kae Petrin contributed data analysis.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indianapolis Public Schools board takes stand against bills that threaten district’s survival, asks for public support

2025-01-31T05:30:11+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

The Indianapolis Public Schools board took a stand against bills at the statehouse that could dismantle the district in a statement at its Thursday meeting, calling on the public to share their concerns with lawmakers.

But in a rare move for a board that has in recent years prided itself on presenting a united front, some board members wrote separate additional statements calling for change from the powerful education reform organizations that have faced heightened criticism since the legislation was introduced.

The board’s statement, which members took turns reading before a crowd of over 50 people, is the district’s latest response to a legislative session that could challenge the district’s future viability. House Bill 1136, the most extreme bill facing the district, would dissolve IPS and its elected school board and replace it with charter schools overseen by an appointed board. Another bill, House Bill 1501, would strip the district of its power over transportation and facilities.

A third proposal would force IPS to give charter schools what charter advocates have long pushed for: more tax dollars. These bills all come as Gov. Mike Braun advocates for property tax cuts statewide and the district faces a severe budget shortfall in the coming years.

“All together, the picture that comes into focus is challenging but clear: There simply is no scenario where the district looks in a decade the way it does today,” board member Hope Hampton read from the statement.

The board’s statement adds to the city’s increasingly politically charged education environment. Roughly 30 people spoke in public comment on Thursday, at times shouting back at the board during their individual statements and pushing for more time for public comment. The legislative proposals have not been heard in committees at the Statehouse yet, and some argued that HB 1136 is a bargaining chip to force IPS to share more property tax revenues with charter schools.

In its statement, the board said it will “show an authentic willingness to work together” as it did in 2014, when the legislature passed the Innovation schools law. But the board also nodded to a potential overabundance of schools for the district’s population of roughly 40,000 students, and said that closing or consolidating schools “can not rest only with our district.” It also said “all of our public schools must be included in this solution.”

The board called House Bill 1136 “a non-starter” that would destabilize the district’s financial foundations and strip communities of their voice. House Bill 1501 would create confusion and raise taxes, the board said. And Senate Bill 518 would shift tens of millions of dollars from the district to charter schools.

“Revenue loss on that scale — which could approach half the district’s operations fund budget — would unquestionably force us to close 20 or more district schools and cut many jobs throughout the district,” board member Ashley Thomas read from the statement.

Board members call for unity, scrutinize pro-charter groups

In individual statements, some board members took aim at the growth of the charter sector and the Mind Trust, Stand for Children, and RISE Indy — groups that advocate for their own interests and run their own programs but are also supportive of charter schools.

Stand for Children and RISE Indy have political action committees that have also donated tens of thousands to IPS school board races.

Board member Nicole Carey scrutinized the number of charter schools in the city, noting that other states have caps on charter schools.

“It is not efficient to have too many schools operating in silos, each with their own administration, each pulling from the same limited pool of resources,” she said.

Carey also called on the Mind Trust, Stand for Children, and RISE Indy to use their power at the statehouse to ensure all students get what they need.

“But that’s not what’s happening,” she said.

Board member Gayle Cosby described the three groups as “intent on destroying public education by any means necessary.” (Charter schools are public schools but privately operated.)

Through a spokesperson, the Mind Trust reiterated its support for solutions to increase access to transportation and facilities.

“The Mind Trust believes Indianapolis Public Schools remaining a strong and stable district is important to the vibrancy of Indianapolis,” the nonprofit said in a statement. “There is no truth to claims that the Mind Trust is working to destabilize IPS. In fact, the opposite is true. Our teams have worked collaboratively for years to advance outcomes for all public school students.”

In a statement, RISE Indy said it takes pride in its work to elevate Black and Brown voices in political spaces.

“We unapologetically advocate for every public school child because marginalized students exist in all school types,” the statement said.

Parents with Stand for Children, which organizes parents to advocate on educational topics, did not speak to the specific claims against the group but publicly commented on the need for support for charter schools, some of which they say offer their child a better education.

Board member Thomas called for unity, urging the public to focus on challenges students face every day, such as poverty and crime.

“While we should be fighting the real monsters, we are turning around and fighting each other,” Thomas said. “We won’t always agree with one another, but if we continue to split hairs simply to keep division moving, then we will continue to be dog-walked.”

The public voices opposition, concern on charters

Most of the roughly 30 people who spoke at the meeting Thursday were opposed to the expansion of charter schools and the dissolution of the district.

Amy Noel, whose child has a 504 plan for students with disabilities, questioned charters’ ability to serve him.

“How do we know how many charters who are going to say, ‘You know what, I don’t want to deal with this kid,’” Noel said. “What’s going to prevent them from throwing that kid out, and then that kid tries to go to another school, and then what if it happens again? There’s no fallback for those kids.”

Other parents called on IPS to change.

Vilma Hernandez said she pulled her son from IPS when he was placed on the wrong bus and dropped off far from home.

“It made me realize I couldn’t rely on the system to keep him safe,” she said through a translator. “One of the biggest inequities in our system is that families must provide their own transportation to charter schools, even when those schools offer some of the best education in the city.”

Feb. 20 is the last day for bills to pass out of their originating chambers at the statehouse.

Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.

You’re invited: Hear local educators share their stories they want lawmakers to know

2025-01-30T21:38:09+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

What do teachers wish Indiana’s lawmakers knew about daily life in schools? We’re asking educators to share stories and experiences from the classroom that they want state lawmakers to know as they craft rules about schools at the Statehouse.

Join us for “Letters to Lawmakers,” a teacher story slam from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at Guggman Haus Brewing Co., 1701 Gent Ave. in Indianapolis. The event is hosted by Chalkbeat Indiana, Indy Kids Winning, and Teachers Lounge Indy, and is a continuation of previous story slams. It’s a place for educators to share stories, spend time together, and learn from each other too. The community is also invited to hear their stories.

The event is free, but RSVP is encouraged. Food and drink will be available for purchase.

To RSVP, get your free ticket here.

And if you are an educator and are interested in telling your story, please fill out this form by Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Update, Feb. 4: This story was updated to extend the deadline for educators to sign up to be storytellers.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Lawmakers are considering bringing A-F grades for schools back. Here’s why.

2025-01-29T20:17:28+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana’s A-F grading system for schools could be on its way back.

House Bill 1498, authored by GOP Rep. Bob Behning, the chair of the House Education Committee, would require the Department of Education to develop a new A-F grading methodology for schools, based on scores on the third grading reading and state summative assessments — the IREAD and ILEARN. The grading system would also have to take into account high school graduation rates, diploma attainment, and other relevant factors.

The department would need to develop the new metric by December 2025 and issue grades to public and accredited private schools by December 2026.

Though Indiana has long had state requirements to issue letter grades to schools, no grades have been issued since 2018 as the state first transitioned to a new statewide assessment, then dealt with the pandemic in 2020, and finally, unveiled its new Graduates Prepared to Succeed (GPS) profiles of each school’s performance in 2022.

Schools would once again receive “null” grades for the 2024-25 school year.

In testimony Wednesday before the House Education Committee passed the bill unanimously, Secretary of Education Katie Jenner acknowledged that she advocated in 2023 for the state to begin to move away from the A-F grading system in favor of the new GPS dashboard. This system includes information about each school’s test scores, attendance, and more.

Officials’ hope was that the dashboard would provide a comprehensive overview of schools that had been missing from a single letter grade. But Jenner said some parents reported that the dashboard was too complex.

“Full disclosure, we are hearing from people who say ‘I just want to know how my school is doing,’” Jenner said.

But the return of letter grades would revive criticism that the grades rely too much on test scores to determine a school’s performance.

An amendment to the bill would require the primary indicator of performance for elementary and middle schools to be test scores. For high schools, the grades would include other factors, like experiential learning and credential opportunities, Jenner said. The State Board of Education discussed a potential framework for new letter grades at its January meeting.

“Just as students aren’t a single letter grade, neither are schools,” said David Marcotte, executive director of the Indiana Urban Schools Association, which took a neutral position on Behning’s bill. “For the sake of simplicity, we go with a single letter grade, but sometimes we lose out on the accuracy of reflecting the full school.”

Rep. Ed Delaney, a Democrat, said letter grades are not useful and lead to unnecessary jockeying between schools. Instead, Delaney said he’d like to see two grade bands indicating whether a school needs intervention or not, presented alongside test score data.

“Then parents could look and see, does my school need intervention or not, and then how are the kids doing on IREAD, and then decide if that school is good enough for then,” Delaney said.

GOP Rep. Becky Cash also suggested that the information on the GPS dashboard could be simplified. And other lawmakers asked that the state pick an accountability metric and keep to it.

“I fear we’ve got a sense of whiplash where the way we measure school performance is changing, it seems like, every year,” said Rep. Andrew Ireland, a Republican. “Let’s get it done and then stick with the system for years at a time because I really don’t think it’s very accessible for parents if we keep changing the metrics we’re using.”

HB 1498 now heads to a full House vote.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Trump likes Indiana schools. Are they winning the war on ‘woke’ he wants to fight?

2025-01-28T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

President Donald Trump’s plan for schools nationwide is a familiar one to observers of Indiana education policy.

Since 2021, the state has taken steps each legislative session to limit content in schools and minors’ access to gender-affirming care and social transition procedures, while expanding access to vouchers and school choice. That push continues in the 2025 session, with dozens of bills filed that expand on similar issues.

Advocates for these laws say they’re necessary to protect parents’ rights to choose how to raise their children — rights that they say need to be on par with constitutional rights, and which they hope to see reflected in national legislation.

“When parents drop their children off at school, they want to know what’s going on,” said Matt Sharp, senior counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal advocacy group.

But the laws’ critics say they haven’t led to mass bans of content or revelations of indoctrination in schools because schools weren’t teaching objectionable content to begin with. Instead, they say the primary effect has been increased anxiety among educators and already vulnerable students.

Jessica Heiser, an attorney with Imprint Legal group, which helps districts understand educational civil rights laws, said that these curriculum laws often oversimplify the difficulty of running a classroom, which can cause problems for the districts left to implement them.

“They really don’t want laws around what they’re allowed to teach and not teach,” Heiser said of school administrators, regardless of their politics. “When you get into the nitty grittiness of you shall teach this, or you shall not teach that … legislators are out of their depth.”

To apply some of these laws on a national scale might require the kind of heavy-handed federal enforcement Trump — who praised Indiana schools as “well run” last year — professes to dislike, or else leave schools to police themselves with inconsistent results. Still, Trump’s attacks on “woke” beliefs before his second term and his actions immediately after his inauguration suggest his desire to fight particular cultural battles through American schools has not subsided.

The available evidence doesn’t clearly show that the statutes targeting curriculum, library books, and transgender students have accomplished their stated goals. But there’s reason to believe they’re increasing families’ interest in vouchers.

Some observers say it’s no coincidence that a major consequence of the new laws about public schools has been a surge in private school enrollment and voucher use. Discussions this year about making Indiana’s voucher program universal also often center around parents’ rights to choose a school for their children.

Fights over social issues can lead to citizens losing “trust and confidence in public schools,” Heiser said.

“You end up creating an atmosphere where public schools are so unpredictable and public schools are such a place of confusion and such a place of dissatisfaction, that you open up a conversation better for vouchers and for privatization,” Heiser said.

But some Indiana lawmakers have characterized concerns about how such laws affect the state’s broader reputation as overblown, as evidenced by what they say is Indiana’s ongoing economic and population growth.

In remarks late last year, Republican House Speaker Todd Huston chided doomsayers who had told him that “if we pass this bill, no one will ever come to Indiana again.”

“All that extreme hyperbole didn’t age well,” Huston said.

Classroom content bans seem slow to catch on

Lawmakers have made several attempts over the years to restrict the teaching of certain kinds of content in Indiana classrooms. It’s part of a nationwide push to ban “divisive concepts” related to race, racism, gender, and sexuality.

There are new versions of this legislation this year in Indiana. One bill would prohibit instruction on American history from promoting the idea that the national identity or culture has been established by racial identity or racial discrimination, gender identity or gender discrimination, victimization, class struggle, a hierarchy of privileges, or systemic exclusion. Others would require schools and state agencies to prohibit certain statements in training and curriculum related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

But the push began in Indiana in 2022, when lawmakers considered a wide-ranging bill that sought to restrict how teachers teach about race and racism. It failed in the state Senate following an outcry from a broad coalition of educators, parents, clergy, and others.

The following year, lawmakers scaled back their ambitions and passed narrower restrictions on content in schools. One new law required schools to adopt procedures to challenge books that contain material deemed harmful to minors. Another banned teaching human sexuality to students in preschool through third grade.

Since then, there have been instances of complaints at local school board meetings about books and lessons in schools. One example is the community uproar last year over a class discussion about gender identity in an elementary school classroom in East Noble Schools.

But there have not been widespread reports of public backlash to classroom material leading to curriculum changes. And Chalkbeat and other outlets’ reporting have found few formal complaints about books, and even less action taken to move or remove them.

Supporters of the laws like the Alliance for Defending Freedom say this simply means the legislation is working, and schools have taken care to purge their curriculum of objectionable material.

Other observers say the effect has been a chilling one. Some teachers have told Chalkbeat they or their colleagues avoid topics related to politics due to fears about how some parents might react.

Even relatively straightforward events in national politics that students might encounter independently can be affected by this environment. Kevin Melrose, a social studies teacher in Washington Township schools, said he avoided instruction about national politics in order not to be partisan, per district policy, even as the class held mock debates for class president on the same day of the 2024 vice presidential debates.

One thing that makes Indiana unique is Eyes on Education, said Christopher Lubienski of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University. That’s a portal launched last year by Attorney General Todd Rokita for people to file complaints about how schools teach race, gender, and political ideology. (Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin launched a similar tip line, but it has since shut down.)

If the Trump administration launched such a tip line launched nationally, it would require large-scale monitoring and investigation, which might conflict with Trump’s plans to run a smaller, leaner federal government.

So far, Rokita has posted complaints from just 18 out of the state’s 300 school districts and more than 150 charter schools, as well as from two universities. The substance of these complaints ranges from the material available in a school library catalog, to an invitation for Black students to meet with a college representative.

And records show that even a politically charged event like the 2024 presidential election didn’t lead to complaints about inappropriate or politically biased instruction. A Chalkbeat request for material submitted to “Eyes on Education” that was related to the election yielded two complaints that were apparently jokes.

Student pronoun law yields murky data, inconsistent approaches

Indiana has passed several laws that affect transgender students, including a prohibition on

transgender girls playing on girls’ sports teams at the K-12 level.

When the law was passed in 2022, the Indiana High School Sports Association, which had procedures in place for transgender athletes’ participation, said just one student had gone through the outlined process to play on a girls’ team in recent years. The association did not return a request for comment on whether there have been any additional instances since the law passed.

Data shows that trans students are a tiny fraction of school enrollment. Researchers estimate that 1.4% of youth ages 13-17 nationwide are transgender. In addition, very few openly trans students compete in U.S. school sports.

The author of the law, Rep. Michelle Davis, said at the time that the legislation was important whether it affected one student or 100. Davis this year has filed an expansion of the law that would affect collegiate and out-of-state teams. She did not return a request for comment.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the law on behalf of a transgender Indianapolis Public Schools student. But the group dropped the lawsuit in early 2023 after the student transferred schools.

Lawmakers then passed a law in 2023 requiring schools to inform a parent of a student’s request to use a different name, nickname, pronoun, title, or word to refer to themselves. Supporters say parents have a right to know about such cases.

“It’s been helpful and effective in putting school officials on notice that when a child is asking questions about gender, or any mental or physical issue, the first call should be to mom and dad,” said Matt Sharp, the ADF attorney.

But without specific guidance from the Indiana Department of Education about how districts should notify parents, or whether they should categorize such requests in any way, the result has been a lack of transparency and a grab-bag of local approaches.

From a legal perspective, this inconsistency can open districts to lawsuits and other conflicts, according to Heiser, the attorney who consults with districts.

In addition, such laws can affect students, even — and sometimes especially — when they are applied inconsistently, said Brian Dittmeier, director of public policy at GLSEN, a nonprofit focused on supporting LGBTQ+ students.

“When hostile laws are passed, and especially hostile laws that are vaguely drafted, it leads to a chilling effect on LGBTQ free expression,” said Dittmeier. “It leads to self-policing that harms students’ free expression and inclusion in the school community.”

A Chalkbeat survey of Indiana’s 10 largest districts found little willingness to share or discuss their policies.

Some districts use the notification requirement to hold a meeting with parents about how to support their students. Another district requires parental permission to use a nickname or pronoun that a student has requested.

Some districts’ policy interpretations obtained by Chalkbeat focus on students making a request related to their gender identity. Others applied the policy to all nicknames, including nicknames that cisgender students had used for years, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Some districts informed students that their parents would be notified about such changes, and gave them the chance to rescind their name or pronoun change request. But it’s unclear how widespread this practice is.

From 2023 to 2024, three districts — Perry Township, Fort Wayne, and Tippecanoe — each sent between 56 and 67 notifications to parents to inform them of a student’s desire to use a nickname or different pronoun, title, or word.

Students later rescinded some of their requests, indicating that the law may have pushed some transgender students away from publicly expressing their identity.

But it also isn’t clear from the districts’ data how many such requests or notifications were related to gender identity to begin with. The law doesn’t require schools to collect or share that specific information.

In all three districts, the notifications involved fewer than 1 in 200 students, or less than 0.5% of enrollment. The notices were most common in high school.

Several districts, including Indianapolis Public Schools, said that only individual schools track the notifications.

School voucher use surges as wealthier families qualify

If Indiana policymakers want to change schools’ approach to social issues, the stats don’t really say clearly whether they’ve succeeded.

But with private school choice, numbers tell a plain story — one that poses a different long-term challenge to public schools than culture war clashes, albeit a related one.

Over the last few years, as conservatives nationwide have pushed back on transgender student rights and certain classroom content, their reasons to support school choice nationwide have also begun to focus less on helping just students from low-income households or struggling schools, and more on giving choices to all families.

Private school enrollment in Indiana has surged since 2020, reaching an all-time high of 92,000 students in 2023-24.

The growth has been partly driven by Choice Scholarship Accounts — Indiana’s decade-old school voucher program. Though vouchers began as a targeted program offering state funding for private school tuition for low-income families, the qualifications have incrementally expanded.

Last year, the program saw a statewide 32% increase in enrollment, driven largely by wealthier families who became eligible for the program in 2023. Families can now make 400% of the amount required for students to qualify for federally subsidized meals — or around $230,000 for a family of four.

This year, lawmakers could remove the final income limit on which families can receive vouchers to make the program fully universal. That’s a priority for GOP Gov. Mike Braun and legislative leaders.

“I’m not going to apologize that our caucus will be very supportive of universal vouchers,” said GOP Rep. Bob Behning, chair of the House Education Committee, at a December legislative conference. “I think letting parents make that choice as to what’s best for their son or daughter is the best way to move forward.”

Since 2021, lawmakers have also added new voucher-like programs to pay for special education expenses and career training. Both of those programs reached maximum capacity this year, and some lawmakers have pushed to make the former available to all families to purchase classes and services using state funding.

It’s unlikely that many Indiana politicians believe in the complete privatization of the education system, said Lubienski of Indiana University. But the implicit effects of the social issue laws include raising questions about the public education system.

“The social issues put a target on public education and create a narrative that they’re serving special interests, or students who feel they’ve been ignored, at the expense of the wider population,” Lubienski said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Kae Petrin is a data & graphics reporter who covers data related to K-12 education, voting rights, and public health for Civic News Company. Contact them at kpetrin@chalkbeat.org.

Chalkbeat Indiana Bureau Chief MJ Slaby contributed to this article.

Bills to restrict or ban DEI in Indiana education advance after Trump and Braun orders

2025-01-23T00:39:53+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

After moves by Gov. Mike Braun and President Donald Trump to end initiatives promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion — or DEI — policies, Indiana lawmakers could also soon restrict or ban them in K-12 schools and universities.

The Senate Judiciary committee passed two bills on Wednesday aimed at ending mandatory training and instruction that proponents say propagate stereotypes and discrimination.

Senate Bill 289 focuses on state agencies and public K-12 schools, and would require schools to publish curriculum and training materials related to diversity, bias, and other concepts online. It would end mandatory DEI-related training and prohibit schools from requiring students and employees to affirm a list of concepts related to race, gender, and other characteristics.

Senate Bill 235, meanwhile, would prohibit colleges and universities from funding DEI programs and offices and change licensing requirements in health care.

These echo an executive order signed by Trump on Tuesday that directed federal agencies to eliminate programs and initiatives related to DEI, as well as an order from Braun last week to replace diversity, equity, and inclusion in state government with “merit, excellence, and innovation.”

They reflect ongoing hostility to DEI in conservative circles. They also follow years of similar controversy over whether schools in Indiana and nationwide have been teaching students critical race theory, a phrase that often became a catchall for discussions of race.

Supporters of the two Senate bills from Republicans say they would once again elevate the importance of individual students’ academic achievement and skills, while reducing the extent to which schools and universities unfairly and simplistically divide people into groups.

But critics countered that the measures would make it harder for teachers to share a complex and truthful account of history, and also ignore systemic challenges that some students face more than others.

Both bills now head to the full Senate for a vote.

Bill would emphasize individual merit in education

SB 289 is directed at public K-12 schools and state agencies, and requires these entities to publish online all of their curricular, instructional, and training materials related to nondiscrimination, diversity, equity, inclusion, race, ethnicity, sex, and bias.

It also bans mandatory training and instruction on a list of concepts including that any race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or national origin is superior to any other, or that members of any group should be blamed for historical events caused by other members of the same group.

An amendment adopted by lawmakers allows the state attorney general to file an action to compel a school to comply.

The purpose is to require schools and the state government to consider individuals on their own merits, proponents said.

“People should be respected based on their own unique characteristic life skills and experiences,” said bill author Sen. Gary Byrne.

The proposal has similarities to a failed bill from 2022 that would have banned a list of “divisive concepts” related to race and racism from Indiana classrooms and required schools to post their related instructional materials online. Teachers and schools vocally opposed that bill due to the additional workload it would create, as well as its potential to chill class discussions.

Notably, Byrne’s bill attempts to set limits on its own prohibitions. For example, the bill says it may not be construed to ban discussions of how stereotypes are wrongfully embraced, or of scientific studies that reveal disparities between the aforementioned groups.

But teachers said in testimony that the new bill would be just as chilling as bills from years past.

“This bill is an effort by our state government to control the past and how it is taught in Indiana classrooms,” said Randy Hudgins, a social studies teacher. “What problems is this bill here to solve, and what evidence do we have that these problems are occurring in Hoosier classrooms?”

Asked by Democratic Sen. Greg Taylor if the bill would allow him to teach about Martin Luther King Jr. or the Holocaust as required by state standards, Hudgins said both topics would prove tricky under the bill’s provisions on race, religion, and ethnicity.

“I would feel like I was walking on eggshells in teaching [the Holocaust],” he said.

Jerell Blakeley, director of government, community, racial & social justice for the Indiana State Teachers Association, connected this year’s pushback against DEI to previous efforts to ban critical race theory. He said some critics of DEI and critical race theory use the words without understanding the definitions.

“They get their talking points from media outlets that are sort of demonizing these words that are really deeply committed to the most basic fundamentally American principles of all — fairness, justice, and nondiscrimination,” Blakeley said.

He added that Indiana lawmakers took steps recently to increase the diversity of the teaching force.

Testimony and questions also focused on the origin of the term DEI, after questions from Sen. James Buck about when it came to be. Some of the practices rolled back in Trump’s order were put in place by an executive order by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965.

Asked to trace the history of the principles of DEI, Russ Skiba, a professor emeritus at Indiana University and founder of the University Alliance for Racial Justice, also pointed to origins in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and advocacy for students with disabilities.

“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are not a curriculum. They are values,” Skiba said.

He pointed out that the bill could also negatively affect teacher training, recruitment, and diversity. Lawmakers would be “making advocacy for fairness and civil rights impossible” in Indiana whether they banned DEI outright or just sought to punish it, he said.

Just one person spoke in support of the bill during testimony. Kileen Lindgren, legal policy manager for the Pacific Legal Foundation, a national law firm, said it creates transparency, and furthers the equal protection goals of the Fourteenth Amendment.

“I don’t know how we can value the individual when we’re lumping people into categories,” Lindgren said.

DEI offices, staff at universities banned in bill

The second bill, Senate Bill 235, deals with state agencies, colleges, universities, and licensing boards.

It says higher education institutions may not establish DEI offices or hire DEI officers or consultants. It also removes DEI provisions from health professional licensing requirements, and requires medical programs to use a standardized test for admissions.

That bill provides a lengthy definition of DEI that includes practices that influence the composition of employees with reference to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, or provide special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, sex, color, or ethnicity

It further defines DEI as practices that would promote “as the official position of an agency a particular opinion referencing unconscious or implicit: bias; cultural appropriation; allyship; transgender ideology; microaggressions; group marginalization; antiracism; systemic oppression; social justice; intersectionality; neopronouns; heteronormativity; disparate impact; gender theory; racial or sexual privilege.”

Track Indiana education bills moving through the Statehouse

One speaker who backed the bill was Allon Friedman, a professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine who said he was speaking only in a personal capacity. Friedman said DEI practices in the medical field dehumanize patients by sorting people into categories, and de-emphasize academic excellence by requiring schools to use pass/fail rather than A-F grades.

“It undermines the foundational assumption that individuals are chosen to become doctors based on academic and holistic excellence,” Friedman said.

Friedman also said DEI leads to a “hostile mindset.” He said he experienced this firsthand after writing an op-ed in 2021 arguing against the hiring of a DEI officer at Carmel schools and receiving negative responses to it.

A representative for Indiana University adopted a neutral stance during testimony, saying the school was working with the author of the bill, Sen. Tyler Johnson, to refine some of the language.

But Gwen Kelley, an education researcher who works with the NAACP, pointed out the bill could end up requiring significant revisions to Indiana education code, the provisions of which include references to diversity and cultural responsiveness.

“Let’s reject the fear and embrace the truth,” Kelley said. “Only by addressing systemic issues head on can we create a system that works for all.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Gov. Mike Braun proposes a modest increase for Indiana schools funding, universal vouchers, and property tax caps

2025-01-16T20:17:50+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Gov. Mike Braun proposed a modest 2% annual increase in K-12 funding in the first budget presentation of his term, in line with expectations that a tighter budget would limit the money available for education costs.

At the same time, Braun is also forging ahead with two campaign promises to make school vouchers universal and to cap property tax increases, while chiding school districts that have come to rely too much on raising taxes through referendums to fund programs and operational costs.

“School districts better have tucked some of that away in their rainy day funds and not been mismanaging to where they would need that kind of increase year after year,” Braun said Thursday at a budget presentation. “The ones that poorly managed how they spend and overtaxed in the process are who we’re going to get back down to Mother Earth.”

The governor’s budget proposal typically informs the legislative budget process, which begins with hearings from state agencies, including the Indiana Department of Education. Lawmakers then write a budget bill. The budget is finalized in April and covers two years.

Indiana is facing a leaner year following the end of federal COVID relief spending, a Medicaid budget shortfall, and the ongoing pressures of inflation. Schools are contending with the end of their own federal emergency monies that funded salaries and programs post-COVID.

Braun’s proposed increase would amount to $540 million more in funding for K-12 tuition support over two years — $181 million in 2026 and $365 million in 2027. These funds support public schools, including charter schools, and the Choice Scholarship voucher program, which Braun intends to make universal this year.

In the 2023-25 budget, lawmakers touted an 8% increase in the total K-12 funding formula over the biennium, including an increase for Choice Scholarships. The final per-student funding increase was around 5% more in 2024 and around 2% more in 2025.

The budget also includes $50 million for other education initiatives and $362 million for child care subsidies, as well as $30 million more for Education Scholarship Accounts and $2 million more for Career Scholarship Accounts — two voucher-like programs for students with disabilities and career training for high schoolers, respectively.

Braun’s priorities also include increasing the school safety grant and raising minimum teacher salaries from $40,000 to $45,000 — a key proposal in Senate Bill 146, and expected to cost around $14 million from tuition support.

Track Indiana education bills moving through the Statehouse

He said he would ask each cabinet secretary to find cuts of around 5% in their budgets in order to help fund some of his other priorities, such as sales tax holidays on back-to-school supplies. A presentation to the State Budget Committee estimated around $700 million in reduced government spending over the biennium.

Some of Braun’s property tax priorities are reflected in Senate Bill 1, which caps property tax growth and restricts school referendums to general elections occurring in an even-numbered year.

Braun estimated that around one-third of counties would not have an issue with his property tax reform proposals because they had kept increases modest, or adjusted rates down as needed. Others “are going to scramble,” he said.

“Every county is going to have a little bit of a different story,” he said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana bill would give teachers paid parental leave and raise in minimum pay

2025-01-15T22:02:21+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A Indiana bill would guarantee paid parental leave to the state’s teachers for the first time, and would also raise the minimum pay for teachers.

If enacted, the legislation would make Indiana one of a handful of states to offer this paid leave to educators, and could make the state more attractive to prospective and current teachers.

Senate Bill 146 would grant 20 days of parental leave to teachers who have worked for a school district for at least six months in the event of the birth of their child or their spouse’s child, the adoption of a child, or the stillbirth of their child.

Indiana teachers are currently eligible for unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. But nearly a quarter of Indiana’s 168 school districts offer some paid leave under their collective bargaining contracts, according to Secretary of Education Katie Jenner.

The bill, authored by GOP Sen. Linda Rogers, would also raise minimum salaries for teachers from $40,000 to $45,000, increase the portion of state funding that must be spent on salaries, and require schools to offer a state employee health coverage plan if it’s less expensive than the district plan.

It would also change the requirements for the state’s Teacher Appreciation Grants and enroll Indiana in the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, which creates licensing reciprocity between member states.

Both pay raises and professional benefits like parental leave for teachers were priorities for new Gov. Mike Braun on the campaign trail last year as avenues to improve teacher recruitment and retention. But anxiety about the state budget left some lawmakers and advocates uncertain about whether the state would raise minimum salaries this year.

Braun is expected to present his budget proposal on Thursday, Jan. 16.

Speaking in support of the bill Wednesday at a Senate education committee meeting, Jenner said it would take around $14 million in additional funding for all schools to reach a $45,000 salary minimum for teachers.

“We have to keep our eye on the ball of teacher compensation,” Jenner said during testimony on the bill. “It really, really matters.”

Jenner said the expectations of the tight budget meant the department had not asked lawmakers for a higher minimum teacher salary this session.

Studies have shown that only a few large districts nationwide offer any kind of paid parental leave to teachers.

The leave granted under SB 146 would run concurrently with time taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act. But the bill does not specify that a teacher must first use their sick or personal days to take the paid leave. That earned praise from Sen. Andrea Hunley, a Democrat and former teacher and principal.

Still, Hunley called for more leave overall, and specifically more leave for part-time employees, who would only be eligible for 10 days of leave under the proposal.

“I think that’s a really great step to support our families who are expanding,” Hunley said. “But 20 days is only four weeks.”

Track Indiana education bills moving through the Statehouse

The bill would also change the requirements of the Teacher Appreciation Grant, which currently offers stipends to teachers rated as highly effective. Instead, the grant would reward teachers who meet certain criteria, like teaching special education or English learner education, mentoring other teachers, or overseeing significant student growth.

Lawmakers did not vote on the bill Wednesday, but they’re expected to consider it in a future committee hearing.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Here are the education issues Indiana lawmakers are considering for the 2025 legislative session

2024-12-23T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana lawmakers are preparing to write the next state budget, and as an economic surplus winds down, they face difficult decisions about what education programs to fund and how much to give them.

Many of the priorities related to K-12 that Republican leaders outlined for next year, like expanding school vouchers and limiting property tax hikes, come with a price tag. State advocacy organizations have their own funding goals for programs related to child care, summer school, and educating students learning English and those with disabilities.

But there’s bipartisan agreement on one thing: The 2025-27 budget will be tight. The likely reasons for that are a shortfall in the Medicaid budget, the end of federal COVID funding that supported various education and child care programs, and the effects of inflation.

A December revenue forecast that showed slightly higher state revenues than expected left fiscal leadership in both parties and “cautiously optimistic,” about the state’s economic outlook through 2027. Still, they’re tempering expectations.

“Our predicted revenue may not be enough to cover Medicaid’s needs or provide more than a 1% increase in K-12 funding,” said Democratic Rep. Greg Porter in a statement.

Here are some of the big issues we’re keeping an eye on.

GOP lawmakers, Braun seek universal private school vouchers

Despite concerns about the state budget, Republican lawmakers and Governor-elect Mike Braun remain unequivocal about plans to expand Indiana’s school voucher program, which provides state funding for private school tuition.

The Choice Scholarship program is already available to nearly all Indiana families after legislators raised income caps and removed other requirements. But Braun campaigned on a promise to eliminate any income requirement and make the program universal — and legislative leadership is on board with the proposal.

“I’m not going to apologize that our caucus will be very supportive of universal vouchers,” said Rep. Bob Behning, chair of the House Education Committee at a December legislative conference. “I think letting parents make that choice as to what’s best for their son or daughter is the best way to move forward.”

One factor to watch will be whether GOP Sen. Ryan Mishler revives his bill from 2024 to expand the state’s Education Savings Accounts, or ESAs. Those provide state funding for students with disabilities to receive services outside their schools.

But that proposal would replace the Choice Scholarship by providing funding directly to all families to purchase classes and services from schools, teachers, and providers.

While Mishler’s proposal had support from the likes of Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott, some choice advocates are dubious about the state abandoning its longstanding voucher program in favor of ESAs. Instead, they would like to see an expansion of the savings accounts that parents could use in addition to the Choice Scholarships.

Behning said House Republicans are committed to finding “the resources to make sure parents who have chosen an ESA have additional funding.”

Democratic Sen. David Niezgodski also proposed in December allowing students who have been victims of bullying to access ESA funds to attend the school of their choice.

Lawmakers seek pay raise to fill teacher vacancies

Advocates and state leaders agree that Indiana teachers should see a pay raise — but details on how much are less clear. Meanwhile, they say that offering professional benefits like parental leave would help attract teachers to the profession to fill vacancies.

Braun made raising teacher pay a key part of his education platform. And while he has not proposed a minimum salary, he said then-opponent Jennifer McCormick’s $60,000 minimum wasn’t enough. He has said that schools should dedicate more of their classroom funding that currently goes to facilities and overhead costs to salaries instead.

Other Republican leaders have highlighted a 2024 report showing that the average teacher salary in Indiana has reached $60,000, without commenting on whether they will move to raise the minimum.

Rather than seeking a new minimum salary, the Indiana State Teachers Association is advocating for salaries to align with inflation in order to close what the organization describes as a pay gap with other professions.

The teachers association and Braun are also pushing for parental leave for teachers, with the union advocating for 12 weeks of paid leave.

Property tax funding for schools might be capped

Braun’s priorities also include capping property tax increases at 2% for certain residents and at 3% for others, and restricting new property tax referendums to general elections and not primaries. Both of those proposals could affect funding for traditional public and some charter schools.

Republican lawmakers have also said property tax relief is a priority. But they’ve also expressed concern about the impact such changes could have on local government agencies like school districts, which supplement state aid with property taxes.

Raising state funding could make it less necessary for districts to levy referendums, Democratic lawmakers have countered.

“We want to make sure we appropriate state dollars to education so that governments don’t have to keep raising property taxes,” said House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta.

One other factor to watch is a possible expansion of a 2023 law that required school districts in four counties to share some property tax dollars with charter schools.

Child care and pre-K face funding cliff

In a December budget committee hearing, representatives of the Family and Social Services Administration said the end of federal COVID aid could mean over 25,000 families will lose funding for child care unless the state supplements the funding.

The department already in December implemented a waitlist for families new to the Indiana Child Care Development Fund and On My Way Pre-K vouchers. At an average of $7,000 per child, the programs need an additional $140 million allocation just to support the families currently enrolled.

Samuel Snideman, vice president of government relations for United Way, said that funding the state’s child care programs creates a ripple effect.

“There’s an enormous economic multiplier that comes from investing in child care, because it’s what allows families to go to work and create tax revenue for you,” Snideman said.

Earlier this year, Republican leaders rejected calls from Democrats to establish universal preschool, especially as a means to improve early literacy.

Curriculum cost transparency considered

In 2023, Indiana abolished textbook and curriculum fees for families at public schools, as well as for families from low-income backgrounds whose students attend private schools.

The state reimbursed districts an average of $158.21 per student, according to the Department of Education, for a total allocation of around $159 million to public schools and $900,000 to private schools. But some school districts have reported a shortfall, requiring them to cover the total fees with their general budgets.

State leaders have said they want to bring more transparency to textbook and curriculum fees with a dashboard to allow comparisons of costs between school districts.

Schools need funding for students with disabilities, English learners

In budget hearings in December, Jenner highlighted the growth in Indiana’s English learner population, which has doubled since 2016-17 to more than 103,000 students this school year. It’s the fastest-growing student population in the state, according to Jenner.

But Jenner said it’s not just the growth of the population, but students’ academic needs: English learner and Hispanic students have shown ongoing academic decline even as other populations have recovered since COVID.

The number of students in special education has also grown in Indiana, along with both the per-pupil costs and the special education excess funding that covers services that schools can’t provide.

Help sought for summer school funding

The Department of Education has signaled that it may seek help from the state legislature to prioritize its funding for summer school, especially as a new third grade reading law goes into effect that will require more students to take reading courses over the summer.

Last year, over $4 million of the department’s $18 million allocation for summer school was spent on physical, health, and wellness education. Going forward, state leaders have indicated that they may want to reprioritize those dollars.

Department officials also said they may seek continued funding for the Summer Learning Labs program. The program was funded in part by federal relief dollars that have now expired.

ISTA highlights counseling for student mental health

Ongoing student mental health needs along with the state’s new diploma requirements mean more work for Indiana counselors, according to a report on the profession. Advocates say it’s critical not just to hire more counselors, but to reduce the tasks that counselors are responsible for.

Both the Indiana State Teachers Association and the Indiana Counselors Association want counselors to have fewer non-counseling tasks, such as attendance and proctoring duties.

Senate Education Chair Jeff Raatz said he would bring forward a bill to reduce some of those responsibilities, possibly by allowing schools to hire community members to do tasks like lunch monitoring. Raatz earlier this year co-sponsored a failed bill to allow chaplains to work as counselors in public schools, but did not indicate that the proposal would be renewed in 2025.

Other proposals to watch

Greater accountability for schools that don’t report violence against school staff, a priority this year for ISTA.
Cuts to the Frank O’Bannon Scholarship already proposed by the Commission on Higher Education. Lawmakers must approve these or add money to the pot.
A proposal to deregulate education by holding schools accountable for outcomes, rather than inputs, per Behning, the House Education Committee chair.
More transportation sharing between traditional public, charter, and private schools.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Text with Chalkbeat for updates on the Indiana legislative session

2024-12-19T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Keep updated on the latest education news coming from the Indiana legislative session by texting with Chalkbeat Indiana.

Each year, the lawmakers meet to create laws and policies around education in the state. In recent years, they’ve discussed and passed sweeping laws on what students learn and how their teachers teach, literacy, absenteeism, high school diploma requirements, and more.

Plus, legislators adopt the state budget every two years. It includes funding for public schools as well as vouchers for students to attend private schools. The 2025 session is a budget year.

So Chalkbeat Indiana launched Session Syllabus, a texting service that helps you stay in the know on big education issues and laws moving through the legislature.

Sign up by submitting your phone number in the form below to get texts about once per week from Chalkbeat reporter Aleksandra Appleton with updates on key legislation affecting schools and students. Or you can text the word SESSION to (317) 648-5331 to sign up.

You can also text back with your questions about bills, issues, and the legislative process and we’ll try and track down the answer for you.

We also offer text updates from Indianapolis Public Schools meetings — sign up for those here.

MJ Slaby is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

It’s official: Indiana students will have new graduation requirements

2024-12-11T19:03:11+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Indiana students could have new high school diploma requirements as early as next year after a State Board of Education vote Wednesday.

The state’s new graduation rules offer three pathway seals that students could earn on top of a base diploma. The pathways lead either to enrollment in college, employment, or enlistment in the military. The rules also allow students to complete more work experience or more rigorous academic requirements to earn a second “plus” tier of each seal.

The board’s vote came after months of controversy over the state’s plan to overhaul existing graduation requirements. A first draft of that plan would have required more students to complete work experience in high school as part of the state’s push to bring more career training to grades 10-12.

But in August, the Department of Education scrapped that version of the proposal in favor of the revision featuring the three pathways.

These changes addressed many of the criticisms from parents, educators, and the state’s top colleges and universities that the original plan would have left students unprepared for higher education.

The revamped diploma requirements will go into effect for all Indiana students by 2028-29, but schools could adopt the revised requirements as early as 2025-26.

The final version approved by the board Wednesday cleaved closely to the state’s second draft from August, with minor tweaks to emphasize students’ options for meeting each pathway’s requirements.

By offering more flexibility, education officials hope to encourage more students to develop a post-graduation plan, especially as data indicates a spike in absenteeism in high school, and stagnant college enrollment rates.

“The vast majority of what we hear in focus groups from students is that they don’t see the value,” Jenner said. “So how might we better support them, depending on their unique goals and aspirations, support them into their next step, so that they most certainly see the value?”

No changes were made to the core credits students will be required to earn, despite lingering concerns from educators that foreign language, fine arts, and world history have been de-emphasized compared to the current graduation requirements.

Rather than requiring five credits of directed electives that include fine arts, world language, and career technical education, the new diploma will require students to earn 12 personalized electives, encouraging them to align those courses to their readiness seals.

Education officials have pointed out that Indiana does not currently require world language courses other than for students earning the Academic Honors diploma. Students wishing to earn the new Honors Enrollment seal will still have to complete four world language credits.

For fine arts, Jenner said she would encourage districts to consider creating local graduation pathways that emphasize performing arts. She also said students may use fine arts in the updated requirements to demonstrate communication, work ethic, or other skills.

Some of the other key changes from the August draft include:

Requiring 75 hours of work experience for students who want to earn the Honors Plus Enrollment seal, rather than 100 hours. This change was made because the state’s CTE requirements are in 75-hour increments.
No longer requiring college-bound students to pass the exams related to their Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, or Cambridge courses.
Requiring 150 work hours for students who want to earn the Honors Employment seal, rather than 100 hours. (Students wishing to earn the Honors Plus Employment seal still need 650 hours of work experience in an apprenticeship or other opportunity related to their intended career path.)
Additional ways that students can earn the Honors Employment seal, including through a locally approved graduation pathway, or through a work opportunity paid for through Career Scholarship Accounts.
Additional ways that students can earn the Honors Plus Enlistment seal, including acceptance to a service academy, or enrolling in collegiate-level ROTC.

The graduation requirements also now specify that students can pivot between enrollment, employment, and enlistment pathways as needed. Students who wish to graduate early must also complete a seal.

The final draft of the plan earned support from a long list of organizations and universities, including the groups representing Indiana teachers, principals, superintendents, and school boards.

“If we … say we’ll just keep doing what we’ve done with the Core 40 and not change anything, then we believe we are missing a golden opportunity for our students,” said Steve Baker, a member of the Indiana Association of School Principals.

In a letter submitted to the Department of Education, the Indiana School Counselor Association, whose members have expressed concern about the increased workload for counselors to manage these new pathways, called the final draft of the diplomas a “positive step forward.”

The organization also called for a statewide system to track students completing diploma requirements and seals.

The new diploma rules now need signatures from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and either Gov. Eric Holcomb or Mike Braun, the governor-elect, once he takes office next month.

By early next year, education officials also have plans to roll out lists of courses, work-based learning opportunities, and credentials that students could use to meet the requirements. Jenner said the department will also seek during the next legislative session to align school funding with the new seals, so that schools will be incentivized to help students earn a seal.

Later in 2025, the department intends to seek proposals to develop a counseling tool to help students choose a pathway and measure their progress through it.

Education officials also said they’ll seek flexibility on who can teach high school and college courses, as well as a new accountability system aligned to the diploma requirements.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Student mental health needs are growing. Indiana school counselors are overworked. Will the legislature help?

2024-11-25T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Doreen Waldbieser, a school counselor in Vigo County, stepped to the microphone Nov. 8 at a Department of Education hearing on diplomas and began alphabetically listing her counseling duties:

Attend active shooter training. Analyze transcripts. Answer emails and phone calls.

Change schedules. Conduct screenings. Connect students to assistance.

She didn’t get past the M’s before her speaking time ran out.

Her point to policymakers was that even before the state’s new graduation requirements take effect, Indiana’s school counselors are already stretched too thin.

A new report on the profession in Indiana found that many counselors agree.

Student mental health needs are consistently higher since the pandemic and school counselors say they have less time to spend with students, according to the 2024-25 Indiana School Counselor Survey. To blame, they said, are growing lists of tasks like test and attendance monitoring and higher-than-average caseloads — Indiana has one counselor for every 351 students, higher than the recommended ratio of 1-to-250.

As lawmakers prepare to meet for the 2025 legislative session, they’re poised to again consider a proposal requiring counselors spend at least 60% of their time working with students. Other suggestions from counselors include putting the nationally recommended ratio into law, or funding more pipeline programs for teachers to earn counseling degrees. In a budget year, lawmakers could consider funding proposals, but already face a laundry list of K-12 education priorities.

Senate Bill 141, sponsored by Oldenburg Republican Sen. Jean Leising in 2024, set a threshold of 60% and then 85% the year after, but the bill didn’t make it through the House. Leising said she intends to bring the proposal forward again next year.

Counselors in the survey said it’s critical that their roles and responsibilities are defined so that they are not “on call for just about anything that needs to be done.”

“Administrators are protective of teacher time and focus on teaching students, but no one is protective of the school counselor role,” one counselor said. “We are expected to be masters of all areas and it just isn’t possible.”

More counselor tasks means less time with students

Today’s high schoolers were in middle school when the pandemic closed school buildings, and they spent a pivotal time in their development in isolation, said Ryan Preci, board chair for the Indiana School Counselors Association and high school counselor coordinator with Indianapolis Public Schools.

The result is an ongoing increase in student mental health needs as noted in the last several years of the counseling survey. This year, more than half of all counselors said that students’ social-emotional needs are higher this school year than last.

“COVID did increase mental health needs but it also shone a light on what was always there,” Preci said.

Simultaneously, counselors’ perception that they have enough time to meet with students has dropped to its lowest level since the survey began in 2011.

On average, counselors this year spent around 69% of their time providing a mix of direct services, like meeting face-to-face with students, and indirect counseling services, like parent and teacher conferences. Another 16% was spent on program management, and 15% was spent on non-counseling duties, which include test proctoring and arrival and dismissal duties.

Preci said counselors’ focus should be in three domains: Academics, social-emotional support, and college and career readiness. National recommendations say counselors should spend around 80% of their time on direct and indirect counseling services.

The upcoming changes to Indiana’s graduation requirements could place even more clerical work on counselors’ plates, Waldbieser, the Vigo schools counselor, told the state education board.

With three new proposed diploma seals, each with two levels, counselors will be responsible for individualizing graduation plans, along with verifying students’ work hours and college-level courses, and facilitating the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test.

It’s not yet clear what other changes lawmakers may make. A bill last year would have allowed chaplains to work as school counselors in public schools, providing only secular guidance unless the student’s parent gave permission for nonsecular guidance. The proposal was dropped in Indiana, but has passed in states like Texas.

School leaders’ support for counselors has grown significantly, according to the report, after hitting a low in 2021-22.

Preci said he’d like to see lawmakers put the recommended counselor-to-student ratio into law. Also helpful would be more programs to help teachers earn master’s degrees in counseling in order to make the switch from teaching to counseling.

“We need to fully fund public education in order to do that, in order to provide those services,” Preci said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Pay raises for teachers were a key point in the governor race, but will they be a feature in the next state budget?

2024-11-21T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Campaign promises to raise teacher pay are facing an uncertain future on the floor of the Indiana Statehouse.

Raising base salaries for teachers was a key focus of Gov.-elect Mike Braun’s education platform during the governor’s race. He also supported other professional benefits, such as parental leave, to attract and retain more educators.

But anxiety about the state budget may be a roadblock to raises and other benefits. Lawmakers predict less revenue than in recent years, and priority could be given to funding expansion of school choice programs and programs that relied on federal pandemic funding.

While Braun has not stated a target minimum salary, he said in an October debate that opponent Jennifer McCormick’s $60,000 minimum was “too modest.” Raising base salaries was the second point of his education agenda, after universal school choice.

His transition team said in mid-November that policy details are expected in the next few weeks.

Democratic Rep. Sheila Klinker said she plans to again introduce a bill to raise salary minimums for public school teachers to $60,000.

Otherwise, there’s little indication of organized support for a higher new minimum.

House Speaker Todd Huston and Republican leaders have not indicated whether pay raises are on the agenda.

Instead, Republican statehouse leaders have pointed to this year’s Indiana Teacher Compensation report that shows average teacher salaries in Indiana rose just above $60,000 in 2023-24. The lowest salary reported that year was $40,000, and the highest was $110,000.

“This is welcome news as we’ve worked hard to help local school districts prioritize teacher pay and set spending targets to ensure more dollars reach the classroom,” Huston said in a statement. “We’ll continue to prioritize K-12 education during the upcoming budget session.”

About half of all teachers would see a raise if a $60,000 minimum was enacted.

In a statement, the Indiana State Teachers Association also did not specify a new salary base, but said the state “must address the growing teacher shortage by making meaningful investments in public schools, which will translate to competitive salaries that reflect educators’ vital work.”

The organization plans to release its legislative priorities later this month.

“Our state’s educators are the backbone of our communities, shaping the future for students across Indiana,” the statement said. “Ensuring fair and competitive compensation is not just about valuing their work—it’s essential to recruiting and retaining the qualified teachers and support staff our students need to succeed.”

Raising minimum salaries for teachers

Indiana last set minimum salaries for public school teachers at $40,000 in the 2021-23 budget following recommendations from the state’s 2020 Teacher Compensation Commission report. School districts throughout the state met the minimum salary goal earlier this year, according to the newest data.

Notably, the 2020 report said that once minimum salaries were in place, they should be indexed to inflation “to ensure starting salaries remain competitive in the future.” It said that average salaries of $60,000 would have made Indiana pay competitive in 2018-19.

Some lawmakers already are planning to introduce bills to increase salaries.

In 2024, Klinker sponsored House Bill 1037 to raise teacher salary minimums to $60,000, but the bill was not considered during a non-budget year.

Klinker said what concerns her most are reports of experienced teachers leaving for higher paying jobs outside of education. In one case, a teacher at Jefferson High School in Lafayette left for a supervisor position at the post office paying $80,000 a year, she said. In another, a teacher found her colleague packing her classroom; the other teacher was not planning to return after fall break.

“We’re losing really good people because they don’t see a future in teaching,” Klinker said. “They’re going into healthcare and other areas where they can make a decent living.”

How to fund any potential raises has been a key question for policymakers.

Klinker said lawmakers must earmark more base funding for K-12 education to ensure that smaller and rural school districts can keep up with higher minimum salaries.

In the October debate, McCormick said pay raises could be funded by redirecting the funds that private schools receive from the state through programs like vouchers.

Meanwhile, Braun, who supports expanding vouchers, pointed to an average of $245,000 for classroom maintenance

“If you’re putting that much into buildings and maintenance and upkeep and you’re not getting the most important thing right – which is teacher pay and benefits — to me, 60,000 is way too modest,” Braun said at the October debate.

Improving teacher retention via parental leave, master’s scholarships

Pay raises may not be the only proposal under consideration to improve teacher recruitment and retention.

Braun’s education platform includes a proposal to offer teachers professional benefits like new parent leave.

Paid parental leave has been a legislative priority for ISTA in years past; in 2023, Senate Bill 488 would have provided that for school employees, but the bill did not get a hearing.

Klinker said she’d like to see more funding for programs that allow teachers to earn a master’s degree at no cost to them, as well as funding for guaranteed raises for teachers who complete post-graduate work.

“I want to see them not just stay in the profession but bring young people into the profession,” Klinker said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Indiana bet big on tutoring for academic recovery. Will lawmakers save the programs when federal funds expire?

2024-11-19T12:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Thousands of Indiana students. Hundreds of thousands of hours in reading and math tutoring. And millions of dollars in funding.

Those add up to tutoring and intervention programs that have helped Indiana students recover from COVID-related learning loss. Now the programs — funded by federal COVID relief money — could end if Indiana lawmakers don’t make room for them in the state budget.

With the expiration of the federal funds this year, the state has to decide if its programs are worth saving as non-state funded tutoring programs also struggle for funds.

It’s not yet clear how high of a priority the programs will be in a budget session where lawmakers are expected to debate pay raises for teachers, expansions of voucher programs, and funding for K-12 schools, along with non-education priorities.

The Indiana Department of Education has indicated it would evaluate the academic impact of tutoring programs such as summer labs and learning grants as it seeks state, philanthropic, and existing funds to sustain and expand the programs.

“We’re only going to ask the General Assembly to sustain what’s working,” said Secretary of Education Katie Jenner at Wednesday’s State Board of Education meeting.

Tutoring programs combat learning loss

Several programs aimed at helping students make up for learning loss are now shrinking or facing an uncertain future, including:

Circle City Readers served 500 students in Indianapolis, with reading tutors at 10 schools providing tutoring three to four times per week to a small group of students during intervention time. The program was paid for by federal COVID aid through the Indianapolis Office of Education Innovation; the city needs another source of funding to continue the program beyond this year.
Indianapolis Public Schools offered several tutoring programs funded by its federal ESSER dollars, including free, virtual after-school tutoring to all students who wanted it, as well as virtual tutoring during the school day at 24 school sites. The programs scaled back at the beginning of this school year.
Indiana Learns offers grants of up to $1,000 to students from low-income backgrounds who are not proficient in reading and math, allowing them to schedule and pay for tutoring through vetted organizations. Operated by The Mind Trust, the ESSER-funded program has seen 23,000 students participate. Families have until Dec. 20 to enroll in the program and schedule tutoring sessions through March 2025, the next state testing window.
Another ESSER-funded program started to combat learning loss after the pandemic, the Indy Summer Learning Labs, takes place at school and community sites during the summer. Its focus on summer acceleration in larger classroom settings differentiates it from tutoring programs, but will also require sustained funding from the state to continue operating and expanding.

While the funding for each varies, the latter two are state programs that could be funded in the upcoming budget.

Each of the programs has been linked to academic gains for the students who participated. Students participating in the Indy Summer Learning Labs, along with the program’s new sites outside Marion County, have seen double-digit growth in reading and math on assessments given as part of the labs.

Such a report is not yet available for Indiana Learns, according to the Mind Trust, which operates both the summer labs and the tutoring grant program.

In a presentation to the State Board of Education Wednesday, Mind Trust CEO Brandon Brown noted that preliminary data for the grants shows the greatest gains in math and for students who attend regularly, as well as Hispanic and English learner students.

“The students I spoke to, when it comes to tutoring, were as excited as they could be about getting that extra support,” Jenner said during the presentation.

In-school tutoring is most effective, researchers say

When considering which programs to fund, Indiana should consider what research says about high-impact tutoring programs, said Nancy Waymack, director of research partnerships and policy for Stanford University’s National Student Support Accelerator, which provides resources for districts implementing tutoring programs.

High-impact tutoring is delivered one-on-one or in small groups by consistent and well-trained tutors. It happens during the school day up to five days a week, integrated with classroom instruction.

Indiana Learns requires parents to apply for the grant and then schedule and bring their children to lessons. The grant expanded in 2023 to allow tutoring during certain blocks of the school day, such as lunchtime, but it’s not clear how widespread that option is.

Putting the onus on parents is not ideal, researchers said.

“There are the pressures of everyday life and if something is at the top of the list and not this, it may get bumped down,” Waymack said. “We found it to be more effective when it’s part of the educational program, so students who need it have it.”

After-school, summer, and other out-of-school programs don’t work as well as tutoring during the school day because students may not show up consistently, said Amanda Neitzel, director of research at ProvenTutoring from the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University.

Programs that require families to opt in also risk furthering inequity, because the families who sign up likely would have found tutoring anyway. And with a variety of providers, it’s not clear how much tutoring a $1,000 grant can buy, she said.

Going forward, Neitzel said states and school districts should strive to make tutoring part of the school day, integrated with a strong in-class curriculum.

Research is mixed on whether tutoring leads to sustained gains after the intervention has ended, but Netizel said there are other concerns with ending the programs after ESSER funding runs out.

“A lot of kids have not caught back up, and we have not addressed the other factors that led to kids not being proficient even before the pandemic,” Neitzel said. “You can’t tutor your way out of that.”

After ESSER, there are ways to sustain tutoring programs, Waymack said.

Some schools and districts are adding tutoring to their multi-tiered systems of support so intervention time can be used for tutoring, Waymack said. On a larger scale, states like Tennessee have added tutoring dollars to their student funding formula.

Without additional funding, Indiana expects to be able to operate both Indiana Learns and the Summer Learning Labs through next year.

Families can apply for Indiana Learns grants through Dec. 20, but must also schedule tutoring sessions through March by that deadline.

Regional organizations can apply to host a summer learning lab in 2025 by Nov. 22.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

What Indiana lawmakers said about the state budget and property tax reform ahead of the 2025 session

2024-11-18T19:08:16+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Uncertainty about Indiana’s budget marked the unofficial start of the 2025 legislative session this week — and comes at a particularly bad time for schools.

Legislative leaders agreed at a Monday legislative preview event with the Indiana Chamber of Commerce that the state will likely have less revenue than in recent past years, given factors like the end of its pandemic relief funding and a Medicaid shortfall.

For schools already grappling with the end of the federal pandemic relief money, that could mean help isn’t coming from the state to save a host of ESSER-funded programs, from academic recovery efforts to background checks for volunteers.

Lawmakers’ decisions for the 2025-27 biennial budget will determine how much money is available for base K-12 funding and programs like tutoring and summer school, as well as whether teachers will see higher salary minimums and whether the state’s near-universal voucher program expands. Leaders did not signal either way whether base funding for K-12 schools would increase or decrease.

Speaking at the event, Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray and House Speaker Todd Huston said lawmakers’ priority is passing a balanced budget with potentially less funding.

House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta agreed there may be more uncertainty during the next biennial budget, especially with the end of COVID relief money.

“When they say there’s no money, there may not actually be any money this year,” GiaQuinta said.

The December revenue forecast will inform much of the budget-making process in the spring, and Republican leaders will likely preview more of their priorities on Tuesday for Organization Day, the ceremonial start of the 2025 session, which will officially begin in January.

Property tax reform could impact school referendums

Further complicating the funding question for schools are lawmakers’ steps to limit property tax referendums, which Indiana school districts rely on to supplement state dollars for salaries and programs. The referendums also fund construction and safety improvement projects.

Governor-elect Mike Braun has made property tax reform a centerpiece of his agenda, including limiting property tax referendums to general election years, capping tax bill growth, and changing the referendum language to emphasize a total levy.

Referendums can currently be held in any primary or general election. Earlier this year, House Bill 1376 sought to restrict referendums to general election years, but it did not pass the Senate.

But Bray said larger property tax reforms will likely take more time than just one legislative session.

“I don’t know that you’ll see really big changes happen this year, maybe some tweaks to kind of help people feel less of a pinch than they have,” Bray said.

GiaQuinta cautioned against drastic changes that could affect governing bodies like school districts.

“Whenever we fool around with these things, we’re affecting local governments and their ability to do the things they have to do,” he said.

No universal preschool, more high school internships

Huston and Bray highlighted the state’s moves to bring career training to high school students, such as through a scholarship account program that provides students state funds to do internships and apprenticeships at outside companies.

New graduation requirements expected to be approved next month also place an emphasis on working while in high school.

But Huston also said the next steps require more investment from industry.

“We need more businesses to step up and provide opportunities to kids, internships, apprenticeships, those kinds of things,” Huston said. “We can’t rely on the workforce to show up at our door.”

GiaQuinta highlighted the need for more initiatives to help Indiana students attend college and stay in the state after graduation. A 2022 study from the Chamber of Commerce found that around 40% of college graduates leave Indiana within one year.

He also said education is the ultimate path forward to economic development.

“Businesses are going to go where there’s trained workers to the jobs that are available,” GiaQuinta said.

GiaQuinta reemphasized Democrats’ push for a universal preschool program.

The Chamber has historically advocated for more child care and early education programs as a means of economic development. The organization plans to release its advocacy priorities in January.

Huston said lawmakers began the process last year of reducing government regulations for child care providers that have prevented both centers and home providers from opening. This year, he said lawmakers may consider looking at the requirements of early education degrees, as well as implementing more programs to help people through licensure requirements.

“We need a lot more capacity. The best way the government can help with that is really look and see where we’re constraining it,” Huston said.

But Huston said that employers should not look to the state to solve their child care needs.

“The state’s not going to fund all universal pre-k,” he said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

2024 election results: Indiana voters elect Republican Mike Braun for governor

2024-11-06T14:31:48+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Republican Mike Braun has won the Indiana governor’s election, with the Associated Press calling the race after the polls closed at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Braun faced Democrat Jennifer McCormick, the former state superintendent of public instruction, as well as Libertarian software engineer Donald Rainwater.

With 93% of Indiana precincts reporting, unofficial results Wednesday afternoon showed Braun with 54.2% of the vote to McCormick’s 41.2% and Rainwater’s 4.6%.

Braun, a businessman and U.S. senator since 2019, previously served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 2014 to 2017.

With Braun leading the state, the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly likely has a clear path to expanding Indiana’s voucher program to all families by removing the final qualification — the income limit. The program is already nearly universal.

On Wednesday morning, Braun announced his transition team would include Betsy Wiley, president and CEO of the Institute for Quality Education, a school choice advocacy organization, as well as prominent conservative attorney Jim Bopp known for his anti-abortion model legislation.

The team is led by transition chair Victor Smith, who served as Indiana secretary of commerce under former Gov. Mike Pence, as well as transition director Joshua Kelley, Braun’s chief of staff in the U.S. Senate.

“Now is the time when the real work begins, where we can show Hoosiers the type of stewards we will be with all the trust placed in us. I am honored to have assembled such an exceptional team of individuals who bring a wealth of experience, expertise, and a shared commitment to serving the people of Indiana,” Braun said in a statement.

Teacher pay, recruitment in Braun’s education plan

Braun’s education platform also includes raising pay for teachers, but does not provide a target average dollar figure. He also champions cutting “red tape for out-of-state teachers” to become licensed in Indiana, as well as using targeted recruitment efforts to improve staffing shortages at Indiana schools.

The other points of his platform are largely in line with laws that lawmakers have passed in recent years, including limiting cell phone use in class and notifying parents if a student requests a name or pronoun change.

In culture war issues, lawmakers may have another ally in Lieutenant Governor-elect Micah Beckwith.

A pastor and small business owner from Hamilton County, Beckwith was instrumental in passing a controversial policy that moved books from the teen section to the adult section at the Hamilton East Public Library in 2022.

Beckwith was not Braun’s pick for lieutenant governor, but beat out Julie McGuire at the Republican convention, where delegates chose him over McGuire.

McCormick conceded the race around 10 p.m. Tuesday night, writing in a statement that though she was “disappointed” in the outcome, she was also “confident that Hoosier hospitality and ingenuity will ensure that Indiana’s best days remain ahead of us.”

In a statement, the Indiana School Boards Association congratulated Braun on his victory, noting that he is the first former school board member to be elected Indiana governor since Samuel Ralston in 1912. Braun was elected to the Greater Jasper school board in 2004.

“We are committed to working with the new administration and the Indiana General Assembly to achieve our common goals on improving education and student success,” the statement from ISBA said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

2024 unofficial election results: Voters poised to approve one district’s referendum, reject two others

2024-11-06T14:17:50+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Three Indiana school districts are seeking approval from voters for new or renewed property tax increases that will help support teacher pay, bus transportation, and academic programs.

Early unofficial results Tuesday night showed voters were poised to approve the referendum in Lake Station Community Schools and reject referendums in Kokomo School Corporation and Twin Lakes Community Schools.

It’s the first time that Kokomo and Twin Lakes schools have sough referendums, while Lake Station Community Schools asked voters to approve an extension of its 2017 tax rate. At least one district — Twin Lakes — says it would face teacher and staff layoffs if its referendum fails.

Operating referendum revenue supplements state funding for the costs of staffing schools and running programs and transportation. Other kinds of referendums are available for construction and for school safety initiatives, but no districts are seeking these this year.

Notably, Lake Station is subject to a 2023 law requiring certain districts to share property tax revenue with charter schools. If its referendum passes, Lake Station will share around $28,000 with charter schools.

We’ll update this story again with the results of each district’s referendum. Polls closed at 6 p.m. Eastern Time Nov. 5.

Kokomo School Corp.

Property tax rate: 0.26 per $100 of assessed value for eight years.

Annual revenue: $6,166,000

Total revenue over eight years: $49,328,000

Unofficial results as of 9:15 a.m. Wednesday:

Yes: 4,930

No: 10,262

Lake Station Community Schools

Renewal of a property tax rate previously approved in 2017: $0.54 per $100 of assessed value for eight years.

Annual revenue: $1,412,824

Total revenue over eight years: $11,302,592

Unofficial results as of 9:15 a.m. Wednesday:

Yes: 1,586

No: 1,051

Twin Lakes School Corp.

Property tax rate: $0.25 per $100 of assessed value for eight years.

Annual revenue: $3,500,000

Total revenue over eight years: $28,000,000

Unofficial results as of 9:15 a.m. Wednesday:

White County

Yes: 1,743

No: 3,350

Carroll County

Yes: 447

No: 958

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Voter guide: Indiana governor candidates discuss absenteeism, literacy, and teacher pay

2024-10-07T21:34:43+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Three candidates are running for Indiana governor and a chance to shape education policy in the state — Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, Democrat Jennifer McCormick, and Libertarian Donald Rainwater.

Their views differ significantly, particularly on questions of education funding that are likely to take center stage when the next legislative session starts in January.

While Braun has indicated support for universal access to private school vouchers, Rainwater, a software engineer, supports universal ESAs, which would give families state funding for the classes and activities of their choosing, not just private school tuition.

Meanwhile, McCormick, the former superintendent of public instruction, has pointed out that choice funding has siphoned money from public schools, which enroll 90% of Hoosier students.

We asked the three candidates for Indiana governor to answer seven questions about their plans for education, including how they would tackle absenteeism and improve teacher retention and recruitment.

Rainwater and McCormick answered our questions, while Braun’s campaign provided a link to his education platform in response. Where relevant, Chalkbeat included points from his website that answered our questions.

Early voting begins on Oct. 8. Early voting sites can be found here.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Chronic absenteeism: With student absences still high, Indiana lawmakers seek new solutions

2024-09-26T20:08:12+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

More counselors, attendance liaisons, and resources for schools.

More positive engagement for students, and greater accountability for parents.

Those are some of the suggestions to get more Indiana students to come to school every day heard by the Interim Study Committee on Education at its meeting Thursday. The panel is considering recommendations on chronic absenteeism and student discipline before the legislature reconvenes in January.

Though chronic absenteeism rates have declined since hitting a high in 2022, the rate of Indiana students who miss 18 days or more in a school year remains much higher than before the pandemic. And Indiana Department of Education data has linked chronic absenteeism to more suspensions and expulsions and worse academic performance.

Earlier this year, lawmakers passed a bill requiring schools to hold attendance conferences with the parents of truant elementary students, and refer those whose children’s attendance does not improve to local prosecutors. But the authors of the bill conceded that more work must be done to address absenteeism among older students. That led to legislative leaders assigning the topic to an interim study committee.

Recommendations made by interim committees often signal what kind of legislation lawmakers will bring forward at the next legislative session. The next meeting of the committee is not yet scheduled.

Leaders highlight counselors’ role in cutting chronic absenteeism

At the committee’s inaugural meeting, lawmakers heard testimony from advocates and school districts about the need for more school counselors and attendance liaisons — and funding for both types of positions — to help address the reasons that individual students are missing school.

Officials with New Castle schools, a district of around 2,900 students east of Indianapolis, said the district leveraged a $4.3 million Next Generation School Improvement Grant to add a secondary school attendance liaison to help improve absenteeism.

Indiana’s statewide counselor ratio is one for every 694 students. But New Castle maintains a 255:1 student-to-counselor ratio, according to Superintendent Matthew Shoemaker, who said the positions are critical to identifying the challenges students are facing and connecting them to resources.

The district’s attendance liaison Katie Smith told lawmakers that she makes between 30 to 40 phone calls per day to the families of absent students to find out why they’re not at school.

The reasons range from simple — like missing the bus — to complex socioeconomic issues, like a student’s need to work or watch younger siblings, Smith said. Meanwhile, positive engagement at school, like a connection to a teacher or a counselor, motivates students to attend.

Smith said the district has both reduced absenteeism and improved the share of students who have more than a 94% attendance rate. The district’s chronic absenteeism rate fell from around 25% in 2023 to 19.5% in 2024.

The district would not have been able to add the attendance liaison position without the Next Generation grant awarded in 2022, officials said in response to questions from lawmakers.

Funding could also support technological improvements, like for a platform that automatically highlights which students need a call or letter home about their attendance, said James Taylor, director of student and social services at Warren Township schools.

Some schools have contracted with outside organizations to provide similar support services. For example, representatives of City Connects said their program has placed coordinators at around 60 schools in Indiana who identify external factors that may help explain why students are missing school.

The program, which works with Marian University’s Center for Vibrant Schools, is funded through a combination of $20 million in federal funding, $3 million in state funding, and philanthropy.

Panel discusses parent, student roles in missing school

Lawmakers and public speakers also discussed whether COVID has led to a cultural shift in how families view school attendance, with more families taking vacation during school time.

Democratic Rep. Ed Delaney suggested that chronically absent students and their parents could be restricted from extracurricular activities like sports and performing arts. But GOP committee chair Rep. Bob Behning noted that such activities often help motivate students to attend school in the first place.

Some speakers told lawmakers that their first attempt to address absenteeism through the new law enacted through SEA 282 has had unintended consequences. In some school districts, students with disabilities who miss school for doctors’ appointments have been told they must provide documentation for every visit.

And frequent phone calls home sometimes anger parents, said Union Elementary School Principal Katie Smith.

“We need to set clear expectations and continue to partner with parents, or our attendance rates will never improve,” Smith said.

Amy Boone, principal of Southport High School in Perry Township, said the tight timeline in which schools must hold meetings with parents means that parents frequently can’t attend.

While the new law has drawn more attention to attendance and led some students to attend more frequently, some parents have reacted by withdrawing their children from district schools and enrolling them in virtual schools or home schools, Boone said. The school uses its federal Title I funding for the costs of holding parent meetings.

“The student will be the main stakeholder in ensuring attendance,” Boone said. “Giving them reasons not to miss out on school will ultimately be the deciding factor.”

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Vouchers nearly universal at half of Indiana private schools that take them, data shows

2024-09-24T11:00:00+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Voucher use has soared in Indiana since lawmakers made nearly every student in the state eligible, with more than 90% of students at more than half of all participating schools using a voucher during the 2023-24 school year, a Chalkbeat analysis found.

That was true in just 11% of private schools before lawmakers made the Indiana Choice Scholarship available to nearly every student in Indiana by relaxing income eligibility and removing other requirements to participate in the program.

Since lawmakers approved the expansion last year, the number of schools where 100% of students receive a voucher rose from just one in 2022-23 to 28 in 2023-24. Last year, in 178 of the 349 private schools that accept vouchers, more than 90% of students enrolled used a voucher to pay for tuition.

The recent growth in the share of students using vouchers has remade the scope of Indiana’s school choice program. Instead of being limited initiatives allowing students to leave struggling public schools, it’s increasingly a means for all families to choose their preferred educational settings.

Among supporters of choice, there is disagreement about the shift. Some say it proves just how popular and justified vouchers are.

“It’s phenomenal. In some ways, it’s predictable,” said Betsy Wiley of the Institute for Quality Education, a school choice advocacy group in Indiana, about the growth in voucher use. “In the years where eligibility has been expanded, you’ve seen greater growth.”

But others worry about costs and say the program has moved too far from its original purpose.

“A few of us feel strongly that this movement is about leveling the playing field for low income kids and working class kids. There’s an argument that these are taxpayer funds and we should limit that to a purpose that’s necessary, for kids who could not make those choices without it,” said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education policy think tank. “I do think I’ve lost that argument.”

Meanwhile, critics of vouchers say the result isn’t just that Indiana is subsidizing tuition for families who can afford it without state funds, but that the state is doing so at the expense of up to hundreds of millions in funding for public schools.

“It’s the legislature’s obligation to provide for the common school system,” said Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education. “You’re taking the pie and slicing it up.”

Another big change to Indiana school choice could be coming soon. Some Republican leaders are pushing to merge the state’s three voucher tracks into one universal program that would give parents free rein over where to spend state funding.

Universal education choice through incremental expansion

Data from the state released earlier this year indicated that voucher use grew faster than enrollment, suggesting that vouchers were going to families already enrolled at private schools.

A Chalkbeat analysis comparing enrollment data to voucher use data at individual schools shows voucher use has grown at a faster rate than enrollment at the vast majority of schools. (One caveat: Many private schools have populations of just a few dozen students, meaning changes in enrollment and voucher use lead to large jumps in percentages.)

Statewide, around 70,000 students out of the 92,000 enrolled at private schools used a voucher to attend, receiving either the cost of the tuition and fees at their school, or 90% of the per-pupil funding the state gives to their local public schools — whichever is less.

More students receive a voucher worth 90% of their public school funding rather than the full cost of tuition and fees.

At only 13 schools statewide, less than half of all students received a voucher in 2023-24. Not every private school in Indiana participates in the voucher program.

Though private school enrollment has grown, it remains far below that of public schools in Indiana, which enroll over 1 million students.

The growth of the Choice Scholarship is not a surprise to critics or advocates of the program.

The state started with a small voucher pilot program and expanded it incrementally over the last 12 years. But universal access was always the program’s goal, Wiley said.

Both schools and families have driven interest in the Choice Scholarships, which supplement the financial aid package that many private schools offer, Wiley said.

Measuring performance, seeking accountability for private schools

To participate in the Choice Scholarship program, schools must administer Indiana’s statewide tests, including the ILEARN and the IREAD-3. That’s more accountability than what other states require of voucher programs, noted Petrilli.

Accredited private schools are subject to some other state regulations, like the provisions of a literacy law enacted this year that requires them — along with public and charter schools — to offer summer tutoring and to hold back third graders who don’t pass the state reading test. They also must offer the new diplomas currently in development in Indiana.

But they’re excluded from other regulations, like a new law that requires schools to create attendance plans for habitually truant students.

Data from state tests could give Indiana information about which schools should be allowed to open and accept voucher funds, Petrilli said.

Indiana used to restrict private schools’ participation in the voucher program if they consistently scored low on the state’s A-F accountability system. But those grades were essentially frozen for years starting in 2018 before they were replaced by a different system.

The Department of Education will provide the legislature with future accountability recommendations later this year, a spokesperson said.

Average ILEARN scores for the last year show that students at private schools performed better on the tests than students in public schools. But several years of broader studies of vouchers’ effects on student achievement — and other outcomes — show mixed results.

Christopher Lubienski, director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University, said his research has shown that when socioeconomic factors are controlled, public school students outperform their private school peers.

There’s likely no political will to further regulate even private schools with high voucher use, experts said. School choice advocates believe that regulations weigh down publicly governed schools, and would do the same for private schools, Lubienski said.

Moreover, as the popularity of the voucher programs grows, there may be more resistance to change or regulation.

“As they develop more intense constituencies, they develop more of a political force that can help them be shielded from transparency,” Lubienski said. “Historically, what kind of reforms last? The ones that do, they develop a constituency. … It’s not likely to disappear when you have a constituency that depends on it.”

Universal vouchers are also a centerpiece of the education plan from U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican candidate for governor.

The cost and impact of vouchers

But critics like Fuentes-Rohwer of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education say the $439 million price tag for the program in 2023-24 represented a costly diversion of public resources from public schools that the state is constitutionally obligated to fund.

According to the state’s 2023-24 voucher report, if all 70,000 students receiving vouchers had attended public schools, the state would have added over $500 million in public education funding. But most voucher students receiving vouchers have never attended a public school.

“There are so many things you have to go through as a public school system to be transparent,” Fuentes-Rohwer said. “We are very concerned that funding leaves public schools that have the obligation to educate everyone.”

With a rise in the number of schools that have a large voucher population, some predict that private schools may seek the same per-pupil funding as public schools in the future.

Lubienski noted that charter schools were once thought to be able to deliver greater achievement with less funding and regulation, but now are seeking equitable funding.

Petrilli of the Fordham Institute agreed: With less funding, charter schools ultimately couldn’t compete with traditional public schools on teacher salary.

But Wiley of the Institute for Quality Education said her group would not support a push to fund vouchers at 100% of the per-pupil cost that public schools receive. Receiving 90% of public schools’ per-pupil funding is the cost of maintaining their individuality and autonomy, she said.

She said she hopes in the next legislative session, the state removes the final requirement for the Choice Scholarship program — that families make no more than 400% of the amount needed to qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program — in order to create a fully universal program.

“The greatest accountability for these schools is that people have to choose to go to them,” said Wiley.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.

Mia Hollie is a data intern at Chalkbeat based in New York City. You can reach Mia at mhollie@civicnews.org.

Cell phone bans: Tell us how it’s going at your school

2024-09-12T13:16:11+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Students are back in class. But their cell phones are probably not.

Before this school year, some Indiana schools may have had restrictions on students’ cell phone use. But now, all schools are now required to have policies banning “any portable wireless device” during class time due to a new state law.

This includes phones and other devices that provide communication between two parties. Districts, including charter schools, must adopt policies banning several types of devices during class time, although there are some exceptions related to health care and emergencies.

Should students have cell phones in class? Indiana just said no — with a few exceptions.

But lawmakers didn’t pass a one-size-fits-all cell phone ban. Each school district must come up with its own policy for exactly how student cell phone bans work.

And that’s where you come in. We want to know how it’s going at your school. Has the ban made a difference? Were there unexpected results? Have schools struggled to implement or enforce the student cell phone ban? Let us know below:

Loading…

If you are having trouble viewing this form, go here.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

Absenteeism in Indiana falls, but oldest and youngest students struggle with attendance the most

2024-09-11T20:19:35+00:00

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

A third of Hoosier high school seniors missed 18 or more days of school last year as Indiana seeks solutions to persistently high rates of absenteeism.

Chronic absenteeism has steadily improved in the state since hitting a high of 21% in 2021-22. The absenteeism rate for the 2022-2023 school year was 19%.

But at around 18% in 2023-24, the rate is still much higher than in 2019-20, when only around 11% of students were chronically absent.

Indiana Department of Education officials presented this year’s attendance data to the State Board of Education Wednesday, along with two new dashboards meant to help determine which students need interventions.

It comes as lawmakers prepare to meet to study the issue of absenteeism and make recommendations for how to improve attendance among older students. A bill passed earlier this year has already mandated that schools meet with the parents of absentee elementary students to address their attendance. Those families whose students don’t improve may face criminal prosecution.

Around 205,000 students were chronically absent in Indiana last year, or enough to fill 2,805 school buses, said John Keller, the department’s chief technology officer. That’s less than the 220,000 who were chronically absent the year before.

“I believe we have turned a corner. These are not insignificant improvements but obviously we have not returned to pre-pandmeic attendance,” Keller said.

Like in previous years, absenteeism continues to be worse in the earliest grades and in high school, when one-quarter of juniors and one-third of seniors miss at least 10% of the school year.

Poor attendance impacts academic performance across all grade levels, department officials said. While 84.2% of students who were not chronically absent passed the state’s third grade reading test, the IREAD-3, just two-thirds of students who were chronically absent did the same.

“[Absenteeism] is a lot higher than it should be when our teachers are working on the foundations with kids,” said Secretary of Education Katie Jenner.

Students who were frequently absent also had significantly lower scores on the ILEARN exam, as well as on the SAT. On the math portion of the ILEARN, for example, just 18% of chronically absent students scored proficient or better, compared to 44% of not chronically absent students.

Department officials highlighted a decline in the number of schools with high absenteeism this year. Still, there are 74 schools in Indiana where more than 50% of students are chronically absent, down from 82 last year.

To combat the issue, the department wants to make attendance data more accessible to both schools and members of the public via an online dashboard.

Schools already have access to the dashboard and can see a student’s attendance in real-time, as well as how attendance fluctuates throughout the year. Members of the public will have access to the dashboard beginning next month, according to Keller.

The public dashboard will not offer real-time data, which can change, but instead provide insights from past years from schools and districts across the state.

This week, the department also began testing a pilot version of its Early Warning Dashboard, which uses data from past high school graduates to predict which current students are at risk of not graduating.

The dashboard, which is being piloted by 11 school districts for two months, pulls information on attendance, coursework, and behavior among other factors to help schools determine how to intervene. The dashboard is set to roll out to more schools over this school year.

Its goal is to “provide actionable data for educators and families as they work together to support students most at risk of not graduating,” according to an IDOE press release.

One student highlighted in the pilot program had missed 325 days of school over the course of their educational career, Keller said.

Aleksandra Appleton covers Indiana education policy and writes about K-12 schools across the state. Contact her at aappleton@chalkbeat.org.