Education
Indiana parents, education advocates split over “school choice” budget increases
Dozens of Hoosiers descended upon the Statehouse to call for increased K-12 funding in the next state budget, but much of the testimony heard on Thursday was split over a pending proposal to more than double taxpayer spending on Indiana’s “school choice” voucher program. The Senate School Funding Subcommittee heard more than five hours of […]
Indiana bill seeks to keep vaccination records and school transcripts separate
A debate over Hoosier students’ vaccination records ensued at the Indiana Statehouse Wednesday as lawmakers weighed a bill that seeks to prohibit schools from coupling health and academic documents. Current state law permits schools to include a student’s immunization information with their high school transcript. Sen. Andy Zay, R-Huntington, maintained that doing so is a […]
Mind the Gap: Serving students with special needs despite federal shortages
The U.S. Department of Education estimates that approximately 7.6 million children aged 3 through 21 with disabilities were served through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in Fiscal Year 2022. The number of special needs children eligible for services under IDEA has risen faster than the growth rate of the general population. Nevertheless, in […]
Indiana “school choice” advocates up lobbying efforts for more private, charter school funding
Indiana’s leading “school choice” advocates are mobilizing families at Hoosier private schools and ramping up lobbying efforts to expand the state’s voucher program. The latest push includes a statewide poll and multiple local advocacy events intended to sway the state’s budget writers. The Institute for Quality Education (IQE), an Indianapolis-based nonprofit that backs the state’s […]
Registration opens for Indiana’s 2023-24 On My Way Pre-K program
Hoosier parents can officially register kids for the state’s On My Way Pre-K program for the 2023-24 school year, state officials announced Monday. The grant-based program provides access to free pre-kindergarten education for Indiana children from low-income families. Children eligible for the upcoming school year must be 4 years old by August 1 and plan […]
GOP bill mandating federal Parents Bill of Rights passed by U.S. House committee
WASHINGTON —- A national “Parents Bill of Rights” is headed for a full U.S. House vote after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce early Thursday approved the measure designed to empower parents to inspect books and other teaching materials in schools. Lawmakers on the committee debated the GOP-backed bill that would federally mandate […]
Charter schools win in proposed Indiana budget amid public advocacy campaign
Charter schools in Indiana could see big gains under the current draft of the next two-year state budget. But the deal could cause long-term losses for traditional public schools, some of which stand to lose millions of dollars needed for teacher raises and other non-classroom expenses. A new funding stream carved into the House Republican […]
First Lady Jill Biden visits Valparaiso
Ivy Tech Community College in Valparaiso welcomed First Lady Jill Biden and other federal officials Monday in a visit highlighting the “affordable pathways to good-paying jobs” at the institutions for higher learning. Biden greeted students and faculty, specifically those involved in renewable energy and technology programs. Both high school and college students had the opportunity […]
Transgender disputes and tax reform dominate first half of the session
While hundreds of bills made it to the half-way point, two major themes rose to the forefront — disputes over transgender and gay youth and a Republican push for tax cuts. LGBTQ+ issues State lawmakers have directed intense legislative focus toward transgender Hoosiers this session — centered on school-age children — with more than two-dozen […]
‘Free’ textbooks? Indiana schools still on the hook for curricular fees under House budget plan
Indiana House Republicans touted that their budget plan would eliminate textbook and curricular fees for Hoosier kids in K-12 public schools. But a deeper look at the GOP-backed proposal shows that local school districts will still be on the hook to pay for those materials. The House GOP budget that advanced to the Senate last […]
There’s still time to do right for students and teachers
We have a crisis on our hands! Last year, Indiana didn’t have enough trained and fully licensed teachers and was forced to provide emergency licenses to 10% of its teacher workforce. This, combined with the thousands of teacher vacancies in the state, is cause for alarm, but not despair. There are real, proven solutions for […]
Senators debate ban on “inappropriate” library materials for minors
What books should Hoosier kids be allowed to read in school? Who decides which texts are “inappropriate” for students? And what say should parents have about removing books from library shelves? Those questions were at the heart of nearly two hours of debate in the Indiana Senate Tuesday as lawmakers weighed a bill that seeks […]