Aleksandra Appleton

1. gently submerge your laptop in the nearest body of water

The Clark County School Board votes 7-0 to hire State Superintendent Jhone Ebert as the district's next superintendent. Ebert had overwhelming support among the voting and nonvoting trustees and community members.

The footprint of Career Scholarship Accounts is growing. Transparency for them is lacking. The two-year old program that connects students to local businesses to provide them work experience is at full capacity, and lawmakers could soon increase its funding. But figuring out how much money ...

Second, @chalkbeat.org Indiana partnered with the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism at IU to find Career Scholarship Accounts are growing in popularity, but answers about specifics on spending are hard to find:
chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

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Why an apparent data error matters for virtual school funding in Indiana Virtual schools would receive a boost in funding under the proposed state budget. But they could receive even more if lawmakers fix an apparent data error. Here’s why.

Base funding is likely to go up for virtual schools in Indiana. But they could also get additional money that's missing from the state budget right now. What we found:

www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

A grant for Indiana families to pay for tutoring will stop sooner than expected. Will it come back? Operators said the popularity and heavy use of the Indiana Learns program led to its early end. They hope it will return next year.

The stop date of this program was a surprise to some educators I spoke to, who expected students would be able to use it until this year's state test.

www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

You’re invited: This storytelling event features stories teachers wish lawmakers knew The theme of the Feb. 25 story slam in Indianapolis is: “Letters to Lawmakers.” It’s co-hosted by Teachers Lounge Indy, Chalkbeat Indiana, and Indy Kids Winning.

There's still time to get your ticket for our story slam tomorrow night. Hear educators share their stories from the classroom.

www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

This is up there with the time that Abbott Elementary read Chalkbeat!!

No proof of citizenship, no public school: GOP state lawmakers target undocumented kids In Plyler v. Doe, the Supreme Court ruled children have a right to attend public schools for free regardless of their immigration status. But GOP legislators in at least five states have introduced bills that could topple that 1982 precedent.

Proof of citizenship to enroll in school? GOP lawmakers eye barriers for undocumented students.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2025/02/08/republican-bills-would-block-kids-without-proof-of-citizenship-from-schools/

You’re invited: This storytelling event features stories teachers wish lawmakers knew The theme of the Feb. 25 story slam in Indianapolis is: “Letters to Lawmakers.” It’s co-hosted by Teachers Lounge Indy, Chalkbeat Indiana, and Indy Kids Winning.

Session has been a lot this year. Let's have a drink and talk education —

www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

Lawmakers may restrict ‘pessimistic views’ of the US in class. Here’s what it means. Indiana senators are poised to pass a bill rooting out DEI in schools. The Senate Education Committee advanced bills about sex ed curriculum and allowing chaplains to work as counselors in public scho...

Controversial education bills about issues like race and sex are back. But this year is different.
More from @aleksappleton.bsky.social ⬇️
www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

Lawmakers may restrict ‘pessimistic views’ of the US in class. Here’s what it means. Indiana senators are poised to pass a bill rooting out DEI in schools. The Senate Education Committee advanced bills about sex ed curriculum and allowing chaplains to work as counselors in public schools. And lawmakers could soon approve a bill designed to eliminate “pessimistic views” of American history.

Lawmakers advance bills on DEI, sex ed, chaplains in schools
https://www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025/02/05/dei-chaplains-in-school-and-sex-ed-bills-advance/

Can you access Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Indiana? Most ZIP codes in Marion County are not served by the program, which provides free books to children. But coordinators in Indiana say they want to achieve statewide coverage by the end of the year.

Our story from August on the library's expansion:

www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2024...

Nolene: Draft budget boosts total education aid, cuts funding for Dolly Parton library Education officials said some budget cuts are necessary this year to increase the funding that supports both public schools and private school vouchers.

The first draft of the state budget has no funding allocated to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which rolled out statewide in Indiana in 2023 and has been slowly expanding.

www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

Exodus Refugee Immigration Center closes amid challenges Exodus Refugee Immigration locked their doors and moved online in response to Gov. Braun's executive order.

Exodus Refugee Immigration locked their doors and moved online in response to Gov. Braun's executive order.

How did Indiana students do on NAEP reading and math tests? Known as “the nation’s report card," the NAEP measures Indiana students’ performance against students in other states. Some groups’ average reading scores matched or exceeded their pre-pandemic levels...

Okay actually one more — while much of the country was waking up to bad NAEP news, there's a little bit of celebration in Indiana, which jumped from 18th to 6th in reading. www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

A-F grades are dead. Long live A-F grades. Indiana has not issued A-F grades to schools since 2018, and in recent years the state moved toward more comprehensive performance measures. But now lawmakers are advancing a bill to bring the grades ...

It has been an incredibly newsy week and it is... Wednesday. So I'm going to post this and then turn around three times and spit. www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

Trump said he likes Indiana schools. Are they meeting his goal of defeating ‘woke’? 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 ...

New from me and @aleksappleton.bsky.social

www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2025...

It truly was

The untapped potential of using your library card to read cooking magazines on Libby for recipes

One reason why so few 8th graders in the poorest schools are ready to take algebra: too much class time spent reviewing old stuff and disciplining students. Two more reasons in my story: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Texas Education Board Backs Bible-Infused Lessons in Public Schools School districts serving more than two million elementary school children would be able to adopt a curriculum that draws on the Bible.

Breaking News: Texas has approved Bible-infused lessons in public schools in an initial vote. The curriculum could become a model for other states under the Trump administration.

What Indiana lawmakers said about funding for education before the 2025 legislative session begins Legislative leaders urged caution on property tax reform, a priority for Governor-elect Mike Braun.

"When they say there’s no money, there may not actually be any money this year."

www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2024...

Would axing the Education Department hurt kids with disabilities? Experts say: It depends Trump has called for abolishing the U.S. Department of Education. How that affects students with disabilities would depend a lot on what happens next.

A federal hearing on special education teacher shortages Friday turned into an impromptu debate on what would happen to kids with disabilities if the U.S. Department of Education were eliminated. www.chalkbeat.org/2024/11/15/t...