Understanding school closings can be challenging. Here is a simple breakdown of common school closings and the requirements for your children.

Keeping order in the classroom on Halloween The arrival of Halloween often sparks excitement among students who eagerly anticipate the festivities and the chance to dress up in costumes. However, most schools choose not to celebrate Hallowee…

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Top education stories from last week: 9/28 – 10/4 The Turning Point machine is not planning on stopping. According to PEN America, Book Bans are rising. The Department of Education has Minnesota in its crosshairs.

Top education stories from last week.

IPS voices opposition to potential “all-charter system” The Indianapolis Public Schools Board of School Commissioners has sent a letter to the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA) outlining its priorities for the future of public education in the city. The board’s letter mostly touched on keeping some democratic oversight, streamlining accountability, sustainable funding and planning for local schools. But it also advised against a potential "all-charter system." Some stakeholders have speculated on the pros and cons of a network of individual charter schools as opposed to traditional school district.

IPS has some thoughts about the all-charter talk.

Top education stories from last week: 9/21 – 9/27 The FAFSA came out early this year. Charter schools might get a financial boost pretty soon. Turning Point won't have a hard time establishing chapters in Oklahoma.

Top education stories from last week.

ACLU Sues Ball State over employee’s firing for social media post The ACLU of Indiana has filed a lawsuit against Ball State University President Geoffrey Mearns, claiming the school violated a former employee’s First Amendment rights by firing her over a private social media post about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death. According to the complaint, Suzanne Swierc, a Ball State employee, posted on her private Facebook account that while Kirk’s death was tragic and she prayed for his soul, it reflected “the hatred, fear, and violence that he sowed.” She also noted that the statement did not excuse his killing.

A fired employee is receiving backup from the ACLU.

Top education stories from last week: 9/14 – 9/20 The Department of Education wants education to be more patriotic. People don't feel great about the state of education. The new Title IX proposal is dead for now.

Top education stories from last week.

Governor Braun threatens teaching licenses over Charlie Kirk posts Indiana Governor Mike Braun is facing backlash after announcing that teachers who made inappropriate social media comments following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk could lose their licenses. Braun said that while free speech must be protected, “calls for political violence are not freedom of speech and should not be tolerated.” He has directed Secretary of Education Katie Jenner to review posts flagged for allegedly celebrating or encouraging violence, citing state laws that allow license suspension for misconduct or immorality.

Teachers may find themselves in hot water if they post the wrong thing on social media.

Top education stories from last week: 9/7 – 9/13 What we know about the shooting so far. One of America's main academic benchmarks raises alarm. Educators could find themselves in trouble if they say the wrong thing.

Top education stories from last week.

Indiana University Bloomington Ranked Among Lowest in Nation for Campus Free Speech Indiana University Bloomington has landed near the bottom of the 2025 College Free Speech Rankings, coming in at No. 255 out of 257 schools. The annual list, released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), gave IU a score of 43.9 out of 100, making it the lowest-ranked public university in the country. The rankings, which surveyed more than 68,000 students nationwide, evaluate campus climate across categories such as openness to controversial ideas, administrative support, and self-censorship.

Students at IU Bloomington don't feel like they have free speech.

Top education stories from last week: 8/31 – 9/6 Florida will move away from vaccine mandates. A school unknowingly allowed a man to check out a student for sex. Harvard may get its funding back.

Top education stories from last week.

Indiana slashes child care voucher reimbursements amid budget shortfall Facing a projected $225 million budget gap, Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) is reducing reimbursement rates for providers in the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF). The cuts range from 10% for infant and toddler care to 35% for school-age children. State officials say the move is meant to stabilize the program after temporary COVID-19 relief dollars allowed enrollment to expand without a long-term funding plan.

Families should expect lower rates from the Child Care and Development Fund

Top education stories from last week: 8/24 – 8/30 Is the rapid expansion of charters coming to an end? Several school districts are suing over the withholding of funding. What do we know about the shooting so far?

Top education stories from last week.

How should teachers dress for work? If you are in education or even on TikTok, you already know this conversation is about “Teacher Bae.” If neither of those categories applies to you, the long and short of it is that a teacher with a conventionally attractive physique has gone viral for wearing clothes considered to be too “flattering.” Now the internet is debating how teachers should, and more importantly, shouldn’t dress.

What is appropriate work attire for teachers?

Katie Jenner takes over as Indiana’s higher education head Indiana shook up the education system by consolidating leadership of K–12 and higher education under one official. Governor Braun has tapped Secretary of Education Katie Jenner to also serve as Commissioner for Higher Education. The move was approved unanimously by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Jenner, who has led the state’s K–12 schools for nearly five years, will take on the additional role October 11 following the departure of Commissioner Chris Lowery.

Indiana consolidates education authority.

If you are going to hold students back you might as well do it in third grade IREAD scores are up, and officials are already attributing that to laws requiring students to be held back. I don’t know how true that is, and to be honest, when I was a teacher, I was never a big fan of retention. However, if there’s going to be a policy around holding students back, it makes the most sense to focus on reading in third grade.

Third grade is the right time to hold someone back if you are going to do it.

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A local case may eventually dictate if teachers have the right to refuse to use preferred pronouns or names

https://indykidswinning.com/2025/08/09/u-s-court-of-appeals-revives-brownsburg-lawsuit-over-preferred-pronouns-and-names-for-transgender-students/

Parents raise concerns about Indiana attendance law Senate Enrolled Act 482 has caused confusion among parents and caregivers. This law, that went into effect this year, aims to improve absenteeism. Students are considered chronically absent after missing 10% of the school year. The 10% total includes both excused and unexcused absences. SEA 482 requires IDOE to: Establish guidance regarding chronic absenteeism, Provide a categorization for excused absences, and…

Parents raise concerns about Indiana attendance law

Senate Enrolled Act 482 has caused confusion among parents and caregivers. This law, that went into effect this year, aims to improve absenteeism. Students are considered chronically absent after missing 10% of the school year. The 10% total…

Top education stories from last week: 3/23 – 3/29 There is massive opposition to the closing of the Department of Education. A coach is out of a job for how he treated a player after a loss. Democrats want an investigation into the workings of the…

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You’re invited: Hear local educators share their stories they want lawmakers to know This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters MJ Slaby, Chalkbeat Jan 30, 2025 at 4:38pm EST Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily…

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Thanksgiving reconsidered: Understanding the Indigenous perspective and supporting Indigenous peoples Thanksgiving is often celebrated as a time of gratitude, but it carries a tragic history that some people refuse to acknowledge. For generations, the holiday has been romanticized in schools across…

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