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Five Indiana schools are facing state takeover this fall, after failing to make the grade for a number of academic years. The takeovers would be the first under a state law enacted in 1999. This action has been proposed to help revamp the under-achieving schools rather than closing them completely – another option allowed by law. The state’s decision is not without its share of controversy, and lawmakers who made the decision may find they are in for more than they bargained for with the school districts.

The Wheels in Motion

According to a report at , the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of Indiana, Tony Bennett, asked the State Board of Education to take over the troubled schools located in Indianapolis and Gary. Bennett said the decision did not come easy, and it was only made after the schools had been on academic probation for five years and failed to bring their standards up to par with the rest of the district.

“It’s a difficult decision,” Bennett stated when he made the announcement about the takeover of Roosevelt Career Technical Academy in Gary, Indiana. “But I can be very sad and forlorn; you can be very sad and forlorn or we can look at this as how I can begin the conversation. My interest is a new beginning for this school.”

Roosevelt is a high school that currently boasts about 1,600 Indiana high school students. It is the only school in Gary

A new Gallup poll suggests that while most adults in this country are not thrilled with the state of public education today, they are supportive of the teachers responsible for the education of their children. The survey showed that three in four Americans have “trust and confidence in public school teachers,” but do not think much of teachers’ unions or the government when it comes to the current quality of education. The poll comes at an interesting time in public education history, when tight budgets, concern over academic performance and teacher layoffs have become commonplace across the country.

About the Poll

The recent survey was conducted by Gallup and Phi Delta Kappa International, a professional education association. The poll interviewed 1,000 people on some of the most compelling topics in the education world today, including teacher quality, the role of unions, and school vouchers. The results were announced and explained at a news conference at George Washington University last week.

Support for Teachers

The survey found that of the 75 percent who said they have the confidence of public school teachers, the highest rates of trust were found among parents, those with college degrees, and people who were younger than 40, according to a report at the . The same number also believed that teachers should have more control over their lessons. Two-thirds would support their children becoming public school teachers, and even more, thought that high-achieving high school students

With tighter budgets and fewer resources to draw from, many school districts have been forced to find more ways to trim the fat. One expense that has made its way to the chopping block in more than one district is transportation. While school buses have always been a given where students live too far to walk to school, that commodity is no longer a freebie for all school districts. In an effort to balance the books, schools are deciding to charge students for the privilege of riding a bus to and from school. However, the decision is accompanied by complaints and irate parents in most of the districts when the fees are announced. We’ll take a look at both sides of the pay-to-ride issue.

Franklin Township Now Outsourcing Transportation Needs

Franklin Township school system has been hit hard in the pocketbook with an $8 million budget shortfall for the upcoming school year. Instead of firing teachers and increasing class sizes, the school began charging parents to let students ride the bus to and from school. The charge for school bus privileges won’t be cheap – according to a report at the Indy Channel, the fee for bus service for a single student will be $475 annually. Additional children in the same family will get a discount, paying $405 per year for the same bus privileges.

The bus fee was on the table for the school district last year, but the idea was rejected after

The Atlanta Public School system has had more than its share of publicity this past year. When allegations of cheating on standardized tests arose in Atlanta Public Schools, an investigation was launched. The investigation resulted in the implication of many teachers and principals throughout the district in what quickly became a widespread cheating scandal. Once the facts began to materialize, the new acting superintendent became wrapped up in the foray. Today, the fallout from the scandal is continuing, as the teachers involved in cheating have been given an ultimatum from the top: resign or face termination.

Beginnings of a Scandal

Beverly Hall took over as superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools just before the turn of the century, when concern over the quality of education in Atlanta was at an all-time high. Hall worked hard to improve test scores in schools across the district and even received national accolades when the scores began to rise. However, the higher test scores began to gain the attention of the media and school officials, who wondered exactly how some schools were able to register such large improvements.

When an internal investigation was launched, an abnormally high number of erasures were discovered on many of the standardized tests in a handful of schools in the district. This discovery led to additional investigations, and the cycle continued for many months until the full scope of the cheating scandal could be identified. Currently, the district has implicated 178 teachers and

The No Child Left Behind Act signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2001 promised to provide schools with the necessary incentives to raise the bar on the quality of education across the country. The bill emphasized stringent, standardized testing that would effectively identify underachieving schools. Those schools and school districts would be threatened with the prospect of limited funding if they did not bring their test scores up to the national average. The ultimate goal of No Child Left Behind was to ensure every student in the United States was reading and writing proficiently by 2014.

The Deadline is Looming

This year marks the deadline for many schools to bring their standards up to par or face significant funding cuts by the federal government. While the theory behind No Child Left Behind sounded good on paper, school officials are now seeing the problems with the act, as nearly 80 percent of the nation’s schools may receive a failing mark according to federal standards. This means that either the majority of schools in the country could lose important funding at a time when budget cuts are already impacting the quality of education in many districts.

The summer months have been a turbulent time for No Child Left Behind. On the one hand, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has hinted that he might relax standards – or provide waivers – to schools that are unable to make the grade before the next school year