Indiana’s K-12 schools are spending more than state leaders expected on student textbooks — and some are still sending bills to students’ families — prompting lawmakers to request additional information about what’s being expensed.

The questioning comes a year after the General Assembly dedicated $160 million in the current state budget to eliminate textbook and curriculum fees for Hoosier families, starting with the 2023-24 academic year.

Based on the funds available in May 2023, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) estimated the per student reimbursement amount to schools would be approximately $151.88. Based on spending in the current academic year, however, the actual per student reimbursement amount came out to $158.21.

Still, IDOE data obtained by the Indiana Capital Chronicle shows the state reimbursed 395 traditional K-12 districts and charter schools a total of about $159 million for the current academic year — about a million dollars below what was appropriated.

What’s not clear, though, is the amount each school actually spent on textbooks and other materials overall, or how much individual districts requested in reimbursements from the state.

Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said IDOE “gave some schools more than they asked for,” while other schools “significantly increased their asks.”

After seeing those reimbursement numbers, Jenner emphasized that state officials want to “better understand what we are spending on,” and whether schools should make more efficient decisions” on curricular materials moving forward.

She said, too, there needs to be more investigation around other fees — like for certain college-level course materials and school management software like Skyward.

“All around, we need a better understanding of what we’re charging for,” Jenner said, adding that a deeper analysis into longitudinal curricular materials spending data is also underway. “How are we best determining what to charge our families … and make sure we’re very aware of any additional fees beyond what the state is reimbursing.”

As such, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb included in his 2024 agenda a statewide review of curricular materials expenses, following the state’s 2023 commitment to cover textbook fees in K-12 schools.

Language in so far requires all public schools to participate in an annual statewide survey concerning school fees charged to students or parents. Local officials would have to complete the survey to be eligible to receive a distribution from the statewide curricular materials fund.

“I think that it’s a legitimate concern. … It’s so important to be very transparent about costs, especially. You’ve got to be transparent about quality, and you’ve got to be transparent about access, but costs need to be reported,” the governor said. “And so this is what (the state education department) is working on — making sure that they’re working with schools, and then reporting out , so parents know when it comes to the curriculum that they’re not paying twice.”

Indiana tax dollars footing the bill

Until the current school year, Indiana was one of seven states that still allowed districts to charge parents of K-12 students for textbooks.

In recent academic years, annual textbook fees for a single Hoosier student averaged from $80 to $200. The amount billed varied significantly, however, depending on a student’s grade level and what district they attended.

Fees at some schools escalated into the hundreds of dollars per student as course materials transitioned from traditional books to technology-centered resources like iPads and Chromebook tablets, for example. On top of that, many families continue to dish out additional dollars for school supplies, calculators, sports fees and band rentals.

Holcomb’s 2023 agenda called on the legislature to prohibit families from being on the hook for curricular fees and instead require public schools to provide those materials to all students at no cost. Taxpayer dollars already covered the cost of textbooks for students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals.

Lawmakers signed on, appropriating $160 million for the initiative’s inaugural year, based on an estimate of $150 per student for the state’s 1 million pupils.

Under the new process, schools send their curricular expenses to the IDOE. Officials there then take the total and divide it by the number of students statewide. That gives an amount per student that is multiplied by how many students each district has. Then, that amount was sent in one lump sum to individual school districts in December.

While the new law was championed by state officials, school districts have since been left trying to figure out what they have to cover and what they don’t — especially when it comes to advanced classes and career development courses.

Multiple district administrators told the Capital Chronicle that families have long been charged those added fees, and billing for such continues to be within the realm of the law.

As part of its 2024 agenda, the Indiana State Teachers Association in the second year of the biennium to “fully fund” the cost of textbooks and curricular materials.

Keith Gambill, ISTA’s president, said the union is aware of “several” school districts that are already concerned about their ability to pay for textbooks in the upcoming 2024-25 school year. Gambill said more data needs to be collected before ISTA can recommend an exact dollar for curricular fees.

“If schools are forced to either make changes in staffing or other programming in order to fully fund the textbooks, then we’re not getting the best for our students,” he said. “It shouldn’t be upon them — and not born on the backs of school employees — to make that happen.”

Gambill said while charter and voucher schools benefited from significant funding boosts in the 2023 session, traditional public schools still lack “appropriate” appropriations.

Is spending up?

The is somewhat vague, saying public schools must “provide curricular materials to students at no cost,” but that parents can be charged “a reasonable fee for lost or significantly damaged curricular materials.”

Last year, IDOE about what counts as “curriculum materials.”

The department those as “books; hardware that will be consumed, accessed, or used by a single student during a semester or school year; computer software; and digital content.”

That includes one-to-one laptops or tablets given to students in some districts. Materials for advanced placement, dual credit, and career technical education courses — but not dual enrollment courses — also count as curricular materials, according to IDOE.

But schools are still allowed to charge families non-curricular fees and for other odds and ends, and for lost or damaged items. Parents in some districts are additionally offered the option to pay for insurance that covers technology used by their students. School districts cannot require parents to pay for that insurance, however.

Even so, IDOE’s guidance instructs districts to consult their own legal council about their ability to charge “other fees.”

Before the 2024 legislative session began, school board officials from around the state sought clarification from lawmakers on what fees can and can’t be charged. Specifically, local leaders wanted to ensure that schools are allowed to charge fees for items that fall outside the definition of curricular materials and supplement the instruction of a particular course.

One policy recommendation sought to define such supplies and materials as laboratory supplies, textbooks required in a dual credit course, items used and kept by the student, musical instruments, and uniforms for co-curricular activities, among other things.

Sen. Linda Rogers, R-Granger, included relevant language in her , permitting schools to assess and collect “a reasonable fee for supplies and materials” that “are not curricular materials” and “supplement the instruction in a particular course of study.”

That provision , though. It’s not certain if it will be added back in that measure or any others.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

Indiana’s private school voucher program grew by 20% in the 2022-23 school year — the largest increase in the number of students in nearly 10 years, according to a new report.

The Indiana Department of Education’s (IDOE) released this month showed state funds paid private school tuition for 53,262 Hoosier students.

That’s compared to 44,376 students who used vouchers during the 2021-22 academic year.

With that growth came increased costs. The state spent $311.8 million on the program in the 2022-23 school year — 29% more than the year prior.

Voucher participation and spending are expected to jump even more this fall after state lawmakers expanded the and open to almost all Hoosier families.

The broader eligibility provisions are projected to grow the voucher program to some 95,000 students by 2025 — and more than double the state money spent on the Choice Scholarships, costing taxpayers $1.1 billion over the next two years.

As the program continues to grow, the vouchers are additionally less likely to be linked to low-income assistance.

In 2022-23, only 28.1% of voucher households had an income below $50,000, compared to 37.4% in the 2021-22 school year. Instead, most voucher recipient households were more likely to make over $100,000 than under $50,000.

“I think it’s great that Indiana is funding families and giving opportunities to families from across the income spectrum,” said Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice, an Indianapolis-based group that backs voucher programs. “It’s a really good thing to see this growth in the Choice program, and I expect it to grow even more next year.”

By the numbers

The 2022-2023 school year saw the largest growth in the number of students since the 2014-2015 school year, according to the IDOE report.

A record 343 private schools participated in the last school year — up from 330 the year before. Most are religious schools that exclusively offer Christian-based education.

Nearly 62% of voucher students in 2022-23 were white, a 3% increase from the previous year. Only 9.5% were Black, which is less than the statewide Black public school enrollment of 13.1%.

Most voucher students live in a metropolitan area, but the number of students in suburban, rural, and town communities increased in the 2022-2023 school year.

About 64% of Choice Scholarship students have never attended a public school — a slight drop from more than 69% the school year before.

But for the first time in the program’s history, the percentage of students who previously attended an Indiana public school at any point in their educational history has increased, according to IDOE.

For the 2022-2023 school year, about 36% of students participating in the Choice Scholarship Program had a record of previously attending an Indiana public school. That means more students are transferring from their traditional public schools to those that are voucher-eligible.

Still, the majority of Indiana’s K-12 students — more than 87%  — still attend traditional public schools. In 2022-23, 4.6% of students attended charter schools, 4.7% attended private schools with vouchers, and 3.2% attended private schools without vouchers.

Indiana voucher participation has grown rapidly since the program began in 2011, when less than 4,000 students used a Choice Scholarship. Spearheaded by then-Gov. Mitch Daniels, the program intended to help children from poor families find alternatives to low-performing public schools.

But that most Choice Scholarship students will attend private schools with or without a voucher, meaning their tuition is an added expense for taxpayers and only the state’s wealthiest will benefit.

Public schools officials and teachers unions also remain opposed to Choice Scholarship expansions, arguing that its projected cost over the next two years will stymie K-12 education funding increases for public schools. They point to state law, too, that allows voucher schools to reject students for their religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or academic ability, among other reasons.

More growth on the horizon

Private “school choice” laws have surged in recent years as conservative lawmakers seized on parents’ frustrations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Republicans have also used “parents’ rights” rhetoric to justify the laws, arguing that they empower families who are dissatisfied with the public school system to opt out.

Indiana’s Republican-controlled legislature did just that in April, approving of the state’s voucher program, making nearly every student eligible to receive public money to attend private school.

After the expansion, the program could cost the state an estimated $500 million in fiscal year 2024, and another $600 million in the following fiscal year. The current state budget appropriates $240 million annually for vouchers.

With the change, higher-income families can now participate. The new two-year state budget — which takes effect July 1 — raises the income ceiling to 400% of the amount required for a student to qualify for the federal free or reduced price lunch program, equal to about $220,000.

Currently, vouchers are limited to families that make less than 300% of the free or reduced lunch income eligibility level, meaning a family of four can make up to $154,000 annually.

Students will also no longer be required to meet other need-based criteria, or that are currently in place.

As a result, roughly 97% of students will now qualify for private school subsidies, . State projections indicate that participation could soar by nearly 42,000 additional students within two years.

School choice advocates are celebrating the move as part of a years-long effort to give every student the option of a publicly-funded private education.

“We’ve been saying that Indiana is the state of educational options. And I think you’re going to see faster growth than we’ve seen in the last few years because we’ve gotten rid of all of these sort of arcane pathways. Now you’ll see, hopefully, private schools growing, which is great,” Enlow said. “There is radically more growth to be had. The reality is we’re getting very close to a system where all dollars follow our kids.”

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

A new Indiana law that critics say will in schools under the guise of blocking conversations around “human sexuality” now faces a legal challenge.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana Friday on behalf of a public school teacher in Indianapolis who says the law infringes her constitutional rights.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb last month signed into law , which requires Indiana schools to notify parents and prohibits human sexuality instruction to the youngest Hoosier students.

Kayla Smiley, an elementary school teacher in the Indianapolis Public School system, claims in the court challenge that the law poses First Amendment violations for teachers by taking away her “ability to speak as a citizen on matters of public interest and to speak away from work on matters unrelated to her employment and addressed to a public audience.”

Story continue below.

The complaint additionally argues that the law is overly broad, given that neither “instruction” nor “human sexuality” is defined. 

Smiley emphasized that “instruction” and interactions with students happen both inside and outside the classroom — making it hard to know when a line has been crossed.

“The key terms of ‘instruction’ and ‘human sexuality’ are impossibly vague and lack any ascertainable standards for determining whether or not the law has been violated,” the lawsuit reads.

Teacher says law is ‘impossibly vague’

Smiley said in the lawsuit that she is unable to determine how to conform her behavior to the law so she does not risk losing her license. 

According to the complaint, the teacher has a classroom library in her classroom that contains “age-appropriate books across a diverse spectrum of subjects and concerns, including LGBTQ+ issues, such as biographies of Harvey Milk, and Elton John.” She also has in her student classroom library the book “And Tango Make Three,” which is based on the true story of two male penguins who raise a chick together.

The lawsuit alleges that teachers have “no idea” about whether or not such books qualify as “instruction . . . on human sexuality” or whether or not they can discuss any topics regarding same-sex relationships.

Smiley also carries a water bottle in class, in hallways, and before and after school, which has on it stickers and pins supporting LGBTQ+ rights, including one that reads “Trans rights are human rights.” The bottle displays rainbow flags that are widely recognized as the symbol of LGBTQ+ pride, too. 

“She is unsure if she is still allowed to engage in this display outside of her class or what to do if the display prompts a discussion in her class,” the lawsuit said about the water bottle.

Smiley is seeking an injunction to prevent the law from taking effect July 1.

“HEA 1608 is written so broadly that it would be next to impossible for teachers to determine what they can and cannot say to students,” said Ken Falk, ACLU of Indiana legal director, in a written statement on Friday. “In addition, teachers have a First Amendment right to express themselves as private citizens outside of the classroom, including in the school’s hallways, playground, or before and after school, but the vagueness of this law would certainly have a chilling effect on those rights.” 

How the controversial law came to be

The law, authored by Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, is reminiscent of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law that has been described by some as one of the most “hateful” pieces of legislation in the country.

the measure intends to “empower Hoosier parents by reinforcing that they’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to introducing sensitive topics to their children.” She said previously that the bill was a response to “numerous concerns of parents in her district.

Supporters further say parents have the “right” and “responsibility” to control what their children learn — and are called — when at school.

have argued that it’s part of a nationwide wave of legislation “singling out LGBTQ+ people and their families.” More specifically, they say that the new law could put transgender children at risk of harm if they’re outed to unsupportive or abusive parents.

“This session, legislators were determined to target LGBTQ community members and to censor conversation about the LGBTQ community in schools, HEA 1608 was no exception,” said Katie Blair, ACLU of Indiana advocacy director. “This bill, like others across the country, was modeled after Florida’s infamous ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law. LGBTQ students exist at all ages and in all grade levels and their stories belong in Indiana schools.”

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

Multiple state offices are on the clock to and training programs that seek to graduate Hoosier students who are better prepared for the workforce.

The House and Senate compromised in the final hours of the legislative session on a massive that, at its core, seeks to expand work-based learning in Indiana high schools, like through apprenticeships and internships.

Paramount to the 85-page is a provision that would establish accounts for students in grades 10-12 to pay for career training outside their schools. The new framework is intended to enable students to earn a post-secondary credential before leaving the K-12 system. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb .

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So far, lawmakers have approved more than $20 million for the plan, although Indiana schools and various state agencies are expected to spend even more to get the programs started — and to keep them running.

Republican legislators said they were adamant in the 2023 session to “reinvent” Hoosier high school curriculum as the state tries to reverse its stymie other academic impacts following the COVID-19 pandemic and help fill open jobs around the state.

While Democrats agreed that Hoosier students need more training, those in the minority were largely opposed to the bill.

They questioned its effectiveness for students and cited concerns about oversight, especially in regards to intermediaries that will be entitled to state dollars for helping connect students with employers and training opportunities.

“This is the most complicated, jerry-rigged thing I’ve ever seen,” said Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis.

Sweeping changes to career-ready education

House Bill 1002 was one of the last bills passed in the legislative session. A conference committee report for the proposal wasn’t approved until 11:49 p.m April 27 and was different, in several ways, from earlier iterations.

The plan got a vote in the House and a vote in the Senate.

As part of the overhaul, public schools must provide career awareness instruction beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), in consultation with the Commission for Higher Education (CHE), are responsible for designating and approving a new course sequence, career courses, modern youth apprenticeships and other related programs.

The bill also requires public high schools to offer an annual career fair during regular school hours.

Separately, the new law requires the following to meet with a CHE-approved postsecondary educational institution, an intermediary, an employer, or a labor organization:

• high school students in grades 11 and 12
• college students receiving a 21st Century Scholarship or Frank O’Bannon Grant
• committed offenders nearing release

“Intermediary” is broadly defined in the bill as an “organization that connects individuals with companies looking for new workers.

IDOE and the State Board of Education (SBOE) must additionally establish new high school diploma requirements that make it easier for career education and certain alternative courses to count towards graduation, as well as honors diplomas.

Further, the bill stipulates that CHE will take over Indiana’s Office of Career and Technical Education. The eight-person staff is currently under the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet.

Indeed, the workforce cabinet was to be the home for the overall initiative in earlier drafts but shifted to CHE on the final night.

Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner said during a SBOE meeting Wednesday that House Bill 1002 provides necessary new incentives for schools to build up career-ready students. It also gives state education officials “more flexibility” to create the framework for new learning options.

it’s already in the process of crafting the new diploma requirements and improving access to both high-quality work-based learning opportunities and high-value postsecondary credentials before high school graduation.

“House Bill 1002 has been tough for the  general public to wrap their arms around, but there are so many elements of really good opportunity in that which we must seize to hit the ball out of the park,” Jenner said.

The bill also expands the requirements for education programs to be qualified to accept grants from Indiana’s Career Accelerator Fund — — which is managed by INvestED, the state’s college loan agency.

Students in those programs will have two years — rather than six months — to earn a credential.

The income that graduates must earn within two years after they complete such programs was also dropped from 200% of the statewide per-capita income to 150%.

The interest-free loan program to help Hoosuers earn short-term certificates and other credentials launched in 2021 after state lawmakers rushed to spend the state’s surplus of federal COVID-19 relief money earlier that year. The General Assembly wrote in $75 million for the revolving fund without prior public discussion in the last state budget. No new appropriations were made in the next state budget.

Career Scholarship Accounts

Republican budget writers approved $15 million over the biennium , which will be similar to Indiana’s Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs). Participating students can use the $5,000 CSAs to pay for apprenticeships, career-related coursework, or certification.

Starting in the 2025 fiscal year, students will first be required to create a graduation plan in order to qualify for the scholarship accounts.

It’s not clear how many students will opt to use the CSAs over the biennium, however.

The program is likely to grow over time, according to a nonpartisan legislative fiscal analysis, but it did not provide specific projections. their goal is to get 5,000-10,000 students to participate in the next fiscal year.

Still, the bill specifies that CSA accounts can be used to pay for certain postsecondary education and training, which could “significantly increase” participation in the program as more courses are approved.

Public schools — including career and technical education centers — can become CSA providers, which would allow them to receive money from the program.

If public schools are able to attract homeschoolers or students attending private schools, revenues would increase. But if students choose to forego those offerings at the public school and instead choose to get training through a different CSA provider, schools will see their current Career and Technical Education (CTE) grant revenues decrease.

That’s because schools will not be allowed to get separate CTE grants for students with CSAs.

Seven new funds

To support the CSA program and other career learning initiatives, the final draft of House Bill 1002 created seven new funds.

Three of those funds are specific to CSAs, while the other center around teacher training, career coaching and boosting the number of available work-based learning opportunities.

Career Scholarship Account Program Fund

Lawmakers appropriated $5 million for CSAs in the new state budget’s first fiscal year, and another $10 million in the second year. Any unused funds revert to the state’s general fund.

The Indiana Treasurer of State is tasked with administering the fund, with help from CHE and the state education department. A legislative fiscal analysis predicted the treasurer’s office will likely need additional staff and resources to administer the program, although the office can leverage the infrastructure it has already built for the ESA program.

House Bill 1002 requires an annual, independent audit of the fund to be made available to the public.

Career Scholarship Account Administration Fund

The fund covers the costs of managing CSA accounts and administering the program.

The treasurer’s office can transfer up to 10% of the appropriation for the CSA program to the fund in Fiscal Year 2024. After that, the office will be able to transfer up to 5% of the appropriation for the program to the fund.

Career Scholarship Account Donation Fund

This “non-reverting fund” will receive donations and transfer them to the CSA program fund.

Money in the fund at the end of each fiscal year does not revert to the state general fund but remains for future CSA program purposes, according to the bill.

Connecting Students with Careers Fund

The fund will be used to distribute grants to schools for the purpose of hosting career fairs. The state budget does not put any money into the fund, however. Rather, House Bill 1002 indicates that gifts and grants — including from private entities — can be added to the fund.

Teacher Higher Education and Industry Collaboration Grant Program and Fund

Teachers who want to participate in approved education courses or programs designed to improve their “knowledge and familiarity” with the application work-based learning can apply for grants made available through this fund.

IDOE oversees the program and the fund, but the Commission for Higher Education will help establish criteria used to approve programs and courses. Approved teacher education can be offered by postsecondary educational institutions or employers. It’s not yet clear how many grants will be available, or how much each teacher qualifies to receive. Those details will have to be hashed out by state officials.

Indiana’s next budget appropriates $1 million each year of the biennium into the fund.

Career Coaching Grant Fund

Under current law, the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet is tasked with establishing a career navigation and coaching system and administering an existing Career Coaching Grant Fund.

House Bill 1002 eliminates that fund and establishes a new Career Coaching Program and a new grant fund – with the same name — to instead be administered by the higher education commission.

CHE must develop and implement a new but similar program and award grants from the fund to schools, intermediaries or “career coaching providers” that agree to help establish or implement “comprehensive career navigation and coaching systems” for students.

IDOE will approve career coaching providers and determine who is eligible for a grant.

The bill does not earmark any dollars for the fund. The bill indicates that money for the fund can come from future legislative appropriations.

Intermediary Capacity Building Fund

Administered by CHE, the fund provides one-time grants to approved intermediaries to help increase their ability to serve a greater number of students. Lawmakers gave the fund $5 million for the fund in the first year of the budget.

The commission will approve entities in the program and help parents and students navigate how to connect with intermediaries. Each intermediary can get a one-time grant of up to $250,000.

An annual survey of program participants must also be completed.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

Indiana students lost nearly six months of learning in math and over four months in reading as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research from Harvard and Stanford universities.

The new Education Recovery Scorecard last week offers the first comparable view of district-level learning loss that occurred in Indiana between 2019 and 2022.

A new shows that data for individual districts varies widely, with many districts’ achievement losses amounting to almost an entire year in math. New research also further confirms the pandemic widened disparities in achievement between high- and low-poverty schools.

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The results underscore continued concerns expressed by Hoosier lawmakers and state education officials about learning loss — especially among some of the state’s youngest students. roughly one in five Hoosier third graders can’t read proficiently.

Other Spring 2022 tests showed that 30.2% of Hoosier students in grades 3-8 passed both the math and English sections of . While the standardized test results , passing scores trailed 8 percentage points behind 2019′s pre-pandemic pass rates.

Key findings from the research

Researchers at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and Stanford University’s Educational Opportunity Project used , as well as Indiana’s publicly reported district proficiency rates on their Spring 2022 assessments.

Their analysis found that Indianapolis Public School District students experienced nearly eight months of math learning loss and over five months of reading learning loss.

Meanwhile, Carmel Clay School District students experienced about three months in math learning loss and four months in reading learning loss.

In Monroe County, Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation students experienced nearly a full year in math learning loss and over seven months in reading learning loss. The small district serves approximately 2,700 students, .

The larger Monroe County Community School Corporation — which enrolls more than 10,000 kids — experienced just over four months of student learning loss in math and less than four months in reading.

In Lake County, River Forest School Corporation students experienced nearly eleven months in math learning loss and nearly six months in reading learning loss. Nearby Hobart School City District students fared slightly better, experiencing just under five months in math learning loss and four-and-a-half months in reading learning loss.

South Bend Community School Corporation students experienced some of the state’s worst learning loss — nearly an entire year in math and over a school year in reading. Students in the neighboring Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation lost just over three months of math learning and less than four months in reading.

Researchers emphasized that changes in achievement scores impact later life outcomes, including lifetime earnings, educational attainment incarceration and arrest rates.

The estimated loss in lifetime earnings per Hoosier student is $15,150 as a result of pandemic-related learning interruptions. When multiplied by the number of public school students enrolled in the state, the aggregate loss in lifetime earnings is more than $15.5 billion.

How Indiana compares

Harvard and Stanford research indicates that the median U.S. public school students in grades 3-8 lost the equivalent of a half-year of learning in math and a quarter of a year in reading.

That means that in Spring 2022, students were about six months behind students in the same grade in Spring 2019.

Nationally, 8% of students were in districts that lost more than a year of learning in math, while 3% were in districts where math achievement actually rose.

Lawmakers send more help

Many states and districts — including those across Indiana — continue to use their portion of the $190 billion in federal COVID-19 aid to add tutoring and summer school and extended days. But researchers cautioned that many of those efforts are not yet large enough to fully address the learning loss that has occurred.

State lawmakers passed multiple new bills in the 2023 legislative session as part of an ongoing effort to reverse learning loss and increase academic proficiency.

That included , which allows current high school students to retake classes they took online during the pandemic for a better grade. Students are eligible if the new course is the same subject matter, not virtual and at the same school.

A separate GOP-led effort approved by the Indiana Department of Education by fall of 2024.

The phonics-based literacy approach incorporates phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Education experts say it gives students the skills to “decode” any word they don’t recognize.

The state is also banning schools using the “three-cueing model,” which encourages students to make educated guesses at words using context clues. The model has been largely disproven by cognitive scientists but is still used by schools in Indiana and around the country.

The science of reading shift will be paid for from a $111 million fund created late last year by the state and the Lilly Endowment, which donated $60 million to K-12 science of reading efforts and $25 million to teacher preparation programs. The state has chipped in $26 million from the state’s federal COVID relief dollars.

Additionally, Indiana’s next biennial budget adds up to $20 million in each of the next two years for education department’s efforts on science of reading.

Individual school districts can also apply for grants from the department for literacy coaches, textbooks and lessons, teacher and administrator training or giving students extra reading help with tutoring or summer programs.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

Indiana lawmakers gave charter schools major funding boosts in the after advocates ramped up lobbying efforts in the 2023 legislative session to extend more benefits to the traditional public counterparts.

New appropriations for charter schools are part of a $1.487 billion . Much of that was shadowed, though, as Republican legislators touted new dollars to fund a nearly universal expansion of the state’s Choice Scholarship voucher program — which allows families to receive vouchers to attend private schools.

Charter schools, specifically, are set to see about the same tuition support increase as traditional public schools.

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But the for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 makes three significant changes to charter finances.

It increases the bonus Charter and Innovation Network School Grants they can get to $1,400 per student — up from its current level of $1,250.It includes $25 million in new capital grants for brick-and-mortar charter schools to access for facilities costs.It funnels a portion of property tax operations funding growth to charter schools in Marion, Lake, Vanderburgh and St. Joseph counties.

In addition, lawmakers drew the greatest pushback from Hoosier school officials and traditional public education supporters with a provision in that would force school districts in those four counties to also share referendum funding with charters.

Slice of referendum revenue goes to charter schools

Gov. Eric Holcomb has until Monday to sign or veto the Senate bill or the measure will automatically become law.

The bill requires school districts in the four counties to provide a proportional share of referenda adopted after June 30 with area brick-and-mortar charters. In other counties, sharing those funds would remain optional, at least for now.

Debate on the bill late Thursday night noted that Allen County was left out of the sharing.

Republican lawmakers who supported the bill maintained during public testimony that those counties were chosen because, collectively, that is where a “majority” of the state’s charter school students are located.

Indiana charter schools with enrolled students who live within the boundary of school districts that get voter approval for an operation or safety referendum would receive a per-student share of the local property taxes collected.

School districts that are distressed units are exempt, per the legislation. Currently, that means the Gary Community School Corporation would not be subject to referenda sharing.

Indiana’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency that school districts in the four counties received $210.1 million in school operating or safety referenda revenue in 2022. If Senate Bill 391 had been law, those districts would have been required to distribute about $23.9 million to charter schools.

About 29,000 and 29,700 non-virtual charter students are expected to be enrolled in Indiana in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Separately, Senate Bill 391 extends Indiana charter schools’ authorization up to 15 years. Current law allows charters to be approved by the state for up to seven years.

GOP proponents pointed to new “accountability” and “transparency” requirements that are also laid out in the bill.

For example, charter schools that take part in a district’s referendum would be required to support the campaign and promotion to get it to pass. And charters would also have to hold a public hearing on its annual budget before it is adopted and submitted to the state.

The bill further provides that school corporations that share referenda with eligible charter schools are not subject to Indiana’s existing “$1 Law,” which requires public school districts to sell or lease vacant or unused instructional buildings for a single dollar to public charter schools.

Increased per-student funding

Under Indiana’s current school finance system, state tax dollars are used to provide comparable per-pupil funding to district and charter schools.

Traditional public school districts can also levy local property taxes to pay off debt and for their operations funds. But charter schools can’t, putting them at a disadvantage for paying for certain expenses, like transportation or facilities costs.

Under the new budget requiring operations sharing, school corporations are estimated to lose $9.3 million to charter schools in 2025, and another $12.5 million in 2026, according to a . Over time, as levies increase, the amount school corporations transfer to charter schools will increase more.

The state also gives charter schools an extra $1,250 per pupil to compensate for their lack of property taxes.

Bumping that amount up to $1,400 per student is expected to by an estimated $4.5 million — up to $6.0 million — in both the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years.

Still, charter school critics have long argued that such schools are not obligated to serve every student in a given community — unlike those in traditional public school districts. That’s because capacity limits student enrollment.

The public charters also have private boards and are therefore not accountable to voters, opponents say.

“School choice” supporters maintain that parents deserve the right to more flexibility and customization in their children’s education. Doing so requires , but also public charters.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

A bill that would have died in the Indiana House after lawmakers failed to vote on the measure by Monday’s deadline.

That means school board races will stay non-partisan — at least for now. Language from the bill could still crop up in others before the end of the current legislative session.

, authored by Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, sought to add political party identifications to what are now nonpartisan school board elections throughout the state. The legislation was the first to extend “local control” over the issue.

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Monday was the deadline for House bills to pass out of the chamber. Prescott did not call the bill for a full chamber vote, however, likely indicating a lack of support from the House Republican caucus.

GOP House Speaker Todd Huston expressed support for optional partisan school board races earlier this month, but noted that members of his caucus are “all across the spectrum” on Prescott’s proposal — “This is one of those bills that doesn’t split along party lines.”

Ultimately, Republican lawmakers could not find consensus over whether school board candidates should have to be nominated via party primaries or only be listed by political party on the November general election ballot.

“It’s hard to find that sweet spot,” Huston said on Monday. “We didn’t quite get it this year.”

Multiple other versions of the bill circulated through the Indiana Statehouse this year and last, to no avail.

A separate that died earlier in the current session would have instead to identify as a Republican, Democrat or Independent.

Currently, Indiana is among 41 states where local school board elections are held without any party identification on the ballot for candidates.

The move for partisan school boards bubbled up after local fights over COVID-19 protocols, race issues and book bans.

Latest version of the bill

Supporters of the bill have maintained that forcing school board candidates to declare a party will provide greater transparency for voters.

Democrats and representatives from multiple education groups opposed the bill, however, arguing that such steps would needlessly further inject politics into local school decisions.

The latest version of the bill would have given Hoosier communities two options to trigger a referendum vote.

One provision said sitting school board members could decide on their own to vote for their seats to become partisan. But local voters would still have gotten the final say.

Another option would have used a petition process requiring signatures of 500 voters or 5% of voters in the district, whichever is lesser. A successful petition would put the question on the ballot.

But locals also had the option to do nothing at all, meaning school board elections in a particular district would remain nonpartisan. That was the default option laid out in the bill.

Updated language in the bill clarified that Libertarians and other third-party candidates could run, as long as they declare their party affiliation.

Voters would also have been required to choose, individually, school board members on ballots — a straight-ticket option wouldn’t be available.

Whether through a school board vote or voter-led public question, school board candidates would have had to run in partisan primaries in order to be nominated for the general election, or forgo a primary altogether but have to use a partisan label in the general election.

To claim a party, school board candidates further must have voted that way in the last two primaries in which that person voted.

Candidates for school board additionally could not work for that school corporation, according to the bill.

A school board or community would have been forced to wait 10 years between any public questions if they later changed their minds and wanted to opt-out of partisan school board races.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

The Indiana House on Tuesday passed a bill providing who carry guns in classrooms after an emotional debate.

School districts can already authorize the arming of teachers, but there isn’t a specific training curriculum — or much money — to go with it.

“This is just a standardized [training] format that the state will pay for,” author Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, said on the floor. He’s said the bill is a response to deadly mass shootings at schools across the country.

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But Rep. Tonya Pfaff, D-Terre Haute — who has taught math for nearly three decades — said she worries the guns could be stolen or used in small disagreements.

“School protection officers have jobs to protect the school, and I appreciate that,” she said on the floor. “They protect, I teach algebra. There’s no reason to switch.”

School corporations can get one matching grant annually from the Indiana Secured School Fund for their security programs. would allow an additional grant for specialized firearms instruction.

The measure also would authorize state dollars for counseling services for students, teachers, school staff and employees in the event of a school shooting.

Lucas emphasized that participation would be voluntary for both school districts and individual staff members, and that districts could go above and beyond the proposed state program — as long as they paid for it.

The program would involve 40 hours of training for firearm safety and use, based on the training law enforcement officials currently use.

Democrats pushed back, arguing that by encouraging participation in such programs, the bill would increase the number of guns in schools and the potential for violence.

Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, D-Fishers, said she thought a better solution was to “properly fund” school resource officers, rather than “arm teachers.”

Discussion from both parties went on for about 25 minutes. But Lucas maintained that the bill would ensure teachers who want to take up arms are properly trained.

“This is not a guarantee. I can’t predict the future,” Lucas said. “The purpose of this bill is to provide those that want it [with] a tool to be able to make a last-ditch effort” to protect themselves and students.

House members passed the bill . All the no votes came from Democrats. The measure now goes to the Senate for consideration.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

Broad career readiness initiatives, changes to K-12 literacy curriculum and incentives for up-and-coming teachers are at the heart of multiple education bills advancing through the Indiana legislature.

State lawmakers in House and Senate education committees collectively took up more than a dozen bills on Wednesday. Most of those measures advanced or are scheduled for committee votes next week.

Here’s a snapshot of the latest education-related developments at the statehouse.

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Progress — and concern — for Career Scholarship Accounts

The House education committee approved, 8-4, a wide-ranging bill that seeks to “reinvent” high school curriculum. Bill author Rep. Chuck Goodrich, R-Noblesville, said his proposal — a — aims to narrow the “skills gap” between Hoosiers and employers.

The seeks to expand work-based learning in Indiana high schools, like apprenticeships and internships.

It would also . Grants could be used by students in grades 10-12 to pay for career training courses, apprenticeships and certifications outside of the student’s school district.

The amount each participating student can receive to pay for apprenticeships, coursework, or certification would be based on a calculation of the state dollars that their school receives.

Democrats pushed back on the bill, however, saying language around credentialing programs is still too vague.

New teacher incentives

House lawmakers additionally supported two bills that seek to increase state scholarship dollars available to future teachers.

One of the proposals would increase certain scholarship amounts in an effort to attract more students into teaching — particularly black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC).

Attracting educators of color has been an ongoing concern for local schools and policy makers. Indiana had 79,120 full-time teachers in the 2019-20 school year, according to state data. Of those, 92% were white.

Those who testified in support of said the increased dollars would help BIPOC educator recruitment — good news for Indiana’s ongoing teacher shortage. Supporters said the bill would also provide much-needed support to address achievement gaps among Hoosier students of color.

The bill passed 12-0 out of the House education committee.

A separate measure, , would allow Hoosiers in an alternative teacher certification program to apply for up to $10,000 under the Next Generation Hoosier Educators scholarship program.

The bill passed 13-0 with an amendment to limit the program to $1 million. Democrats expressed concern that the funding won’t be enough. Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, who chairs the committee, said the current spending ceiling is intended to keep the bill from getting killed in the the fiscal-minded ways and means committee.

Automatic enrollment for 21st Century Scholars program

Another bill heard in the House education committee would automatically enroll eligible Hoosier students in the 21st Century Scholars program — a statewide grant program that funds student attendance at two- and four-year schools.

, authored by Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago, unanimously passed the committee and now heads to the full House for further consideration.

“Thousands of students a year miss out on opportunities that 21st Century Scholars can provide for them,” Harris said. “Not having this funding there to help with education — for a lot of a lot of people — means they do not continue their education … it affects the future of our workforce here in the state of Indiana.”

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb made automatic enrollment in the 21st Century Scholars program a . Administration officials said auto-enrollment shouldn’t be a cost to the state for six to seven years.

Science of Reading bill draws mixed testimony

, filed by Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, would define the “science of reading” and require schools to adopt such curriculum.

The “” is defined in both bills as the successful integration of concepts such as phonics, vocabulary and comprehension in reading.

Although Indiana lawmakers and education advocates have repeatedly said the state needs to take action to improve , some provisions in Freeman’s bill drew hesitation, especially from teachers.

The Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), the state’s largest teachers union, specifically pointed to language in the bill that directs schools to post reading materials online for inspection by parents.

“Our main point of contention in this bill is a requirement that every single material used in connection with K-8 reading must be placed on a website at the beginning of the school year and updated each semester,” said Jerell Blakeley, ISTA’s director of government, community, racial and social justice. “I think there’s an opportunity for us to get to a common sense solution that furthers the agenda of the bill, as well as to — I can’t believe I’m saying this — deregulate aspects of teaching in Indiana.”

Freeman told the committee he’s meeting with teachers and education groups to address concerns about that portion of the bill. The proposal could come up for a committee vote as soon as next week.

Other bills on the move

In the Senate education committee, lawmakers approved a bill to bring the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program to the entire state. The bill passed 11-0 and now goes to the appropriations committee.

Additionally, Senate Bill 480 passed narrowly, 7-6, onto the full Senate. The bill seeks to streamline numerous teacher regulations. Democrats and teacher union representatives said it also makes “concerning” changes to discussable items during collective bargaining.

All four Democrats on the committee voted against the bill, along with GOP Sens. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, and Dan Dernulc, R-Highland.

Sen. Jeff Raatz’s SB 380 also passed the committee in a 9-4 vote and heads to the Senate chamber. State senators last week on , which places restrictions on high school graduation waivers and doubles down that schools can have dress codes.

An amendment to the bill approved by the senate committee on Wednesday would further require districts to post high school graduation rates online. The latest draft of the bill also sets a 10% cap on the number of students who can graduate from a school with a waiver before July 1, 2027. After that, the cap drops to 5%.

Another bill that seeks to help Hoosier students regain access to their college transcripts was put on hold, however. Raatz said lawmakers are continuing to have discussions about provisions in the bill.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

A statewide initiative funded by federal COVID-relief dollars has helped thousands of Indiana high school students finish up college credits and other high-value credentials, new data shows.

The hopeful sign comes as state leaders continue to stress a , whether at two- and four-year colleges, or through attainment of technical degrees and certifications.

initially intended to aid high schoolers whose ability to obtain college credits was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. That included courses needed for the Indiana College Core or other high-value credentials.

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Roughly $6 million was earmarked to help students who were just a few credits away from completing those credentials, allowing them to take classes in the spring and summer semesters for free through Ivy Tech or Vincennes University.

When it began in 2021, the program helped 1,900 high school juniors and seniors across 275 Indiana high schools obtain credits for free over the summer, according to the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE).

So far in 2022, Crossing the Finish Line has served another 3,300 Indiana students at more than 335 high schools and career centers — a 71% increase in participation.

“We saw very clearly that there’s not only a need, but there’s a genuine interest from students and families who want to complete these credentials of value while in high school,” said Katie Jenner, Indiana’s Secretary of Education. “We know that educational attainment really matters for the individual and their quality of life, health, future wages … These credentials of value are such that no one can ever take it away from them.”

Ongoing challenges to get Hoosiers better educated

Many students who participated in the program weren’t previously aware that they needed just a few more credits to complete a credential, Jenner said.

She pointed to the state’s most recent data showing that around 76% of seniors at Indiana high schools said they intended to continue pursuing some form of higher education after graduating.

Indiana’s college going rate shows that only 53% actually make it actually there, however.

“That’s about 23% of an Indiana graduating class who have the dream to continue learning and continuing their education, who don’t make it there right after high school,” Jenner said.

But education leaders also recognized that about 64% of Hoosier graduates left high school with college credit — the average student earned roughly 13.5 college credits. A short-term technical credential in Indiana can be earned with as few as 15 to 18 credits.

Jenner noted, too, that many other students were “inches away” from . The consists of a 30-credit-hour block of general education courses that transfer between all of Indiana’s public institutions and some private colleges.

Ivy Tech estimated that some 16,000 Indiana high school students were “near-completers” in 2021.

The data made state officials hopeful that providing increased support for those high schoolers could push more “over the finish line” — and encourage them to seek even more education after graduation.

“While in high school, many of our students may not have a parent or family member with a college education, and by having the opportunity to get that in high school — I’ve seen it with my own eyes — they have a new level of hope and realize that they can absolutely get a higher education beyond a high school diploma,” Jenner said. “They even learn strategies on how to best navigate that college system when you think about affordability of college.”

Last year, 1,851 Crossing the Finish Line students completed coursework at Ivy Tech. Of those, 714 completed their studies in 2021, and another 900 wrapped up in 2022.

Rebecca Rahschulte, vice president of K-14 initiatives and statewide partnerships at Ivy Tech, said most students used the Ivy Tech courses to complete the Indiana College Core. Others who pursued technical certificates are already working, including as certified nursing assistants, welders and IT specialists.

“We’re really helping employers who have demand for students graduating with these industry-recognized certifications, and so we’re helping to produce that robust workforce that Indiana is looking for, and we are making sure that what we’re providing is aligned with the needs of industry,” Rahschulte said. “A lot of our efforts are backward design from what industry is saying that they want and need in a graduate. We’re helping local economies — we’re helping the state’s economy — by helping students earn these credentials.”

Rahschulte said the program has also meant “huge” cost-savings for students and their families. By going through Crossing the Finish Line, students saved a cumulative $2.5 million on books and tuition fees, according to the IDOE.

The benefits of earning more credentials

Within northern Indiana’s Elkhart Community Schools, at least 20 students were able to earn associate’s degrees or complete the College Core curriculum through Crossing the Finish Line, said Gail Draper, the district’s counseling director.

“We’re a huge manufacturing town. So if you have students graduating with no credentials and no focus for the future, a lot of them just leave and work at a base level factory position,” Draper said. “We are teaching them and helping them see that even if they choose to go into the manufacturing field, there are better jobs for them if they get those credentials done.”

The same goes for students in Northwest Indiana, where Crossing the Finish Line helped dozens more students get better-equipped to work high-demand jobs closer to home, said Lauren Dado, director of the Hammond Area Career Center.

“Up here, we’re really invested in our regional workforce development. It’s so important that we re-instill regional pride and remove the desire to leave from our kids,” Dado said. “By giving them these gateways to a productive, contributing, regional citizenship, we’re retaining and bolstering our Northwest Indiana workforce, economy and culture, which is the most important thing of it all.”

Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Chris Lowery additionally maintained it’s imperative that more Hoosier students earn college credits in high school because it makes them more likely to enroll in college and go on to earn degrees or technical certificates.

That could mean a helpful boost to Indiana’s overall college-going rate — recent data indicates only half of Indiana’s 2020 high school graduates pursued some form of college education beyond high school. The drop marked the.

“I think what is so great about this program is it’s giving a lot more students that head start, that jump on starting their college education,” Lowery said. “We can be more intentional … helping students, helping their families, understand that with increases in post secondary attainment, everything essentially improves.”

Lowery said that translates to wage and labor participation increases, decreased unemployment, higher individual net worth, life expectancy improvements and less infant mortality.

Looking ahead, as COVID dollars dwindle

But if Indiana wants to continue offering Crossing the Finish Line as a free opportunity for students, the program would have to be paid for either locally or by the state.

Jenner said education officials are still determining “what we might want to fund as a state in the future.”

She said the emphasis of future funding will be on “rethinking high school,” specifically to ensure that students have access to earn high-value credentials and participate in high-quality, work based learning experiences.

Last month, Indiana lawmakers said will be to help more students increase their educational attainment outside of the traditional classroom. That includes ensuring high schools and colleges provide work-based learning opportunities like internships, apprenticeships, job shadowing and service-oriented experiences.

Lowery said that while work-based learning is a good focus area for the General Assembly, there should also be initiatives to better retain college graduates to stay at Indiana once they’ve completed their studies.

“Students can have the opportunity to have a work-based learning experience, and we can be intentional about it with an Indiana employer — then we are going to increase our odds of keeping that student once they’ve completed at the institution,” Lowery said. “I’m really hopeful, because the nature of what we’re talking about is real for Hoosiers. It’s real for businesses, real for the state of our economy. And we’re receiving a lot of positive feedback (from lawmakers).”

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

The Indiana attorney general wants the Indiana Supreme Court to weigh in on a lawsuit that seeks punitive damages for COVID-related college campus closures.

The class-action lawsuit against Ball State University was filed by a student at the school last year. The legal challenge claims Ball State has refused to reimburse students for tuition and fees that were paid for in-person classes and services.

An Indiana law enacted in 2021 — which prohibits such class-action complaints against state universities — also sought to derail the lawsuit. But last month, three appeals court judges ruled the case should move forward.

Now, Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office is turning to the Indiana Supreme Court to overturn that decision, arguing the General Assembly acted within its authority to limit the lawsuits.

Student seeks damages for remote-only classes

College student Keller Mellowitz was enrolled at Ball State for the spring 2020 semester when the university “sent students home, cancelled in-person classes and closed campus facilities as a result of COVID-19,” according to court filings.

He filed a class action complaint against Ball State and its board of trustees in Marion County Superior Court in May 2020, accusing them of “breach of contract and unjust enrichment” over decisions to cancel in-person classes and close campus facilities due to the pandemic.

Specifically, Mellowitz cites Ball State’s retention of tuition and “numerous” fees, including those for student services, university technology, student recreation, student health, and student transportation.

Story continues below.

The lawsuit estimated as many as 20,000 Ball State students were due some sort of reimbursement.

A Ball State spokesperson said in 2020 — early on in the pandemic — that the university had decided not to refund tuition because of how quickly and efficiently the school transitioned to remote learning. University officials also emphasized that students were able to effectively complete their coursework, despite the switch to alternative teaching methods.

Ball State received just over $77.5 million in federal pandemic relief, . About $27.7 million was distributed to students via emergency grants.

After the lawsuit was filed, however, the Indiana General Assembly retroactively banning class-action lawsuits against state postsecondary educational institutions under COVID-related circumstances.

A Marion County judge then ordered Mellowitz to file an amended complaint to eliminate his “class allegations.”

Mellowitz appealed that ruling. Three appeals court judges reversed the Marion County judge’s ruling in October, maintaining the new law providing class action protection to state schools in conflict with a long-standing Indiana trial rule.

In a 3-0 decision, the justices concluded the General Assembly lacked the authority to pass the class-action bar.

State’s attorneys push back

The case has since returned to the Marion County Superior Court, but attorneys for Ball State and the attorney general’s office last week filed petitions to transfer the case to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Ball State’s counsel pointed to an issued by Gov. Eric Holcomb in March 2020 which made it unlawful for all universities in Indiana to offer in-person classes. The university complied with the order and made “prudent and necessary decisions to protect public health and safety,” the lawyers said.

Further, Ball State’s attorneys assert that the state’s class-action bar “represents one rational way for the legislature to protect Indiana’s higher educational institutions and governmental entities from potentially enormous costs, burdens, and uncapped liability associated with pandemic-related lawsuits,” while still allowing students who believe the change in their mode of instruction warrants a lawsuit to pursue one.

There will also be “significant consequences for public fiscal interests” if the case is allowed to move forward as a putative class action — rather than a single-plaintiff case — Ball State’s lawyers continued.

Court documents filed by Rokita’s office additionally maintained the “invalidation of a state statute is an important question of law” that should be decided by the Indiana Supreme Court.

“The Indiana Constitution vests the General Assembly with the authority to pass substantive laws related to what it believes is in the overall wellbeing of society,” the state’s lawyers wrote in their petition.

“By foreclosing class-action suits, the General Assembly sought to reduce the pressure on institutions to settle rather than face existential liability threats arising from their compliance with the Governor’s COVID-19 executive orders.”

Counsel at the attorney general’s office further said the General Assembly’s decision to limit class action lawsuits was likely out of concern “that educational institutions could face immense settlement pressures that class actions often bring.” 

The attorney general’s office did not reply to a request for comment.

Amicus briefs supporting the petitions to transfer the case to the Indiana Supreme Court have been filed by Indiana University, Purdue University, University of Notre Dame and Independent Colleges of Indiana, an association representing Indiana’s 30 private colleges and universities.

Another supportive brief was filed by the Indiana Legal Foundation, which advocates for Hoosier businesses, including the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and Indiana University Health. Businesses were given some legal immunity related to COVID-19 in the same law. 

The Indiana Supreme Court has not yet made a decision about whether to take on the case.

Other legal actions still pending

The lawsuit is not the first COVID-related filing against Indiana post secondary institutions, however.

Similar breach-of-contract lawsuits brought by students against Indiana University and Purdue University are also moving forward after the Indiana Court of Appeals motions to dismiss the cases in March.

The complaints allege the schools did not provide in-person instruction, services, activities, housing and meals when all in-person classes were moved online — and campus facilities were closed — in the middle of the spring 2020 semester.

The students are seeking prorated refunds of tuition, student fees, and room and board fees as damages.

The universities sought to overturn the Appeals Court’s ruling. Indiana Supreme Court justices in September declined to hear the appeal.

Earlier this year, a federal appeals court allowed Indiana University to keep in place its COVID-19 vaccination requirement for students after multiple other students separately sued the university, arguing that such vaccine requirements violate their rights to “bodily autonomy.”

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, in Chicago, declared the lawsuit moot, however, given that seven of the eight students who sued the school were granted religious exemptions and another had withdrawn as a student.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com. Follow Indiana Capital Chronicle on and .

More Hoosier high schoolers than ever before have the option to earn college-level credit while still in secondary school — an opportunity that Indiana education officials say could .

For the 2022-23 academic year, 141 high schools and nearly a dozen postsecondary institutions will offer the . The curriculum consists of a 30-credit-hour block of general education courses that transfer between all of Indiana’s public institutions and some private colleges.

Those Core credits can be earned through a combination of dual credit, Advanced Placement courses and dual enrollment classes.

Members of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) said during a meeting Thursday that the expansion represents a 68% increase in the number of schools participating in the transfer credit program. Before this school year, only 84 Indiana high schools — or about one in five — offered the Core.

Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Chris Lowery maintained that students who earn College Core credits are more likely to enroll in college and go on to earn degrees or technical certificates.

That could mean a helpful boost to Indiana’s overall college-going rate — recent data indicates only half of Indiana’s 2020 high school graduates pursued some form of college education beyond high school. The drop marked the.

“Dual credit is so impactful to the success of students,” Lowery said. “It means a world of difference for students … they have a higher likelihood of matriculating, persisting and completing college on time.”

Indiana schools expand dual credit options

Indiana University Bloomington and all five IU regional campuses, as well as Purdue University Northwest, and Purdue University Fort Wayne will serve as postsecondary partners of the College Core. Those campuses join Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University, which previously offered the courses for the program.

The higher education institutions have formal agreements with partnering Indiana high schools to deliver the Core to students through early college credit opportunities.

About 2,300 Indiana high school students earned the 30-hour block of general education credits in fiscal year 2022, said Charlee Beasor, ICHE associate commissioner for marketing and communications. Since 2014, over 10,000 high school students have earned the Core certificate.

“It opens up additional opportunities for you, including once in college,” Beasor said, noting that students who complete the core are more likely to succeed in advance-level coursework after high school.

Indiana education data shows that 90% of Indiana College Core earners from the class of 2020 went on to attend college. Once at college, those students are able to focus on major-specific courses earlier than their peers and pursue additional opportunities such as adding a minor and studying abroad. Additionally, they’re more likely to graduate on time or early and could pursue graduate school ahead of their peers who didn’t earn the Core while in high school.

The achievement comes with “obvious” cost savings, too, Beasor continued.

By completing the Core, students earn a full year of college for little to no cost. The average cost for a year at a public institution is $22,000, equating to a savings of nearly $225 million for Hoosier students, according to the ICHE.

To help make the program even more accessible, Indiana University that it will waive the $25 per-credit-hour fee typically charged to high schoolers who take dual-credit courses through university.

IU President Pamela Whitten said Thursday the decision stemmed from a desire to expose more Hoosiers to higher education and encourage them to continue those studies after high school.

“We think this will be important in allowing us to continue to meet the needs of the state, frankly, while preparing high school students for what we all want — which is to pursue education beyond high school,” she said.

Boosting Indiana’s college-going rate

As recently as 2021, 76% of Hoosier students indicated plans to continue their higher learning after high school, said Indiana Secretary of Education Dr. Katie Jenner. An ICHE report released in June showed that only 53% are actually going on to college or technical school, however.

“We’re losing about 20% of a cohort who wants to continue going to college. I think that’s an important note of reference,” Jenner said.

Already, about 64% of Indiana students leave high school with at least 13.5 college credits, Jenner said. With many short term credentials requiring just 15 to 18 credits, that means most juniors and seniors are within one or two classes of completing a college credential.

“This makes our opportunity to work together on this more urgent than it’s ever been,” Jenner said. “We think that now is the time to really rethink high school to make sure we are as intentional as possible, and the coursework we’re asking students to complete includes access to a post secondary credential and a quality, work-based learning experience.”

The initiative to see more students to earn college credits comes amid o get all Hoosiers better educated.

Indiana’s overall education attainment has yet to meet Gov. Eric Holcomb’s goal of having with a quality degree or credential beyond high school by 2025.

Currently, that number is just over 48%, leaving a majority of Hoosier adults without a credential beyond a high school diploma.

“We’re still working to get done,” Jenner said. “But we believe that by 2030, we really can get 60% of Indiana students earning a credential by the time they even graduate high school.”

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