Indiana Republicans are Scaling Back Bennett, Bush Reforms
In story titled Education Facing Reform Fatigue – State Lawmakers are Leery of Passing More Legislation, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reporter Niki Kelly writes about the efforts of Indiana republican legislators to slow some of the reforms championed by former education boss Tony Bennett and his mentor Jeb Bush. Here’s a brief look at each:
School Grades
It seems everyone agrees there is something wrong with the A-F system used to rank schools. The Indiana Department of Education and State Board of Education tweaked the formula, and when the rankings were released last fall, no one understood them. Schools who were an A dramatically dropped. Others thought they improved but saw no change in their rank. Legislators held hearings on the new system, which was roundly denounced.
For now, the GOP Senate has inserted language into House Bill 1427 to void the current A-F rules and move to a new two-ranking system. Schools would receive one grade for the pass-fail rate of