The state legislature's proposal emerged in response a Chicago school board resolution to move away from school choice and invest more in neighborhood schools.
Purdue Polytechnic High School Lab School is unique among the dozens of loosely defined microschools around Indiana, which are usually very small private schools. But like the other models, it emphasizes customized education for students.
The bill would continue a years-long trend of Tennessee Republicans expanding access to firearms. But advocates for gun control, who have participated in many demonstrations since the Covenant School shooting last year, have pleaded with lawmakers to stop the measure.
Anyelin Ortega told Colorado lawmakers recently that the lunch line at her high school can be 25 minutes long, often leaving the 17-year-old only five minutes to finish her food.
Lawmakers want to increase funding for students with greater learning needs, including students living in poverty, those learning English and students with disabilities.
She spoke with The Inquirer about her new book; how her research shows Pennsylvania's "fair funding" formula only distributes a small fraction of the education budget equitably, and why headlines about lawmakers securing funding for their school districts are not always what they seem.
The bill would bar disclosing which employees are carrying guns beyond school administrators and police, including to parents of students and even other teachers.
"I think that's very clear that they're trying to open the pathway to more folks who couldn't meet the first set of rules," State Superintendent Eric Mackey told AL.com Tuesday.
Gov. Tony Evers said in his veto message that this type of legislation "harms LGBTQ Wisconsinites' and kids' mental health, emboldens anti-LGBTQ harassment, bullying, and violence, and threatens the safety and dignity of LGBTQ Wisconsinites, especially our LGBTQ kids."
The state, like much of the country, is grappling with teacher shortages in nearly every subject as educators cite mounting workloads, large class sizes and persistently low pay. Data shows the state lost about 7,000 teachers in 2022 with a turnover rate of around 13%—a number higher than before the pandemic.
