18 Schools Face Major Restructuring

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(INDIANAPOLIS) - 18 Indiana schools must undergo major restructuring after missing federal improvement standards for more than five years in a row.

11 schools in seven districts, including IPS and Lawrence Township, had already been ordered to make major changes, either by replacing most of the administration or converting to charters or privately-run schools.

Joining the list are Emma Donnan, John Marshall, and Forest Manor middle schools in Indianapolis; Perry Township's Clinton Young Elementary School; and elementary schools in Anderson, Evansville and Bloomington.

Indy's Riverside Elementary School and Gary's John Vohr Elementary School showed enough improvement after five down years to put a possible shakeup on hold.

The federal No Child Left Behind law allows the state to take over the schools, but State School Superintendent Suellen Reed says the state doesn't have the resources to do that.

Overall, 54% of Indiana schools met the federal standards, a slight improvement from 52% last year. Those who missed the standards are concentrated in just 47 school corporations, 16% of the total.

No Child Left Behind requires not only overall improvement, but improvement in several ethnic and economic subgroups. Reed says 37% of the schools which missed their target had just one subgroup that wasn't up to par.

Indiana plans to apply for a U.S. Department of Education pilot project allowing 10 states more flexibility in how it treats underachieving schools. The program would allow states to concentrate remediation resources on the schools with the most serious problems, instead of treating all failures the same.

The Evansville community schools have the most schools facing restructuring orders, with Lincoln Elementary joining three middle schools and one elementary school already in that category.

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