4 local schools selected to receive portion of $10 million state grant

Four region schools are among 40 selected statewide to receive a portion of a $10 million state grant to recognize their best teachers.

Local schools and the amounts they are slated to receive are East Porter Community School Corp., $210,000; Griffith Public Schools, $150,000; Lake Ridge Schools, $300,000; and Lake Central School Corp., $500,000.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett on Friday announced the 40 schools and school corporations that the Indiana Department of Education will recommend to the State Budget Committee as recipients of Indiana’s Excellence in Performance for Teachers grant.

"A dramatic culture shift is taking place right now in our schools as a result of the education policies Indiana advanced in less than four years," Bennett said. "These are the districts and schools leading that shift by implementing fair and comprehensive evaluation and compensation policies that aim to develop all teachers and keep our finest in the profession."

The Excellence in Performance for Teachers grant was established by the Indiana General Assembly during the 2011 legislative session in an effort to help school corporations recruit and retain effective educators.

Selected applications featured performance and compensation systems aligned to state laws requiring school corporations to differentiate teacher performance, provide meaningful feedback to help all teachers improve, and financially reward their best teachers.