Conservative candidates hoped to take over school boards across Indiana this past election cycle. But the results were mixed.

Candidates who campaigned on parental rights won seats in multiple Hamilton County school board races, according to unofficial election results.

Controversial bills aligned with national political battles on cultural and social issues in schools dominated conversations at the Statehouse this session. But lawmakers also conducted plenty of other legislative business that didn't get as much attention -- including several notable changes for education.

A wide-ranging bill to restrict what teachers could say about race and racism stalled and died last week after vocal opposition from a broad coalition, a series of gaffes by lawmakers, and ultimately, an ideological split in the supermajority.

A longtime Indiana University law professor was one of the participants of the original critical race theory workshop held in 1989 and discussed the reason for the practice during a local NAACP event.

Indiana lawmakers are about halfway through this year's legislative session, after key deadlines came and went earlier this week.

Republican Sen. Scott Baldwin said he should have chosen better words when he said during a committee hearing that a bill he filed would require teachers to be impartial in all of their teaching, including during lessons about Nazism, Marxism and fascism.

Lawmakers in the Senate education committee endured nearly eight hours of testimony and debate Wednesday on a controversial bill focused on school curriculum and content. Many people opposed some or all of the bill, but for very different reasons.

The Indiana Senate Education and Career Development Committee took its first steps to fast-track a virtual funding fix and heard hours of testimony on legislation about curriculum and classroom transparency for schools.

Organized efforts to prevent certain policy changes in schools have disrupted school board meetings across the country, and educators and school officials are calling for more civility in places where it's happening in Indiana.