Only 18 percent of Marion County educators are teachers of color, compared to the 66 percent of non-White students. But a federal grant recently awarded to the Beech Grove City Schools district could help increase the number of teachers of color and improve student learning.

As students begin to transition back to school following two academic years riddled with classroom disruptions, districts are flush with federal cash. To help the tens of thousands of students who have fallen behind academically, some districts, including KIPP Indy Schools, have turned to tutoring services.

Indianapolis Public Schools is asking for input on how it will spend some of its more than $200 million in federal funding to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in schools.

Indiana school leaders are offering bonuses to their staff as tokens of appreciation after an intense and unusual school year, but teachers say it's not a substitute for long-term sustainable increases to their pay.

Federal COVID-19 relief funding is providing K-12 schools with an influx of critically-needed cash, but millions of dollars are also providing support for early childhood education. Part of the funding will go toward a child care scholarship program for essential workers in the state.

Nearly $2.6 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds is headed to Indiana schools. In rural districts where income from property taxes is low, some of that money will pay for long-delayed building maintenance.

The searchable database shows the total each public school district, charter school and adult high school in Indiana is receiving from the two federal pandemic relief spending packages and how much that amounts to per student in the district.

The $1.8 billion in funding is the largest ever injection of federal funds to Indiana schools. The money can be used to address learning loss and reimburse certain COVID-19-related expenses.