Union Champions Equity Schools for Neediest Students

By Barbara Moldauer
Smack in the middle of America’s heartland, a mid-sized Midwestern city is turning conventional wisdom on its head. Union leaders and district administrators in Evansville, Indiana, are confronting challenges as partners, not adversaries. In 2009, they developed — and are now implementing — a groundbreaking strategy, called Equity Schools, that aims to transform [...]

Union and Managers Work Together for Kids in Evansville, IN

By Alain Jehlen
What happens when the school district administration and the educators’ union get together to try to improve schools with low student test scores?
We’ll get an important answer to that question in Evansville, Indiana, this year because of the innovative work of the Evansville Teachers Association and school administrators.
The two sides worked over last [...]

Evansville Partnership Has Statewide Impact

The Evansville Teachers Association and the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in Indiana are partnering to help turn around three of the district’s lowest-performing schools. Over the summer, the two sides hashed out a plan that would include a longer school year and extensive professional development for educators at two district elementary schools and one middle [...]

Evansville Posts Increase in Graduation Rate

Graduation rates for the 2008-2009 school year show that cooperation among educators and creative thinking are producing tangible results at the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation in Indiana. According to EVSC, graduation rates for 2008-2009 were 1.8 percent higher than graduation rates the previous year.
The gains were particularly dramatic at some EVSC schools, such as Benjamin [...]