Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. In Indiana and across the United States, the opioid epidemic continues, with drug overdose deaths involving opioids exceeding 47,000 nationwide in 2017. To help stem the tide, the federal government allocated $11 billion to states in fiscal years 2017 and 2018, according to a recently released report from the Bipartisan Policy Center. In Indiana, which received $159 million in federal opioid funding, this funding has been deployed by the state to strengthen prevention, treatment and recovery efforts and to support research and programs in the criminal justice system. At first glance, Indiana’s portion of federal […]

Alex Cohen is the Director of Learning and Evaluation for the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation. In Indiana, high school students can earn one of three diplomas—a Core 40 diploma, a more challenging Honors diploma and a less rigorous general diploma. But under new federal guidelines that are part of the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, Indiana would not be allowed to count the roughly 12% of graduates earning the general diploma toward its official high school graduation count. The new ESSA guidelines have sparked debate and raised an important question about the importance of establishing high standards for high school diplomas. Some support the general diploma because it offers […]