U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced at Plainfield High School on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, the approval of Indiana's waiver to consolidate about $50 million of various federal funding streams over the next four years into a single pool of money.(Caroline Beck / WFYI)PLAINFIELD — The U.S. Department of Education approved Indiana's request on Tuesday to consolidate about $50 million of various federal funding streams over the next four years into a single pool of money. The waiver lets the state combine portions of five federal programs it controls at the state level — covering assessments, teacher training, English language learners, student support and after-school programs — into one "block grant" it can spend more flexibly. The state originally requested more funding requirements be loosened, including nearly $25 million in annual school improvement funds. Indiana is now the third state to be exempt from certain requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA. Iowa and Louisiana also had similar waivers approved. The move was praised by Indiana's education leaders as a way of removing unnecessary bureaucracy from schools. "This waiver allows Indiana to streamline federal requirements, reduce unnecessary red tape, put more resources directly into our classrooms, where they make the greatest difference," said Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner. U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said that Indiana's work on the waiver, along with other recent changes to the state's accountability systems, advances the federal government's move to "return education to the states." "It's about breaking up the education bureaucracy in Washington D.C., a system that too often enriches adults while stifling progress for kids and empowering states to drive a new era of excellence for students across the country," McMahon said on Tuesday during an event at Plainfield High School to announce the waiver. McMahon, along with Jenner and Gov. Mike Braun, ceremoniously signed a document approving the waiver in the school's atrium. The district, in Hendricks County, enrolls 6,000 students. The waiver also changes how Indiana grades its high schools. For years, the state has run two accountability systems at once — one to satisfy federal law and another built around its own A-F ratings. The waiver lets Indiana use a single state system for high schools rather than maintaining a separate federal one. It does that by easing a federal requirement that academic indicators — standardized test scores, graduation rates and the progress of students learning English — carry much greater weight than other measures when schools are rated. Under Indiana's new system, approved by the State Board of Education in March, high schools will be judged largely on those other measures, such as Advanced Placement coursework, ACT scores, completion of honors courses, end-of-course exams in biology and U.S. government, and workforce credentials. However, this change is one of the main concerns among those who have been critical of the federal waivers. EdTrust, a national education-equity group that has argued for keeping strong federal accountability standards in place, worries that Indiana's new accountability standards won't accurately grade how well students are doing and risk shifting funding away from students who need it the most. "We believe that this new accountability system will actually make it harder for us to understand how high schools in Indiana are supporting students," said Nicholas Munyan-Penney, the assistant director of preschool-12 policy. "So, we're really concerned that this is taking away some of the key equity guardrails that are in place." Munyan-Penney told WFYI that Indiana's new accountability system has such varying standards across student groups that the state could report every student is doing "fine" without providing proper data to prove it. Jenner and other officials have previously maintained the state will continue to ensure that specific groups of students, such as those with disabilities, meet academic benchmarks. And on Tuesday during the event, Kirsten Baesler, the Education Department's assistant secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the dedicated funding streams for vulnerable student populations will still be delivered to schools. "What is eliminated is the separation of the reporting and the additional paperwork that goes along with reporting each of those, and it can be consolidated in a much more efficient and effective, streamlined manner," Baesler said. However, Indiana didn't get everything it asked for in its original waiver. The approved waiver stopped short of granting the state's request to redirect roughly $25 million of federal school-improvement funds designated for low-performing schools. McMahon also didn't approve the state's request to allow district-level flexibility of federal funding. But she did grant a pilot program for 15% of schools in Indiana to consolidate portions of Title II and IV funding for flexible use. How Indiana got the waiver Indiana has navigated federal education law before. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Education during the first Trump administration approved the state's plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act, the 2015 law that replaced No Child Left Behind and gave states more say over testing and school improvement. Indiana pursued the waiver after the second Trump administration invited states to take more control over their federal education dollars. President Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 directing the U.S. Education Department to expand flexibility under its "Returning Education to the States" initiative. Braun attended an event Trump held to promote the focus of the order — to start eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. The Indiana Department of Education submitted a request for a waiver later that year and resubmitted a formal plan June 1, 2026. Braun and Jenner have described the effort as a way to give state and local officials more say in how money is spent. In its application, the IDOE argued that administering more than 15 federal programs and roughly 45 separate funding streams pulled staff away from students. The department estimated it spends $2.2 million annually in staff time on federal compliance, with roughly $1.7 million of that going to reporting and paperwork rather than work that directly helps students. At the Tuesday event in Plainfield, Noblesville Superintendent Dan Hile said he's seen the hours and hours of paperwork his staff has to complete for the federal funding requirements. "So this is definitely a very welcome flexibility, and I appreciate that it's being given back to states and local leaders to best decide how those dollars can maximize impact on the children we serve," Hile said. Under the waiver, Indiana must report to the federal government each year on how it spent the consolidated money and whether student achievement improved.WFYI education editor Eric Weddle contributed to this story.Contact WFYI government reporter Caroline Beck at [email protected]. Copyright 2026 WFYI Public Media ...read more read less