The group exploring changes to Indianapolis schools shared its ideas for major structural changes to how charter schools and traditional public schools function.
The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance, which has been meeting since the summer, has narrowed its focus to three areas: transportation, school facilities and who should be in control of public education in Indianapolis.
What to know about the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance
- Indy is home to dozens of traditional public and charter schools. Some have advocated for years for a simplified system.
- State lawmakers threatened to step in this year. One wanted to dissolve IPS and convert the district into charter schools.
- IPS advocates pushed back and compromised with the creation of the new group. It will study facilities, transportation and finance. Recommendations are expected by the end of the year.
How a 14-year-old plan is shaping how we talk about IPS’ future
The Mind Trust’s blueprint for school reform is still relevant today.
Alliance members shared their first substantive ideas for making these changes in a packed meeting Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Indianapolis City-County Council building.
More than 100 parents, educators, business leaders and community advocates signed up to speak at the meeting where attendees spilled out of the City-County Council’s Public Assembly Room into the second floor lobby.
Many attendees spoke of their desire for a school system that holds all school types accountable to comparable academic standards and that make getting to school easier, especially among charter schools where bus availability varies.
“Transportation actually needs to be given to them,” Indianapolis child care provider Dionne Miller said of the students she works with. “Choice without access is not a real choice.”
The alliance’s work comes with steep political pressure as interest groups, advocacy organizations and school leaders all jockey for a say in what could prove to be one of the most transformative periods in Indianapolis’ public education.
At the meeting, the IPS Parent Council, a group of parents with students in IPS schools, delivered a letter with more than 750 signatures expressing support for the IPS school board. Meanwhile, more than a dozen charter school leaders signed onto letters seeking to preserve their independence and control over school budgets.
See the IPS parent council letter
See the independent charter school letter
See the innovation network school letter
Powerful people and parent concerns
Members of the alliance, tasked by state law with making proposals to change transportation and facilities systems, spoke for more than an hour about things like who should have the right to own school buildings and how taxpayer dollars should be managed.
But, what became clear, is the alliance’s recommendations could ultimately follow ideas developed by just two of its members: Mayor Joe Hogsett and IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson. Though not required by law, the two city leaders took on the extra task of exploring who should control Indianapolis’ overall system of schools.
The leaders, for example, looked at questions like: Should IPS gain more control over charter schools? Or, should the entire district and charter school system be run by a new board appointed by the mayor?
“All of these topics are incredibly important,” said Hogsett, who chairs the alliance. “And, I’m nowhere near making any kind of final conclusion or recommendation.”
It’s not entirely clear yet what the effect of these changes could mean for Indianapolis families, or even how soon they could happen. The ideas being discussed have not been tried by any other school district in Indiana and would likely require changes to state law. Alliance members have looked outside of Indiana to draw inspiration from other charter-dense cities such as Denver and Washington, D.C.
Some parents hope changes will make getting to school easier for some students. Others hope it will bring clarity to an otherwise confusing web of schools full of different boards and offices with varying degrees of responsibility for opening and closing schools. More still say they’re simply seeking stability at a time when school changes seem to happen every couple of years.
“Our children deserve a sense of security in their education and schools are not businesses,” IPS parent Katherine Harkov said. “We must rely on and empower the leadership closest to our students: our fully elected, experienced IPS school board. They are accountable directly to us and are best equipped to manage our limited resources effectively.”
Alliance members had been working in recent weeks within task forces to talk about transportation and facilities changes, but most members were presented with ideas for who should run Indianapolis schools for the first time during the November meeting. The full presentation slide deck and video of the meeting are available to review on the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance’s website.
Throughout the discussion, Johnson reminded the alliance to consider a question: “What is the problem that we’re actually trying to solve?”
What is the problem?
IPS administrators openly acknowledge that there’s too many schools in Indianapolis.
Today, there are 103 schools open — IPS run and charters included — and they serve about 40,000 students. At IPS’ peak enrollment, the district served about 109,000 students at 110 schools.
There are three charter authorizers that regularly approve new schools in Marion County. But there’s no standard criteria for when schools open or close. As IPS closes schools to match enrollment, new charter schools continue to open.
Some feel the easiest solution would be to give oversight of charter schools to one authorizer who could set uniform academic standards and streamline control over openings and closures. However, some charter leaders worry this system could create bias and offer educators no alternatives if their idea to open a new school is denied by the authorizer in charge.
It comes amid a backdrop of interwoven school management where IPS oversees some aspects of transportation and facilities upkeep for some partner charter schools. But, with new property tax dollars now being directed to charter schools, some school leaders have expressed interest in buying their buildings from IPS or running their own transportation systems.
The conversation sets the stage for some of the alliance’s most difficult questions: who should be in control of Indianapolis schools? And, should those officials be elected?
What are the models?
Hogsett brought four different ideas to the alliance to discuss how the overall structure of public schools within IPS boundaries could change.
The first would give IPS control over all schools in its boundaries. IPS’ publicly elected school board would act as a charter school authorizer, giving the district say over the opening and closures of all Indianapolis schools. The Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation, a current authorizer, would become a place charter schools could appeal to if they disagreed with IPS’ decision-making.
The district would also support facility and transportation needs for all schools. This model would likely bring the least transformative change to district schools and would keep tax dollars flowing through IPS.
The second idea would create an advisory board of IPS, mayor and charter school appointees. This new, appointed board would receive property tax dollars to distribute among schools for transportation and facilities needs. The board would also oversee charter schools. Existing roles, like the IPS school board and the Office of Education Innovation would still exist, but they would take their policy cues from the newly created board.
A third model would dramatically reshape the way Indianapolis schools are managed. It would create a new Indianapolis Education Authority, made up of the mayor, an education secretary appointed by the mayor, and a nine-member policymaking board entirely appointed by the mayor.
IPS would still exist, and four of its school board members would have seats on the overarching policymaking board. But, the IPS school board would cede significant power to the city in this model. Specifically, the policymaking board would receive tax dollars and make decisions about transportation and facilities management.
Finally, a fourth option would place the mayor at the top of the organizational chart. The mayor would appoint all members of the IPS school board, which would then oversee all schools — independent charter and IPS-run buildings included. The fully appointed school board would oversee transportation and facilities and charter school authorizing.
What do alliance members say?
Alliance members — most of them digesting these ideas for the first time during the meeting — debated the role of a publicly elected school board. Some saw merit in appointed members who bring expertise in areas like finance or law, while others cautioned against adding more layers of governance to Indianapolis schools, as it could create confusion among parents.
Tina Ahlgren, an IPS teacher and alliance member, raised the point that the mayor of Indianapolis is elected by more than just residents of IPS. Marion County has 11 school districts, and residents of each vote for the city’s mayor.
Ahlgren’s comments begged the question: Should families in all of those other districts have the same influence over IPS schools in a mayoral-led system?
Regardless of who gets oversight of schools moving forward, Johnson impressed upon alliance members that there needs to be an agreed upon set of standards for how and when a school should close — and that it shouldn’t just be IPS that’s made to carry the burden of downsizing.
“These decisions, they represent more than just decisions about buses and buildings,” Johnson said, speaking in favor of an elected school board. “They represent who has power and who has voice in our community.”
What’s next
Though specific dates weren’t provided, the alliance plans to meet again during the first week of December to hear additional public comment and refine its potential recommendations.
The alliance’s next scheduled meeting is 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17, in the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St.
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Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood and K-12 education. Contact her at carley.lanich@mirrorindy.org or follow her on X @carleylanich.
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