DSA

On Wednesday, November 12th, Hogsett’s ILEA board presented several models that do not solve the real problems that threaten quality public education in Indianapolis. ILEA members, parents, teachers, advocates for traditional public schools and charters alike agree on the value of a unified school system. But there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The best unified school district would be ultimately accountable to the public via a democratically elected board. The ILEA’s other proposed options add needless complexity and create further opportunities for wealthy, private actors to personally profit rather than address the real issues: underfunding, systemic racism, and lack of public accountability.

A governance model that unifies charter schools, innovation schools, and traditional public schools under the democratically elected public school board will provide all families and community members with a voice and a choice. It will create a stable, effective, innovative, and high-quality education system for all students. Under this plan, charter students and parents will finally have an accountable board that represents them democratically without sacrificing their school choice. Similarly, IPS and innovation school parents will have the flexibility to exercise school choice without exiting their stable public school system.

Such a model would incorporate the following key elements.

• Fully Elected Public School Board
  • This board is democratically elected, voted in and held accountable by all district constituents, and representative of all families regardless of school type.
  • This board would be the highest level governing body for all the schools in the district boundaries. Neither the OEI nor any mayorally-appointed board can be allowed to overrule the decisions of those who directly represent school families.
• One Charter Authorizer
  • Shifting charter authorization to a single authorizer–the fully elected school board–would make real accountability possible.
  • This ensures that schools’ first priorities are serving the needs of students and filling gaps even when those needs come into conflict with the desires of wealthy political actors.
• Transportation and Facilities: Elected School Board Stewards Operations
  • Continuing to operate facilities under IPS ensures minimal disruption to parents, families, and educators, while preserving expertise and continuity of IPS services.
  • It also would avoid further outsourcing, which is inefficient and allows taxpayer dollars to exit the community.
  • Finally, such a model would provide intentional, equitable distribution of resources, facilities, and transportation across school types–a key legislative mandate of the ILEA.
• Equitable Standards: Elected School Board Creates Policy
  • Situating policymaking authority under a single elected board creates fair, equitable, and consistent standards for all school types, while preserving what makes each school unique.
  • Policymaking authority would include the ability to transparently track real student population needs with a consistent data methodology and attend to on-the-ground needs that may vary from school to school.
• True Collaboration: Elected School Board Facilitates School Choices
  • Unifying district managed schools, innovation schools, and independent charter schools under one governance structure would end the power struggles caused by a fractured public school system.
  • Making charters, innovation schools, and district managed schools alike eligible for funding from one pot of money will end the competition for resources between IPS and charters once and for all.
• Equity in Right-Sizing
  • In the unfortunate circumstances when schools must close, an accountable school board, acting with community input and applying universal criteria that promote racial, economic, and geographic equity, is the best actor to make these tough decisions.
  • A unified public system minimizes disruption to families, teachers, staff, and the local economy, because students and staff could easily transfer to other schools within the same system.

Public education is a public good. Full stop. It belongs to the people of Indianapolis and its families and communities; not to out of state billionaires, out of city ideologues, or city elites and private contractors. This is the model that parents, educators, and constituents have called for: one that preserves democratic elections and accountability, maximizes the efficient use of tax dollars putting more money directly into classrooms, prevents unnecessary disruption to students and their families, and allows for school choice, innovation, and universal, fair, and equitable standards. We call on the ILEA to adopt the principles stated here: a fully realizable vision for ending competition over resources in the most oppressed district of Indianapolis and building a unified, cooperative, and just fully public school system.