Charters & Choice
The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance is meeting Dec. 3 to start narrowing down recommendations for changing who runs schools.
The 4 governance options unveiled at the group’s recent meeting range from a fully elected IPS school board to a fully appointed one.
Of the options that the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance could recommend, 3 of the 4 would shift power away from the current elected school board.
Proposed governance changes from the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance range from an elected IPS board that oversees both district and charter schools to an IPS board fully appointed by the mayor.
The LEARN charter school network is appealing to the state a decision by North Chicago District 187 to close two schools it operates in the suburban community in 2027. That district is in the process of transitioning out of state oversight.
The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance has presented a slew of potential solutions for how to share school transportation and buildings. But a larger question looms: Who should govern charter and district schools?
Increased mayoral control over Indianapolis Public Schools and the city’s charters could mirror how schools are run in New York City and Washington, D.C. But would it work smoothly with Unigov?
The two independently-run public schools announced earlier this year that they could no longer operate the high school campuses.
Both Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli support expanding New Jersey’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, but experts warn that costs, equity, and capacity could make that difficult.
Examples from D.C. and Denver could serve as potential solutions or cautionary tales as the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance crafts its recommendations.
The coalition of Indianapolis schools was one of three applicants approved for the pilot program that will start in the 2026-27 school year.
The requests from the IPS school board include retaining an elected board, a moratorium on new schools, and a rejection of a future all-charter school system.
The Chicago-based, legal-themed charter school aims to be close to Indianapolis’ business community.
The vote to make the school on the near eastside available to charters for $1 comes as a state-mandated group examines how IPS and charter schools can use facilities more efficiently.
The pilot program, created by lawmakers earlier this year, would let independent boards oversee school facilities and transportation for all pilot participants.
The charter will be designed to support kids experiencing homelessness and those with interactions with the justice system.
Renovations to the former Forest Manor Middle School building are part of a new beginning for Andrew J. Brown Academy, which broke ties with a for-profit charter operator last year.
The resignation of the Irvington Community Schools board chair — and the vote to remove a second member from the board — follows heightened criticism from students, parents, and staff over conflicts of interest in the charter network’s search for a new CEO.
Charter schools have grown in student enrollment and political clout since coming to Indiana in 2001. Will recent changes finally push IPS into becoming an all-charter system?
The announcement ends the legal battle over a state law that requires districts to give unused school buildings to interested charter schools for the sale or lease price of $1.