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The Indianapolis Public Schools board is strongly opposing a bill that would dissolve the district and force it to convert to charter schools, a proposal that has spurred calls for an organized campaign against it.
The pushback against House Bill 1136 at the first meeting of the new school board on Tuesday comes as IPS faces the start of yet another state legislative session Wednesday that could leave the district more financially strapped and struggling to stay alive.
The bill also became the focus at Tuesday’s meeting, where new board members were sworn in at a historic moment for IPS—for the first time, a board made up entirely of women of color leads a district overseen by its first Black female superintendent.
“This legislation is not student focused, and fails to reflect the community’s input on how they envision their public schools thriving,” board President Angelia Moore said in a statement on behalf of the board at the meeting. “Instead of fostering growth and innovation, HB 1136 risks dismantling the very foundation that supports student success and community collaboration.”
The bill would require Indiana districts to dissolve and transition into charter schools if more than half of students living in the district boundary enroll in a school outside the district. Under the proposal, IPS would dissolve, and 50 of its schools would convert to charters, according to the bill’s latest fiscal impact statement.
Four other districts—Gary Community School Corp., Union School Corp. in east-central Indiana, Tri-Township Consolidated School Corp. in the north, and Cannelton City Schools in the south—would also dissolve.
The bill, proposed by Republican State Rep. Jake Teshka of North Liberty, would also dissolve the IPS’ elected board and replace it with a seven-member board appointed by the governor, the mayor, the president of the city-county council, and the executive director of the Indiana Charter School Board.
IPS to face challenging legislative session
In addition to this bill, a number of other proposals could spell financial ruin for the district, at a time when it faces mounting pressure to share more resources with charter schools. Amid mounting competition from the charter sector, the district has already tried to right-size itself through its Rebuilding Stronger reorganization, which closed several schools last school year and reconfigured grades districtwide this school year.
A new charter advocacy group, the Indiana Charter Innovation Center, will push for charters to receive the same amount of funding from property taxes that traditional districts receive. That would require IPS to give more than the $4 million in property tax revenues it is estimated to give to charters this year, in accordance with a law passed last year.
And incoming Gov. Mike Braun has pushed for capping increases in property taxes, which could further restrict funding for traditional public schools.
IPS grapples annually with competition from Indiana’s strong school choice environment, which state lawmakers have bolstered in previous sessions. The district faces a fiscal cliff once additional property taxes from the 2018 operating referendum expire in 2026. Federal pandemic relief funds have also expired.
“Urban education systems face complex and nuanced challenges that may be unfamiliar to some policymakers,” Moore said at the meeting. “We invite legislators who are genuinely interested in public education to visit our district, gain firsthand insight on our unique mission and vision, and work alongside us to ensure sustainable and meaningful outcomes for students, educators, and families.”
Community members raise opposition to bill
Parents and staff also voiced their opposition to HB 1136 at the meeting Tuesday and called on the board to loudly protest it. Four people spoke against the bill, while three others suggested the board partner with charters, respond to the demand for educational choice, or work with lawmakers to improve the district.
“Rebuilding Stronger shut down schools. The loss this community felt cannot be overstated. Don’t let their loss be in vain,” parent Kristen Phair told the board in between sobs. “I am asking each of you commissioners to take a united stand and be loud in advocating against this bill. Please help us organize. Our families want to organize against this.”
The public support follows a separate call from a group of community leaders who last week called on IPS to consider how to remain operational amid “strong financial headwinds.”
“The legislature has taken notice and seems ready to act if needed,” read the statement from former mayors Bart Peterson and Greg Ballard; former IPS board president Mary Ann Sullivan; and city-county councilors Maggie Lewis, Carlos Perkins, and Leroy Robinson. “It is preferable, however, that any structural changes in IPS are driven locally and to the benefit of our Indianapolis students and community.”
The group urged IPS to share more property tax funding with charter schools.
But Noah Leninger, a teacher at Robert Frost School 106, urged the board not to accept any such compromises.
“More charter schools will not save IPS,” he said. “No matter what they’re called—if we’re honest and we call them charter schools, if we lie to ourselves and our community and call them Innovation Network schools—whatever the name, the rapid and unchecked expansion of these unaccountable grift mills has not gotten IPS out of this mess.”
Board member Gayle Cosby, who beat an opponent backed by political action committees supportive of education reform to return to the board, said that she was encouraged by the crowd. She also scrutinized the often repeated call by charter supporters for IPS to “partner” with charters.
“My definition of partner does not include any entity that is actively seeking to destroy or dissolve our district, as noted in the proposed legislation,” she said.
Board member Nicole Carey said the challenging times will require courage from district leaders.
“To everyone tonight, I want to say stand with us, stay engaged, hold us accountable to this promise of prioritizing the needs of our students,” she said. “It is going to take all of us.”
Chalkbeat Indiana is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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With this push by the legislature to take over local schools, it is worth noting how many Charter Schools have failed. There remains a serious lack of oversight and control on charters. So much money has been shifted from the public school system that they are being set up to fail. Lets fund properly and pay teachers appropriately for quality public schools. That is the backbone of our society. Then there is consistency and quality in what our students learn.
I disagree with the writer of the article. This is not a district being dissolved. It’s a state takeover and restructuring.
Yes, large chunks of the central office go away. But there will still be an IPS, with a school board that goes from five people voted on by citizens … to seven people, all of which are appointees. (Four by governor, one by charter school advocates, two by local government.)
So the locality still loses its power and gets screwed? No thanks. The State has interfered and done enough damage.
Whatever happened to the Republican belief that “the best government is the government which is closest to the people”? Inside the Indiana state capitol, there is no evidence that such thinking holds sway. Among the Republican super-majority it has been replaced by a “we know best” mindset. That arrogance is more than just annoying. It is dangerous.
Their “small government” arguments were always made in bad faith. They’ve never once cared about the wellfare of people. Republicans want two things – More power and more money.
This mindset only exists when the “closest to the people” government is run by Republicans. Not just in Indiana but in other red states, too, the state government does not believe local elected Democrats are able to handle things. State Republicans are wrong, of course, but they love to grab power whenever voters give it to Democrats.
IPS is failing at educating our children. Miserably. Please let’s try something.
No. The State has caused IPS to fail by forcing the diversion of funds to charter schools that lie, steal, discriminate, and screw over families and entire communities.
Get the State and Charters OUT of education in Indianapolis.
Let the people who live and pay taxes and *vote* in the IPS district decide for themselves how they want to restructure IPS, if at all. Voters in IPS elect their own school board and that is the authority that should make decisions of what to do about local education issues.
The General Assembly needs to stay in its lane. There are many *huge* statewide issues they can and should focus on, but that would involve hard work, so state legislators grandstand instead to distract from the fact that they aren’t doing their jobs.
Also, IPS is hardly the only school district in the state with problems, and yet the General Assembly doesn’t seem to feel the need to propose legislation dismantling or massively restructuring those districts.
This is the same as firing a weapon at your pet and then complaining it bled on the carpet…
Hopefully it passes!