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Our kids deserve the best possible education system, and we need innovations to get there.
The next innovation in education should be limiting the number of charter school authorizers operating in Indianapolis and instituting a brief moratorium on starting a charter school.
Currently, there are 10 different charter school authorizers in the city.
Organizations like Trine University based in Angola—over 100 miles away—has authorized seven schools, with six in the IPS district. The seventh, which was planned for Pike Township, has received significant community pushback.
While there’s a lot we still need to understand regarding the long-term efficacy and impacts of charters on a community, charter schools are not going away. Some charter schools certainly struggle, but others are high-performing and should be replicated.
Candidly, parents are also exercising their prerogative to send their children to charter schools.
But it seems fiscally irresponsible to continue to take the limited financial resources within the IPS district and smear them across separate charter school systems—especially with virtually no constraints on the number of entities that can authorize charters schools in the district.
There are only so many IPS students.
But perhaps the main reason the number of charter authorizers should be limited is that, according to an IndyStar analysis, a third of Indy charter schools close.
A report by the National Center for Charter School Accountability found that, nationally, 25% of charters close within five years. By year 20, the study found, 55% are closed.
Five years is barely two state budget cycles.
Is it fiscally responsible to allow 10 authorizers the ability to divert limited public funds to unelected school boards leading ventures that too often last only five years?
As a former charter school board member of one that had to close suddenly, I can say the trauma to the students, families, staff and community can’t be dismissed as “a feature of the system.”
It is a problem that has a destabilizing impact on communities—and too often, mostly Black students, Black families and the Black community.
As research suggests that most charters close due to academic performance, low enrollment and financial problems, charter school authorizers should embrace several reforms.
Failed charter schools can currently “shop” authorizers—losing their charter from one only to gain a charter from another—creating a “pseudo-accountability” that must stop.
The number of charter schools that can be authorized each year in a school district should be limited. Also, we should have a moratorium on charter schools in Indianapolis until we can actually discern a rational number of options. Other communities have done this—we can, too.
After all, how many ways can you actually split limited tax dollars and not hurt kids?
As a graduate of Washington Township schools, former charter school board member, donor to a charter school, vendor to IPS, and parent who sends my son to a private school, I appreciate the desire to have high-quality school-choice options.
Charters can be a high-quality option, but unfortunately, we are trapped in a system that lacks appropriate systemic safeguards—which potentially harms all schools in the IPS district. Ultimately, this instability hurts kids.
The next innovations in education in Indiana need to be greater accountability for charter school authorizers and a brief moratorium so the community can decide how many charter schools are needed.•
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Wolley is president and CEO of Black Onyx Management Inc. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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