Shuffling grades, closing school buildings: IPS proposes sweeping changes

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13 thoughts on “Shuffling grades, closing school buildings: IPS proposes sweeping changes

  1. The entire education system needs to be overhauled period. There should be either college prep schools or trad schools and kids and their families can choose which to attend. Schools should only focus on math, English, economics and whatever trade they select. Kids should also be able to go to trade school and work and get paid while in school. Times have changed and the education system hasn’t kept up with the times

    1. What district do your kids attend? The public schools in the district my kids attend provides both trade and college bound paths through the public school system. The focus is on helping prepare kids beyond knowing a little math and English — to get them as far ahead as they can in whichever/whatever path they choose to take after K-12. Many kids can come out of the school system with things such as welding experience, construction, and other trades as well as college prep or even nursing, tech security, and other focus areas. The opportunities are there in many districts, so again, what district are your kids attending? Maybe you should take a closer look.

      As stated in the article, consolidating to fewer larger schools could give IPS a better edge to be able to offer the same (if they are not offering it already. I’m in the suburbs, so I can’t speak to what IPS specifically offers).

    2. Amen …you are spot on. Not everyone needs to go to college to be successful.

  2. They focus so much on choice schools but there are no evidence that the choice schools perform better than neighborhood schools. Why keep ignoring neighborhood schools? Setting them up to fail and then blame it on the individual schools. It’s a total shame.

    1. Direct quote from the article. IPS enrollment is down 40% from 2010. Not down from their heyday in the 70’s, 2010. Choice schools up “tenfold” (I guess Chalkbeat couldn’t bring themselves to actually type the number) since 2015. Nope, no evidence at all…

  3. Sounds like you have an opportunity to overhaul the entire system. Take advantage of that position. Our children deserve better than the education system we have in the US, which is failing them and the communities daily. Indianapolis needs a more diverse workforce- build a curriculum to meet those needs. Every kid cannot and should not go to college. But they can learn a solid trade that will provide them a lifelong career and stability for their families. They then become more attached to “their” community. This isn’t rocket science folks- it just means you need to go against the norm and do something new and different. Change is painful- but it is evermore necessary in education! Indiana as a whole should be working to create an education program that becomes the system by which others are measured.

  4. I have often wondered as IPS struggles to manage running busses all over the city, and have far flung schools like Marshall, why do they insist on sticking to the old pre-unigov city boundaries, and just cede some territory to the surrounding townships. This would make the district more compact and as a by product easier to manage.

    1. Marshall, and most (all?) of the IPS schools in the “John Marshall” area of IPS (38th St. corridor east of 465) are closed or converted to charter/choice schools.

  5. One of my best friends was trying to “raise children”, none of which were his, but long story short none of them were taking school seriously. The enigma of college and the cost of it was already looming over them. Most kids these days feel that way. Without scholarships, a full ride, or costly students loans A LOT of high school students are taking gaps years, dropping out, or not going to college. The education system needs a reset. The system is broken. Teachers are underpaid. It trickles down and adds to the 40% decline in enrollment and some of the problems IPS is facing.

  6. I agree. Just closing schools isn’t going to help. Obviously, parents aren’t happy with how IPS is teaching their kids. They need to look at the lack of quality education the kids are getting. But then they would have to admit that how they are teaching kids isn’t working.
    I don’t expect any of these ideas to ever be implemented.

    My ideas are:

    1.Start making school interesting with more hands on and real life learning. IPS is still spending most of the time having kids memorize and regurgitate the information.
    2. Increase the size of the ONLY gifted school at IPS. There is so much emphasis on underperforming kids that the smart ones get lost. Most schools think extra homework is the solution which is the WORST thing you can do for a gifted child. There should be more emphasis on teaching the kids the way they learn. Instead only teaching kids 1 way.
    3. Start giving teachers hefty pay raises and a alow consequences for bad behavior so teachers can go back to teaching. Also, give them interns that work for them 30-40 hours a week so that teachers can teach instead of doing paperwork.

  7. Let’s face it…IPS has been rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic for the past 30 years. About 20 years ago some serious people suggested devolving pie shaped slivers of IPS to the adjacent suburban Marion County districts, and that is probably what needs to happen.

    1. And lest I be accused of not having skin in the game…I sent a kid through IPS, K-12. There were a few bright spots 25 years ago when he was there, and there still are. But the vast majority of IPS students are failing state tests in failing schools. (What’s the current overall IPS pass rate on the ISTEP, ITest, ILearn, or whatever its flavor of the year is?)

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