Group to vote on IPS, charter school changes
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The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance will meet Wednesday night to adopt final recommendations for changes to the city's education system.
Why it matters: The recommendations are likely to pave the way for legislation that will change how schools are run, how many schools the city has and how students get to them.
State of play: Two things seem clear: Whatever the group recommends will limit the authority of the elected Indianapolis Public School board, and that's going to upset some parents and community members who feel that taking power from the board means taking power from the people who elect them.
- "We want an elected board at the highest level," said Britt Booram, a member of the IPS Parent Council. Booram raised concerns that giving more power to the mayor's office could mean more policies are subject to the political whims of whoever is in office at the time and less stability for the system and families.
The latest: Mayor Joe Hogsett and IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson released a joint set of priorities ahead of Wednesday's meeting, where they'll ask the rest of the alliance to adopt them as part of the final recommendations.
- They include exempting IPS from the state's $1 law, mandating all schools provide transportation services or forfeit their share of property taxes, limiting charter school authorizers to just the mayor's office and state charter school board and creating a framework for inevitable school closures.
What they're saying: "We as a city are facing some really hard choices," Johnson said. "My primary goal is to ensure our students continue to have access to the opportunities they currently have while reducing disruption and creating coherence for all families in Indianapolis, not just those in IPS."
Reality check: The alliance's only power is to make recommendations to the Indiana General Assembly, which created the group.
- Lawmakers can take them, leave them or adjust them as they wish.
What's next: The meeting starts at 6pm at the City-County Building.
- The alliance will take an hour of public comment before voting on final recommendations.