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Indianapolis Public Schools is on a bumpy road that leads to the edge of a cliff.
The district is accustomed to hostile legislation at the statehouse — but this year’s session features several high-profile bills that could fundamentally alter IPS.
GOP proposals to curb property taxes would hurt the district’s coffers. Legislation requiring the district to give more of its property tax revenue to charter schools would add to its fiscal strain. Another bill would strip its power over facilities and transportation.
And perhaps most controversially of all, House Bill 1136 would dissolve the district altogether and replace it with charter schools, as well as end the elected IPS school board.
These bills aren’t the district’s only worries. IPS is continuing to lose students in its non-charter schools. It is also approaching a fiscal cliff: Funding from the voter-approved 2018 operating referendum dries up in 2026.
But the flurry of legislative proposals pose a significant question about the district’s future, even if many or all of them don’t become law this year. Those who support IPS and are critical of charter schools argue that the activity this session is part of a larger attempt to ultimately destroy the district. Those putting pressure on IPS, however, argue that the district must respond to serious financial issues amid its declining enrollment.
At the first meeting of the new school board this month, Christina Smith, head of the Indianapolis Education Justice Coalition that is critical of charters, reviewed her longstanding attempts to alert the public to the “complete privatization of public education and the plan to dismantle IPS.”
“I’m trying real hard not to tell people, ‘I told you so,’” Smith said during public comment. “As a new board in this pivotal moment, you have the opportunity to be on the side of students, families, and the public school district you were elected and have sworn to serve.”
But Rep. Bob Behning, the GOP chair of the House Education Committee, said his hope is “not at all” to eliminate IPS.
“I do believe that IPS knows very clearly the messages it’s being given: You have a chance to control your destiny,” Behning said. “Take a hold of it and do something about it.”
District leaders did not return repeated requests for comment. While the district has vocally opposed the HB 1136, the bill that would dismantle it, it has not announced stances on other proposals involving IPS. Board President Angelia Moore said HB 1136 “risks dismantling the very foundation that supports student success and community collaboration.”
IPS, charter advocates square off over district’s fate
A push to provide property tax relief to homeowners — following a post-pandemic spike in assessed values that caused an increase in property taxes — could hurt IPS financially. Several bills call for property tax reform, including limiting the rate at which property taxes can grow each year and freezing the assessed values of homes.
Senate Bill 518 would also require all school districts to share operating revenue generated from property taxes with charter schools, and with other school districts that enroll students living within their borders. IPS, unlike charter schools, receives funding through local property taxes and can also increase such funding by asking voters to approve referendums. But IPS and other Marion County districts are already required to share a portion of property tax increases with Marion County charters that enroll students living within their boundaries.
The financial impact of Senate Bill 518 on IPS specifically is unclear.
Scott Bess, head of the new Indiana Charter Innovation Center that plans to push for more property tax revenue for charters this session, cited a frequent claim of charter advocates: There is a significant funding gap between charters and IPS.
“The reality is charter schools have been paying for all the same things that districts are paying for, they’re just paying for it out of their state tuition money,” he said. “And so yes, I have sympathy for the district because it is going to be an adjustment and they are going to have to figure this out. But charter schools have been having to figure that out for the last 20 years, and have done it.”
The Mind Trust, which helps establish charter schools in Indianapolis and is frequently criticized for driving legislation to harm IPS at the statehouse, declined an interview for this story. But in a statement, the nonprofit said that it supports sharing local property taxes with charters as well as ensuring transportation and facilities for all public school students.
“We support the district proactively pursuing structural changes that will ensure the success of all public school students within IPS’ boundaries and safeguard the district’s long-term sustainability,” the group said.
Another bill, House Bill 1501, would ultimately require the district to hand over authority of its transportation and facilities to appointed boards. Supporters of the legislation say it would help students and save money. But such a move would further erode the power of the publicly elected school board, which charter schools do not have.
There’s also a concern that in a fragmented schooling landscape without such boards to oversee academics and finances, many vulnerable students could get lost in the shuffle.
Critics of charter schools argue that a series of decisions, as well as a bias against the district, has forced IPS to this point.
They note longstanding Republican support of school choice in the legislature, the city’s powerful education organizations that support charter schools, and years of heavy spending from charter-friendly political action committees in the local IPS school board races.
Within hours of being sworn on to the IPS school board for a second time earlier this year, Gayle Cosby didn’t mince words.
“There are snakes among us,” she told the crowd on Jan. 2, saying that “dark billionaire money” has purchased influence on the IPS school board since she was first elected in 2012. Political action committees associated with charter-friendly groups such as Stand for Children and RISE INDY — as well as out-of-state donors with strong ties to the charter movement — have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to school board campaigns since that year.
Cosby also said that the legislation to dissolve IPS meant that the attacks on the district are coming “full circle.”
GOP lawmakers: We want IPS to change, not disappear
The district, meanwhile, has pointed to how it’s evolving and improving.
In a video posted Jan. 10, IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson pointed to the district’s attempt to right-size itself under its Rebuilding Stronger plan.
She noted the district’s graduation rate of 87%, more than 20 points higher than 10 years ago.
And almost 90% of staff stayed with the district throughout Rebuilding Stronger’s consolidation and closure of schools, she noted — a retention rate that showed “stability for our community and consistency for our students.”
“Looking forward, we know challenges remain. In the months ahead we’re going to be hearing more about legislation that could seriously impact the future of this work and where our district goes next,” Johnson said. “There are different proposals being filed and discussed about our funding structure, and both myself and the board are committed to looking at each piece of legislation carefully as it comes.”
Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have also dismissed the claim that the bills are part of a larger attempt to dismantle the district.
“The goal is to get them into a financial spot so that they can continue to exist,” said Rep. Jake Teshka, a Republican who co-authored House Bill 1136, which would effectively dissolve IPS. “Nobody woke up one day and said, ‘We really want to dissolve IPS. We want to attack IPS.’”
But even outside of the district, educators fear a greater intent behind HB 1136 and HB 1501, the bill to strip IPS and other districts of their control over transportation and facilities.
“Any movement away from school districts having control over their own districts and over their own budgets is a negative move for the students and families of Indiana,” said Galen Mast, superintendent of the Union School Corporation, which educates over 7,800 students and would also be impacted by both bills. “The desire for money and control and to privatize education is behind both of these bills.”
The end of Indiana’s legislative session is April 29.
Amelia Pak-Harvey covers Indianapolis and Lawrence Township schools for Chalkbeat Indiana. Contact Amelia at apak-harvey@chalkbeat.org.