Charters & Choice
State lawmakers will consider creating a new agency to oversee IPS schools and charters. Here’s a look at the history and powerful advocates behind that push for unified control over city schools.
New Jersey’s choice program was designed to expand access to public schools, but new data suggests access remains limited.
In private emails, a leading advocacy group fretted about the move and secured a meeting with the Labor Secretary, who will oversee a key charter program.
In a statement, the board said the move would be a ‘step toward unparalleled local accountability.’
Supporters of both charter and traditional schools worry a new governance structure would create more bureaucracy and fail to address academic issues.
Charter school leaders have expressed support for some parts of recommendations advanced by the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance.
Political scientist Joseph Viteritti chronicles the contributions of education researchers, lawyers, theorists, and activists — many of them Black men and women — who believed that all children could learn and that what happens in schools matters.
The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance is meeting Dec. 3 to start narrowing down recommendations for changing who runs schools.
The 4 governance options unveiled at the group’s recent meeting range from a fully elected IPS school board to a fully appointed one.
Of the options that the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance could recommend, 3 of the 4 would shift power away from the current elected school board.
Proposed governance changes from the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance range from an elected IPS board that oversees both district and charter schools to an IPS board fully appointed by the mayor.
The LEARN charter school network is appealing to the state a decision by North Chicago District 187 to close two schools it operates in the suburban community in 2027. That district is in the process of transitioning out of state oversight.
The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance has presented a slew of potential solutions for how to share school transportation and buildings. But a larger question looms: Who should govern charter and district schools?
Increased mayoral control over Indianapolis Public Schools and the city’s charters could mirror how schools are run in New York City and Washington, D.C. But would it work smoothly with Unigov?
The two independently-run public schools announced earlier this year that they could no longer operate the high school campuses.
Both Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli support expanding New Jersey’s Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, but experts warn that costs, equity, and capacity could make that difficult.
Examples from D.C. and Denver could serve as potential solutions or cautionary tales as the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance crafts its recommendations.
The coalition of Indianapolis schools was one of three applicants approved for the pilot program that will start in the 2026-27 school year.
The requests from the IPS school board include retaining an elected board, a moratorium on new schools, and a rejection of a future all-charter school system.
The Chicago-based, legal-themed charter school aims to be close to Indianapolis’ business community.