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Joel Williams and Charisse McGill from Stand for Children canvass the neighborhood north of 38th street near Deleware street. They're working to convince voters to pass the IPS referenda on the general ballot.
Carter Barrett/WFYIWith little more than a week before the midterm elections, Stand for Children and Indianapolis Public Schools are making a final push to garner support for the $272 million referenda.
Stand for Children – a national nonprofit that’s advocated for the referenda – send approximately 20 employees out every day in the finals weeks leading up to the election. They divide their time between canvassing for the referenda and school board.
"We are doing a final push of a lot of the contacts we’ve been making, just the voters in the area and pretty much everybody in our district," Joel Williams from Stand for Children says. "We’re in our what we call the GOTV phase – get out the vote."
The two property tax referenda would cover building repair, safety improvements and teacher raises. The median annual increase across the district would be an estimated $27.
Charisse McGill, one of the canvassers, says most people she talks to are knowledgeable about the referenda and that school safety is on a lot of voters’ minds.
"The people that open the door for us, I believe, are pretty receptive to hearing what we have to say," McGill says. "I also feel like as soon as they hear the positive part of the referenda they are for it."
The polls open at 6 a.m. next Tuesday, Nov. 6.
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