The mayor and IPS superintendent urge the city to 'link arms' on school policies ahead of a decisive vote

The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance is set to vote Wednesday on recommendations that could fundamentally reshape the governance of Indianapolis Public Schools and the city’s charter sector.

Ahead of the decisive meeting, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson issued a joint statement Tuesday outlining five specific policy requirements they believe must be part of the final plan for a "sustainable education system."

The alliance, a state-mandated nine-member task force chaired by Hogsett, will choose between two governance models to present to the Indiana General Assembly. Both options would dilute the authority of the elected IPS Board of School Commissioners in favor of appointed oversight bodies.

The "collaborative compact advisory board" model proposes a new board of appointees from IPS, the mayor’s office, and charter schools. This body would collect property taxes and authorize charter schools, with both the IPS board and charter boards reporting to it.

The "Indianapolis education authority" model would concentrate significantly more power in the mayor’s office. It calls for a mayor-appointed secretary of education and a nine-member policy-making board to oversee the district and charter schools.

The proposals have sparked intense debate regarding public accountability. In a recent Indianapolis Star opinion piece, State Sen. Andrea Hunley (D-Indianapolis), a former IPS principal, argued against stripping power from the elected board, suggesting it should instead be empowered as the authority over all city schools.

Conversely, six former directors of the city's Office of Education Innovation, including Mind Trust CEO Brandon Brown, warned in a separate letter that restricting the number of charter authorizers could create a “monopoly preventing the checks and balances that exist in the current authorizing system.”

While Hogsett and Johnson did not endorse a specific governance model in their Tuesday statement, they urged ILEA members to "link arms" on five key policy changes.

"We as a city are facing some really hard choices," Johnson said in the release. "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".

The Hogsett-Johnson priorities

The mayor and superintendent requested the following five elements be included in the ILEA’s final report to the state legislature:

• Exempt IPS from the $1 law: The pair called for IPS to be exempt from the state law requiring districts to offer unused buildings to charter operators for one dollar. They say the law is "likely not applicable" as the district works to consolidate resources.
• Mandatory transportation participation: They proposed that all public schools, including charters and IPS-linked innovation schools, must participate in a district-wide transportation system. Schools that opt out would forfeit their share of property tax distributions.
• Limit charter authorizers: To create stability, the leaders argued that only two entities should authorize schools within IPS boundaries: the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation and the Indiana Charter School Board.
• A common facility framework: Citing the difficulty of managing 103 buildings for just 41,000 students, they called for a transparent, shared decision-making process to "right-size" the number of schools in the district.
• Support for vulnerable students: The platform asserts that all schools must financially support and serve students with disabilities, English language learners, and those experiencing homelessness. They stated that current funding is "inadequate" and called on the legislature to ensure resources meet these legal obligations.

The ILEA meets 6 p.m. Wednesday in the City-County Building’s public assembly room. The meeting will be livestreamed on Channel 16.

Eric Weddle is WFYI's education editor. Contact Eric at eweddle@wfyi.org or follow him on X at @ericweddle