Indianapolis Local Education Alliance

The coalition statement reflects months of tension between lawmakers, reform groups, and community members.

The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance will vote Wednesday on two proposals to restructure school governance, while Mayor Joe Hogsett and Superintendent Aleesia Johnson released a joint platform demanding universal transportation and limits on charter authorization.

Supporters of both charter and traditional schools worry a new governance structure would create more bureaucracy and fail to address academic issues.

A state-mandated education task force has advanced two proposals that would both significantly dilute the power of the elected board governing Indianapolis Public Schools.

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?

A system could highlight schools in need of intervention and provide important information to parents as they select schools for their children.

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 price and availability of transportation for Indianapolis Public Schools and the dozens of charters in its borders vary greatly. Some challenges, however, are universal: finding dependable vendors, negotiating rising costs, and ensuring student safety.

Charter schools have grown in student enrollment and political clout since coming to Indiana in 2001. Will recent changes finally push IPS into becoming an all-charter system?

A proposal backed by Stand for Children Indiana would restructure Indianapolis Public Schools, putting district and charter schools under one board and accountability system.