The Indiana Coalition for Public Education stands firmly with Indianapolis Public Schools and their community in support of the current governance structure of a democratically elected school board. Families must have a voice in the oversight of their public schools–without exception. What makes public education truly “public” is the ability to elect neighbors and community leaders who set the direction of our schools and are accountable to the communities they serve. 

ICPE believes that public schools are the heart of our communities. For too long, the legislature has allowed outside groups to treat our neighborhood public schools as entrepreneurial ventures rather than the essential common good they are. When schools are treated as businesses the focus shifts to dollars instead of children. True accountability comes from the local control and community voice through elected school boards–not from schools opening and closing at the whim of the market.

By law, public schools accept and educate every child who walks through their doors. It is the responsibility of the legislature to fund our public schools so that all children have what they need to thrive. Public education is the constitutional right for each and every Hoosier student. 

The constant opening and closing of charter schools in Indianapolis has undermined stability and drained funding from traditional public schools. Oversaturation of schools in the same geographic area has diluted resources for all students, fragmented our neighborhood communities, and weakened oversight of taxpayer dollars. Now, the legislature seeks to further erode the voice of the Indianapolis community by proposing the addition of appointed school board members– or, worse, transferring control over taxpayer-funded assets to non-elected entities.

Public schools are the cornerstone of our democracy. They are where we come together across all walks of life and learn to value our differences and find our common ground. Silencing the voice of the IPS community, weakening the local control and power of families to guide the direction of their children’s schools is not only bad for Indianapolis, it is bad for Indiana. ICPE has long maintained that all communities, including Gary and Muncie, deserve elected school boards. Now IPS is in the crosshairs. Your public schools could be next.

Hoosiers recently rejected anti-democratic efforts pushed by outside interests, and affirmed their belief in representation and elections. Now we see further anti-democratic efforts happening right here at home in the form of weakening our school boards–focusing on IPS. We must speak out, all across the state, against this move for the sake of our children, our communities, and our democracy.