Today, Central Indiana DSA celebrates the IPS Board of Commissioners for issuing a powerful, principled stance to preserve democratic governance and fully fund public schools in the face of Statehouse Republican-led attempts to dismantle and privatize IPS schools.
Commissioners Dr. Gayle Cosby, Alissa Impink, Dr. Nicole Carey, Ashley Thomas, Hope Duke Star, Deandra Thompson, and Angelia Moore voiced their commitment to true leadership and service to students, families, and community members and challenging the Mayor’s secretive collaboration with Statehouse Republicans and the charter industry.
This is what a fighting democratic public school board sounds like.
DSA’s Fully-Funded, Fully Public Schools campaign joins IPS Commissioners in calling for the following.
Democratic and Accountable Governance
First and foremost, DSA echoes the IPS board’s insistence that “[p]ublic education belongs to the people of Indianapolis, not to appointed bodies” and that “[public] schools must remain under the full oversight of democratically elected officials who answer directly to the community.” Without representative, democratic governance, there is no public school system. We sternly reject calls to replace our local, elected school board with unaccountable appointees who do not represent us or our children.
Consolidation of Charters Under One Democratic Authority
DSA supports the IPS board’s call for a “streamlined, transparent accountability system that sets clear expectations for all public schools.” Though DSA believes that charters must come under the accountable, democratic authority of the elected school board, and not the Hogsett-controlled Office of Education Innovation, we appreciate IPS’s call to consolidate the dysfunctional and oversaturated charter landscape under one authority.
Prioritizing the Stabilization of the Indianapolis Public School System
DSA applauds the IPS board’s common-sense declaration that “[o]ur students and families deserve quality, and quality requires stability.” We must calm the chaos that proliferation of charters has inflicted on our school system. To ensure that our public schools can serve all students, we must put a cap on new schools and models until IPS is stabilized.
Transportation for All Cannot Include a Free Ride for Charters
Every public school student must have free, efficient, safe, and equitable transportation. However, the IPS board rightly acknowledges that forcing IPS to extend free transportation to charter schools would be prohibitively expensive and unsustainable, and it would come at the cost of our schoolchildren. If IPS is to extend its transportation services to charters, we can’t rob IPS students to pay for it. We must create new funding sources, or charters must pay their fair share.
Protecting Public Ownership and Community Stewardship of IPS Facilities
“No single entity ‘owns’ [IPS] facilities; they belong to the people of Indianapolis. Responsibility for these public assets must remain with elected officials who are accountable to voters as transparent stewards.” DSA, alongside the IPS Commissioners, calls for “the immediate removal of the $1 law” and “a process by which buildings that may be repurposed” to “address other critical community needs such as housing, community service hubs, or early learning centers.”
Fully Funding Public Schools Once and For All
“[P]ublic schools are the bedrock of a healthy, thriving Indianapolis.” While it is true that “public schools have not consistently lived up to the promise of opportunity,” we know that a better world is possible, and it is our “responsibility to make good on that promise.” As demonstrated by the last school funding referendum, voters in Indianapolis schools are clear: we want our schools fully funded. We want well-rounded curricula and excellence in instruction. If given the chance, voters will also show they are willing to also pay for wraparound services, including Pre-K, health services, freely available meals and nutrition, and mental health support. Let Indianapolis voters decide our own future, without interference from the Statehouse or Hogsett’s back door deals.
As Central Indiana DSA, we too “stand ready to work with our community, for our community, and in our community . . . [to] achieve the outcomes we all desire for our students..” Although DSA has sometimes found itself at odds with IPS Commissioners, our goal remains the same: a fully-funded, fully public school system of strengthened democratic accountability, community stewardship, and excellence in education for every student.
Thank you, IPS Commissioners for speaking truth to power!