Public education in Indianapolis is harder than it needs to be, especially for families with the fewest resources.
For many parents, figuring out where their child can attend school and how they will get there feels unnecessarily complicated. Those challenges multiply for families navigating housing instability.
After six months of work with the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA), I voted yes on a series of recommendations intended to reduce that complexity. I did so knowing that the proposal is imperfect and controversial, as well as with the understanding that it will make people across the education and political spectrum uncomfortable.
But doing nothing is not acceptable. The status quo places the greatest burden on families with the least resources.
A system that doesn’t function like one
Indianapolis does not operate a unified public education system. Instead, it functions as multiple systems layered on top of one another. Each system has its own governance structure, transportation standards, facilities strategies and accountability expectations.
Families feel the consequences of this fragmentation. Navigating school options is harder than it should be. Transportation varies depending on what type of school a child attends. Buildings sit vacant in some neighborhoods while another school just down the road is overcrowded.
This fragmentation is not the result of bad intent. It is the result of years of decisions made independently, without a shared framework. The ILEA recommendations are an attempt to address that gap.
Coordination without taking control
One concern I’ve heard repeatedly is that these recommendations reduce autonomy and power. I disagree with that assertion.
If our recommendations are enacted, schools and districts will continue to educate students, employ teachers and make instructional decisions. Charter boards will remain intact. IPS will continue to exist as a district.
What changes is who takes responsibility for shared functions that no one entity can solve alone. When it comes to transportation, facility planning, unified enrollment and
accountability between independent charters, innovation schools, and traditional public schools, families feel the real consequences when decisions are made in isolation.
This is not consolidation for the sake of politics. It is coordination designed to make public education easier for families to navigate and more reliable for all students.
Transportation and facilities as equity issues
Two of the least visible aspects of education policy (buses and buildings) are actually some of the most important.
Transportation often determines whether school choice is real or theoretical. Without reliable transportation, families with the least flexibility lose options first. Facilities decisions that impact neighborhoods for decades are often made without coordination.
A unified approach to transportation and facilities is not simply about efficiency. It is about equity. It reduces the likelihood that students will fall through the cracks that have been created by fragmented systems. I readily stand by the mandate that all public schools in the IPS geographic district must participate in the unified transportation system.
Why I voted yes
I evaluated this proposal through a simple lens: access, opportunity, fairness, collaboration, and outcomes. I thought about how these changes would impact students facing the greatest barriers because I believe that a system designed to meet their needs will meet the needs of all students. Measured against that standard, these recommendations move Indianapolis in the right direction.
It is not perfect. Our process was not perfect. But we did our best to engage every perspective. We sought out clarity and information from school leaders, educators, parents, students and the community. In the end, these recommendations create a foundation for a public education system that is clearer, fairer and more accountable to the families that it serves.
For more than 40,000 students in Indianapolis, that progress matters.
Andrew Neal is CEO of Outreach, Inc., a nonprofit serving youth experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis. He also serves on the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA).
, I voted yes on a series of recommendations intended to reduce that complexity.){kind=link}