Overview
- The Indianapolis Local Education Alliance voted 8–1 to recommend creating the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation to oversee schools within IPS boundaries.
- The proposed nine-member body would be appointed by the mayor and include three IPS board members, three charter leaders, and three at-large members who live within the IPS area.
- The plan grants the corporation power to levy property taxes for both IPS and charter schools, manage facilities and transportation, run unified enrollment, and set a common accountability framework.
- The recommendations call for limiting new charter authorizers inside IPS to the Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation and the Indiana State Charter School Board, exempting IPS from the Dollar Law, and requiring transportation for all students within the boundary.
- Supporters, including civic reform groups, praised consolidation and accountability, while opponents protested reduced elected oversight; one member, Tina Ahlgren, cast the lone no vote citing an accelerated timeline, and the package now moves to the General Assembly where leaders from both parties indicated potential tweaks.