What’s the biggest take-away from IPS Innovation Schools? That urban ed reform doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. There’s a middle path between district and charter.
Following my last post on Indianapolis, I was invited to write about the changes underway in IPS in a more national context.
My latest writing, “Between District and Charter: Finding the Middle Path in Indianapolis”, is featured on FutureEd, an independent, solutions-oriented think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy.
This post offers more context about the changing public education landscape in Indianapolis and the motivations driving IPS Superintendent Lewis Ferebee to create in-district autonomous schools.
It also focuses more on two important pillars of IPS Innovation Network Schools that have particular relevance here in Kansas City: 1) a re-investment in neighborhood schools, and 2) a greater focus on accountability.
Bottom line? That school districts matter. And that charter schools, and the model of school-based autonomy they offer, aren’t always a threat – they can also be an opportunity.
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To learn more about FutureEd and its work to promote excellence, equity and efficiency in K-12 and higher education on behalf of the nation’s most disadvantaged students, click here.
