four reasons indianapolis is
right for education innovation
Indianapolis is just the right
size. As the nation's 13th largest city, Indianapolis is large enough
for ideas launched here to be replicated in other large cities. And
Indianapolis is also a manageable-sized city. So the concentration
of entrepreneurial ventures The Mind Trust is supporting, combined with
other developments such as the city’s charter schools initiative,
will change the overall education landscape in unprecedented ways.
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Indianapolis offers
a nationally unique environment for education innovation. The
Indianapolis mayor is the nation’s only mayor with chartering authority.
Former Mayor Bart Peterson established a nationally-acclaimed, quality-obsessed
system of rigorous screening and ongoing accountability, a system named
a winner in Harvard’s annual Innovations in American Government
competition in 2006. Some of the nation’s most successful entrepreneurial
organizations have chosen to operate in Indianapolis, including, to name
a few, Teach For America, The New Teacher Project, College Summit, New
Tech High, KIPP, and the Big Picture Company. And with support from The
Mind Trust, more are on the way.
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Several Indianapolis
school superintendents (we have 11) are driving innovative change. Indianapolis
Public Schools (IPS) Superintendent Dr. Eugene White is among the nation’s
boldest, most forward thinking superintendents. In his short tenure
at IPS, Dr. White has embraced numerous highly effective entrepreneurial
reforms, including partnerships with Teach For America, The New Teacher Project, New Tech
High, KIPP and College Summit. In the southwest part of the city,
Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township’s Superintendent,
Don Stinson is working to reinvent his district, including creating new
options (he was the nation’s first superintendent to seek a charter
from a third-party authorizer – Mayor Peterson), restructuring
Decatur Central High School into five small learning communities and
the creation of a Challenger Learning Center. Several other Indianapolis
school districts are also leading major reform efforts.
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Indianapolis has a track
record of community engagement in education reform. The charter school
experience in Indianapolis is one example of the extraordinary level
of community engagement possible in the city – if community leaders
and organizations have an avenue through which they can become meaningfully
involved in public education. Several of the city’s most respected
nonprofit organizations, such as Goodwill Industries, Indiana Black Expo,
Christel House International, and Fairbanks Hospital, have stepped forward
to launch new charter schools, as have many highly successful business
people, professionals, and civic leaders. The Greater Indianapolis Chamber
of Commerce has rallied support behind important education bond initiatives
and is leading a new effort to increase high school graduation rates. Indianapolis
has a reputation for rallying citizens around important causes and opportunities. As
evidence, one need only look at the dramatic and sustained transformation
of Indianapolis over the last 40 years into a great place to live
and work.
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