2025 Indiana Legislative Session Recap

Education was a key issue during the 2025 Indiana legislative session, and lawmakers made historic progress to ensure Hoosier public charter school students can access the resources they deserve.

The Mind Trust was proud to support legislation that will ensure Indiana charter school students have access to fair funding, quality transportation, and affordable facilities. We are also thrilled to see policies put in place that will increase collaboration between district and charter schools. Additionally, despite tight revenue projections, lawmakers ensured K-12 education funding will remain a priority over the next biennium. 

SEA 1 – Local property tax sharing

SEA 1 establishes one of the most robust property tax sharing policies in the country. This historic legislation ensures that local property tax dollars that cover school operations are shared fairly with all public school students, including students who attend charter schools. SEA 1 is a broad property tax reform bill and incorporates language that was originally included in SB 518, a bill focused on sharing property tax dollars with charter schools.

This significant legislation reduces the funding gap between public charter schools and traditional public schools in a few ways:

• Starting in 2028, property taxes levied for operations will begin to be proportionately shared with public charter school students. This sharing will be phased in over four years and includes districts like Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) where at least 100 resident students, or 2% of resident students, are enrolled in charter schools. The phase-in period allows both districts and charter schools time to plan for this shift.
• Charter schools located in four Indiana counties, including Marion County, began receiving a proportionate amount of the incremental growth in local property taxes beginning this year. This will continue until 2028. At that time, the new policy outlined above will begin.
• Future operating referendums that are approved by taxpayers will also be shared fairly with public charter school students. This applies now for four Indiana counties, including Marion County, and will apply statewide for referendums distributed beginning in 2028.
• Several provisions protect taxpayers and institute even greater rigorous public accountability measures for charter schools that receive property tax dollars.

When property tax sharing begins in 2028, Indianapolis charter schools will access an estimated additional $2,050 per student. In 2031, once the funding is fully phased in, they will access an estimated $3,750 per student. This additional funding will eliminate the majority of the funding disparity between district and public charter school students.

HEA 1515 – Zoning for charter schools, transportation and facility authorities, and the Indiana Local Education Alliance

HEA 1515 includes several measures that will protect the conditions for the growth and sustainability of charter schools in Indiana and provide opportunities for stronger district-charter collaboration. The following provisions are included in this bill: 

• Creates a process for groups of schools to opt in to creating independent facilities and transportation authorities that would serve all schools in a specific geography. This innovative concept provides the opportunity for increased access and efficiency when it comes to transportation and facilities management. It also promotes collaboration between different types of schools.
• Creates the nine-member Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA), chaired by Mayor Joe Hogsett or his designee. The Alliance is tasked with examining a range of issues across both district and charter schools, such as facilities, transportation, accountability, referendum planning, and governance. The Alliance will submit its findings and recommendations to the legislature, mayor’s office, and IPS by the end of December for potential further action.
• Schools – district, charter, and private – are now explicitly permitted in all zoning districts, and zoning approvals may not be denied for the sole reason that the requesting entity is seeking to establish a charter school. This provision prevents the weaponization of the zoning process to stop the opening of new high-quality schools.

HEA 1001 – Charter and Innovation School Grant and funding for student learning programs

Despite a revenue forecast that projects $2 billion of less revenue over the next two budget years compared to the December projection, Indiana legislators protected funding for K-12 education and funded programs that support student learning. 

• The existing charter school grant was kept in the final budget and remains at $1,400 per student, the same amount as the last two years. 
• The Indiana Department of Education will direct $50 million per-year to support initiatives that increase academic achievement across the state, which could include initiatives such as Summer Learning Labs and Indiana Learns. 

What’s next: opportunity for collaboration and effective planning 

The 124th Indiana General Assembly was the most successful session for charter schools since the passage of the original charter school law in 2001. Many advocates have spent years working to advance funding parity legislation, which the Governor signed into law with his support of SEA 1. 

To the legislators and advocates who made this possible: Thank you. Your hard work will pay off in classrooms across the state. The Mind Trust is particularly grateful to Senator Linda Rogers for her courageous leadership in authoring and championing SB 518 and its amendment into SEA 1. We are also very grateful for Representative Bob Behning’s leadership on the transportation, facilities, and zoning legislation in HB 1515.

Thank you to Speaker Todd Huston, Senate President Pro Tempore Rod Bray, and the many legislators who courageously advocated for these bold policy changes that will benefit tens of thousands of students.

Charter school educators, leaders, parents, and community supporters also made their voices heard at the Statehouse over the last four months through emails, phone calls, and public testimony. We are grateful for their voices and their perspectives on the real-life impact of these bills. 

The Indianapolis education community has an unprecedented opportunity to come together to reshape our public school system. The Mind Trust looks forward to the Mayor’s leadership of the ILEA, supporting the creation of facilities and transportation authorities that increase access and efficiency, and catalyzing the continued growth of high-quality charter and innovation schools. We are ready to work collaboratively to reimagine a sustainable future for all public schools within the boundaries of IPS.