There’s a new acronym in town. I’m pleased to introduce you to the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance (ILEA). It’s time to get acquainted to the advisory group that could transform the relationship between Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and charter schools in Indianapolis.

What is ILEA?

ILEA was created during the recent legislative session as a mechanism to establish a roadmap for collaboration around transportation, facilities, and referendums between IPS and local charters.

The advisory group is chaired by Mayor Joe Hogsett, with the nine-member body also including four appointees from Hogsett, IPS Superintendent Dr. Johnson, the IPS Board President Angelia Moore, and two IPS appointees.

The group must meet for the first time no later than July 1, with appointments announced sometime in advance of an initial meeting. They will then spend the next six months of 2025 crafting a set of recommendations they will submit to legislators and the Indiana Department of Education. These recommendations can inform everything from school consolidation and facilities management to a new governance structure for schools in IPS district boundaries to future referendums.

ILEA’s work to foster a more collaborative education ecosystem, where IPS and charter schools truly work together on behalf of kids, could be transformational. Here’s the tangible possibilities I envision possibly coming out of ILEA’s work this year:

• A unified school transportation system that serves IPS and charter schools as a collective
• A unified governance and accountability structure that oversees all IPS and charter schools together
• A facilities usage plan that maximizes capacity in currently occupied school buildings and finds uses for vacant educational facilities
• All, or a combination, of the above

While none of ILEA’s recommendations will be binding, they will certainly establish an intention for how IPS and charter schools can best work together moving forward. Coming off perhaps the most contentious legislative session I’ve yet witnessed (from an education perspective at least), this could be the pathway to a more productive relationship between traditional public schools and charter schools.

In fact, IPS seems to be leaning all in, perhaps recognizing this is their last best chance to steer a ship that otherwise isn’t headed where they want it to given other legislation that made it across the finish line in April.

Who’s in Charge of ILEA?

Nominally, the mayor. Joe Hogsett, who maneuvred during the legislative session to lead the alliance. But from a public messaging perspective since the legislation passed, you’d think IPS was in the driver’s seat.

IPS saw an opening and made a series of shrewd moves to get out in front of ILEA and position themselves as the leaders here. Their statement about the group notes it is “a collaborative body appointed by the IPS Board President, the Mayor, and myself.” Not wrong, and maybe just semantics. But if I were a neutral observer listing who’s in charge in order of influence, I’d put the mayor first in that list.

And where IPS opened public nominations to fill their spots, the mayor’s office made nary a peep about the process beyond a throwaway mention in a Mirror Indy story. They didn’t need to launch a more public search for nominees. The nominations are totally the mayor’s call. But it’s a stark contrast in approach.

Then, IPS launched a transportation survey, knowing this is the piece of ILEA’s work that will most directly and immediately impact families across the city. And on the back of the survey, they’re hosting a series of town halls leading up to ILEA’s first meeting to gather public input.

Meanwhile, the mayor? Asleep at the wheel? Still in the garage? Certainly, on this issue, he’s nowhere to be found. So kudos to IPS for grabbing hold of the narrative. At the same time, it’s a real missed opportunity for the mayor. But it doesn’t need to stay that way.

Will ILEA Be Linked to Hogsett’s Legacy?

Many mayors and urban superintendents across the country have staked their legacy on some kind of education reform or progress. That’s certainly true locally. Think Bart Peterson in relation to the establishment of charter schools in Indianapolis with the mayor as authorizer (making our mayor in a league of their own in this regard nationally). Or former IPS Superintendent Lewis Ferebee, who oversaw a period of deep district-charter collaboration as the Innovation Network was established. He leveraged the national acclaim that followed to become the Chancellor of DC Public Schools under Mayor Muriel Bowser.

The future of Indianapolis’ education ecosystem could be Hogsett’s legacy. Right now, his legacy seems destined to be defined by the rise in crime following the pandemic and sexual harassment allegations within his administration. I’m not saying those should be swept under the rug (leaders deserve a reckoning with the full complexity of their actions/inactions), but you’d think he’d be after a few more highlights to go with the lowlights.

ILEA could establish a new course for district-charter collaboration. One that truly benefits kids across the city. An evolution beyond the groundwork laid with the Innovation Network. And the Mayor could be the one who charts that course.

Now, do not mistake this as a desire to see some tug-of-war erupt between IPS and the Mayor over how ILEA moves forward. IPS is designated to play a major role here. IPS and the Mayor are on the same team here. And what comes from this process could just as much be Superintendent Johnson’s legacy.

But the Mayor was named team captain by the state legislature. And I’m waiting for him to get off the bench and get in the game.