Anderson York is a parent and advocate for Indianapolis Public Schools. In an op-ed for IndyStar, York argues that the market has not worked for Indianapolis students.
Charter schools now enroll the majority of public school students in Marion County — because the city and state subsidize them.
The research is clear. Students have seen no significant difference in growth between charter schools and district schools in reading, writing and math. Consistency is the No. 1 factor in growth development with students. However, more than 30 Indianapolis charter schools have closed since 2001, including schools like Early Career Academy, which closed 30 days into the 2016-2017 school year.
Flanner House Elementary closed after a cheating scandal left nearly 200 students, primarily students of color, searching for a new school. Charter schools lack public accountability. They sell this to you as autonomy when, in reality, it’s nothing but a sinister veil of limited transparency.
Look at the shameful truth: Charter schools have alarmingly high suspension rates. KIPP recorded 678 suspensions with 300 students in 2018. Students who do not raise these schools’ test scores and graduation rates are often expelled to keep charter school statistics high, sending them back to Indianapolis Public Schools, thus contributing to inconsistent schooling.
Charter schools also have their own set of administrators, their own set of board members and their own set of high-cost expenditures that do not go toward educating young minds, while traditional district schools can handle this under one roof. Even worse, the lack of accountability leads to charter schools artificially inflating enrollment to take state dollars and make political contributions.
