Indianapolis mayoral candidates share views on education
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters
Editor’s note: this story has been updated to correctly reflect Jefferson Shreve’s answer to the first question in the guide.
Incumbent Joe Hogsett and challenger Jefferson Shreve are vying to be Indianapolis mayor in the Nov. 7 election.
Hogsett, a Democrat, is running for a third term against Shreve, a Republican, who is a businessman and former Indianapolis city-county councilor. Both candidates won their respective May primary elections with more than half of the vote.
Throughout the campaign, public safety has been in the spotlight, and the two candidates shared a stage for the first time during this year’s race at a forum hosted by Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis and Indiana Landmarks at the end of September.
They went back-and-forth about public safety, infrastructure, housing, and more in response to audience questions. But outside of one question regarding the upcoming split of IUPUI into Indiana University Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis, education wasn’t mentioned during the forum.
The two candidates are scheduled to debate several more times this month.
The mayor’s leadership of Indianapolis and the townships impacts the educators, students and families who live in and attend school in Marion County. Additionally, the mayor’s Office of Education Innovation which includes the Indianapolis Charter School Board, approves and oversees charter schools.
So to better understand each candidates’ views and priorities on education, we asked each of them the same seven questions on topics including charter schools and authorizers, youth gun violence and more.
Here is what they said, in their own words:
Chalkbeat Indiana: What is your vision for the Office of Education Innovation? How do you plan to work with the charter schools and local school districts to ensure that families’ needs are being met?
Hogsett: My vision for OEI is my vision for every city agency — to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars and do right by the people of Indianapolis. That means we will continue to hold our mayor-sponsored charter schools to high standards, while remaining engaged with their work so we know if we need to step in to offer support. I believe our school and district leaders know their communities best, and I know they are working every day to support their students, families, and staff. That said, I’m committed to considering ideas and programs that meet the needs we know we have, such as early literacy. Our Circle City Readers program is a perfect example of how much progress we can make when the City works in partnership with public schools and community organizations. This high-dosage tutoring program, which officially launched this fall after a successful pilot in the spring, is now serving hundreds of students across the city. These are the kinds of targeted, collaborative efforts I am especially excited to support.
Shreve: My overarching perspective on education policy will be focused on students not schools. We should always do whatever is best to enable our children to achieve their individual full potential, and I’ll work with our charter schools and local districts toward that aim. As for the Office of Education Innovation, I would continue its process of vetting applications for charter authorization and be proactive in stimulating new ideas. The process we have used since Mayor Peterson’s original bold initiative allows for a robust discussion between the Indianapolis Charter School Board and the public. As Mayor, I would focus on adding charter schools in areas where there are either no existing schools or where existing schools are demonstrably failing.
Chalkbeat Indiana: Do you think charter schools in Marion County should all be authorized by the Indianapolis Charter School Board? If the board rejects a school, should it be able to open in Marion County with a different authorizer? Why or why not?
Hogsett: Publicly accountable institutions – such as local school boards, the city, and the state – are best situated to oversee public schools, whether they are traditional public or public charter. I’m proud of the work the Office of Education Innovation and Indianapolis Charter School Board have done. We’ve opened and supported some of the highest-performing schools in the county, and we’ve also intervened in tough situations to make sure schools are keeping to the promises in their charters. In the 20 years that the mayor’s office has been chartering schools, we’ve seen applicants return after critical feedback and be successful, but it’s up to the General Assembly to determine laws about who gets to authorize and whether applicants can seek out other authorizers.
Shreve: Generally speaking, monopolies tend to stifle innovation and choice. The state legislature was very thoughtful about establishing the guidelines for authorizing charter schools and I would not want to argue for making the Indianapolis Charter School Board (ICSB) the exclusive chartering agent in Marion County. I do believe the scale of the ICSB’s system of monitoring performance can provide a standard lens through which all charter schools could be evaluated, and I would encourage any entity chartering a school in Marion County to avail itself of ICSB’s oversight tools.
Chalkbeat Indiana: Groups such as the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis and the IPS Community Coalition have previously called for a moratorium on opening new charter schools in Indianapolis. Would you support this? Why or why not?
Hogsett: The Indianapolis Charter School Board has a statutory responsibility to review the applications it receives and ensure they include sound, fiscally responsible plans that are supported by their community. We have set high expectations for the application process, and we expect applicants will justify their demand and meet an exceedingly high bar to open. Unfortunately that’s not been the case for some schools opened by other authorizers in our city.
Recently, we’ve seen more plans to open schools from established community operators, such as Goodwill’s newest Excel Center campus that has a focus on helping justice-involved adults finish their high school diplomas. It’s important that we can continue to provide these kinds of learning opportunities for students, especially for historically underserved populations.
Shreve: We shouldn’t have artificial political barriers to the creation of charter schools. We should let the process work on a case-by-case basis. One of the chief reasons to introduce competition into education is that it can encourage all schools to be better. Efforts to suspend competition inevitably harm progress, and, in the end, work against my goal of doing the best for every child.
Chalkbeat Indiana: IPS has said that it needs voters to pass an operating referendum in order to fund its Rebuilding Stronger vision. State law will now also require the district to share portions of that funding with charter schools within its borders. If IPS does float this ballot question before voters, would you support it?
Hogsett: Ultimately, this is a decision that taxpayers in the IPS district will make.
Shreve: I can’t say what my position would be until I see the specific proposal. But I will say this: I would not be neutral on these matters as Mayor Hogsett has been for the past 8 years. Education policy is among the most important issues facing our city, and the mayor cannot hide in the locker room when the most important game is being played. On this specific issue, not only is education policy at stake, but so is the issue of property taxes. The mayor must be the leader on all important issues, and a referendum like this, as with the others Mayor Hogsett abdicated interest, will have my full attention.
Chalkbeat Indiana: State lawmakers voted to expand the number of families eligible for state-funded private tuition support in the form of vouchers. Do you agree with this move? Why or why not?
Hogsett: Families should be free to make decisions about their children’s education, and we have great private school options in our community. However, I believe taxpayer dollars should go to public schools.
Shreve: Yes, I agree. I am pleased that more parents now have more options. Again, my overarching focus is on the student. Providing more parents more choices benefits children and will be a force for improvement for all of us.
Chalkbeat Indiana: There have been multiple instances of students found on campus with guns this year, very early into the school year. And the number of school-aged victims (ages 4-18) shot and killed by a firearm has increased from 13 in 2018 to 25 so far this year. If elected mayor, what are your plans to specifically address youth gun violence in Indianapolis?
Hogsett: We’ve made numerous investments in addressing youth gun violence in Indianapolis, and if re-elected, would aim to expand much of that programming. That includes our Indy Peace Fellowship, which targets individuals at the highest risk of being victims or perpetrators of gun violence, and surrounds them with attention and support. Outreach workers from that initiative have a presence in numerous schools around Marion County. We have moved funding for the Indy Peace Fellowship from the one-time source of the federal American Rescue Plan Act into the proposed 2024 City-County operating budget.
This past summer, we held summer programming through “Summer in the City”, in which children as young as eight were connected with opportunities to learn skills and receive violence prevention messaging. And our three-year, $45 million Elevation Grant program gets funding in the hands of many grassroots organizations working to prevent gun violence across all age ranges.
The Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council has focused on preventing youth gun violence over the past several years. And, thousands of young people have continued to participate in Project Indy, our successful youth summer jobs initiative for residents aged 16-24.
Back in May, I proposed several common-sense gun safety measures that were passed by the City-County Council. The ordinances will go into effect once state preemption on local gun laws is removed, something I’ll push for in upcoming state legislative sessions. The common-sense measures include:
- Increasing the legal purchasing age from 18 to 21
- Banning assault weapons
- Require a permit to carry a handgun in Marion County
- Banning concealed carry of firearms
Shreve: School safety is an issue of great importance to me. My mother worked for 30 years as an elementary school librarian. My sister is an elementary school teacher. I’ve released a public safety plan focused on curbing the violent crime in Indianapolis, and gun violence among youth is a major concern. I’ll hire a public safety director who will work every day on public safety in Indianapolis, including in our schools. I have also proposed working with our state’s general assembly to give Indianapolis home rule when it comes to laws like raising the age to purchase a firearm to 21, banning assault weapons in Marion County and bringing back the permit to carry. And I’ll triple the funding for our city’s clinician-led response team.
Chalkbeat Indiana: What are your top three concerns with the city’s public education that you would like to address as mayor?
Hogsett: As I said during the primary, this isn’t hypothetical, and I’m proud that through partnerships with schools and community organizations we are making strides to improve areas of education that we know are important to our residents.
Right now, I am focused on ensuring the Office of Education Innovation is providing the highest-quality oversight to mayor-sponsored charter schools, and that the schools in our portfolio are sustainable and responsive to their community’s needs.
I also know there is an urgent need to improve literacy rates in our city, and the Circle City Readers program I mentioned earlier has shown promising results so far. Every student who participated in the spring made improvement after tutoring, and I am confident we will continue to see growth as the program expands.
Finally, I believe we have to make sure students are adequately prepared for what comes after high school, too — that’s why programs like Indy Achieves and Project Indy, which focus on supporting students through college and expanding youth employment, are paramount. If we aren’t considering the entire public education continuum, we’re doing a disservice to our young people.
Shreve:
- Reading at grade level by third grade.
- Providing connectivity to early childhood education options.
- Creating an environment that leads to post-secondary options, either in the workforce or in the next step to higher education.
How to vote in the November elections
In addition to Indianapolis mayor, elections for city-county council are also on the ballot. And outside of Marion County, multiple school districts are asking voters to approve referendums.
Voter registration ends Tuesday. Register to vote and/or check your registration at indianavoters.in.gov.
Early voting starts Wednesday at the Indianapolis City-County Building. Additional early voting sites are open from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5.
On Election Day, Nov. 7, polls will be open 6 a.m to 6 p.m., and Marion County residents can vote at any of the county’s voting centers.
To find voting center locations for early voting and Election Day, apply for an absentee ballot and to see a sample ballot, visit vote.indy.gov.
MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief and covers higher education. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education.