Category: Media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INDIANAPOLIS – The following statement was issued today by Stand for Children Indiana’s Executive Director Justin Ohlemiller in response to the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) board of commissioners removing the operating referendum from the meeting agenda tonight:

“We appreciate Superintendent Dr. Aleesia Johnson and the IPS board for removing the referendum from tonight’s agenda. With a major investment like this, which taxpayers will be asked to pay meaningful dollars on the promise of improved opportunities for IPS students, it’s critical that we get this right. That means ensuring the funding is shared to benefit every IPS student equally, no matter what type of school they attend.

“There’s certainly more work ahead to address concerns that have been voiced these last few weeks. That work will hopefully be made easier by giving parents and community partners more time to ask questions and share feedback on the referendum. We look forward to the ongoing discussions between the district, parents, school leaders and community partners. We remain hopeful that changes can be made that will allow our organization to eventually get behind this major investment in IPS. The dialogue over the next few weeks will be crucial.”

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About Stand: Stand for Children Indiana is a unique catalyst for education equity and racial justice, to create a brighter future for us all.

INDIANAPOLIS – Parents and community advocates affiliated with local education advocacy organization Stand for Children Indiana are praising district leaders for the language justice policy set to be voted on at the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) board action session this evening.

Parents have been steadfast in their advocacy surrounding the need for schools to breakdown language barriers that prevent parents and students — especially immigrants— from fully realizing educational opportunity. Parents also raised the need for more cultural competency in IPS, accounting for the unique challenges that come with the immigrant experience. Parents believe this policy is a solid step in the right direction, and they applauded Superintendent Dr. Aleesia Johnson and the IPS board for their commitment to better serving IPS families.

“Parents, including myself, have fought long and hard for a language justice policy,” said IPS parent Ana Delgado. “I am grateful with all my heart that the district took the time to hear our concerns and thoughts. Thank you for listening to us.”

“I truly appreciate IPS leaders for taking this step towards addressing gaps in serving the ELL community,” said Stand for Children Indiana organizer and IPS parent Carolina Figueroa. “I am proud of the community and IPS parents for speaking up and seeking this language justice policy. As long as we keep working together, we will be on the right path to create a more inclusive environment for our immigrant communities. Thank you IPS leaders!”

The policy, if approved, will:

• Establish that IPS recognizes the impact of language differences and sees language justice as a key part of the district’s DEI values.
• Set forth a process for IPS to create a plan to move toward language justice, which “is the practice of ensuring people can communicate effectively, understand information, and be understood using the language in which they feel most comfortable,” according to the IPS draft policy.
• Establish a community taskforce to inform the planning process.
• Call for annual updates on language justice from the superintendent to the board.

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About Stand for Children Indiana: Stand for Children Indiana is a unique catalyst for education equity and racial justice, to create a brighter future for us all.

INDIANAPOLIS – A group of parents, teachers and community advocates affiliated with local education advocacy organization Stand for Children Indiana have sent a letter to IPS Superintendent Dr. Aleesia Johnson and the Board of Commissioners requesting that they delay any action on the $800 million referendum until key questions and concerns can be addressed.

The letter states three clear reasons for delaying the vote:

1. The district’s strategic plan, which the referendum will fund, still ignores the board’s own goals around Black and Brown student achievement by growing school models that actually feature increasingly large opportunity gaps while leaving out plans to scale data-proven public school models like Paramount.
2. Innovation schools in IPS will get significantly less money compared to traditional schools, despite being part of IPS and serving district students. The funding gap means non-innovation schools in IPS would receive approximately $1,650 more per student.
3. The significant tax increase to fund the referendum could have a disproportionate impact on low-income families in IPS – the very communities the district is trying to serve. There needs to be more study on the economic impact the referendum will have on those struggling to make ends meet as inflation remains at historic levels.

The letter also makes clear that the parents, teachers and grandparents who signed want to get to a place of supporting the referendum, provided their concerns are addressed:

“We are supportive of investing in our public schools. We believe in IPS and we want nothing more than this district to become the best in our state when it comes to student achievement,” the letter reads. “Some of us actively supported the 2018 referenda as a part of local advocacy group Stand for Children Indiana, which was the single largest supporter of that initiative. We want to get to a place of supporting this plan too. Our request is simply to slow this process down to allow for the public to appropriately review the referenda proposal and to also allow time to address the concerns we’ve raised . . .”

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Stand for Children Indiana is a unique catalyst for education equity and racial justice, to create a brighter future for us all.