On March 26, several advocates went to the statehouse to support transportation solutions.

Take a few minutes to hear what they had to say:

Cristal Salgado:

“At one time, he was attending a great school that was really working for him. Unfortunately, because this schools was a public charter school that did not have buses or offer transportation, he couldn’t continue going.”

Read my full speech:

My name is Cristal Salgado and I am here today because I support efforts to improve transportation between IPS and public charter schools.  

I am a single mom with two children. When my son started to fall behind academically in the third grade, I started looking for a new school for him. One of the hardest parts in finding the right fit for him has always been transportation.  

At one time, he was attending a great school that was really working for him. Unfortunately, because this schools was a public charter school that did not have buses or offer transportation, he couldn’t continue going.  

Traffic after work to pick him up could mean being in the car for over an hour sometimes. This alongside making sure my littlest child made it to school too meant also being worried about getting behind on starting my work day. As a single mom, this was very difficult. I truly tried for about a year to make it work, but it just wasn’t possible.  

I would really like to see more collaboration between IPS and our public charter schools, some kind of solutions that make it easier for families like mine who struggle with transportation. I think this could be the start of everyone working together in new and better ways in the name of making sure we focus on kids and their outcomes first.  

Thank you.  

Ada Lemus:

“There are public charter schools here in Indy that are truly helping students thrive and I am aware that not all of those schools can provide transportation at all, which makes them inaccessible to families who don’t have a car or the means to pick up and drop off their children at school.”

Read my full speech:

Good morning, my name is Ada Lemus, and I am here as a mother advocating for my son, Cristian, and for other children in our community who face similar challenges. Cristian is 11 years old and will soon be entering 7th grade at Edison School of the Arts.  

While my son is very hard working and determined, he is behind in reading and not at the level he should be.  He was recently given an IEP and is getting the extra support he needs to catch up.  

But this progress is still new and fragile, and I’m worried that everything he’s gained could be lost. The school recently contacted families, including mine, to warn us that transportation could be taken away due to funding limitations. If that happens, I won’t have a way to get Cristian to Edison, and he’ll have to switch schools. For a child who’s already behind, changing schools at this critical point could undo all the progress he’s made. 

For ELL students like Cristian, consistency is key. Many of these students are already navigating difficult learning gaps, and when transportation is no longer an option, it forces families to make impossible decisions—often at the expense of their child’s education. Without reliable transportation, students risk losing access to the environments where they are finally thriving. 

Along those same lines, there are public charter schools here in Indy that are truly helping students thrive and I am aware that not all of those schools can provide transportation at all, which makes them inaccessible to families who don’t have a car or the means to pick up and drop off their children at school.  

I am here because I support efforts that would bring together the IPS district and public charter schools to improve transportation.  

Our kids deserve stability, and to attend the public school that is the best fit for them.  Transportation is a lifeline that makes that possible. 

Thank you. 

Dontia Dyson:

“I currently don’t have a license due to an insurance issue and therefore I can’t drive. I am working on getting my license back now, but I know that if my son didn’t have a bus, I would have a hard time getting him to this school or any school that didn’t offer transportation.”

Read my full speech:

Hello. My name is Dontia Dyson and I am a public school parent. I live in the IPS district and my first-grader attends Matchbook school 63. My youngest son will join him at 63 for kindergarten next year.  

My first-grader loves his school and I am very involved in his education. I feel very lucky that the bus comes and gets my son. I currently don’t have a license due to an insurance issue and therefore I can’t drive. I am working on getting my license back now, but I know that if my son didn’t have a bus, I would have a hard time getting him to this school or any school that didn’t offer transportation.  

Having experienced so many barriers with transportation, I know firsthand just how important it is for our kids. I am here today because I hope to see the IPS district and public charter schools work together to expand the options of schools with transportation. I want to see the district and public charters both benefit and more than that, I want our kids to benefit. I want our kids to have great schools and safe ways to get there.   

I’ve experienced times without a car or the ability to drive. I don’t know what I would have done during these times if my son didn’t have the option of a bus. And yet, I know a lot of parents are in this exact situation or face all kinds of other obstacles with getting their children to and from the school that is the best fit for them.  

My second oldest child is moving back home from her mom’s house to live with me. She will arrive home over the summer. She will also be in the IPS district next year. I know I will have to pick a school for her with a bus option. I would love it if she could go anywhere, including a public charter if we decide that is what is best for her. I wish her options weren’t limited to only schools that can currently provide a bus. I would like to see public charter schools and IPS work together to come up with solutions that offer more and safe transportation for kids. I hope to see these options benefit everyone. Thank you.

Bryana Perdomo:

“Please support efforts that will allow schools like mine to also have access to transportation and people like my friend and her family can continue going to their school of choice.”  

Read my full speech:

Hello. My name is Bryana Perdomo and I am a student a charter school. I am in the 6th grade. I attended a  a traditional school when I was in 4th grade, but I ended up leaving that  school because it  was not the right fit for me and I wasn’t getting what I needed academically.  My mom found another school for us and enrolled us. She knew that transportation was not available, but made sure that she can take me to school or my dad if she was not available. I am lucky that they can drive me and siblings to school every day.  

Unfortunately, I know that not everyone is as lucky as I am when it comes to being able to get dropped off and picked up from school. I have a good friend who I met at school last year. Recently her mom told her that she will have to move schools soon. Her mom does not have a way to get her to and from school all the time. She ends up missing school because of transportation sometimes. This is hard because she is a good friend of mine and I wish I could help her. Her family does not speak English which is why I am here speaking for them.  

In conclusion, I ask you to please support efforts that will allow schools like mine to also have access to transportation and people like my friend and her family can continue going to their school of choice.  

When a 7-year-old boy was abused by his teacher at an IPS school this year, the administration did not inform parents until after a lawsuit created news about the tragedy. Even parents whose students witnessed the acts were not informed ahead of the media breaking the story.  

I was a parent at that school during the time this took place. I had noticed many teachers and other staff leaving the school, the quality of education declining, and one of my children had experienced bullying. So, I removed them from the school before the story broke. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew things were unraveling.  

Now, parents are concerned about an IPS middle school that is understaffed and has infrastructure problems. This is the school my son attends. I heard that for a while the PA system was broken and there was no way in any emergency situation to ensure all students and staff would be notified. I’m still unclear if this is fixed. My son tells me that he’s witnessed two fights already this school year and has heard of several others. As a mom, I’ve heard other whisperings about inappropriate behaviors in the bathrooms and locker rooms.  

But what really scared me even more than anything else recently was the threat we received on September 13 . It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. I did not know it was my son’s school that was threatened at the time, but I knew I didn’t know enough to feel comfortable sending my children to school. I decided to keep them home because the risk was simply not worth it.  

Even the communication I received from the district about the possible situation, which I am thankful was not a valid threat in the end, was confusing.  I didn’t realize until after I had already kept my children home that his school was one that was threatened because the first automated message I received stated it was a different school. I understand there were multiple threats at the same time involving different schools. Because there were multiple threats, it was the next day that parents received a message stating they were investigating the social media post students had circulated that was a threat against Broad Ripple. I still don’t understand why students who went to school were not immediately sent home.  

Beyond the widespread concerns this year from Broad Ripple Middle School and George Washington Carver 87 parents, there has also been media coverage about Thomas Carr Howe Middle School, including a very hard-to-watch video of one of fight. In that video, it’s mentioned that no one stopped the fight. Not teachers. Not the school police officer. No one.  

I could go on and on about how I am worried and the things I have heard and seen, but I just want to say this: the bottom line is that our kids aren’t safe in some of our IPS schools – especially the new large middle schools that were initiated through Rebuilding Stronger. They are scared about bullying, experiencing or witnessing violence and are subject to try to learn in buildings that aren’t updated to keep them safe.  

I can’t sit back and do nothing. I hope you won’t either.  

I helped to create this petition because I want action taken to protect our babies. We shouldn’t have to fear sending our kids to school. We already have tragedies like the one we saw play out recently in Georgia (among too many other senseless school shootings over the years) to fear. We don’t need additional concerns that should be handled to make us want to cry when we hug our children before waving goodbye and watching them walk into school with nothing but their backpacks and our prayers.  

Please sign this petition and join parents who are scared, worried and want more to be done to protect our students. Help us ask district leaders to make positive changes that protect our children. Help us ask for not only answers, but solutions.  

Parents have written a letter to the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) board, urging them to strengthen a resolution that addresses the opportunity gap in our schools. They want clear language on how the district plans to scale schools that are getting results for historically underserved students.  

Read the parent letter here:

Need more information about the parent effort for growing schools that work? Check out this timeline to see the steps parents have taken in the last 6 months:  

Since delivering a petition signed by more than 1,000 IPS community members to school district leaders this February, parents like me have steadily advocated for the growth of the top public schools for children of color – including public charter schools.  

I have personally drafted a handwritten letter to a commissioner, met with a commissioner and joined commissioners on a tour of one of our city’s best public schools for Black and Brown students, which is currently not a part of IPS now. I also spoke at the board meetings in March and May.  

During this month’s meeting, I was grateful to see a resolution responding to the parent petition was posted, but as a parent I wanted the chance to review that resolution before it was put to a vote. Luckily, IPS board members listened to my request and paused the vote to allow parents to weigh in.  

Several parents who supported the petition met this week and wrote a letter to the board. This letter contains the small, but important changes we want to see on the resolution.

Today, we are asking for IPS community member support.  

If you also believe in a more equitable IPS and want to see the growth of schools that close the opportunity gap, please stand with parents and add your name to our letter today.

When we use our collective voices, we can make positive change. I am hopeful that with enough signatures added to our letter, IPS leaders will make meaningful changes to resolution #8020 that will make it align with the request parents made in February. It is extremely important to us that data, showing evidence of supporting dramatically better outcomes for Black and Brown students, is driving the decisions surrounding which schools to grow. 

I want to see Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) close the opportunity gap by growing schools that work, regardless of the type of public school.

Watch this to learn why:

All children are capable of amazing achievement in the classroom. It comes down to the opportunities provided by our public education system.

In my last video post, I shared some of the details surrounding my journey with advocacy.

I know that a child getting a quality education can be the difference between them having a life of poverty or a life of prosperity.

Watch this short video to learn why I want to see IPS schools grow school models that are proven to close the opportunity gap. After you watch, please join me and ask IPS leaders to grow schools that work. I know that all children can thrive if given equitable opportunities to succeed.

I started advocating for the change that I want to see in our schools when my now 20-year-old daughter was in elementary school.

Watch this video to learn more about my journey and why I will always fight for education equity here: