Today is Giving Tuesday, a day to showcase our ability to make collective change by giving back to our communities. You can help us continue to work towards a brighter future for every student by making a donation today.
 
Our organizers, volunteers, and community partners show up every day with one goal in mind— to build a world where every child has access to a safe, high-quality education. Your commitment to our work makes all the difference in our ability to show up for students, families, and schools in Indiana. Help us continue to stand up for all children by supporting our work today! 

Love 
Hope 
Gratitude

I’ve been thinking recently a lot about fear and the role it plays in the work we do at Stand for Children. We’re advocates at our core, and in this work we’re building relationships with people – mostly parents – who carry a lot of fear with them every day. Whether it’s fear for their children’s future or fears sparked by a tumultuous political climate or fears that go along with the self-doubt they (and all of us) carry with us every day. Simply put, fear and advocacy go hand-in-hand when you really stop and think about it.  

The question becomes: how do we teach ourselves to hold both of those things – being legitimately scared about outcomes that may take shape, while finding the hope and courage to achieve a better outcome through our work and influence? There’s nothing wrong with feeling fear – it’s an essential emotion that plays an important role in keeping us safe in times of immediate danger. But for advocates, like our team and the amazing parents we work with, we can’t operate strategically or effectively if we’re coming at a problem or challenge from a place of fear. We can’t let fear begin to crumble the foundation we stand on. So, what is the response to fear? It comes down to getting in the right mindset – one that keeps us centered in what IS and what can BE (within our sphere of control and influence).  

When it comes to centering ourselves on what is, I’m a big believer in the power of gratitude. The way our minds are wired to work, it’s almost impossible to feel anxious and fearful at the same time we’re thinking deeply about the people and activities in our life that fill us with joy and a sense of gratitude. (Just try it.  In a moment of high stress focus your thoughts on being thankful for the people you love and the opportunities you have and pay attention to what happens with your anxious thoughts and feelings. They may not go away completely, but the weight of those stressful thoughts should be significantly lessened.)   

It just so happens that we’re in that time of year where gratitude takes center stage – whether through retail marketing, a prayer said before a family meal, or a school assignment that comes home in backpacks. My advice to everyone within our Stand family is to lean into this push for gratitude – but not because the holiday requires it. Do it for your own mental health. And do it to get prepared for all the ways we’ll continue to work towards more equitable schools for our children in 2025.  

Organizationally, we have so much to be grateful for starting with the remarkable advocates that drive our work – both in IPS and at the statehouse. Nothing makes me prouder to be part of this organization than thinking about the numerous parents who began their time with Stand feeling hesitant in their ability to advocate, only to evolve into leaders who are influencing top policy makers and driving change in their own communities – sometimes independent of their involvement with Stand. And my appreciation runs deep for the donors who make all of Stand’s work with parents possible. From The Mind Trust to Glick Philanthropies to the Joyce Foundation to the Lilly Foundation – along with so many individual donors – we are blessed to have funders who believe deeply in the importance of parent and community voices guiding change in our education system. Of course, none of this amazing work happens without our Stand team – Kayla Mattas, Elton Lassiter, Carolina Figueroa, Kristin Casper, Erin Browne and Elia James – all of whom are among the smartest, most dedicated and most resilient people you’re ever going to find in our city.       

Yes, fear can be a motivator, as they say. But more times than not, fear leads to inaction and a mindset where progress seems out of reach. As advocates, let’s get ready for what’s next by getting into a mindset fueled by gratitude, where we take stock of the people around us and the opportunities ahead to make progress for children who need our help to reach their full potential. 

Thank you all for being part of this journey with Stand. Let’s get ready for an impactful 2025.    

Quick riddle for you: What’s super powerful, helps keep our schools safe, and shapes the future for kids in Indianapolis?

 Answer: Voting for your local school board!

We know you’ve heard about the big races, but did you know that voting down-ballot is just as important? Your local school board members are the team who make decisions about YOUR child’s education. They directly impact important issues like curriculum, teacher pay, and school safety.

Here’s why voting down-ballot is key:
Imagine voting for president but skipping the people who decide what happens in YOUR kid’s classroom—wild, right? School board members decide the budget, curriculum, and policies that affect students every single day. That’s why voting for leaders who value quality public education for all is a total game-changer.

After reviewing what’s at stake in the IPS school board elections and who’s running, IPS parents and community members put together an IPS Voter Guide that lists the candidates who they have endorsed. Check it out and show up at the polls to elect YOUR IPS school board members who support an equitable public education!

Here are three ways that you can help level up IPS schools:

  1. Vote down-ballot for school board candidates who will prioritize quality public education for all kids.
  2. Share the voter guide with friends and family! It’s easy and makes a huge difference!
  3. Volunteer or donate to help elect leaders who care about students.

Don’t leave the school board race blank! It’s one of the most important votes you can cast. Indianapolis kids deserve the best, and with your help, we can make sure they get it. 

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.  

Watch my speech to IPS leaders at the July Action Session:

Read my speech here:

Good evening board commissioners,  

My name is Dontia Dyson, and I am an IPS dad and have come up here and advocated for my kid for over 4 years.  

I want to first thank you for passing resolution 8020. It truly does mean a lot to me because I believe this is a step in the right direction and I was one of the 1000+ community members who signed the petition you all received in February that requested the growth of schools that close the opportunity gap.  

I appreciate every board member, but I am disappointed that we still don’t have enough schools for our kids that are working  I have come to this podium for 4+ years and as a parent with 2 autistic sons and 2 straight A daughters that are not autistic. I am all over the scale, I believe parents like me should be listened to. I believe we are an actual factor WE ARE A PART OF THIS COMMUNITY. Yet, many edits parents like me asked for in this resolution were not included, specifically things like using DATA to replicate models that serve kids like mine well.   

I hear chat behind who is the community, I want you to know that everyone coming to this podium is an asset to IPS  regardless if they are a parent or community stakeholder. It’s important for all families that come up, to have a voice. We may not always agree, but WE ARE ALL THE COMMUNITY.  

Us, middle- and lower-class parents,  come out and speak because we are solution based, we aren’t here to argue or be offensive, but we do want s results. The back and forth regarding school type needs to be tucked away. It hurts our kids.  I am a single dad, and I live day by day making sure my kids are getting the best education possible, and IT IS HARD. WHICH IS WHY I LOOK FOR SOLUTIONS. WE HAVE NO TIME TO WASTE. I currently participate in school 63 and George Washington as a PARENT. I encourage anyone that has pushback or feedback in the things that parents are asking, please go into the schools personally before you go against a parent doing the work and asking for solutions.  

To get those 1000 signatures should not be overlooked. – This is the COMMUNITY> We have been out there talking to parents and educating them about the DATA, which is why they are inclined to sign a petition so please, when you start implementing this resolution, make sure you are thinking of my autistic kids all the way to my straight A daughters. Make sure the plan that comes from this resolution truly focusses on growing the schools that close the opportunity gap. ALL KIDS DESERVE TO THRIVE.  

Last week, the IPS Board of Commissioners passed resolution #8020, which calls on the district administration to deliver a plan in August for cultivating schools with a track record of success. While parents and supporters pushed for additional changes to the resolution to focus on improving results for Black and Brown students specifically, the board ultimately decided not to include those changes. 

Advocacy is the art of compromise, so despite not getting 100% of what Stand parents wanted, the resolution still should result in a plan for IPS to engage and grow data-proven schools. And there’s no doubt parent advocates and supporters helped make this happen. In fact, according to IPS commissioners, resolution #8020 was in direct response to the parent-led petition delivered in February.

While we celebrate and thank the IPS board for acting on #8020, we need to get ready for the next phase – and that’s ensuring the plan delivered to the IPS board in August specifies data-proven schools of all types that are closing the opportunity gap for children of color.  

Will you commit to taking action on this campaign in July? If so, sign this pledge and then share this page with your network.

Advocates like LaToya Tahirou won’t let that happen. 

Her voice cracked and I could hear the emotion pouring through the phone. LaToya Tahirou, one of the strongest parent leaders I’ve ever had the privilege of working with at Stand for Children, was trying to find the words to describe her experience at a recent IPS school board meeting. 

While I couldn’t see her, I could sense the tears welling up as she explained how deeply hurt she was by something another parent had said to her – a baseless accusation that questioned her motivation for speaking up about a resolution being discussed at the IPS board meeting.  

“I already have imposter syndrome. I constantly question whether I’m truly qualified to use my voice to stand up for closing the opportunity gap in our schools,” LaToya said during our phone conversation last week when I called to check in on her.  

The truth is LaToya has more knowledge about what’s going on in our public schools – especially those in underserved communities – than nearly anyone I know, including and especially me. There has not been a more powerful advocate when it comes to closing the tragically large opportunity gap between white students and children of color than LaToya. It’s parents like her who drive the work of Stand for Children. 

By supporting parents – mostly Black and Latino families – to build their confidence and use their innate power to demand better outcomes for their children, Stand has built a network of parent voices who are ensuring education policy is being done WITH them and not TO them.   

But that fact scares some people – specifically people like “Susie” – a white mother who has enrolled her children in one of IPS’ top schools, which happens to be an innovation charter school. (While “Susie” is a real person and this story details real events, I’ve decided to not use Susie’s actual name as to not target her the same way she has targeted Stand-affiliated parents.)  

It’s clear Susie is an advocate in her own right, and she’s done her homework on what school is the best option for her children, which is admirable (and also hard work in this complex education environment). That kind of respect for Susie’s role as parent was not reciprocated by her at last week’s special-called IPS board meeting when she shouted down LaToya and other Black and Brown parents.  

Why was this parent so angry, you ask? Because Stand parents like LaToya had the nerve to fight for their children to attend high quality schools – including high-performing charters – just like Susie’s kids. 

Susie started accusing LaToya and other Black and Brown parents of being “paid” to show up to advocate for charter schools. And she consistently interrupted LaToya and others during breakout groups, and then proceeded to turn her anger toward the majority Black IPS Board of Commissioners, who all did their best to facilitate a meeting that allowed all parents to be heard and respected. In fact, Stand-affiliated parents felt like IPS commissioners were hearing and respecting them throughout – it’s just that Susie was going out of her way to attempt to tear down the entire process. 

There is so much wrong with how this parent acted at the recent IPS board meeting, it’s hard to even begin to unpack. But let’s start with Susie’s baseless claim about LaToya and other Stand parent advocates being paid to show up to IPS meetings. 

That’s 100% false. But worse than that lie being told by Susie is the implicit racism at the core of her claim: If Black parents are showing up to advocate for growing high-quality schools – including charters – than they must be getting paid to be there.  

And the other deeply offensive myth this parent and others associated with her in the past have pushed: Black parent advocates are being “brain-washed” to advocate for growing high-quality schools. 

Nothing frustrates me more than hearing white parents like Susie tell lies to intimidate and denigrate parents of color who, like LaToya noted above, already feel like they shouldn’t be at the education policy table because our unjust system has treated them as second-class citizens (or worse) for generations. The fact is Stand parent advocates are incredibly smart and discerning when it comes to assessing school quality, and they know the data about Black and Brown student achievement better than some policy experts and elected officials. And moreover, parents know their children best – and those experiences (positive and negative) should be shaping the policies we implement to boost achievement for historically underserved students in IPS. 

Unfortunately, Susie isn’t interested in hearing about the experiences of Black parents – because they tried to speak at the IPS meeting and got interrupted by her constantly. If she’d listen, Susie would know Black parents were advocating for IPS to scale the very type of schools her kids attend. To be honest, I believe she knows that, but she’s simply comfortable with her own breathtaking hypocrisy. Susie’s actions speak louder than her words in this case: I’m not going to send my kids to low-performing traditional schools in IPS, but I’m going fight to ensure Black parents have no other choice but to do that. 

I could go on and on about how Susie’s hurtful lies made me sad and angry at the same time.  But like so many other things LaToya and parents like her have taught me, it’s better to take the high road. And this moment is also not about my feelings – because in the end, we can’t let any more adult feelings/ego/distractions get in the way of urgently addressing the fact that Black students in IPS are seven times less likely to test on grade-level than their white counterparts. Addressing that injustice must be our true north – even when fear-based ignorance tries to send us in a different direction.  

In the end, it’s important to go back to this fact: LaToya and parents like her have fought to grow the very types of high-quality innovation schools that Susie is currently sending her kids to. So even as she talks down to Stand parents, it’s advocates like LaToya who continue to stand up for policies that are benefiting Susie’s family.  

That’s the kind of example LaToya and Stand parents are setting. I’m hoping Susie is watching and listening instead of shouting and bullying. Because it’s long overdue that we shape a vision for IPS –and public education across the state — that is done in partnership with Black and Brown families, and not done to them.  

If you want to stand alongside Stand parent advocates in their pursuit of growing schools that are delivering the best results for students of color then sign on to this letter to the IPS board.

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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: