Byron Garrett En Route: Indianapolis Public Schools, Indiana and Indianapolis/Marion County

Indiana

·  “Indiana is a reflection of the crisis in education we face all throughout America. Every child should be able to eventually write their own story. Sadly, far too many children, especially here in Indiana, can’t even spell their own names.”

·  Thirty percent of Indiana fourth-graders tested Below Basic in reading on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress – slightly below the national average of 33 percent.

·  Fifty-three percent of African-American fourth-graders scored Below Basic on NAEP reading, just ahead of the 52 percent national average for all African Americans.

·  Earlier this year, the state cut $300 million in aid to local schools. This, along with the economic recession, has resulted in the closing of schools in Hammond and in other districts across the state.

·  “America is no longer the nation of the Studebaker and the sparkplug. It is now part of the world of the iPad and the BlackBerry. If our children, our digital natives, are to thrive in this new economy, we can’t continue to send them to dropout factories.”

·  “Our country can’t survive half-educated. The Hoosier State can’t survive half-educated. We must all become champions for better education and better futures for every child.”

·  “The great news is that every day, more people recognize the importance of improving opportunity, equity and access to high-quality education for all children. Your governor, Mitch Daniels, recognizes this, as does Tony Bennett, your Superintendent of Public Instruction. I am admirable, envious even, that the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce have focused their energies on finding solutions to these problems. We need communities in which everyone realizes the importance of addressing achievement gaps and improving education.”

Indianapolis (also known as Marion County)

·  The city has home to 11 traditional public school districts. Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is the largest in the city and the state.

·  The 10 other districts are in the city’s suburban ring, outside of Indianapolis’ old city limits. Once considered suburban, they are increasingly facing the kind of challenges that have long-burdened IPS. In seven Indianapolis school districts—IPS, Wayne Township, Washington Township, Beech Grove, Warren Township, Pike Township, and Decatur Township—one out of every two students is on free or reduced lunch.

·  Five years ago, The Indianapolis Star ran a yearlong series on education problems in Indianapolis/Marion County. The series helped focus state and local leaders on measures to keep children in school until graduation and develop more accurate data on how many students are graduating from high school.

·  Indianapolis/Marion County officials and community leaders have shown how they can work together to solve problems. They successfully reduced overcrowding and alleged sexual misconduct in the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center by bringing in help from the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, a program of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

·  “Four years ago, this community rallied to solve chronic overcrowding at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center and develop alternatives to harsh punishment for children in need of guiding hands. Now Indianapolis and Marion County has the opportunity to go further and address the challenge of getting more resources to assure that every child succeeds in school and in life.”

Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS)

·  Just forty-nine percent of high school freshmen attending IPS schools in 2005-2006 graduated four years later, according to the Indiana Department of Education. The district’s graduation rate is among the lowest in Indiana and among the lowest in the nation.

·  Forty-nine percent of African American students and 46 percent of white students in the original Class of 2009 graduated four years later.

·  Only39 percent of IPS male high school freshmen graduated four years later versus fifty-seven 57 percent of their female peers.

·  “The fact that just one in every two IPS students graduates on time should be our collective shame. We must rally all of Indianapolis in order to assure all of our children of a brighter future.”

·  The Schott Foundation concluded in 2006 (based on U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data) that just 21 percent of African American male freshmen and 22 percent of white male freshmen graduated on time.

·  Twenty-one-point-seven percent of IPS high school students missed 10 or more days of schools–the state’s definition of chronic truancy–during the 2008-2009 school year.

·  At Emmerich Manual High School—which has been the subject of a series by Indianapolis Star columnist Matthew Tully and the focus of an earlier series five years ago—440 students missed 10 or more days of school last school year. This equals to 41 percent of the entire student population chronically truant during the school year.

·  “There is no reason for a child to miss a day of school. When as many as 41 percent of students are chronically truant in a single year, it is evident of a breakdown in engagement between families and schools.”

·  “PTAs can help build bridges between families, schools and communities. From successfully advocating for making parental engagement a critical part of federal education policy, to our National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, our 5 million members—including 27,000 in Indiana—are engaging parents, teachers, principals and communities in helping every child write their own story.”