Jan 11: A Charter at Washington HS?
Leaders of the South Bend Community School Corporation are currently negotiating an agreement with Purdue Polytechnic High School that would allow a charter school to operate within South Bend’s Washington High School. There currently are two Purdue Polytechnic High Schools in Indianapolis, one that opened in 2017 in the downtown area and one that opened in 2019 in the Broad Ripple area north of the City. Neither has been in operation long enough to offer documented evidence of successful outcomes.
Although Superintendent Todd Cummings and Board of Trustees President John Anella enthusiastically support the new Charter High School, many members of the South Bend community have serious concerns about the potential impact on our public-school system from this collaboration.
A public meeting on Saturday, January 11, will provide an opportunity to discuss these concerns. We have invited a group of parents and education activists from Indianapolis to join us in the discussion and to share their experiences with charter schools. Leading that delegation will be Dountonia S. Batts, the former Executive Director/Organizer of the Indianapolis Public Schools Community Coalition Inc. She is a board member of the Network for Public Education, a board member of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, an Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools City Table Leader, and a member of the Indiana Coalition for Youth Justice.
You are invited to participate in this important discussion.
Saturday, January 11, from 1 to 3 pm
Civil Rights Heritage Center, 1040 W Washington St. South Bend
The event is sponsored by
Community Forum for Economic Justice
CAFÉ (Community Action for Education)
MAPE (Michiana Advocates for Public Education)