Denver, Washington, D.C. speakers urge Indianapolis to build coherent school system around shared standards, predictable funding and transportation

Two national school-system leaders told the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance on Tuesday that Indianapolis should prioritize a single, citywide definition of school performance, a student-based funding formula and coordinated transportation to improve educational equity across neighborhood, district and charter schools.

Alyssa Whitehead Bost, a former Denver Public Schools chief academic officer who now runs Attuned, and Paul Kine, deputy mayor for education for Washington, D.C., described different governance arrangements but emphasized the same practical tools: a common performance framework, shared rules for access to facilities and funding that follows students.

Bost said Denver’s approach grew from a decade of aligned strategy and three agreed “equities” — opportunity, responsibility and accountability — that all schools accepted under a district-charter compact. “The why was very simple: improve outcomes for all kids,” she said, adding that Denver used a school performance framework to set quality bars, drive supports and inform renewal or exit decisions.

She described systems Denver used to translate those principles into practice: a collaborative council with equal charter and district…