Indianapolis has been a major target for the privatization movement. A group called The Mind Trust, funded by billionaire foundations, has led the effort to destroy public education, while presenting its motives as benign and admirable.
The corporate reform attack on Indianapolis was described vividly in this post by Jim Scheurich and Gayle Crosby.
Tom Ultican wrote about the destructive role of The Mind Trust in Indianapolis, which claims to be allied with the Democratic Party.
Locals, lacking the resources of the privatizes, have fought to save their public schools.
Here is a report on the recent elections from Dountonia Batts, an active member of the Network for Public Education:
Sending a clear message that the community is fed up with corporate reform, voters in Indianapolis ousted two incumbents on the Indianapolis Public School (IPS) Board, replacing them with opponents of the district’s corporate reform agenda.
First-time candidates Taria Slack and Susan Collins were backed by the IPS Community Coalition (the Indianapolis AROS Chapter) and the local teachers union and ran against incumbents backed by Stand for Children and the Mind Trust, a corporate reform institute. Slack and Collins are vowing to pressure the IPS administration to improve transparency, genuine community collaboration and engagement, and hold the administration accountable.
Indianapolis schools have been under persistent attack by corporate reformers over the past decade, with increasing numbers of charters and public school closings. The district—under the tutelage of the Mind Trust—has also created so-called “Innovation Schools,” which are IPS schools that are handed over to a charter management organization. Innovation Schools have complete autonomy, a school board that is not elected by the public, and receive public funds. Additionally, this structure allows charters under the IPS umbrella to take advantage of district-provided services such as transportation and special education services at no cost. This victory is proof that ordinary citizens can defeat big money. People power trumps money power. IPS Community Coalition is organized, prepared, and ready to reclaim our schools
Sincerely,
Dountonia S. Batts, J.D., M.B.A., N.S.A.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
It is testament to the power of a community’s strength when they unite for action. The victory makes others feel that, as you say, ‘People Power,’ trumps money power. That is true, but many times smaller people feel that their efforts against the moneyed group is futile. Indeed some people simply accept privatization without much questioning. This success does give us hope.
What is happening in Indianapolis is a positive sign that resistance to reform is mounting. The city has been under corporate siege for decades, and the community has grown weary of the disruption. The wealthy and corporate interests have been determining education policy in the city. but the promised results are lacking. A 2017 recent report revealed that despite using the flawed letter grade for schools, the public schools have outperformed charters and private schools in the city. The community wants to see investment in authentic public community schools.https://www.ista-in.org/indianas-traditional-public-schools-outperform-charter-and-private-schools
A November 13 education paper posted at the Center for American Progress mentions Indianapolis schools. The paper deceives by referring generally to charter schools as “public”. A month prior, the same co-author wrote, “Profit Before Kids” (Oct. 10, 2018), which laments ed reform failures. CAP’s exercise at finding any ethical ground in school privatization and corporatization must be excruciating for staff if they have consciences. CAP is identified as a “liberal” think tank but, it’s financed by tech tyrants like Gates and Zuckerberg. Z-berg’s Fakebook was in the news last week for hiring a GOP PR firm whose sister organization’s stated goal was designing “the most negative narrative against Democrats”. (Tech Crunch)
Mind Trust?
Gore Vidal called the US the United States of Amnesia, and it appears that our oligarchic Overclass has forgotten that just a century ago, the word “trust” (aka “monopoly”) was a dirty word, as in The Oil Trust, the Meat Trust, etc…
Yet it’s darkly prophetic and exactly in keeping with the purposes of so-called education reform: bringing tech monopolies into the schools, and using that monopoly to regiment teaching in their financial and ideological interests.
Hopefully, fighting these “trusts,” and their grotesque efforts to further monetize children, becomes part of the movement to save public education and bring debate about economic/workplace democracy back into the political discussion.
“Mind Trust” actually means MIND CONTROL and BRAINWASHING.
Sadly, Mindtrust is a dystopian invention of Democrats.
DINO’s with money.
EXACTLY TRUE: “…so-called education reform: bringing tech monopolies into the schools, and us[e] that monopoly to regiment teaching in their financial and ideological interests.”