Introduction

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson is the nation's only mayor with the authority to issue charters for new public schools. He has seized the opportunity to create a new "sector" of public schools within the city that provides new options to the children and families that need them the most.

As of August 2004, 10 schools chartered by Mayor Peterson are open, educating approximately 1,900 students. Three more schools have received charters and will open in 2005 or 2006. Together, these schools will enroll nearly 4,500 students by 2008. Students in the existing schools are a cross section of Indianapolis' population, with high percentages of students of color, students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, and students struggling academically. Mayor Peterson continues to seek out additional applicants. As a result, charter schools will become an even more significant part of the city's educational landscape over the next few years.

Although the city's charter schools initiative is young, the early results are promising:

• Community leadership: Some of the city's most prominent community organizations and citizens have stepped forward to start charter schools.
• Family interest: Families are flocking to sign their children up for the schools' open admissions lotteries.
• Parent satisfaction: On confidential surveys, parents express a high level of satisfaction with charter schools and their academic programs -- and satisfaction rates are rising.
• Student learning: Students in charter elementary and middle schools are making impressive progress in reading, math, and language, according to a sophisticated "value-added" analysis commissioned by the mayor's office.

With strong philanthropic support from the Annie E. Casey and Richard M. Fairbanks Foundations, the mayor's office has invested in a set of systems designed to lay the groundwork for a high-quality initiative. These include:

• The "Seed" Initiative, which is recruiting charter school applicants who promise to use proven school models in new charter schools in Indianapolis;
• The "Lead" Initiative, in which the mayor's office is partnering with Building Excellent Schools, a nonprofit organization that supports charter schools, to identify and train excellent leaders for new charter schools;
• A facilities financing fund, through which the Indianapolis Public Improvement Bond Bank will provide low-cost financing for charter schools' capital projects;
• A rigorous application process that sets a high bar for charter approval; and
• Numerous partnerships with public and private organizations to help the schools succeed.

In addition, the mayor's office has established a comprehensive accountability system to track school performance. Through a combination of standardized testing, site visits by an expert team, confidential surveys of parents and staff, and outside review of schools' finances, the mayor's office gathers a broad range of data about school performance. Through its website and an annual Accountability Report, the mayor then shares this information widely with parents and the public.

The initial experience of a mayor-led charter initiative in Indianapolis yields a number of important lessons for state policymakers, mayors, and charter school authorizers:

• The value of a mayor as a charter school champion. Mayors have an array of political, financial, and governmental resources at their disposal that make them valuable allies for a growing charter sector.
• The value of a mayor as a charter school authorizer. Mayors have numerous advantages as charter school authorizers, such as their accountability to the public and their intimate knowledge of the community.
• Challenges of mayoral authorizing. Playing the role of authorizer requires an extraordinary commitment of time and resources. Further, as elected officials with limited terms, mayors come and go, creating uncertainty about the future of any mayor-led charter initiative.
• Challenges of ensuring a strong supply of charter applicants. Though initial interest was strong in Indianapolis, the supply of qualified new applicants slowed quickly, as has been the case elsewhere. The mayor's office has taken steps to address this challenge, but it remains daunting in Indianapolis and elsewhere.
• The importance of partnerships. The Indianapolis initiative has thrived initially due in part to how community organizations and leaders have stepped forward to support it by founding schools, supporting schools, providing funding, and boosting community support for chartering.
• Quality: the essential ingredient. The commitment of the mayor's office to quality is a vital underpinning of the whole effort. Central to this commitment is transparency -- making information about the schools and the mayor's processes open to constant scrutiny by the public. Transparency is what makes it possible for the mayor to hold schools accountable while limiting constraints on their autonomy as charter schools.

These lessons suggest recommendations for states, mayors, and charter authorizers elsewhere. More states should experiment with giving mayors authorization power and placing mayors within a broader set of multiple authorizers. More mayors should explore charter authorizing and other ways of supporting chartering. Authorizers of all kinds should find ways to allocate sufficient resources to the task -- or stay out of the authorizing business. And a wide range of actors should become more involved in generating a supply of high-quality charter applicants for charters.

While much remains to be seen about the charter initiative in Indianapolis, the groundwork is in place for a vital addition to public education in that city -- and beyond.