State-Level GOP Attacks on Public Schools Decried as 'Part of a National Playbook'

Critics are sounding the alarm on a fresh wave of attacks on public schools by Republican state lawmakers, calling their efforts part of a broader agenda to privatize public education.

Indiana's H.B. 1136—introduced by Reps. Jake Teshka (R-7), Jeffrey Thompson (R-28), and Timothy O'Brien (R-78)—would dissolve public school districts in which more than 50% of students attend private or charter schools based on fall 2024 averages. All remaining public schools in affected districts would be converted to charter schools, which are privately owned and operated but taxpayer-funded.

According to Capital B Gary, "The bill's provisions are estimated to dissolve five school corporations statewide, including Indianapolis Public Schools, Tri-Township Consolidated School Corporation in LaPorte County, Union School Corporation southeast of Muncie, and Cannelton City Schools near the Kentucky border in Perry County."

Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) condemned the proposal, saying it "strongly opposes House Bill 1136 or any bill this legislative session that threatens local authority and community control of public schools."

"H.B. 1136 proposes dissolving five school corporations, including IPS, by converting schools to charter status and eliminating local school boards," the district continued. "This harmful legislation would strip communities of their voice, destabilize our financial foundations, and further jeopardize the education of approximately 42,000 students."

IPS asserted: "H.B. 1136 threatens to cause massive disruption to our public school system, diverting attention and resources away from the vital education and support our students need to succeed. This legislation is not student-focused and fails to reflect the community's input on how they envision their public schools thriving."

"Instead of fostering growth and innovation, H.B. 1136 risks dismantling the very foundation that supports student success and community collaboration," the district added.

"H.B. 1136 threatens to cause massive disruption to our public school system."

The Indiana Democratic Party said on social media in response to the bill: "The GOP supermajority is continuing their attacks on local public schools. This time, they're threatening to dissolve dozens of schools across the state into charters, leaving around a million Hoosiers without a traditional public school option."

"For years, many public schools have struggled with funds being diverted to charter schools with no accountability," the party added in a separate post. "Our public schools are the backbone of communities across the state, and we must protect them. More charter schools means less oversight for taxpayers."

Indiana state Sen. Andrea Hunley (D-46), a former IPS teacher and principal, told Capital B Gary: "My children have been attending IPS schools for 11 years. And I am so concerned about the fact that in this place where the majority likes to say that they want choice for families, that they would be threatening to take away choice from a family like mine right here in the middle of our city."

"We've got to make sure that we stop this before it goes any further," she added.

Indiana state Sen. Fady Qaddoura (D-30), who also represents Indianapolis, told WXIN last week, "I think this bill has a racial component by advancing discriminatory policies that are targeting the two largest minority communities in the state of Indiana."

"In my view," he added, "this piece of legislation had nothing to do with choice and has everything to do to continue to dismantle public education as we know it today in Indiana."

It's not just Indiana. Attacks on public education are afoot in states across the nation, including neighboring Ohio and Kentucky.

At the national level, progressives are warning that the imminent Republican trifecta—with GOP control of both chambers of Congress and, later this month, the White House—likely portends a massive attack on public education that could include ending the Department of Education, as advised in Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation-led blueprint for a far-right overhaul of the federal government.