The achievement gap in Indianapolis is striking – the city has one of the lowest graduation rates in the country, and in some high schools less than 25 percent of students pass the statewide achievement exam.

Despite this reality, I am confident that the city can be in a radically different place in five years.  Since the Indianapolis school system is relatively small, with only 32,000 students in the city’s largest school district, scaling Teach For America and other organizations can have a huge impact.  By bringing more human capital to the city, we can accelerate our impact and eliminate educational disparity.

Teach For America corps members have been teaching in the Indianapolis area since 2008 and have already won some of the city’s highest teaching accolades, including Teacher of the Year nominations and awards from the Indiana Department of Education.  This year, 110 corps members will directly impact 7,000 students.

180 alumni live in the Indianapolis area, almost half of whom are still teaching.  70% of alumni have remained in education and seven work at the Indiana Department of Education, advocating for state-wide change.  These individuals are working with many others across the city to dramatically transform outcomes for kids in Indianapolis.  We have started to gain traction in our efforts and see the next five years as an unprecedented opportunity to ensure that all kids in Indianapolis have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.