DR. BRYAN DUARTE
INDIANAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISTRICT 2
VOTE GRASSROOTS
VOTE GRASSROOTS
All in for IPS
Dr. Bryan Duarte is a product of public schools and has been in the field of education for nearly 20 years, beginning as a substitute teacher in 2008. Before earning a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, he worked as an English and History teacher in traditional, magnet, innovation, and charter schools in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Texas. As the son of Portuguese immigrants, he has remained committed to multilingual learners and immigrant families, who too often end up in schools that don’t have the resources they need.
Today, as a professor, he trains principals and other school leaders. He also studies how school choice policies affect communities that have been left out. He is running for school board to protect IPS from pulling resources away from the communities that need them the most. For too long, some IPS board members have chosen to invest in new charter and other schools, without addressing the real challenges in our current schools. If elected, Dr. Duarte would support decisions that improve things for students and families who do not have many real choices in Indianapolis’s crowded school system. He imagines an IPS where every school is one that Indianapolis families are proud to choose. Finally, as a victim of bullying in middle and high school, he is committed to ensuring that every student in IPS attends a school that provides them with a safe and supportive learning environment.
Commitments
As your commissioner, I am committed to ensuring every family has an IPS school they can trust.
A great public education is a right, not a privilege
1
Every family in Indianapolis deserves access to a great public school. Right now, safety concerns, uneven special education services, limited transportation, and exclusive enrollment practices constrain families’ choices. I will fight to make every IPS school one that families choose, not settle for.
Re-Invest in Our Public Schools
IPS has spent years playing defense while our city expanded the education marketplace around it. The result is too many schools competing for too few students, and a governance structure that keeps punishing IPS for it. I support a moratorium on new schools so we can reinvest in the ones we already have. Every school should be fully resourced, fully supported, and fully prioritized.
2
Data-driven, equity-focused decisions
3
As an educator and researcher who prepares principals and superintendents I know that decisions need to be grounded in evidence. I’ll bring that same rigor to the board by celebrating progress like recent gains in reading, math, and graduation rates, and using data honestly to find and fix inequities.
Financial Security & Sustainability
4
Passing the referendum is critical to keeping IPS financially secure, but that isn’t enough on its own. I’ll push for transparency and accountability from IPEC, so outside pressures stop dictating our budget and every dollar reaches every student who needs it.
Investing in our Educators
Great teachers make great schools and teacher working conditions are student learning conditions. I’ll fight for competitive pay and benefits, investment in professional development and leadership pipelines, and a fair contract for all our public school teachers.