Dive Brief:

• Indianapolis hosted a contest looked for innovative school models that could be turned into charter-like public schools.  
• The competition was created to curb the high number of students leaving the city's traditional school district for charter schools while also improving the school system for those remaining in the district.  
• The winning school ideas will open doors in 2015. So far, some of the ideas  have included single-gender, boarding, year-round, and STEM-focused schools.  

Dive Insight:

This is a really interesting — and dare we say "innovative" — way to improve and strengthen a traditional public school system. Indianapolis's desire for "Innovation Network Schools" runs counter to what feels to some like the dismantling of public education. While Delaware legislators just submitted a proposal to give money to families who elect not to send their kids to public schools, Indianapolis is looking inward to attract families back to those schools. These two different models for how to deal with public education go beyond just Indianapolis and Delaware, as many states are grappling with the the changing education landscape.