Venture Capital and District Reform: How "The Mind Trust" Flipped Indianapolis Public Schools

• In Event: Exploring Political Engagement, Advocacy, and Corporate Influences in Education Policy

Abstract

While the expansion of charter schools has largely stagnated at the national level, some influential districts have adopted what is referred to as the ‘portfolio management model.’ In the case of the Indianapolis Public School District, the transition from traditional to portfolio management was catalyzed by the actions of the Indianapolis-based venture capital firm The Mind Trust. This paper analyzes how this transition was accomplished, arguing that The Mind Trust employed a series of strategic steps to muster the necessary political and infrastructural capacity—steps that have since been exported to national-level reform efforts to flip local jurisdictions: recruiting nationally renowned jurisdictional challengers to establish local branches in Indianapolis, appointing sympathetic policy actors, and producing local human and organizational capital.

Author

• Julie Fitz, The Ohio State University