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SUMMARY:
With early voting underway, Rev. Alexander and Pastor Greene devote the episode to education, joined by Rev. Dr. Wayne Moore, who is seeking a second term on the Pike Township School Board. Moore describes a district doing better than most but squeezed by the General Assembly, falling enrollment, and the loss of per-student funding to charter schools. The three discuss the record 38 school referendums on the November ballot, why they expect many to fail, and why they say school boards must explain the money to taxpayers. Greene warns that closed or failing charter schools can turn public school property into development land, and that the appointed Indianapolis Public Education Corporation will control who gets IPS buildings. The second half turns to Turning Point USA's Club America chapters in Indiana high schools, which Alexander maps on air and urges voters to ask school board candidates about. Callers Joyce, Barbara, and Imhotep weigh in on redistricting, what happens to charter school buildings, and curriculum that centers African-American literature. Greene closes by urging Pike Township voters to re-elect the three incumbents and announcing this weekend's march to the polls.
WHAT’S INSIDE
00:00:00 — Welcome, prayer, and the education focus
- Alexander introduces Moore, an incumbent on the Pike Township School Board seeking another term
- Greene opens in prayer, thanking Moore for his willingness to serve on the school board
- Moore says he is excited to join the Concerned Clergy conversation
- Alexander says the show will center on education and urges voters in Pike Township, IPS, and every district with a school board race or referendum to pay close attention
00:03:27 — Moore’s platform as an incumbent
- Moore is closing out his first four years and seeking a second term
- Says he sits on the committee negotiating a contract for the district
- Says education is under a “government gavel” and Pike Township is doing better than many other townships
- Says no one knows what the General Assembly will do heading into 2027, and that the last two years have been extremely difficult for districts statewide
00:05:29 — A record number of school referendums
- Alexander: roughly 38 referendums are on the November ballot and resources are stretched across Indiana; voters should back candidates who want to put resources into schools
- Greene: Moore was instrumental in getting Pike’s referendum across the finish line by explaining it to the community
- Greene says districts with surplus money now will face referendums again within a year or two
- Greene predicts not all 38 referendums will pass, depending on who speaks for them and whether they’re explained rather than looking like another tax increase
00:08:37 — The Pike ballot and Moore’s warning on referendums
- Moore: three seats, four candidates, and three incumbents; he strongly encourages voters to consider the incumbents given the state of education
- Says not all referendums will be accepted, and that even districts like Carmel, Hamilton, and Zionsville are now signing up for major referendums
- Says school boards and bargaining units must shift from “us against them” to working together for survival
- Says the aim is graduation and proficiency, with as many teachers and services as possible kept in place
00:11:42 — Fellow incumbents and Pike’s biggest challenge
- Moore names the other two incumbents as Terry Webster and Alonzo Anderson, saying there is work still to finish
- Says Pike’s biggest challenge is a stronger budget, to secure staff and school security
- Says nearly every district has lost students, and losing 200 students means losing the dollars that pay teachers
- Says school boards need to communicate with the community rather than seek to be “important”
00:13:56 — Charter schools and the loss of per-student funding
- Alexander says much of the student movement is due to charter schools scattering students in many directions
- Greene: when a charter picks up a couple hundred students, the district loses funding tied per student, often learning of it mid-year and having to cut
- Greene notes diesel and gas costs are straining shrinking school district budgets
- Greene says this is why IPS needed to keep an elected board rather than an appointed one
00:16:36 — Moore on how charter funding is deducted
- Moore: when students leave for charters, the money follows, and it comes out of the district’s funds
- Says Pike’s state dollars are paid out to charters first; with 75 students gone to charters, the charter school is paid before the township
- Calls it disrespectful to a township that has educated students for 132 years
- Says Pike is effectively supporting two systems, the township district and the charter district
00:19:11 — Vouchers and the case for public education
- Alexander says more Indiana vouchers now go to families earning over $100,000 than to lower earners, though the program was meant to help the less fortunate
- Moore says he is running on public education and is a product of it
- Notes IPS has existed for 173 years; says charters have a far shorter record and there aren’t enough successful ones to meet graduation and proficiency needs
- Warns against “wolves in sheep’s clothing” joining public education boards
00:22:38 — Lawmakers’ role in school board structure
- Alexander says many of the problems Moore describes are caused by legislators who change the rules and put boards in place to carry their water
- Argues voters must look at the legislators making these laws as well as at school board candidates
- Says the districts are suffering because of the laws lawmakers have passed
00:24:30 — Caller Joyce: redistricting and the courts
- Joyce says Indianapolis was divided up to dilute the Black vote and that people should be able to vote on their own
- Says some people in the courts need training, citing a police officer she says should not have been reintroduced to the force
- Alexander thanks her and returns to Moore
00:26:41 — Do Pike families understand the referendum?
- Alexander asks whether parents understand charter schools, the referendum, and other district dynamics
- Moore: “Some do and some don’t”; most people are still gaining knowledge about the referendum
- Moore says that if taxpayers paid for the referendum they ought to know about it, especially if the district needs to ask again
- Moore hopes the board will set a clearer line of communication about referendums
- Alexander previews Turning Point USA and says voters should ask school board candidates whether they support it in schools
00:30:23 — Caller Barbara: what happens to charter buildings?
- Barbara asks whether charter schools own IPS buildings and what happens to the property if a school closes
- Alexander says charters can acquire buildings for a dollar
- Greene: this is how neighborhoods are gentrified, as failing charters leave property that becomes development land
- Greene says the IPS superintendent has said she must sell schools, but the appointed Indianapolis Public Education Corporation (IPEC) will control who gets the buildings
00:33:03 — School property, data centers, and playing chess
- Greene says charter-school rules are being modified, but that has not yet happened
- Says school property is massive, including athletic fields, and is the kind of land a data center developer would love to get for a dollar
- Says the Black community is often hurt because that money doesn’t flow into school systems the way it should
- Greene: “while we’re playing checkers, others are playing chess,” planning five to ten years out
00:34:52 — Why charter schools struggle to sustain enrollment
- Greene says he is pro-public education and that charters need a minimum number of students to be sustainable
- Cites the STEM school on Michigan Road, which he says is in the news this week for being short of students
- Says many charters lack resources for special-needs children
- Says rising rents and utility costs push families to move, so charters lose students they counted on
00:37:57 — Turning Point USA’s Club America chapters
- Alexander says falling birth rates mean “the math ain’t math” for adding schools
- Presents a map of Turning Point USA’s Club America, its high school chapter program, and describes its toolkit and regional contacts
- Says there are over 20 schools in central Indiana, with 11 on the north side of town and six on the south side
- Urges voters to ask school board candidates whether they support Turning Point USA
00:41:06 — Moore on Turning Point’s reach and curriculum
- Moore says the data shows 65 chapters statewide, including ones in Westfield, Huntington North, and Cardinal Ritter
- Says most listed schools are outside Marion County except Brebeuf, that Ritter should be on the list, and that Pike and North Central are not yet on it while Decatur is “moving”
- Says school boards aren’t discussing it and calls the curriculum “poisonous and dangerous,” saying he and Greene did a show on it
- Moore says the group caters to young white people and shows no Black or brown students in its literature
- Alexander lists Zionsville, Perry Meridian, Noblesville, Mooresville, Hamilton Southeastern, Franklin Central, Fishers, Brownsburg, and Brebeuf among the schools
00:45:33 — Governor Braun and Turning Point in schools
- Alexander says everyone should know whether a school board candidate supports it
- Moore says the group has no business in an extracurricular program in schools
- Moore says Governor Mike Braun found a way to push it into school systems and that the announcement showed only white children
00:46:25 — Caller Imhotep: deconstructing the curriculum
- Imhotep says he saw Moore at Roland Martin’s recent book signing in Indianapolis, where Martin shared strategies, and urges boycotts of corporations that don’t treat people fairly
- Argues education must be deconstructed, asking whether charter schools, including Black-run ones, use African-American literature and instructors
- Calls Turning Point an “ethnostate” and links it to the “Great Replacement” and white-supremacist doctrines, saying ministers are the torchlight against it
00:49:29 — Moore’s closing thoughts on books and education
- Moore says the books Imhotep listed are being taken out of libraries, which is a detriment to any new charter school
- Says education has become a threat to “the other culture”
- Says education once meant going back to the neighborhood to bring others along, a tradition he says we’ve lost and must regain
00:51:14 — March to the polls and a vote for the incumbents
- Greene: marches to the polls will take place in every township this weekend; Pike’s leaves Bethel AME at 11:30 for the Pike library, with “Souls to the Polls” on Sunday
- Greene urges voting for Moore and the other two Pike incumbents, saying the district needs people who already understand Turning Point USA, budgets, and money
- Greene thanks Moore for stepping up, saying his love for children is unquestionable after four years on the board
- Alexander urges everyone to vote
