David Harris is a lifelong Indianapolis resident, attorney (Northwestern University undergraduate, Indiana University Law School), and one of the most influential figures in the American charter school movement. He entered education reform unexpectedly in 1999 while volunteering on Bart Peterson’s mayoral campaign, where he researched and championed charter schools—quickly becoming a passionate advocate. His work helped secure Indiana’s 2001 charter law, making Mayor Peterson the first in the nation with chartering authority. As director of the Mayor’s Office of Charter Schools, Harris authorized 16 high-quality schools during Peterson’s tenure, emphasizing rigorous, transparent, and non-partisan processes. He set a national standard by closing underperforming schools and building accountability into the model.
In 2006, Harris co-founded The Mind Trust, a groundbreaking nonprofit incubator that supported charter entrepreneurs, attracted talent through fellowships, and advocated for facilities access. This effort directly led to the 2014 Innovation Network Schools law, enabling autonomous charter-like schools to operate within Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) and replace chronically failing campuses. Today, more than 60% of Indianapolis students attend charter or innovation network schools—a transformation achieved through intentional execution, bipartisan collaboration, and evidence-based reform, without a major external catalyst like Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
Harris later served as a founding partner of The City Fund (2018–2021), advancing city-based philanthropic strategies to scale high-quality schools nationwide. Since 2022, as CEO of Christel House International, he leads a global network of schools serving deeply impoverished students in the United States, India, Jamaica, Mexico, and South Africa—providing long-term support from early childhood through workforce entry and demonstrating that talent is equally distributed, even if opportunity is not.
Reflecting on more than 25 years in the field, Harris emphasizes persistence: “If we’re going to really make fundamental change for kids, it takes a long time… constant innovating and changing.” Despite challenges—including a significant per-pupil funding gap for charters (~$7,000 less than IPS) and fierce defense of the status quo—his work has shown the power of quality authorizing, new school creation, and sustained effort to improve outcomes for underserved students.
Oral History Interview with Dr. Jim Goenner (February 13, 2025, at Christel House International – National Charter School Founders Library)
In this candid, wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Jim Goenner explores Harris’s journey from campaign volunteer to national education reformer. Key topics and questions include:
- Personal background – Who is David Harris? Where did you go to school?
- Meeting Bart Peterson – How did you first meet?
- State of Indianapolis public education in the late 1990s/early 2000s
- Early research on charters – What did you find when you wrote that first paper?
- Legislative history – Sen. Teresa Lubbers’ seven-year effort and the innovative mayoral authorizing idea
- Gaining influence – How did authorizing power make the mayor a true “player” at the education table?
- Unexpected scale – Did you imagine over 60% of students would attend charter/innovation schools?
- Politics & policy – What were the early days like on the front lines?
- Accountability & closures – The painful but essential process of closing underperforming schools
- Authorizing lessons – High barriers to entry, rigorous public processes, and what separates strong applicants from weak ones
- Evolution of reform – From chartering to The Mind Trust, Innovation Network Schools, and beyond
- Global perspective – Comparing U.S. charters to Christel House’s private schools serving extreme poverty worldwide
- Indianapolis vs. statewide progress – Why Indianapolis became an outlier
- Competition’s impact – Did charters lift all boats, including IPS?
- Funding realities – The large per-pupil gap and push for equity
- The City Fund – Supporting city-level strategies nationally
- Looking back & forward – Reflections on 25+ years and the next chapter
- Future of choice – How charters compare to private options and ESAs
- Closing thoughts – Plans for the “second half” and how he’d like to be remembered: as someone who showed that real change requires decades of persistence and fortitude
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