Most NWI districts not meeting Daniels' classroom spending target

BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com

INDIANAPOLIS | All but four of the 23 school districts in Lake and Porter counties are falling short of a financial challenge issued by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

During his State of the State speech, the Republican governor called it "totally unacceptable that 39 cents of every education dollar is spent outside the classroom."

Daniels and new state schools Superintendent Tony Bennett want districts to spend at least 65 percent of their budgets on costs related to classroom instruction. State Office of Management and Budget figures for the 2006-07 school year suggest the ratio of classroom expenditures by region districts ranges from just 35.8 percent at River Forest Community School Corp. to 67 percent for Lake Ridge schools.

"Whatever we need to do to make students improve in their academics, that's what we do," said Lake Ridge Superintendent Sharon Johnson-Shirley. "That's our No. 1 priority."

Johnson-Shirley could not point to specific reasons why the Calumet Township district spends less on administrative overhead and more on classroom instruction than neighboring districts. Gary, Hammond and Portage schools also met or bested the 65 percent classroom spending goal, though only Portage exceeded statewide averages for academic achievement.

The governor's classroom spending proposal is contained in Senate Bill 525, which would allow districts to seek state permission to transfer dollars from accounts dedicated for specific purposes, such as school construction or transportation. But the state only would grant fund transfers toward instructional programs to districts that prove they already have reduced overhead through joint purchasing or other cost-cutting efforts.

But lawmakers from both parties say the state first must refine its system for categorizing school expenditures. The salaries of guidance counselors, nurses and superintendents, for instance, do not count toward the 61 percent average the governor contends is too low.

"It depends on whether you count a lot of those support staff persons as part of the classroom," said state Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary. "Our view in Gary and for most educators is that those support staff persons are part of that process. They're in the building, and they're providing support for that academic structure."

The legislation also would implement Daniels' push to require schools to buy everything from computers to chalk through state bulk purchasing contracts unless districts find better deals. State auditors would double-check district purchasing and could levy fines ranging from $1,000 for a first offense to $10,000 for repeat rogue buyers.

While House Republicans would like to see a firm target, the legislation doesn't spell out a 65 percent classroom spending goal or any other threshold. Instead, it calls for the Indiana State Board of Education to recognize and reward districts that trim overhead.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said he would like to add "carrots and sticks" to the proposal, meaning a school district could gain or lose state funding based on its effort to steer more money to the classroom.