ANDERSON — A proposal by Gov. Mike Pence to increase state aid for charter schools by $1,500 per student in the next two-year budget cycle will help correct a funding disparity, said the executive director of Madison County’s only public charter school.
Although Anderson Preparatory Academy receives the same same per-student funding as Anderson Community Schools, it doesn’t have taxing authority to raise money for capital project needs or to provide transportation, which puts the school at a disadvantage, said Robert Guillaume, APA’s commandant.
What that means is routine building maintenance or even emergency repairs come out of the school’s general fund, potentially decreasing the money available for student funding, he said.
“If the state takes a position to support charter schools, then they need to do that equitably, and don’t hold them to standards and cut the funding out from under them,” Guillaume said. “But that’s what is happening.”
Guillaume noted that APA — which earned a school accountability grade of “A” for the first time in 2014 — must meet Indiana Department of Education standards and those established by the school’s sponsor, Ball State University.
During a hearing on the funding proposal in the Senate Appropriations Committee last week, Chad Timmerman, Pence’s director of education policy, outlined the issue.
“Traditional public schools spend local dollars on capital, which frees up general fund revenue to spend on teachers and classrooms,” he said. “Charters have to swallow (capital costs) as pure overhead.”
Guillaume framed the problem using the facilities APA has available to teach science. It’s much less advanced than what most public schools have, he contends.
“These teachers are doing so much more with so much less,” he said. “We’re just trying to bring about some equality.”
Guillaume added that the school is also at a disadvantage where upgrading technology is concerned.
“From a budgetary standpoint, if we could just receive $600,000 to $800,000 per year, it would be an enormous difference for us,” he added.
Based on the school’s enrollment this year of nearly 800, an additional $1,500 per student could net the school more than $1 million.
During last week’s hearing, however, several lawmakers expressed concern that the governor’s proposal doesn’t specify that the additional money would have to be spent on capital projects.
State Rep. Melanie Wright, D-Yorktown, said an important consideration in the proposed funding change is whether a charter school is a nonprofit, mission-based institution, or one that’s operated by a for-profit organization.
Wright also said that distinct funding accounts should be created for traditional schools, charter schools and money that supports Indiana’s school voucher programs.