EDITORIAL: Education should be top priority in Indiana budget

Much of the session will be devoted to the budget and, specifically, what to do with the anticipated increase of $840 million in state coffers.

Here’s an oversimplified suggestion: Spend it on education.

Several years back, then-Gov. Mitch Daniels stripped $300 million from the education budget. The state was in the throes of the recession, and Daniels took his ax to schools. It was a mistake then, and public schools are still paying the price.

The current biennial budget, which lapses at the end of June, did devote more to education spending compared to the previous state budget — 2 percent more in 2013 and 1 percent more this year. But that’s not nearly enough to give Indiana’s K-12 schools the resources needed to guarantee a top-notch education for all Hoosier children.

In particular, urban schools like Anderson Community School Corp. are in need of more resources to challenge kids academically and provide the counseling support and small class sizes that are keys to excellence in education.

While charter schools and private schools are important structures in the education landscape, traditional public schools need the most attention. Legislators should be sure to address their many needs before devoting more money to vouchers for private schools.

The Republicans hold a super majority in the General Assembly, with advantages of 71-29 in the House and 40-10 in the Senate. They can essentially pass — or kill — legislation at will.

That means that some important Democrat-supported ideas don’t have a fighting chance. Among those initiatives is the minimum wage.

Indiana is one of 21 states that uses the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Democrats want to raise the rate to $10.10 an hour. Republicans won’t let it happen, but they should develop a plan to raise the rate at least incrementally over a period of years.

The current minimum wage is not enough to support a decent quality of life. While keeping the minimum that low might be attractive to businesses, it saddles Hoosiers with the sort of jobs that keep them in or near poverty. Indiana’s per capita income is among the 10 worst in the nation.

The Legislature should also approve, once and for all, live dealers in the casinos at Anderson’s Hoosier Park and Shelbyville’s Indiana Grand. Needless limitations on gambling are keeping those facilities from generating more tax revenue and employing more people in a competitive environment for casinos.

And, finally, the General Assembly must agree to a stricter ethics code to keep legislators from having undue influence over bills that benefit them or their business interests. 

We’re all familiar with the case of Eric Turner, who represented a portion of Madison County in the state legislature. Last session, he worked behind the scenes to kill a bill that would have halted nursing home development. Turner has a multi-million dollar interest in such facilities. He won re-election in the fall but stepped down afterward.

Let’s hope that this session of the General Assembly has a better legacy, the legacy of reclaiming education as a top priority.