INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana public schools spend about 58 cents of every dollar on student instruction, five cents less than the national average, according to a report released Friday by the Indiana Office of Management and Budget.
The percentage of expenditures directed straight to the classroom varies widely, according to the report, from 45 percent by Prairie Township Schools in LaPorte to 97 percent by Decatur Discovery Academy, a small charter school in Indianapolis.
The statewide average of 58 percent is about the same as in previous years, although some schools have significantly altered the ratio of dollars spent on classroom versus nonclassroom expenditures. In releasing the report, state OMB director Ryan Kitchell said every percentage point increase in the classroom spending category — which includes things like teacher salaries and textbooks — equates to an additional $110 million devoted to student instruction.
“If Indiana schools were to reach the U.S. average figure, this would equate to more than $500 million of additional dollars to Indiana classrooms, equivalent to over 10,000 teachers,” Kitchell, the son of a Kokomo school teacher, said in the release.
This is third annual report issued by the state OMB. Four years ago, the Indiana General Assembly instructed the office to compile information regarding the ratio of student instructional expenditures to all other expenditures. Gov. Mitch Daniels, a critic of the ratio of dollars spent on classroom versus nonclassroom expenses, has pushed public schools to change the ratio. Some school administrators, though, have said expenses that go for overhead costs and operational costs — from security to payroll — are essential expenditures.
The report issued Friday covers the 2008-09 school year and includes a summary and individual information on every school corporation and charter school. Collectively, they spent $11 billion last school year.
The report breaks down spending across several categories, then divides them into classroom and non-classroom expenditures, the latter including such costs as transportation, food services, maintenance, construction and debt payments.
When school construction and debt costs are removed from the formula, the state’s publicly funded schools are spending an average of 72 percent on student instruction, according to the report.
The latter breakdown was included in response to concerns voiced in the past by school corporations that were in the midst of expanding or building new facilities to accommodate increasing enrollment. The 72 percent figure excludes non-operational expenses such as the cost of new school construction.
This is the second report issued this week by the Daniels administration that raises questions about how local school districts are spending their money. On Wednesday, the state OMB released a report that said Indiana ’s public K-12 schools and state universities could save $450 million annually if they switched to the state’s health insurance plan.
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