For those interested in the future of public education in Indiana, next year’s legislative session is likely to be a heart-stopping ride.
Indiana spent $8.5 billion — more than half of its annual budget — on elementary and secondary education last year. And Gov. Mitch Daniels and State Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett don’t think taxpayers got enough for their money.
Combine that with the fact that the state budget is already in the red, and you could well have the perfect storm.
Bennett outlines what he calls “Indiana’s Education Mess.” He notes that the state has 23,000 third-graders who can’t read at grade level, that its schools are averaging 25,000 dropouts every year and that half the state’s schools have failed to hit federal benchmarks in English or math.
He also points out that the state paid schools $94 million last year for students they were no longer teaching.
What would they change? Here’s what they’ll be asking lawmakers to do:
• Tie teachers’ pay and job security tied to how effective they are in the classroom.
• Devote a greater percentage of education dollars directly to the classroom. A State Budget Agency report that concluded Indiana schools were spending on average 58 cents of every dollar on classroom instruction, and they say that number should be closer to 65 cents.
• Provide state-funded grants to allow students from failing schools to attend the school of their choice, including private and parochial schools.
• Increase the number of charter schools and speed up the timeline for state funding. Make it easier for such schools to gain access to empty school buildings.
• Encourage students to finish high school in three years by using money that would have gone to school districts to help the students pay for a college education.
Daniels and Bennett have not been shy about taking on conventional wisdom in the field of education. They have suggested that it should be easier for those without formal training to become teachers, and they have questioned the need for teachers to obtain advanced degrees.
Their reform efforts have already attracted opposition from local school boards, school superintendants, teachers’ unions and others, but the fact is that some sort of change is nearly inevitable.
Those interested in how it will all come out would do well to pay attention to the debate.