To what extent, then, does the state have to financially provide for school corporations?
Until last year, schools were entirely supported by property taxes. Then the state took over the largest portion of their budgets -- the general fund, which pays for salaries and benefits and most education expenses. The general fund does not include building projects, transportation and some other miscellaneous funds that still remain on the property tax rolls.
Not long after the switch, revenues began dropping because of the economy and Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered a 4.5 percent cut in school funding -- theoretically, without laying off teachers or increasing class sizes. For Elkhart, that meant a loss of $3.9 million; for Goshen, $1.8 million.
Even prior to the forced cuts, the state wasn't paying its share of costs for programs like textbook reimbursement, summer school, English as a Second Language classes and full-day kindergarten. All of these are necessary programs that schools should, and in some cases are required, to provide. Yet the state didn't live up to its part of the bargain by paying for them.
School officials have unfairly been characterized as spendthrifts and wasteful by taxpayers and the governor. At least locally, that's simply not true.
Administrators have taken salary cuts, unfilled positions eliminated and staff reduced through a variety of means. Maintenance on buildings and equipment has been delayed. They've stretched dollars about as far as they can go without directly affecting classroom work.
That could change if the state requires additional cuts later this year. And administrators are expecting and preparing for them to come.
When the state received stimulus money for education, it didn't just pass it on to schools as "extra" money. "The state decreased the amount of money they were previously allocating and replaced it with stimulus money," said Kevin Caird, business manager at Concord Community Schools.
And the same thing could happen with the stimulus package recently passed by Congress that included money for teachers. "We're just not sure how that's going to shake out," Caird said.
The bottom line? Education must be a priority for the state of Indiana, which means paying for essential programs.