Indiana’s newly-adjusted school funding formula will cut aid to the state’s poorest school systems, like Marion, and increase monies to the wealthier districts.
According to Indiana legislature figures, Marion is the seventh-poorest district in the state, based on 2009 median household income, and on average compared to the 10 wealthiest districts will see $368 less per student in 2013. For Marion, that translates into a projected loss of nearly $2.1 million each year over the next two years, according to Superintendent Steve Edwards.
Typically, Indiana has always provided more funding for poorer schools to offset poverty disadvantages an area brings upon a school. In the past, the state has also provided an incremental decrease in funding if a student leaves a district rather than immediately stopping and transferring the funding, because though the student may be gone, the expenses are not.
Wealthier districts have historically contended the formula was unfair because they are not fully funded when a student transfers in.
However, the new formula decreases and stops the incremental loss in about half the time and takes money from districts with declining enrollment.
Edwards said the best course of action for Marion’s future is to plan ahead. The newly ratified contract will save the district $1.8 million a year on insurance costs, and retiring teachers are being replaced by teachers with less experience to save on employee expenses.
But he said, it hasn’t always been that way for Marion and that schools need to be careful and spend their money wisely.
“School districts like Marion cut out some areas that were key electives for schools; we’re making adjustments to put teachers back in, but the cuts are coming so fast,” he said.
Edwards conceded, however, that he understood the state’s position.
“Do I like it? No. Do I like the formula? No. But speaking for the state, there’s only so much to go around,” he said.
The state has included a Complexity Index that is designed to help boost the per-pupil amount based on a child’s circumstances.
“Basically, you get a little bump in funding for kids who live in poverty, but it’s not much,” Edwards said. “It’s a $1.37 per weighted pupil count. For those students living in poverty, we get a very meager amount for providing services to them.”
But supporters of the new formula like Republican Rep. Kevin Mahan say the formula is fair.
“It’s fair because the money is going to follow the kid,” Mahan said. “You take Indianapolis Public Schools, and they get $10,000 per kid, and Blackford gets $6,600 per kid. Why are kids in Blackford County worth $3,400 less than the kids in Indianapolis?”
The state’s poorest district is Gary, with Indianapolis coming in one notch above Marion in sixth. This year, Marion received $8,005 per student. Southwest Allen County Schools in Fort Wayne, the state’s seventh-wealthiest district, received $5,300 per student — a difference of $2,705. By 2013, that gap drops to $2,171 — with Marion experiencing a $105 decrease per student and Southwest receiving a $450 increase.
In Marion, 63 percent of students are on free and reduced lunch. Southwest Allen reports that in 2010, 14 percent of its students were enrolled in the program. The gap in Marion’s median income compared to Southwest Allen is also substantial. Marion’s media charts at $22,158 while Southwest Allen’s is $50,222 — a $28,164 difference.
Southwest Allen Superintendent Steven Yager and officials could not be reached for comment.
Edwards said wealthier students start off academically better because of financial means, parental support and the education level of the parents.
“It costs more to educate a child in an urban district; we have social workers and a resource officer,” Edwards said. “When those kids come to our schools, they come with a lot of needs. As we move forward, we will be purchasing more of those supplies.”
The U.S. Census Bureau reported a growth in Allen County of 6.6 percent, while Grant County fell by 6.3 percent.
Three Indiana school districts are dropping a lawsuit against the state that claimed the method for distributing school funding treated growing districts unfairly.
Hamilton Southeastern schools Superintendent Brian Smith said at a news conference Thursday that a lawsuit his district filed last year was no longer needed because of changes made to the school funding formula as part of the new state budget approved by legislators last month.
The Hamilton Southeastern and Franklin Township districts in suburban Indianapolis and Middlebury Community Schools in Elkhart County filed the lawsuit.
They argued the school formula violated the state constitution’s requirement for “general and uniform” public education funding, because districts get different per-pupil amounts. A judge had not yet ruled on the merits of the lawsuit.
However, to complicate the problem of student migration, the state voucher system goes into effect next year, and Edwards said it would also affect his district’s funding.
The use of vouchers will be phased in over time, with a cap of 7,500 students on free and reduced lunch getting vouchers the first year, and 15,000 the second year statewide can make use of the vouchers. In addition, if a student opts to transfer to a charter school in the middle of the year, the money follows him. Edwards said while a school won’t lose any money the first year a student leaves and there is talk of using a pro-rated amount, the school will still face budgeting problems.
The caveat, said Mahan, is that a voucher only supplies a private school with $4,500, or the maximum cost of tuition, whichever is lower. The remainder will go back into the funding formula to raise the per-child amount he said.
“I think it will be a logistical nightmare for the state,” Edwards said. “And schools don’t know how much money they’ll have to use.”
Aaron Vermilion, Marion school board president, hopes student achievement will not suffer, but said it is a dangerous possibility.
“I think it would be a real tragedy if any student suffered because of the state cuts, but I think we’ve done everything in our power to keep teachers in the classroom,” he said.
Mahan said he thinks the formula will be a positive change for schools.
“It’s like the free market: If they want to retain their clients, they will create a competitive environment to keep their students in their schools,” he said. “If you eat at McDonald’s all the time and then decide to go to Hardee’s, I guarantee your money won’t stay with McDonald’s.”
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