By Dan Carden, Times of Northwest Indiana
dan.carden@nwi.com
INDIANAPOLIS | School corporations next week will receive a list of more than 50 recommended budget items to consider trimming before eliminating teachers or increasing class sizes.
The Indiana State Board of Education on Friday approved sending schools the Citizens' Checklist, which the board said is intended to help local residents hold their school boards accountable for budget decisions.
Among the many recommendations are: freezing the salaries of teachers and other school employees, closing underutilized buildings and jointly purchasing supplies and health insurance with other schools or state government.
State Superintendent Tony Bennett said the board wanted to show local schools there are things to cut without affecting classrooms. However, the list is not meant to usurp the authority of local districts, he said.
"I would hope they would see this as us trying to help them, as opposed to us trying to insult them," Bennett said.
Indiana schools will lose about 3 percent of their 2010 funds during the calendar year.
Gov. Mitch Daniels took back $300 million slated to go to K-12 education when a new state revenue forecast projected Indiana would spend $1.8 billion more than it takes in through June 2011.
The Republican governor also ordered cuts in state agencies and colleges and universities and will spend the state's $1 billion reserve fund to cope with the budget deficit.
Bennett, also a Republican, said the checklist's recommendations can also help schools adjust their future spending to funding levels that will be the new normal.
"No one should believe that we're going to get to 2011 and a miracle's going to happen and the money will be back," Bennett said. "We are resetting the budget. This is the new baseline."
Once finalized, the recommendations also will be posted on the Department of Education Web site.