Three school districts question fairness of Indiana's funding

INDIANAPOLIS — Broadly questioning the fairness of how Indiana funds elementary and secondary education, three school districts sued the state Tuesday.

Their hope is that the amount of money received per student for suburban schools is raised closer to that seen by their urban and rural counterparts.

The districts — Hamilton Southeastern Schools and the Franklin Township Community School Corp.in the suburban Indianapolis area, and Middlebury Community Schools in Elkhart County — call the state's funding formula unconstitutional.

They cite a provision in the Indiana Constitution calling for "a general and uniform system of common schools," and they say that to live up to that obligation, the state should divide its education funding among schools based on enrollment.

They cite the way enrollment levels are calculated and the state's use of a complexity index, which uses factors such as the number of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch, as the reasons for the disparity.

In 2009, for example, Hamilton Southeastern Schools received $5,057 per student, while the Gary Community School Corp. received $8,881.

From 2008 levels, Hamilton Southeastern Schools received $38 less per student, while Gary schools received $513 more per student.

All the while, enrollment at the suburban schools has grown.

"This means schools like ours have to do more and more each year with less and less," said Brian Smith, the superintendent of Hamilton Southeastern Schools.

The result, the lawsuit says, is that those districts have had to cut academic programs and extracurricular activities.

The lawsuit drew a quick and stinging rebuke from Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller, who argued that it makes little sense to spend tax dollars to complain about not receiving enough tax dollars.

"The costs for the schools' lawyers to bring this suit and for the state's lawyers to defend it and for the court to preside over it ultimately are paid through the same source — taxpayers' wallets," Zoeller said.

It's the continuation of a disagreement that started in early 2009, when state lawmakers battled for months over how to fund schools.

Gov. Mitch Daniels and Republican lawmakers argued that the same or a similar dollar amount should be awarded for each student and distributed to schools based on enrollment.

Democrats who control the House, meanwhile, said urban and rural schools with declining enrollments face added challenges, and therefore should receive a greater portion than suburban schools with rapidly-expanding student populations.

They eventually chose a formula that leaves some disparity between urban and rural schools and suburban districts, but that decision incensed suburban schools who felt they were being shorted.

Looming in the background of the school funding debate, sagging state tax collections left no new money for education, and Daniels eventually was forced to slash 3.5 percent from what was budgeted for each school district in 2010.

"The system is broken, and it needs legal help to get it repaired for the sake of all students who are part of growing school corporations in Indiana," said Walter Bourke, superintendent of Franklin Township schools.