Ritz asks budget leaders for $560 million funding hike over next two years

“We want equity wherever you go,” she said. Ritz said that kids should get similar educational experiences regardless on their economic status or community they live in.

Ritz presented the information to the State Budget Committee on Thursday during hearings in preparation for the 2015 legislative session.

The majority of the new money – about $334 million – is in tuition support for the state’s K-12 schools. That is an increase of about 3 percent over the biennium.

But the bigger fight will be how the dollars are distributed. Lawmakers use a complicated school funding formula that over time has resulted in wide variations in per- pupil funding.

Many GOP legislators want the funding to be equalized – giving more money to growing districts and less to urban districts.

Republicans running both the House and Senate have also said education is their priority. Indiana spends more than half its overall state budget on K-12 education. The current level of state tuition support is $6.6 billion.

But they had hard questions regarding a key goal for Ritz, a Democrat – free textbooks for all children in the state.

The state provides about $39 million in textbook relief for poor children every year. But that amount hasn’t changed in eight years.