Indiana Senate Democrats Say State Budget Shortchanges Public Schools

Senate Democrats in Indiana urged their Republican colleagues to put more into public education as lawmakers weigh the state's next two-year budget. Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus made the appeal at a press conference on Thursday.

The caucus said the spending plan falls short in several areas. Its concerns include a lack of money to help schools recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, no increase in teacher pay, and the way funding for the state's voucher program is handled.

The proposed budget would put more than $1 billion toward vouchers. The program began as a way to help low- and middle-income parents of children with disabilities move out of public schools, but it has since been greatly expanded. The proposal would widen it further, making families of four earning up to about $220,000 a year eligible. Many caucus members consider that expansion unnecessary.

Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, said the plan leaves public school students with the "short straw." "In its current form, the budget would funnel about a third of new dollars to school types that educate less than 10 percent of our students," she said. By her account, that leaves about 70 percent of the new money for the more than 90 percent of students enrolled in public schools, which "already have to fight year after year to secure every dollar possible."

Sen. Fady Qaddoura cited an Indiana University study that found nearly 70 percent of students who receive voucher funds never attended public school. Speaking about the estimated one-year cost of expanding the choice program, he said that after setting aside $500 million for vouchers, the remaining money is not enough to fully fund public schools and raise teacher salaries statewide.

Qaddoura also criticized how the budget handles textbook fees. Gov. Eric Holcomb had proposed a $160 million state appropriation to fully fund textbooks, and he called earlier this year for ending school textbook fees. House Republicans later added language to their budget that would eliminate the fees. Qaddoura said that approach bars schools from collecting the fees from parents but requires them to cover the cost themselves.

Hunley objected to the budget's "complexity" funding, saying the formulas that determine where money goes are confusing and in some places disproportionate. "My caucus will be pushing for increased funding for complexity, as well as consistent and adequate allocation of those funds," she said. She also wants more accountability and transparency from non-public schools, and said students should have support regardless of school type, but not at the expense of traditional public schools.

On teacher pay, Qaddoura pointed to inflation and the expiration of COVID-19 relief money. He noted that recommendations made before the pandemic, in 2019, called for an average teacher salary of $60,000, and said those figures have risen since. Democrats, he said, want a budget that fully funds public schools and invests in teachers in line with the teacher shortage.

The Senate has not yet released its own version of the budget. That is the next step before both chambers debate and approve a final bill and send it to the governor.