Despite Economy, State Committed to Funding K-12 (IN)

June 21, 2010

With states across the country facing unprecedented budgetary challenges, some have begun questioning Indiana’s commitment to K-12 education funding. While significant challenges certainly exist, it is important to recognize Hoosier taxpayers have a record they can be proud of when it comes to funding our K-12 students.

In many states, funding cuts for K-12 schools have been deeper and more widespread during this recession. Cuts of 10 percent or more have becom e the norm in several states, while others have significantly curtailed school calendars and slashed statewide programs for students.

In Indiana, both the legislature and Gov. Mitch Daniels have worked hard to improve schools and protect tuition support. Because of recessionary declines in revenues, leaders reduced state agency budgets by at least 15 percent – and some even more – before school funding was trimmed by 3.5 percent as a last resort. Since K-12 funding is about half of the state’s annual budget, the difficult times required this reduction.

It is also important to note Indiana’s steadfast commitment to supporting education excellence. Indiana has increased overall education funding every year since 1995, including a 10 percent increase during the first five years of the Daniels administration. Indiana’s average funding per child per year is more than $10,000, placing us in the top half of states when Indiana’s low cost of living is taken into account.

Similarly, Indiana’s average teacher salary, when adjusted for our cost of living, ranks seventh in the country. In 2008, during the worst recession in decades, Indiana teachers’ salaries rose 2.2 percent statewide while average Hoosier workers’ salaries actually decreased by 2.4 percent.

While school performance is a topic of continued concern, it is essential for taxpayers to understand how genuinely important appropriate school funding is to their state-elected officials and how hard lawmakers have worked to keep it a top priority. Some members of the public have expressed apprehension about lower school funding without seeming to understand the financial hardships facing many Hoosiers today.

Taxpayers’ ability to finance government is limited, especially during a recession. Leaders on both sides of the ai sle are passionate about academic excellence and serious about working together to prioritize student funding – even in a tough economy. We are as committed as any legislators in any state to ensuring quality education for our children and grandchildren.

As the legislature heads into the next budget-writing session, Hoosier families can be sure education funding will remain the biggest slice of the budget pie. But like virtually every sector of the economy, we must understand that the deep national recession has made the pie smaller.