Bill that trims funding to shrinking districts advances

Republicans pushed a two-year, $31.4 billion budget out of an Indiana House committee Wednesday despite complaints from Democrats that it robs money from urban and rural school districts to increase funding for suburban ones.

The spending plan boosts overall K-12 school funding by 4.7 percent through two years but changes the way money is divided among districts.

House Ways and Means Chairman Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, called the increases “exciting.” And he said the goal is to reduce the gap between the schools that receive the most funding per student and those that receive the least.

Democrats say the result is a problem for many schools.

“You do put some money in there,” acknowledged the committee’s ranking minority member, Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis. “But there are many schools still losing money.”

In fact, the changes – combined with declining enrollments in a number of schools – mean that 91 of the state’s 289 traditional districts would receive less overall funding in 2016 than this year.

Many urban districts are hit the hardest. Funding for Indianapolis Public Schools would drop $4.3 million in 2016 and another $10 million in 2017 – a 1.8-percent and 4.3-percent cut, respectively.

But Brown said there’s little that can be done for districts with big declines in enrollment, especially because the state distributes money based on student counts.

“Some schools are losing kids and that’s what I can’t change,” Brown said.

In fact, Indianapolis Public Schools will lose more than 1,000 students over the next two years. And still, the district’s per-student funding would remain significantly higher than the state average, a reflection in part of the number of at-risk students that attend its schools.

“I could not vote for this budget the way it is now,” said state Rep. Ed Delaney, D-Indianapolis.

Some rural schools would suffer similar fates under the bill, which moves to the full House for consideration.

Funding for the Scott County School District 1 would drop by 4.5 percent in 2016 and a little more in the second year. But the district's enrollment is dropping by 1 percent each year as well. And even with the cut, its per-student funding also remains higher than the state average

Republicans have said repeatedly that the latter situation isn’t fair and they want to reduce the gap between the higher and lower funded districts, which tops $2,700 per student now. The proposed budget would narrow that gap to only about $1,618 per student.

Doing so means boosting dollars for suburban schools, which are traditionally located in wealthier areas but receive fewer dollars per student from the state.

Southwest Allen County Schools – a growing district that covers parts of Fort Wayne as well as some of its suburban neighborhoods – currently receives just $5,384 per student, nearly $1,000 less than the state average.

The House Republican budget would boost that funding by 6.1 percent in 2016 and another 3.5 percent in 2017. That’s about $2.3 million in additional funding the first year and another $1.4 million the second.

The district’s per-student funding would also increase – to $5,795 – but still remain below the state average of $6,527.

Democrats urged Republicans to reconsider some of the changes even as they voted against the bill.

“I’m hoping that you’ll look at some of the school-funding formula issues again,” said Rep. Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette. “I applaud you for helping some of the schools in the state and working on some of the issues long in need. I hope you will work with some of the folks” who are experiencing cuts as well."