Letter: State—not property owners—should fund charters

The Sept. 22 opinion from Sens. Behning and Rogers seemed to suggest that Indianapolis residents should choose to pay higher property taxes to fund public charter schools [“Bob Behning and Linda Rogers: IPS should capitalize on successful partnerships”].

However, the Indiana Statehouse is responsible for base school funding for all schools throughout the state. Why is the state not providing adequate funding for these schools?

The referendum to increase property taxes beyond the state-imposed cap was to support traditional public schools. The fact that so many local schools have chosen to increase taxes above the cap just shows that the state-provided funding is too low. The Statehouse should find other sources to fund Indianapolis public charter schools—and all schools—as is their responsibility.

This article highlighted the great success these schools had with their current funding and suggested even more could be done with more funding. I agree more funding could bring more success, but why am I being asked to fund this as a local property owner when the state is responsible for success of all our children?

__________

Chris Reading