Charter schools win in proposed Indiana budget amid public advocacy campaign
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Loading... - Tristan Renaud
- 09 Mar 2023
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Property tax losses could be in the cards for some traditional public schools
Charter schools in Indiana could see big gains under the current draft of the next two-year state budget. But the deal could cause long-term losses for traditional public schools, some of which stand to lose millions of dollars needed for teacher raises and other non-classroom expenses.
A new funding stream carved into the House Republican budget would mandate the amount of funds every public school district and charter school receives for operations, which are collected through local property taxes.
Charter schools would still be unable to tap into local tax revenues, but instead would get $1,400 per student from state funds in 2024, and $1,500 in 2025, according to the draft budget. A current state grant offers charter schools $1,250 per student each school year.
The House-approved version of the budget also stipulates a levy cap on property taxes schools can receive for operations and other non-classroom expenses.
That would mean cuts to local operations funds at some schools — especially in districts with a large tax base such as Indianapolis. It’s still not clear how exactly individual school districts could be impacted, however. A fiscal impact statement says schools statewide could lose $87 million in 2025 and $177 million in 2026.
“I’ve supported equalizing. I just think there needs to be a little bit more work on this,” said Denny Costerison, executive director of the Indiana Association of School Business Officials. “With less funding … what you do with the teacher salaries? What about the other expenses … and inflation?”
Advocates for charter schools argue their students deserve the same funding as students who attend district schools.
But charter school critics have long argued that such schools are not obligated to serve every student in a given community — unlike their traditional public counterparts. Read More…
