HANCOCK COUNTY — After beginning the legislative session with worries that education funding in this year’s state budget could be inadequate, county public school leaders are celebrating the passage of a budget that will allow them to spend more on paying teachers.
Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation Dr. Harold Olin said the increase will mean about $1.4 million in additional funds for Greenfield schools if enrollment remains steady.
“I’m very appreciative of the work of our legislators,” Olin said.
“More money in the formula is always a good thing,” Wes Anderson, director of school and community relations for the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County, said. “An increase like this is significant.”
In 2020, Gov. Eric Holcomb’s teacher pay commission called for the state to add $600 million annually with the goal of increasing teacher salaries. Though leaders in the legislature didn’t commit to doing so at the time, that amount is ultimately what they added to the budget. That commitment is likely thanks in part to the federal American Rescue Plan, which included millions of dollars in direct funding for states.
$5.4 million stimulus estimated for county schools
Dave Pfaff, superintendent of the Community School Corporation of Eastern Hancock, said he was also happy with the state’s budget.
“It was wonderful, wonderful news,” Pfaff said.
Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation superintendent Dr. Jack Parker said he expects the funding increase to make a significant difference for MV schools as well.
“The unique aspects in providing costs of living increases to our staff, as well as making up lost ground when salaries were flatlined for several years, will allow us to bring more money to the table when we bargain in the fall,” Parker said in an email. “Additionally, our growing school district continues to need additional staff to meet the needs of our students, and dollars associated with student growth will allow us to increase our staff proportionally.”
Parker added that the state budget does not have much impact on schools’ operations funds, which come mostly from local property taxes and cover areas of funding outside employee compensation. He said the corporation will still have work to do to ensure those expenses are adequately funded.
Anderson said Southern Hancock is “super grateful” for the increase in the formula, but like other school officials, he added the enrollment also matters. If schools experience a decrease in their number of students, they won’t actually see more funding.
The budget also requires school corporations to put 45% of their state funding toward teacher pay and recommends that the lowest base salary for beginning teachers should be $40,000. Southern Hancock, Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central officials said their starting teacher salaries already exceed that amount.
Eastern Hancock offers a starting salary of $37,500 at the lowest end of its pay scale. Pfaff said potential pay raises for the next school year would be determined through the negotiation process with the corporation’s teachers, which hasn’t started yet.
Increased school funding isn’t the only change to education policy the state made in the session. It also expanded eligibility for vouchers, which families can use to pay for tuition at a public or charter school if they choose not to send their student to public school, to an income threshold 300% of the threshold for receiving subsidized school meals, about $145,000 per year for a family of four. The legislature also created a new education savings account program for children with disabilities that could be used to pay for private school or other programs.
Public school officials were concerned about the voucher expansion when legislation was initially considered, but some said the increased public school funding helped assuage their worries.
“When it became clear that the voucher expansion was a priority, we weren’t sure what was going to be left,” Anderson said. “But this budget really was a windfall for public education.”
Regardless, public school advocates remain critical of voucher, or school choice, programs, with many saying they weaken the position of public education as the best option for most families, and can funnel funding to school programs that don’t live up to public schools’ academic standards.
“It’s a little alarming that it’s continuing to grow,” he said of the amount of money that is going to voucher programs. Still, he added, it’s hard to be upset when public education funding is also going up.
Another bill related to education, House Enrolled Act 1384, will require school corporations to include one semester of civics education in students’ curriculum during their middle school years.
Officials said they are looking for more guidance on the requirement and whether it can be incorporated into a more general social studies course. HEA 1384 requires the State Board of Education and the Indiana Department of Education to establish a new Indiana Civic Education Commission, which will provide academic standards for the course. Those guidelines are expected to be released by July 2022.
One bill many local school leaders were hoping would pass ultimately didn’t advance this session. That bill, authored by Rep. Bob Cherry, R-Greenfield, would have reversed a policy that schools do not receive per-student funding for the second half of the school year for high school seniors who have graduated early. Officials told the Daily Reporter the rule effectively penalizes corporations for helping students with the impressive accomplishment of finishing high school early.
“That’s disappointing, and we’re really grateful that Rep. Cherry carried that bill for us,” Anderson said. He added that the change would have made a significant difference for Southern Hancock, which graduates 30-50 high school seniors early each year. “We’ll cross our fingers for next time.”