Indiana students, educators and parents fiercely debated a controversial bill Wednesday that would shift some funding from traditional public schools to charter schools. Hoosiers from across the state spent more than four hours testifying on the bill.
Senate Bill 518 would require traditional public schools to share a percentage of their property tax dollars with charter schools located within their district if more than 100 students who live within that district attend the charter.
Advocates for both charter schools and traditional public schools said they want their children to have the best education possible, but a lack of funding makes that difficult.
Traditional public school advocates said the cost is high to teach students who have disabilities or need special accommodations. They said some students who want to attend charter schools must ultimately return to public schools if charter schools do not have the resources to help them.
They also said charter schools do not have elected school boards and the same level of accountability to taxpayers that traditional public schools do
Students from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis touted the public school’s International Baccalaureate program. They said they are worried it could be taken away if the school loses money to charters.
“Some of my friends who have homeless families, who are homeless themselves, grew up homeless, and they’re here, able to take the IB curriculum. That is an opportunity that should not be revoked, an opportunity that should not be defunded,” said Zak Abdulbari, a Shortridge senior.
Charter advocates said their schools receive significantly less funding per student than traditional public schools. And the extra funding from sharing property taxes could allow them to provide transportation, upgrade old technology or boost student support services.
“My school is working with significantly fewer resources than other public schools,” said Rima Bahradine-Bell, a student at the Career Academy Network of Public Schools. “While most families, including mine, lie at or below the poverty line, we continue to sacrifice time, effort and money to attend my school in support of my future. While we manage to provide our students with opportunities to grow, to lead, and to create, it shouldn’t be something we struggle with. It should be something we count on.”
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However, traditional public school advocates said their schools are also struggling. And the proposed change comes at an especially difficult time because of reduced funding, inflation and a loss of property tax revenue due to tax caps.
“I also don’t have buses for all of my students,” said Monica Shellhamer, a teacher for Indianapolis Public Schools. “I also don’t have a lot of the academic support for a lot of my students. We had to cut back a lot of our special education services and move them around to better serve every single student in our district.”
Shellhamer and others who testified said the bill will not help fund either type of school in a significant way — and lawmakers should find other solutions.
Tina Ahlgren, a math teacher at Indianapolis Public Schools, said the bill makes schools fight over scraps, especially because most of the amount charters would receive from local property taxes would be reduced from their portion of the state’s Charter and Innovation Network School Grant Program.
She said the only entity that would truly get money from the bill is the state.
“It drives a wedge in the community without any benefit to the education of its kids,” Ahlgren said.
Instead of passing this bill, Ahlgren said lawmakers should increase funding for the Charter and Innovation Network School Grant Program and fully fund public schools so no students have to go without important services and support.
Kirsten is our education reporter. Contact her at kadair@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @kirsten_adair.