Middlebury Community Schools is faced with a very difficult conundrum. For many years we have delivered top quality education to our community, but our payments per student from the State of Indiana have remained among the lowest in the state. Currently 333 of the 344 public school corporations or charter schools in the State of Indiana receive more per student than Middlebury Community Schools receive. We have talked this problem to death with no positive results. The state budget for 2010 shows we remain among the lowest in the state when it comes to state tax support for our students. The result of this has been a growth of class sizes and the possibility of eliminating programs both academic and extra-curricular in the near future. One school corporation in Ohio has eliminated all extra-curricular programs. School corporations in the Indianapolis area who are in a situation similar to ours are considering the potential need to eliminate extra-curricular programs.
School corporations across the State of Indiana receive General Fund monies on a complicated formula that allows some schools to receive up to twice as much per student in state support to educate their students. I fully understand that some schools have a more difficult clientele to educate than we do in Middlebury. The extent of the difference between the monies Middlebury receives and most other schools is starting to impact the quality of education in our school corporation as we see class sizes rise and cuts in other aspects of our educational program. As a school corporation we need to continue to attract quality teachers and maintain the ability to compensate our staff in a fair and equitable manner. The cost of utilities in Middlebury is very similar to the cost of utilities in other school corporations, so when we receive less per student from the State of Indiana we can either cut energy usage or increase class size, which includes laying off teachers. We have already drastically cut our utilities by means of an extensive energy conservation program. We currently spend over eighty-seven percent of our General Fund on staff salaries and benefits. When other school corporations receive substantially larger sums of money per student to educate their students, we are placed at a significant disadvantage. All we are asking for is an equitable funding formula that allows us to offer a quality education to our children. The staff of Middlebury Community Schools has worked very hard to provide a quality education for our students. It is our belief that the State of Indiana is not holding up its end of the bargain to provide equitable funding to our school corporation. Our tuition support funding (amount we receive per student from the State of Indiana) for 2009 is $ 5,098.77 and the average amount received for the tuition support in the State of Indiana is $ 5,764. If you multiply the difference we receive per student $ 665.23 times the number of students we have by ADM count 4,112, the amount we are short changed compared to the average Indiana school corporation is $ 2,735,425.70. Our state tuition support will drop even lower to $ 5,089.66 per student in 2010.
It does not appear this problem will be solved in the legislative branch. As a result Middlebury School Corporation will be joining the lawsuit against the State of Indiana to challenge the current state formula for funding Indiana school corporations.
As a result of continued funding issues, the Middlebury Community Schools Board of School Trustees has voted to join Hamilton Southeastern Schools in a lawsuit against the State of Indiana. Hamilton Southeastern School Corporation has retained the Chicago legal firm of Franszek Radelet to represent them. I have been in contact with the Hamilton Southeastern School superintendent, Brian Smith. Hamilton Southeastern Schools is facing the potential elimination of sixty teaching positions and the elimination of all extra curricular activities. Discussion of the elimination of teaching positions and extra curricular activities is not far down the road for Middlebury Schools. We have attempted to get change through the legislature to no avail. So our only recourse available is to start cutting staff and activities or be aggressive and become involved in this lawsuit. If we are to continue to provide the quality education we currently do, we must take aggressive action on the behalf of our students.
I had no idea that it was that bad. I am glad that they are doing something, but I hope it is all for nothing! Can you imagine no extra-curricular activities for our kids? AND cutting many, many teachers! Our classes are already big enough!
3 comments:
craziness!!!!!
We are in the same boat. Our school also has talk of teacher lay offs because of the budget. Just what we need: rumors of layoffs next year, and H1N1 going around.
Very interesting. I had no idea either.
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