Our Kids Deserve Better! - by Rep. Randy Truitt

 Specifically, they’ve been asked by Governor Daniels to cut 4.5 percent (a total of $297 million statewide) from their operating budgets.  On Tuesday of this week, the Indiana House of Representatives passed House Bill 1367 which attempted to help schools deal with this budget cut by allowing them limited flexibility in the use of their funds.

     The bill, authored by the House majority party (Democrats) was passed on a party-line vote, allowing schools to transfer money from other funds into their general fund in order to cover budget shortfalls.  During debate, it was suggested that passing HB 1367 was the only thing the legislature could do to help our schools – that there were no other solutions.  That simply is not true, and I feel it is important for you to be armed with the facts.

      HB 1367 has three significant flaws.  First, the bill only grants schools new flexibility to transfer up to $62 million. Schools already have, under current law, the option to move the vast majority of funds listed in the Democrat bill.  In fact, our local school districts have already utilized this ability.  Providing only $62 million in new flexibility leaves our schools still holding the bag for a shortfall of $235 million dollars, and thus, is no solution to this pressing problem.

      The second flaw with this bill is that in order to get to the $62 million figure, $4.6 million in valuable programs were put in jeopardy.  K-2 diagnostic testing and Grades 3-8 acuity testing are just two examples of the programs put at risk with this bill.  These programs are critical in helping teachers identify students who either need extra help in a particular subject area or are not grasping current material that is being presented in the classroom.  The third flaw with this bill is that it imposes no restrictions on how the $62 million is to be used.

      In contrast, the Republican alternative which was offered would have covered the complete budget gap facing schools by offering new flexibility to offset the $297 million in required cuts. The plan, which protected the valuable testing programs mentioned above, also required funds be used in the classroom and not for other uses such as pay increases for employees- teachers, staff and administrators alike.

      The bottom line is this: The Republican alternative would have given local schools true flexibility in their efforts to use their resources to cover shortfalls…and without adding a penny to our local property tax burden.  I was deeply disappointed that this plan was not even considered by House Democrats and failed on a party-line vote, and I feel strongly that House Bill 1367, as it was passed on Tuesday, is not the right path to help our schools.

      The silver lining is that the content of the Republican plan is largely contained in Senate Bill 309, which passed the Senate on Tuesday with bipartisan (36-14) support.  This bill will now be sent to the House allowing our body another chance to debate this critical topic. 

     I know we all believe the education of our children is a top priority and is too important a topic for political partisanship to interfere.  House Bill 1367 simply does not provide our schools with the support they – and our kids – need and deserve.  The solution to the current budget situation will require all stakeholders to participate.  This includes parents, teachers, administration and the state.  I urge you to please continue to stay engaged, to share your opinions with all the parties involved and to watch closely what happens in the coming weeks of the legislative session. I appreciate what our area schools have done to this point to be part of the solution and encourage all of us to work together to accomplish more.