Shirts, signs and stickers are among the items Pre-K 4 All volunteers distribute to community members to spread the word about Bartholomew County's pre-k referendum.
At a recent community gathering in Columbus, hundreds of people are milling about making small talk. Robin Hilber is standing outside, folding a stack of green shirts. Each sports the phrase “Lead the Way With Pre-K.”
Hilber ruffles through the shirts and a few piles of other campaign materials.
“We’ve got yard signs, we’ve got buttons that also have the same logo on them, and then we also have business cards,” Hilber lists. “It’s important to vote ‘yes’ for pre-k!”
Hilber is a volunteer with Pre-K 4 All, a community group working to promote the passage of a preschool-related referendum on this November’s ballot – an issue all too familiar to county residents.
As we’ve reported, the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation is asking voters to raise property taxes to fund pre-k for approximately 450 low-income four-year-olds living in the district.
Taxes would increase by 5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for seven years. That amountsto roughly $16 extra per year for a taxpayer with a $100,000 home. The levy would bring in about $12.6 million dollars to fund scholarships and allow the county’s existing public pre-k program, Busy Bees Academy, to continue operating and even expand.
Residents faced this request before in 2012 when they voted no on the referendum. But this time around, Hilber and her team are campaigning harder; they are putting out yard signs, canvassing neighborhoods and attending community events to get the word out.
“We weren’t quite as vocal, so we’ve decided to go out there and really inform people of the issue,” Hilber explains.
Pre-k is a hot topic across the state, and the renewed interest could help Bartholomew County’s cause. But there is much more for community members to consider.
In a mid-term election with no big races, education could prove to be the most important issue to voters.
In the circle of school choice supporters nationwide, Indiana is known as a place with pro school choice laws and expansive options. But as charter schools expanded throughout the state and more school voucher money became available, so did controversy.
Now, charter schools are becoming a political platform for candidates in the state.
Indianapolis as a case study
Let’s first look at the Indianapolis Public Schools school board race in which ten candidates are running for three open spots on the board.
Indianapolis has one of the largest populations of charter schools in the state, with 40 residing within city limits. Because charter schools receive state funding just like public schools, the funding of charter schools within IPS’ district will be a relevant issue for those elected.
This emphasis on how charters will interact with IPS schools is evident in the candidates’ campaign financial filings. Charter advocates and PACs donated to multiple candidates. Christel DeHaan (founder of Christel House Academy of Tony Bennett scandal fame) donated $3,000 to David Hampton and $2,000 to Mary Ann Sullivan who are both running for the at-large position.
So that’s $18,200 of charter school supporter money funneled into a public school board race.
Charters advocates are funding General Assembly candidates
Republicans running for the General Assembly are seeing an influx in donations the last few weeks from Hoosiers for Quality Education, the new PAC name for Hoosiers for Economic Growth and parent organization to the Institute for Quality Education. The group is an Indiana based pro school choice advocacy group, and in the state senate race alone, HQE donated around $107,500 to Republican candidates.
Democrats are receiving education-related donations as well, but not from charter school advocates. We’ll look at that money later in the week.
The topic of charter schools is now ammunition for the debates between Republicans and Democrats in the state. In a statement back in July, Democrat Jeff Sparks who is running for state representative in District 62, blasted Republicans for their forgiveness of $91,000,000 in charter school debt.
Julie Berry, a Democrat running for state senate in District 45, has made education the flagship issue of her campaign. She writes on her campaign website that improving the state’s public schools are her priority if elected.
“Public schools are struggling in southern Indiana, and throughout the state, with fluctuating budgets, due in part to vouchers and charter schools,” Berry writes. “The majority of Indiana’s students will remain in public schools and it is our duty to maintain and improve Indiana’s public school system.”
Sparks and Berry are just two examples of candidates discussing charter schools in their campaigns, and it’s clear the subject is a polarized issues, with Republicans in the state supporting school choice and Democrats opposing it.
In a mid-term election with no big races, education could prove to be the most important issue to voters.
Here at StateImpact, education is the priority — and it seems those running for public office in Indiana this year agree.
The typical attitude toward midterm elections is lackluster when there isn’t a presidential race pulling people to the polls. And although voter turnout will most likely still be abysmal next Tuesday, we’re here to tell you if you want to vote with education in mind, this election is a great opportunity to do so.
This week we’re going to dive into some of the education issues at play in local and state elections across the state. We’ll look at charter schools, a pre-k referendum on the ballot in Columbus, how much money is funneled into school board races and the call from Republican leaders to change the school funding formula.
Political analyst Ed Feigenbaum says polling data from both sides, as well as independent polls, shows education is the top issue for voters.
“Unlike the past several cycles when jobs and the economy were the top issue or issues, this year, education is the top issue,” Feigenbaum said. “And when you drill down a little bit deeper, the key concern is education funding.” Continue Reading →
An IU study shows wealthy school districts are raising more money through non-profit organizations like PTA groups, which widens the gap between rich and poor schools.
A report released this week from education researchers at Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs shows voluntary donations to school districts is widening the funding gap between rich and poor districts.
The study, written by SPEA associate professors Ashlyn Aiko Nelson and Beth Gazley, looked only at non-profit groups like Parent Teachers Associations, Booster Clubs and local foundations. They excluded large foundations that donate to schools around the country, because they wanted to track local money donated to local schools.
Nelson says they wanted to look at these types of donations because of the widening gap between wealthy and low-income districts. Currently in Indiana, money raised from income and sales taxes are pooled by the state and allocated to districts on a per-pupil basis using a school funding formula. The state does this as a way to keep funding for all schools equal, but donations through non-profit organizations provides a different way to create inequality.
Community members pack the gym at Lincoln School back in July for a public meeting about the school's failing accountability scores. State officials toured the failing schools yesterday and say they see big improvement.
Members of the State Board of Education’s Committee on School Turnaround traveled to Evansville yesterday to check on progress in two of the district’s failing schools, Lincoln School and Glenwood Leadership Academy. After touring the schools and meeting with district officials and its lead partner Mass Insight, committee members say they are impressed with the progress.
In a media release sent out by the SBOE, board member Tony Walker said leadership within the district and students’ engagement impressed him.
“I learned a lot today,” Walker said. “It was refreshing to go inside and see the operations and progress of these turnaround schools.” Continue Reading →
Indiana’s youngest students are getting a lot of attention these days, perhaps most notably because of the state’s pre-k pilot program. The initiative will target kids from low-income families in five counties during the 2014-15 school year.
Legislators approved more than $10 million dollars for the pre-k pilot, and many say they hope to expand the program statewide. But that will depend on how successful the pilot is in improving student outcomes – and in order to determine success, the state needs data.
They’ll get some of that data from a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, a test that will be administered to students at each participating provider. The state’s Early Learning Advisory Committee (ELAC) designed the assessment, which the State Board of Education approved just last week.
StateImpact sat down with ELAC member Dr. Megan Purcell, who is also a clinical assistant professor at Purdue University. She explains what the assessment will look like, and how it might differ from what is typically used to determine kindergarten readiness.
State Superintendent Glenda Ritz is urging Gov. Mike Pence to reconsider applying for federal money to support pre-k, due to a last-minute deadline extension by the U.S. Department of Education.
Kyle Stokes / StateImpact Indiana
Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz is urging Governor Mike Pence to reconsider applying for federal money to support pre-k.
The grant, aimed at states that have a great need for pre-K infrastructure, could provide up to $80 million in federal investment for early childhood education.
Indiana is one of only 16 states eligible to apply.
The original deadline to submit the grant application was Oct. 15. The U.S. Education Department, along with the Department of Health and Human Services, announced today that they have extended that deadline to Oct. 22.
The Indiana Supreme Court will decide whether school districts can charge transportation fees.
The Indiana Supreme Court plans to hear a case about whether a school district can charge parents a transportation fee to bus kids to and from school.
The case, Lora Hoagland v. Franklin Township Community School Corp., centers around Franklin Township’s $475 transportation fee. A Marion Superior judge sided with the district, but the Court of Appeals reversed that decision, sending it to the state Supreme Court.
“It should be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual scientific, and agricultural improvement; and provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall without charge, and equally open to all.” Continue Reading →
Elkhart Community Schools got more involved with students to improve the graduation rate among Latino students.
If you want to understand the high school dropout rate among Latinos in Indiana, Elkhart, Ind. is a good place to start.
Nationwide, the graduation rate for Latinos improved over the last five years, and Elkhart Community Schools is no exception. A few years ago, they saw one third of students dropping out, that number higher among Latino students. FiveThirtyEight’s Ben Casselman highlighted the district in a piece about the economics of improved Latino graduation rates. Casselman says students typically drop out when there is an opportunity to work a well-paying job, but that is changing lately: Continue Reading →
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