11/12/2025
ICPE's commentary in the Indiana Capital Chronicle today. (Link in the first comments)
‘Students First’: What Indiana’s school funding really looks like
Six Hoosier school communities sought to pass referendums in the most recent election. Five succeeded, and one fell short. Yet just a few weeks earlier, postcards went out to constituents all across Indiana in which state representatives touted the 5% increase in K-12 funding last session as the “highest funding level to date for Hoosier students.”
In addition, the postcards claimed that the latest educational results prove that Indiana is leading the way by “putting students first.” To be clear, adding even one penny to last year’s budget would also produce “the highest funding level to date.” While we at the Indiana Coalition for Public Education celebrate the successes of our public schools and the hard work of educators and students, we urge Hoosiers to look beyond the glossy postcard for a fuller picture.
While the highest dollar amount for K-12 education funding may have emerged from last session, it is not the highest level of funding we have seen. Ball State University Economist Michael Hicks has written that currently, when adjusted for inflation, “in K-12 we are spending $100 less per student each year today than in 2010.” Also, in 2024, the Education Data Initiative reported that Indiana ranks 37th of 50 states in education spending per pupil.
Fewer Resources, more subsidies
Alongside the lack of budget support for public schools, bills passed last session are poised to reduce public education funding. A property tax overhaul, SEA1, will cut the revenue that public schools rely upon for transportation, capital projects, and referendums. Another new law will require public school districts to share their property taxes with charter schools — publicly funded, privately run entities — further draining resources. While Indiana struggles to pay teachers a competitive salary during a teacher shortage, these priorities do not add up.
Last session, lawmakers lifted the income cap on Indiana’s largest voucher program, making millionaires and billionaires eligible to receive taxpayer-funded subsidies for their private school tuition payments. More students are now getting a smaller piece of a shrinking education pie. Last school year alone, nearly a half billion dollars went to voucher schools, which legally don’t have to account for where the money goes.
Literacy is foundational to all learning, and early childhood education is foundational to all educational outcomes. Yet, while our legislature gave K-12 vouchers to the wealthiest Hoosier children for their private school tuition, they simultaneously took away vouchers for child care and slashed access to state-funded preschool for many of our most vulnerable kids.
Accountability for public school funding
While we celebrate the progress of Hoosier students and the dedication that got them back to pre-pandemic-level scores on the IREAD test, we should recognize the impact of outside dollars poured into improving reading. Much of the touted gains in literacy were made possible thanks to the $2.9 billion distributed to Indiana by the federal government to help in recovery from the pandemic and learning “loss.” Additionally, students benefited from generous private funds from the Lilly Endowment for literacy. Money does matter.
The aforementioned postcard also highlighted Indiana as ranking third in a Parent Power category by an organization promoting “school choice.” Hoosier parents overwhelmingly choose to send their children to public schools. Parents know the value of strong public schools. It is time for them to use their voices, their power, to ensure that the state funds and supports the public schools every child deserves. It is time to ask why we must vote locally to tax ourselves through referendums when the state fails to meet its constitutional obligation to ensure our public schools have what they need—while opportunity gaps widen for Hoosier kids.
We celebrate the recent rise in test scores, as well as the magic that happens every day in our public schools. Yet, we also look to the future with concern and hope. Public schools are the heart of our communities — places that unite us across all backgrounds, accept all students, and empower our kids to become contributing members of our society. True commitment to “putting students first” means fully investing in our public schools so that every Hoosier child can thrive.
