FSC Officers Point to Negative Effects Of Vouchers On Pubic Schools

The officers of the Frances Slocum Chapter of Retired Teachers composed and submitted a letter to the editor of the Marion Chronicle-Tribune (printed October 2,2014). The letter is copied below:

This letter is presented in response to Mr. Doug Ballinger's Viewpoints letter of

September 23.

In that letter Mr. Ballinger asked, "Is the per pupil expenditure of money to fund a system or educate a student?" This seems to be an oversimplified, either/or query. The Indiana Constitution states that the duty of the General Assembly is to, "provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools,..., and equally open to all." The purpose of said Common Schools is to educate the student. Thus, the answer to the question is: to fund a “uniform system of Common Schools” which educates students.

Also questioned by Mr. Ballinger was a stated need for emphasis on "public schools" and the idea that vouchers take away from public schools. We are not suggesting that private schools and the students in them should be ignored, but we are concerned that the State of Indiana is supporting them with public funds from an already stressed budget. With the 2009 cut of $300 million from the education budget which was never restored and the loss of $245 million to schools as a result of the property tax circuit breaker credits in 2012, more schools operating on less money is a reality. The result of less money for traditional public schools is fewer educational resources along with cuts in, or the elimination of, programs. When more voucher schools are added to the budget, it increases the demand. As State Superintendent Ritz stated, “We’re getting a proliferation of schools” and “you have a lot more schools that you need to fund.”

The current idea of education reform established by the Indiana Governor and State Legislature is to reward schools doing what they are already supposed to do; help students grow and succeed, while giving little to no financial assistance to schools that need help. In 2013 the Pence administration officials asked General Assembly members to increase funding for K-12 schools by more than $137 million over two years. But only schools which met certain academic performance goals were to be eligible to receive that money in the second year of the state’s two-year budget.

Should poor-performing schools be allowed to continue operating in the same manner? No, all schools need to be held accountable and ground rules for continued existence are already law. However, our neighborhood schools should not be abandoned, but helped at the first sign of trouble. Instead we divert funds to other schools in hopes of finding success, essentially saying, “Fix your problems and do it without necessary resources.” We should be identifying problems in troubled schools and striving to correct them. That's the American way; working together to fix a problem, not giving in and running away because the problem is complex and difficult. Meanwhile, the learning gap not only shifts, but expands.

Respectfully submitted by:

Officers of the Frances Slocum Chapter of Retired Teachers

David Hudelson President Marion, IN	Richard Wright Vice President Gas City, IN
Jon Brice Secretary Marion, IN	Karen Brunson Treasurer Gas City, IN