Indiana's Educational System Key Election Issue for Hoosier Parents

Even though we're not electing a President this year, Hoosiers will make several important decisions on November 2, including choosing a new Secretary of State and finding a replacement for retiring Senator Evan Bayh. Several specific issues will inform our choices, chief among them economic concerns that seemingly tint every thought and conversation these days. From job creation to unemployment benefits to healthcare reform, all eyes are on the money - or lack thereof. For parents of school-age children, though, one of the most pertinent issues in forming our poll-day choices is the ongoing struggle over the state of the State's education system. My wife and I feel that we're part of raising the next generation of Hoosiers, a fact that makes the health of the education system the most personal of issues for us.

Indiana's schools have been heading toward a crisis over the past several years, reaching a critical point in 2009 when the State took over management of school funds from local officials. In effect, our school money now comes from the same place it always has (property taxes), but the State now acts as a middle man, first collecting taxes into a big pool and then doling it out in chunks based on the student population of the various districts. This has led to a lag time between tax payments and tax disbursements that has placed many, if not most, school systems in arrears. As the earmarked money does not arrive in time to cover current operating expenses, many schools are forced to take out loans in order to pay for their expenses during the funding gap each year. Consequently, schools are in a constant struggle to keep their heads above water, and the interest paid on the recurring loans only serves to make matters worse. As an added bonus, schools don't know for sure how much money they will receive until the funds actually show up. If the State needs to make overall cuts to education funding in a particular year, schools won't see all of the money for which they budgeted.

Added to the economic problems faced by schools is the never-ending education reform that seems to be a ubiquitous feature of whatever regime has been in place since at least the 1960s. From "No Child Left Behind" to constantly revised and revamped standardized testing, educators are left scrambling each year to adapt to changing curricula while still trying to teach basic subject content to our children. Many teachers feel overwhelmed, underpaid, and underappreciated, and it seems that they generally have valid points across the board. When we step back and look at the big picture to consider the roles that teachers play in our children's lives, from the three Rs to character formation, can we really say that educators are properly valued in today's society? Where should they fit in the esteem hierarchy with doctors, businessmen, and lawyers? These questions are tough to answer, but there is no denying that teachers are foundational to the success of many children, at least academically.

Unfortunately, many of our local school administrators seem to be mired in the past and resistant to change. In the face of these rising educational challenges, the response has too often been to become defensive and to close off avenues of communication. These daunting issues need to be discussed openly with parents and other constituents rather than being relegated solely to back-room meetings without a public forum. Now more than ever, parents want and need to be plugged in to what is happening in our school systems, both locally and statewide.

For Hoosier parents, the ongoing upheaval in our education system hits very close to home, the most personal of all election issues this fall. Many of us have already mobilized in one way or another to try and make our voices heard before November 2. For me, the education system is important enough that I'm taking the ultimate plunge and running for a seat on our local school board. After all, my son is a fourth grader who deals with the fallout of Indiana's educational turmoil on a daily basis, and it doesn't get much more personal than that.

Sources:

http://www.agecon.purdue.edu/crd/localgov/topics/essays/State_Budget.htm

http://southputnam.wordpress.com/