Northwest Indiana school superintendents heard a roundup Friday of education bills on the move at the halfway mark of the General Assembly and they say they’re most focused and worried about funding bills.
School chiefs from Lake and Porter counties gathered at Indiana University Northwest for a luncheon meeting sponsored by the IU-Northwest School of Education.
Robert Taylor, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, was unable to attend and State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, filled in with a wrap-up of the first half in the legislature.
Smith criticized GOP Gov. Mike Braun for halting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in state government. That included closing the Office of the Chief Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity Officer, a cabinet position established by former Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2020.
Smith said Senate Bill 289 would require K-12 schools to publish curriculum and training materials related to diversity and other concepts.
The anti-DEI moves follow President Donald Trump’s lead after he signed an executive order eliminating DEI programs in federal agencies.
“The bottom line is we’re turning the clock back and it will be detrimental to our nation,” Smith said.
With supermajorities in both chambers, bills championed by Republicans enjoy more success than Democratic bills.
“Those in control will determine what comes through the legislature,” Smith said.
Meanwhile, Lake Central Superintendent Larry Veracco said he always looks at funds earmarked for traditional public schools. He said the number in the House budget comes down to 1.3% increases in each year of the two-year budget.
The state budget, as outlined in House Bill 1001, is now in the Senate’s hands for additions or changes before the session concludes April 29.
The budget bill, combined with property tax reform measures touted by Braun, would reduce school and municipal government funding.
“For me, it’s the money pieces that are most troubling because student services will suffer,” said Veracco.
Gary Superintendent Yvonne Stokes said she was troubled by a House Bill 1136 that would dissolve her district, the Indianapolis Public Schools and three others because more than 50% of students in their boundaries attended charters or other schools in the fall of last year.
The bill never received a hearing, though, but it’s possible its language could be inserted in another education-related bill.
On property tax reform in Senate Bill 1, Stokes said it’s important to help property owners in her community but they should understand the reductions could lead to fewer services for school children.
River Forest Superintendent Kevin Trezak echoed Veracco’s concerns and said it isn’t necessarily fair to ask schools to do more with less.
“They’re not leading by example,” he said of state leaders who have a budget surplus of about $2.5 billion.
That surplus has dwindled though after the Covid-19 pandemic as a Medicaid shortfall increases. In 2022, flush with federal Covid relief money, the state’s reserves were $6.1 billion.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
