The link below will take you to a google sheet with the latest voucher/financial data
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Kke5WUzF6VF1rMkxcSKlR0t9dUkEs_HZij5LLgOuSMI/edit
School Funding and Indiana’s Choice Program Talking Points
All comparisons run from Jan of 2010 to Oct of 2020 unless noted
Executive Summary
Growth in Indiana’s budget for public school personnel has not kept up with growth in its general fund or even inflation. Specifically, the current budget for public school personnel is $161M behind the 2009-10 budget when inflation is taken into account.
Vouchers are also funded from the budget for public school personnel. In 2020-2021, about $172M of this budget was utilized to fund Vouchers — with very little accountability.
The girls and boys attending Indiana’s public schools are currently educated utilizing a budget that is lagging by $334M.
Indiana’s General Fund (i.e., monies legislators control)
The Consumer Price Index (inflation rate) has grown by 20.17%
The Indiana General Fund has grown by 28.87%
K-12 Tuition Support Budget has grown by only 17.66%
Tuition Support funds nearly all personnel working in public schools
Considering inflation, but momentarily ignoring the impact of Vouchers, the Tuition Support Budget is $161,102,832 behind 2010 funding for the current school year
How Vouchers Work
Depending on family income and number in the household, a qualifying child can receive a Voucher worth up to 90% of their local public school’s per student funding
The qualifying income range can run from 90% for a household of 1 making $23,606 per year to 50% for a household of 10 making $196,396 per year
Nearly 61% of voucher recipients have never attended a public school, but are now an additional cost taken from the Tuition Support Budget
Of the remaining 39%, the majority attended public schools for only one year before the Voucher program, but not the same year
There are 324 schools that are receiving vouchers, down from 326 last year
The average public school student receives a little more than $6600, the average Voucher student receives a little more than $4900
The Voucher money is not taken from the local school, it is taken out of the Tuition Support Budget, (there is not a simple transfer of funds between the two schools) thereby decreasing the dollars for all public schools
Number of students’ educations funded by the tuition support budget
Public school enrollment during 2009-2021 is volatile, ranging from an increase of 3523 students in 2017-18 to a decrease of 4877 students in 2011-12. The pandemic has caused a significant drop of 18,385 public and charter students and 1,181 Voucher students.
From 2010 to 2018, the US Census Bureau projects Indiana has lost 23,453 school-aged children. In that same period of time Indiana’s public and charter schools’ enrollment has only dropped by 12,074 from 1,036,839 students to 1,024,765 students.
The Voucher Program has increased the number of students funded in the Tuition Support Budget without a corresponding increase in funding
Impact on the amount of money allocated per student by Indiana
The Voucher Program decreases funding for all public school students
In 2009-10, the Tuition Support Budget allocation divided by enrolled public school students was $6,192
In 2020-21, the Tuition Support Budget allocation divided by only the enrolled public school students would be $7,506, which is a 21.2% increase from 2009-10. However, the addition of Voucher students cut the average to $7,318 – only a 18.1% increase while the rate of inflation was 20.17%. NOTE: this point is significantly impacted by the approximately 19,000 students who stayed away from school during the pandemic.
This results in approximately $172 million taxpayer dollars spent to fund vouchers that could have been utilized for the benefit of girls and boys attending public school
Fiduciary Oversight
There is no fiduciary oversight by the state of the Voucher money
There are no requirements that keep Voucher taxpayer dollars from being used to enable the receiving organization to redirect its existing money for non-education purposes
Sources
IDOE – Students Mobility After ADM Count Date request
IDOE – Historic Voucher v Traditional Enrollment numbers request
IDOE – Number of teachers request
Budget Numbers from https://www.in.gov/sba/2364.htm
IDOE Public Corporation Transfer Report
https://www.bls.gov/data/inflationcalculator.htm
Bureau of Labor Statistics