Author: Phil Downs

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Rules to live by

1) Never play cards with a guy named Doc, nor eat at a place called “Mom’s”.

    2) Self-proclaimed Thought Leaders are not. 

    3) Self-proclaimed Masculinity Experts are neither.

    4) When meeting a self-proclaimed Christian, keep both hands on your wallet.

    5) If someone tells you they “prayed about it” you are about to be screwed for their personal gain.

    6) Most people struggle to play checkers, much less chess; make assumptions accordingly; play chess, if you can.

    7) Unnuanced attacks on DEI are lazy, and can be a convenient proxy for racism or selfishness. (Why would an American, or anyone, want Uniformity, Inequity, and Exclusion to be the norm?)

    8) Take what you do seriously, but not yourself.

    9) There is no self-made person.

    10) The universe is capricious and random; chasing stability is futile; be kind; forgive and thank your parents; pick a wave and ride it.

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    2024-2025 Indiana Education and Voucher Funding Summary

    All comparisons run from Jan of 2010 to Oct of 2024 unless noted.

    Since 2009-10, the Indiana General Fund (i.e., monies legislators control) has grown by 66.17%. The Consumer Price Index (inflation rate) has grown by 45.68%. The state has a lot more money ($2.8B) to spend than it did in 2009-10 relative to inflation. 

    Unfortunately, the K-12 Tuition Support Budget has grown by only 40.64%, well behind inflation. As of October of 2024, the current budget for public, charter, and voucher-receiving schools is $323.7M behind the 2009-10 budget when inflation is taken into account.

    Continue reading “2024-2025 Indiana Education and Voucher Funding Summary”
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    Cumulative Voucher Program costs since 2017-18

    Recently I went back and constructed a spreadsheet that added up each school district’s cost/share of the Voucher Program going back the 2017-18 school year when I started to track this. I added a cumulative cost/share column next to the name of each school district.

    The list is sorted by the four digit school id number. You see this number on school busses.

    I am protecting the sheet, but believe you can do a search and type in your school district’s name to find it quickly.

    The spreadsheet can be found here.

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    2023-2024 Indiana Education and Voucher Funding Summary

    While the overall Indiana General Fund Budget has grown faster than inflation, growth in Indiana’s budget for public school personnel has not. As of October of 2023, the current budget to pay the majority of the personnel in public, charter, and voucher-receiving schools is $232M behind the 2009-10 budget when inflation is taken into account.

    All comparisons run from Jan of 2010 to Oct of 2023 unless noted.

    The Consumer Price Index (inflation rate) has grown by 41.99%.

    The Indiana General Fund (i.e., monies legislators control) has grown by 62.46%, much better than inflation. The state has a lot more money to spend than it did in 2009-10 relative to inflation.

    The K-12 Tuition Support Budget has grown by only 38.37%, well behind inflation. The Tuition Support Budget funds nearly all personnel working in public, charter, and voucher-receiving schools.

    Continue reading “2023-2024 Indiana Education and Voucher Funding Summary”
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    2022-2023 Indiana Education and Voucher Funding Summary

    While the overall Indiana General Fund Budget has grown faster than inflation, growth in Indiana’s budget for public school personnel has not. As of October of 2022, the current budget for the majority of the personnel in public, charter, and voucher-receiving schools is $590M behind the 2009-10 budget when inflation is taken into account. The current budget, at the time it passed, significantly made up the difference on a year to year basis; however, recent spikes in inflation have eaten those gains.

    Continue reading “2022-2023 Indiana Education and Voucher Funding Summary”
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    How Much of Your Income Tax Goes to Your Public Schools

    The link below will allow you to see how much of your income tax goes to pay for the teachers and employees in each public school district as well as the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (Vouchers). The sheet will allow you to enter a “taxable income” number and the four digit code for your school district. If you do not know your four digit number, there is an alphabetical list of all the public schools to the right. 

    Continue reading “How Much of Your Income Tax Goes to Your Public Schools”