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 41.46%, well behind inflation. As of October of 2024, the current budget for public, charter, and voucher-receiving schools is $271.3M behind the 2009-10 budget when inflation is taken into account.

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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.

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.

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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.

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My Speech at the Statehouse to the Indiana Coalition for Public Education

Submitted by Phil on Tue, 02/18/2020 – 14:48

Good afternoon, it is a profound honor to speak to you today, thank you. I am Phil Downs. I am a social studies teacher currently on assignment as the superintendent of Southwest Allen County Schools, and I was asked to speak for five minutes today on the research I have done into Indiana’s budget and its Voucher program. 

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Address to the 2019 Indiana School Board Association Conference

Submitted by Phil on Sat, 10/05/2019 – 10:34

In 1949, my parents were 10 years old, Harry Truman was president, the Mann Gulch fire revolutionized the study of forest fires, the Berlin Blockade ended, Mao Tse Tung became the premiere of the People’s Republic of China, the Geneva Convention was signed, Lucky Lady II performed the first non-stop circumnavigation flight of the planet, 1984 was published, NATO was established, Newfoundland joined Canada, the world’s first commercially available computer, The Ferranti Mark 1, was released, and the first ISBA/IAPSS conference was held. It is my profound honor to be addressing the 70th ISBA/IAPSS conference. Congratulations everyone.

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