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July 1, 2009

Legislators in Valley not happy with budget

By Arthur Foulkes and Mark Bennett

TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute lawmakers in the Indiana General Assembly are not happy with the state’s new budget.

Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, and Sen. Tim Skinner, D-Terre Haute, both voted against the $28.7 billion budget saying — among other things — it does not provide enough money for rural and some inner-city schools.

“It’s absolutely the worst budget that I’ve ever been involved in,” said Kersey, a retired public school teacher and seven-term veteran of the Indiana House.

Skinner echoed Kersey’s concerns.

“Schools were the big thing,” he said. “I don’t think that this is a good budget.”

Under the two-year spending plan, statewide spending on education will increase by 1.1 percent in the first year and 0.3 percent in the second year. Skinner, a teacher at West Vigo High School, said typically schools need funding increases of 2 percent to keep up with the rising cost of living. Anything less amounts to a funding cut, he said.

The budget also leaves funding for public colleges and universities essentially unchanged. However, it will allow for more than $600 million in bonding authority for higher-education building projects.

A legislator who represents portions of Greene and Sullivan counties, spoke more favorably of the budget.

“We didn’t raise taxes. That’s probably the most important thing of all,” said Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville, the lone Wabash Valley Republican in the Indiana House of Representatives. Borders, who supported the budget, said the General Assembly and Gov. Mitch Daniels “chose to cut spending rather than increase taxes … I know that’s exactly what Hoosier families want.”

The Democratic-controlled Indiana House passed the budget Tuesday afternoon just hours before a midnight deadline, 62-37. The Republican-controlled Senate passed the measure about two hours later, 34-16. Gov. Daniels signed the budget shortly after it was passed.

Many of the state’s school districts with declining enrollments will lose money in this budget, Terre Haute lawmakers said. Rural schools and inner-city schools could see the biggest cuts, they said.

Indianapolis Public Schools will see funding cuts of $12-13 million, Skinner said. Gary schools will lose around $7 million, Kersey added. “I don’t know how those schools can exist taking a hit like that,” Kersey said.

The budget’s impact on Wabash Valley school districts varies.

The Vigo County School Corp. will receive a funding increase of 0.22 percent in 2010, according to statistics published by the Indianapolis Star. The state budget allocated an additional $223,870, putting next year’s funding total for Vigo schools at $102,877,755. In 2011, state funding for the local district will rise another $398,938 (or 0.39 percent) to $103,276,693.

Clay Community Schools did not fare as well. The budget will cut that school corporation’s funding by 1.39 percent in 2010 and another 1.03 percent in 2011. In the next two years, Clay schools’ state funding will fall by $669,387, dropping from $27,775,339 in 2009 to $27,106,052 in 2011.

The results were mixed in Sullivan County, which includes two small school districts. The Northeast School Corp. state funds will jump 1.92 percent for 2010, but then fall 0.66 percent in 2011. Over that two-year stretch, Northeast’s funding will increase by $123,273. Meanwhile, the Southwest School Corp. will experience a 1.05-percent cut in 2010, followed by a slight boost of 0.10 percent in 2011. Overall, Southwest will get a $112,287 increase in funding from 2009 to 2011.

The largest school funding increases in the Wabash Valley will happen next year in Parke County’s three districts. Funding to the Rockville Community Schools will rise 2.54 percent in 2010, while funding for Turkey Run Community School Corp. will jump 2.4 percent, and Southwest Parke Community Schools will climb 2.03 percent. The following year, Rockville’s funds will increase 0.3 percent, while Southwest drops 0.22 percent and Turkey Run falls 0.34 percent.

Greene County includes five small, separate school corporations. In 2010, only Bloomfield will see a funding decrease at 0.14 percent, while increases at the others are 0.13 percent for Eastern Greene, 1.3 percent for Linton-Stockton, 1.47 percent for Shakamak, and 1.1 percent for White River Valley. But in 2011, only Linton increases again, at 0.78 percent, while the decreases will be 0.58 percent for Bloomfield, 1.96 percent for Eastern Greene, 0.43 percent for Shakamak, and 0.55 percent for WRV.

Statewide, education funding for primary and secondary education will rise 1.1 percent next year and another 0.3 percent in 2011.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

Mark Bennett can be reached at (812) 231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.

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