Is More Money the Answer to the Question Everyone is Asking?

In the ongoing education debate, it seems that “more money” is often the reflexive answer when the question is “how do we improve educational outcomes for kids.”

But since education spending has gone up repeatedly over the years, yet outcomes seem to be stagnant, can money really be the answer?

The State of Indiana spends about half of its budget on K-12 education.  Over the last 10 years education spending has increased from $4.5 billion a year to about $6.5 billion a year.  Even if that continued growth in dollars was desireable and proven to make a difference, in this current economic environment, is it reasonable to think that the State can continue its history of ever increasing education budgets?

Many states have gutted education during the economic recession.  Because of strong fiscal management, Indiana on the other hand cut $300 million, and while that is a lot of money, it is only a small percentage of the overall spending on education.  Luckily, the state seems confident that further cuts will not be needed to get to the end of the fiscal year.   But what of next year, and the years after?

About a year ago, Governor Daniels wrote in the Wall Street Journal that he suspected that   ”What we are being hit by isn’t a tropical storm that will come and go, with sunshine soon to follow. It’s much more likely that we’re facing a near permanent reduction in state tax revenues that will require us to reduce the size and scope of our state governments. And the time to prepare for this new reality is already at hand.”

Indiana has a proud history of funding education.  But these are tough times and taxpayers deserve to know they are getting a good return on investment.  It is time for us to reward the best teachers, and focus our education dollars in the classroom.  It is time for school districts to focus on their primary task – educating kids – and get rid of task that can be done more cost effectively by others.

“(A)s we confront an uncertain and rapidly changing American economy, we must accept that more money is not the answer to the problems that challenge Indiana’s schools,” Bennett said.

Our state’s leaders owe it to taxpayers to spend their money wisely, and they owe it to children to find creative ways to educate them.

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The State of Education …. is Changing!

“We are putting students first because ‘students first’ is the right thing to do. And by having the courage to do what is right – instead of what might be safe or polite or popular – we are opening doors to educational opportunity for each and every one of our children.”

So said Dr. Tony Bennett, Superintendent of Indiana Public Schools, during his first State of Education address.  It’s a sentiment that is long overdue.  Let’s hope that all the adults who are part of the education debate agree and live up to the idea that all decisions about education should be made by looking through the prism of how does a policy decision or action impact kids.

To that point, Dr. Bennett said he will fight to “make student learning the primary consideration for teacher promotion and recognition.” Currently, how long a teacher has taught and the degrees they hold are the main criteria for how a teacher is rewarded.

This would be a change in worldview for many, but a much needed one.  And it would flow nicely with Dr. Bennett’s growth plan, which would evaluate whether students are learning by measuring their academic growth in one year.

Tony Bennett is an aggressvie leader and he ended his address with this; ”It’s going to take bold proposals to transform educator accountability. Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, small changes won’t cut it, and we’re not here to make small changes.”

If Indiana is going to continue to differentiate itself from other states, we must continue to balance budgets and let private sector jobs be created.  But that will only allow us to go so far as a state.  If you care about the future, you must join the fight to make Indiana a place where education is truly valued, where every child has a chance to succeed, and where stong educators are rewarded.

In Tony Bennett, we have someone to lead that fight.  In our House candidates, we also have people who want to engage in that fight.  Go to our candidates page and find one to support.

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Rhonda Rhoads is Pro-Education, Pro-Taxpayer

Harrison County’s Rhonda Rhoads knows about education.  After graduating high school, she received her Bachelors degree in education from Indiana State, followed up by here Masters in Education from Indiana University. Rhonda then spent 29 years as a non-union teacher in the North Harrison Community School Corporation.

Now Rhonda is running to be State Representative in District 70 so she can bring her experience in the classroom to work in the Indiana House of Representatives.  She believes that our best teachers should be paid more and that our education dollars need to be focused on the classroom.  Currently, Indiana only spends 63% of the nearly $11 billion we spend on education every year on classroom instruction.  The national average is near 66%.

In addition to education issues, Rhonda believes in protecting taxpayers and getting government out of the way so the private sector can create jobs.  Even though Indiana leads the nation in private sector job growth, we need leaders in the Statehouse who will work with Governor Daniels to continue the work of developing a strong business climate.  Rhonda’s history of supporitng a pro-growth environment  helped earn her the endorsement of the Indiana Manufacturers Association.

Rhonda was first elected to the Harrison County Council in 2000 and was reelected in 2004.  She served as vice-chair of the council in 2004-2005.

Help bring Rhonda and her pro-education and pro-taxpayer ideas to the Statehouse so Governor Daniels and the citizens of Indiana will have another ally.  To find out more about Rhonda, go to http://rhondarhoads.com/ .

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Teachers: Pay the Best More!

In most professions, the best employees are generally  paid more than average employees.  But in education, that is not the case.  Why?  Don’t you want to be paid more in your job than a co-worker who is not as productive?

Public school teachers work under a collective bargaining agreement that locks in salaries for teachers based on tenure.  That is, the longer you work, the higher your salary, regardless of other factors. In 2008, average teacher salary in Indiana was $48,508 according to the National Education Association, or about $32 per hour.

Is longevity a fair or prudent way to compensate teachers?  Each spring when local school districts wrestle with budgets and dire warnings are made about firing teachers (many of whom are ultimately brought back), the first on the chopping block are the newest teachers.  It has been highlighted recently in the Indy Star that some of the best and brightest, but also newest, teachers in Indianapolis Public Schools were going to be let go, preserving jobs for longer serving teachers who may not have been as effective in the classroom.

That seems like a crazy way to run any organization, but especially one that is responsible for the education of 90% of students in Indiana, and thus ultimately should be accountable to the taxpayers of this state.

Certainly money is not the only motivator.  Teaching is a calling for many, and more money alone would not automatically make someone a better teacher.  But its human nature to want be rewarded for doing a good job, and it seems any compensation system should consider some measure of performance.

As Indiana continues on its journey of reform and change, perhaps the time has come to have a real discussion about how we as a community want our educators compensated. Shouldn’t the best be paid more?

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VIDEO: Gov. Daniels on what it means to Aim Higher

On Thursday, August 5, Mitch spoke to a group of young professionals about his vision for the future of Indiana and why he started Aiming Higher PAC.  He also talks about why it is so important to get involved this fall and help win a majority in the Indiana House of Representatives to make sure that vision becomes a reality.  Watch the video and then leave us a comment to let us know what you think.

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Key Questions to Ask When Evaluating Education Reform

In my neighborhood, the quality of education the kids are getting is a constant topic of conversation, and the money we are spending on it gets a lot of discussion, particularly in the current budget times. When you and your neighbors are talking about education, you might want to refer to this Citizens Checklist for more information on education funding.

The Checklist was developed by the Department of Education for Hoosiers so that in these tough economic times when money is tight, citizens could work with their local school leaders to try and find the best ways to work through limited budgets. For the first time in years, school corporations are not seeing increases in their budgets and there have been many examples of the difficulties they are going through trying to make it work.

In some communities like Bloomington, the local Public Education Foundation is trying to fill the funding gap. In other communities, different approaches are being taken.

The Checklist suggest some steps that could be taken to education stakeholders when making budget decisions. Here are some examples.

  • Examine and reduce fringe benefits for school board members, administrators
  • Eliminate payments for professional organizations and reduce travel and conference expenses
  • Sell or lease surplus property
  • Outsource transportation, cafeteria, janitorial and other ancillary services.

Indiana has a proud history of funding education. When tax revenues get back to normal, there will be more dollars for the state to hopefully direct to classroom activities. In the meantime, just like other organizations, businesses and families, schools will have to be creative in delivering a quality education to their students.

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What do we get for our education dollar?

Indiana spends 50% of its general fund on K-12 education.

Hoosier taxpayers have a strong record of supporting education.  They should be proud of that.  And Hoosiers would likely give more if they believed they were getting result they expected out of their current investment. But are we?

Every time the debate on education fires up, money seems to be a prime factor in the discussion.  Some say we spend too little, some say too much.  Well, the late Senator Patrick Moniyhan once famously said “everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts,” so here are some facts about money and education in Indiana.

  • 50% of Indiana’s general fund goes to K-12 education every year. That came to more than $6 billion in 2008 and that number has increased every year.
  • Once you add in local and federal dollars, more than $10 billion dollars was spent in 2008 on K-12 education, up from $7.5 billion in 1999.
  • Indiana spends about $10,000 per child, which puts the state 14th in the nation.  However, if you adjust for cost of living differences, we come in 3rd.
  • According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Indiana spends 63.1% of our money on classroom instruction, placing us 40th out of 50 states.  The national average is 65%.
  • Average teacher salary is about $48,000 in Indiana, placing us 21st in the nation.  However, again if you factor in cost of living, according to the National Education Association, that number jumps to $52,000 and moves Indiana teachers up to 7th highest in the nation in salary.
  • Finally, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, while the average workers salary decreased by 2.4% during the recent recession, the average teacher salary increased by 2.2%.

A final point. Whenever someone tells you that education deserves or needs more money, ask them what tax they want to raise or what other service they want to cut to pay for it.

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What is the impact of policy on student outcomes?

I have heard people say that a child has only one chance to do third grade.  A kid’s whole life can be made in one good or bad year in school.  In one year, a child can become a success story or just another distressing educational statistic.

So isn’t it incumbent upon policy makers to make sure that whatever policies they pass are focused on getting that child the best chance to have a positive experience?

Superintendent Tony Bennett often talks about how his team is focused on kid issues and not adult issues. It’s a great philosophy, one that says children should be at the very heart of every education policy decision.  It seems like a simple concept, but take a minute and think about how many times the education debate veers off course from how kids are impacted.

It often seems to become about power between adults; how much money are taxpayers willing to pay, how much should administrators make, who has authority over curriculum, discipline policy, how big and expensive is the football stadium?  All important issues perhaps, but where do the kids fit into those debates?

One might think that if there were a silver bullet to solve our state’s education problems someone would have implemented it years ago.  But perhaps if all engaged in the making of education policy would first ask themselves, “How does this impact the kids” before any other consideration, maybe we could begin to make tangible gains in the educational achievement of our children.

For more information on what Tony and his team are doing, visit their website at http://www.doe.in.gov/superintendent/ .

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