Survey finds public schools struggling with property tax cuts
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Many Indiana school corporations are considering cutting staff as the impact of property tax cuts takes effect, a new report shows.
Why it matters: Reducing support or teaching positions would grow class sizes, threatening hard-fought academic gains made after the pandemic.
Driving the news: Earlier this year, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SEA 1), a property tax cut that reduced how much money schools and other units of local government will get going forward.
- The Indiana Coalition for Public Education surveyed school districts about the effect of that change, and 99% said it will be negative.
How it worked: The group sent a 13-question survey to all 290 traditional public school districts.
- It asked about current and future effects of the property tax cuts, actions school officials may need to take to address budget shortfalls, and other threats to the district.
- A little more than half of the districts responded.
What they found: Two-thirds of respondents said the greatest threat to their district was funding related.
- Two-thirds also said they've already reduced or committed to reducing support staff.
- More than half have or will reduce teaching staff.
- 90% are considering at least one of those options as a result of funding shortfalls.
Zoom in: The survey allowed respondents to add comments, which were reported anonymously.
- "I cannot pay my utility bill," said an urban district.
- "We have no choice but to either pass an operating referendum or eliminate transportation," said a rural district, which will also cut $1.3 million in positions at the end of the school year.
- "We have just over 1,500 students and the state seems to want schools like us to go away," said another rural district.
What they're saying: "I think everyone who was paying attention expected SEA 1 to be a bad thing for our public schools," Jim May, a board member and vice president of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, told Axios. "I think the thing that jumped out at us is how quickly it was having an impact."
- Within six months, he said, they were hearing from districts that were cutting staff, eliminating field trips and delaying school bus replacements.
What's next: The legislative session has started early to consider redistricting, but lawmakers are unlikely to take up school funding or property tax cuts in a non-budget year, meaning any changes wouldn't be seen until 2027.