DeLaney calls for state to fully support all public schools, not just those blessed with high property values

Today, June 18, the Indiana Association of School Business Officials (IASBO) gave a presentation about property tax funding for local schools to the State and Local Tax Review Task Force (SALTR). 

State Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) issued the following statement: 

“Our current property tax system has no mechanism to fund communities and schools with low property tax resources. In our recent history, the state provided property tax credits or subsidies that helped schools operate if they did not have access to sufficient property tax funding. That is not currently available.

“Areas with higher poverty rates tend to have students who require additional funding. While state funding for schools factors this in, weak local property tax funding undercuts that. The low property tax revenue in those areas causes major disparities that the state used to recognize. 

“Somewhere along the way, it appears that the state stopped caring about these disparities. Now, schools are forced to shift funding away from educational programs simply so they can afford transportation, maintenance, utilities and capital projects.

“It is high time for the state to get serious about providing a quality education to ALL students, not just those in better off neighborhoods.”