House supermajority rejects Porter effort at school funding transparency

STATEHOUSE – Efforts by State Rep. Gregory W. Porter (D-Indianapolis) to give Hoosiers greater transparency in seeing how schools are funded in our state were rejected today by the Indiana House Republican supermajority.

Porter asked representatives to approve a proposal that would clearly identify how many tax dollars are spent in each state budget on public schools, charter schools, virtual charters, and vouchers. However, the amendment to House Bill 1009 was rejected by the supermajority.

“As our education system has become more and more convoluted, it is safe to say that the general public has no idea what schools their tax dollars are funding,” Porter said. “I think most people would not know how much money is spent on traditional K-12 education as opposed to the voucher program and the various charter schools.

“My proposal would give them easy access to that knowledge, which should be the priority for state government, particularly one that proudly trumpets its openness and accessibility as much as this one does,” he continued. “Unfortunately, when it comes time to help the people of Indiana understand the intricacies of school funding, the supermajority in the House chooses to keep it shrouded in the dark.”

Porter’s proposal also would have placed each budget’s school funding formula on the state’s transparency portal. The formula would show how each type of school is funded in each legislative district.

“More money is spent on education than any other item in our biennial state budget, yet we continue to make the formulas used to determine how our schools are funded impossible to understand for the average citizen,” Porter said. “Why should this be the case? I do not understand why the people of Indiana should have to have some kind of secret password to understand how the education of their children is funded.

“The House Republicans may say no today, but there will be more opportunities to state the case for open government in the weeks to come,” Porter concluded.