Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. wants the state to show greater support for education, notably more funding for teachers, and shared publicly with key community stakeholders its ideas for achieving those goals.
BCSC Superintendent Jim Roberts shared the district’s six legislative priorities with about 60 invited guests — including state lawmakers, education officials and local government officials — during a Friday morning meeting at the Columbus Learning Center.
“We believe that in order to enhance the teaching profession, we have to as a community, as a state, be better with the respect we demonstrate to the profession. Then we also have to back up that show of respect with more dollars toward teachers,” Roberts said.
The school corporation has already shown how it is exhausting the dollars being provided by the state, and actually spending more out of the budget toward the classroom than the state has allocated, Roberts said.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The six legislative priorities Roberts explained were:
Improve teacher recruitment and retention by promoting the profession, and increasing teacher pay.
Increase tuition support funding for K-12 students by a minimum 1.5 percent increase above the cost of living adjustment.
Remove barriers that restrict access to On My Way Pre-K.
Extend kindergarten average daily membership cutoff date to age 5 by Oct. 1 without limiting the number of years served.
Appropriate necessary funds to fulfill current statutory commitment to English Language Learners.
Provide school safety funding equitably to all school corporations without reducing support elsewhere.
More money
Improving teacher pay and tuition support are the two most important points, Roberts said. The school district is having a difficult time attracting and retaining teachers because of the pay they receive, and it is not getting as much funding from the state to meet its needs, he said.
The view of the value of the teaching profession has eroded over time, Roberts said, and that change in addition to the fact that it’s a challenging job and prospective teachers are increasingly concerned about what they can earn makes hiring and keeping teachers a far greater challenge.
Applications for teaching jobs have declined, the superintendent said. Math, science, foreign languages and special education are the jobs that are the hardest to fill, and the school district is sometimes lucky to receive one applicant for a job, he added.
In some instances, the district has to issue a temporary teaching license to someone who may possess the needed degree in the field, but does not have a teaching license, Roberts said.
New teachers in Bartholomew Consolidated make $38,700, which Roberts said compares favorably regionally, but he’d like to see that figure get to $40,000 to make it more attractive and competitive.
One of the funding challenges that Bartholomew Consolidated has faced is that the amount of money it receives from the state has not kept up with cost of living increases, Roberts said. The difference in what the district received versus what it would have received with the cost of living increases included is a gap of $42 million from 2009 to 2018, the superintendent said.
Bartholomew Consolidated is suggesting an increase for tuition support to schools by at least a 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment. State lawmakers are currently considering a 2 percent funding increase for education for each of the next two years.
Another idea state lawmakers are considering is House Bill 1003, which suggests that school districts direct at least 85 percent of additional funding to the classroom, and not more than 15 percent for operational costs.
Roberts explained to those in attendance that Bartholomew Consolidated already exceeds that suggestion. He said the district plans to direct less than 8 percent of general fund money toward operating costs, and noted that of the additional general fund income received from the state from 2009 to 2018, the district spent 100.27 percent on teacher salaries and benefits. That was accomplished by also pulling money from another area within its general fund budget, Roberts said.
“We don’t see House Bill 1003 as a benefit to us to help with teacher salaries,” Roberts said.
Other priorities
Bartholomew County is one of 20 counties in the state where the On My Way Pre-K program is offered for 4-year-olds. However, Bartholomew Consolidated officials have encountered two barriers to participation for some eligible children.
The program stipulates that both parents must be working, or enrolled in education courses. However, local officials said instances where grandparents are raising their grandchildren and one parent is staying at home to manage the household while the other parent works has prevented some children from participating.
Roberts said he’d like state lawmakers to revisit the requirements to improve access to the program.
The superintendent also said he’d like the state to meet its statutory funding obligation for English Language Learners (ELL), a program that helps students whose first language is not English.
Bartholomew Consolidated has 1,200 ELL students — a growing figure that’s slightly more than 10 percent of its 11,500 total student population — but it will receive $908,000 less than it should for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 biennium, Roberts said.
Legislators react
Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, who attended the presentation, said the points raised by Roberts reflect concerns lawmakers are hearing around the state.
He said the bill suggesting an 85/15 percent split between money to the classroom and for operating costs raises questions.
“I never like simple arithmetic solutions to complex problems. How is 85 percent the right number? It’s arbitrary,” Walker said.
Walker said rather than give a blanket increase in funding to all school districts, he’d like to better understand why some school districts struggle more than others with regard to pay they can offer teachers, and funding their needs. He noted that the difference between some districts is $8,000 in starting pay.
“If we give 3 percent (more) across the board, we still have gaps,” Walker said.
Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, said he was appreciative of the presentation Friday.
“I think there is a lot of alignment with BCSC, the six points, with the energy and effort and debate going on right now in the Statehouse,” Lauer said.
Lauer said he was pleased to see Bartholomew Consolidated showing fiscal responsibility and directing more than 85 percent of funding to the classroom.
The first-term legislator also said he’s supportive of increasing education funding 2 percent each of the next two years, but also supports creative ways to direct more money to schools.
For example, he said Gov. Eric Holcomb’s proposal for the state to make a one-time payment of $150 million to the teachers’ pension fund would reduce each school district’s required contribution and free up $70 million annually that schools could use for teachers. Lauer said that would mean nearly $700,000 for Bartholomew Consolidated. Roberts said that would equate to more than $900 per teacher.
Lauer also is co-author of House Bill 1008 that would create career ladders so educators could see increases in responsibility and pay without having to leave the classroom and become an administrator.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Top priorities” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The six legislative priorities for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.:
1. Improve teacher recruitment and retention by promoting the profession, and increasing teacher pay
2. Increase tuition support funding for K-12 students by a minimum 1.5 percent increase above the cost of living adjustment
3. Remove barriers that restrict access to On My Way Pre-K
4. Extend kindergarten average daily membership cutoff date to age 5 by Oct. 1 without limiting the number of years served
5. Appropriate necessary funds to fulfill current statutory commitment to English Language Learners
6. Provide school safety funding equitably to all school corporations without reducing support elsewhere
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”If you go” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
What: First local Third House session of 2019
When: 7:30 a.m. Monday
Where: Cal Brand Meeting Room in Columbus City Hall, 123 Washington St.
Why: Local residents will hear from their elected state lawmakers about bills being discussed in this year’s session of the Indiana General Assembly, and ask questions about the legislation.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
