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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Ind. Decisions - More on Hamilton Southeastern decision

Updating yesterday's entry and the posting of the opinion, Bill McCleery of the Indianapolis Star had an expanded report in today's paper. Some quotes:

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Monday he has not decided whether to appeal Nation's decision not to dismiss the lawsuit -- as the state had requested -- but some Central Indiana school officials and parents are heartened by the ruling. * * *

Officials and several parents claim the state's funding formula causes an inequity in funding per student from district to district, which they say is unconstitutional. They also say the funding formula particularly hurts growing school districts.

Zoeller said in a prepared statement that he recognizes school districts are facing budget problems and that some parents think state funding for education is insufficient. However, he said, the case should have been dismissed because political subdivisions such as school corporations have no sovereign authority and cannot challenge the constitutionality of state law.

"This public policy debate belongs in the budget session of the legislature, not in court," Zoeller said. "I have also proposed that legislators prohibit school corporations from using state dollars to sue the state."

Both Bourke and Brian Smith, Hamilton Southeastern's superintendent, said they support a "complexity index" that is used to funnel more money to districts with higher percentages of low-income or at-risk populations. But that factor is not the reason for statewide disparity, they said.

West Lafayette Schools, for example, has demographic and socioeconomic characteristics similar to Hamilton Southeastern's, said Michael Reuter, HSE's chief financial officer, but it collects about $1,100 more per student in annual state revenue.

"We have 18,000 students," Reuter said. "That's $18 million more per year we could have." * * *

Nation rejected all of the state officials' arguments in their efforts to get the case dismissed.

"Governmental entities such as plaintiff school corporations do have standing to challenge a statute where they demonstrate a significant interest in the outcome and some direct injury," Nation wrote in his decision, which was filed Wednesday but not released until Monday.

From the Elkhart Truth, Justin Leighty reports:
MIDDLEBURY -- The lawsuit filed against the state by Middlebury Community Schools and two central Indiana school districts cleared a hurdle Monday when a judge ruled against a state request to dismiss the case.

The lawsuit was filed in February in Hamilton County as a challenge to the state's method of school funding. Hamilton Southeastern Schools and Franklin Township Community Schools filed the suit along with Middlebury, arguing their districts get short-changed by the state's formula.

Middlebury Superintendent Jim Conner said at the time that 333 of the 344 public school districts and charter schools in Indiana receive more funding per student than Middlebury.

When determining how much funding to give each district, Indiana considers the average daily membership, or the number of students attending school in the district, as well as the district's location and a factor called the "complexity index," which takes into account factors such as the number of students on free and reduced lunch, Cam Savage, communications director for the Indiana Department of Education, said last year.

The lawsuit argues the state formula violates a state constitutional requirement for "general and uniform" education funding because districts get different per-pupil amounts.

According to the New Jersey-based Education Law Center, the case is the first to argue against the part of the state funding formula that weights funds to address the educational needs of students from poverty backgrounds.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 30, 2010 10:48 AM
Posted to Ind. Trial Ct. Decisions