Vote Against the Passage of 2016-2017 Indiana State Budget

I am writing in regards to the proposed 2016-2017 fiscal year Indiana state budget, relating to the provisions about education allocations. Public school districts serving the most disadvantaged populations all will see vital dollars drained from their schools and funneled to well-resourced districts. How can these calculations be seen as equitable?

My children attend South Bend Community Schools and I see growth in them everyday. South Bend Schools stand to see 5.5 million in cuts over the next two years. There are excellent things happening in our school system that we will not be able to provide to our students if this budget is passed. Our Magnet programming, bilingual department, intervention services, and parent support programs are just a few of the items we stand to lose. We provide options to support our students’ success regardless of economic status. By the passage of this budget, that will no longer be able to happen.

Indianapolis Public Schools will lose 14 million in funding by 2017. Some of the state’s other poorest cities also would face basic tuition aid cuts: 19 percent for Gary, 10.5 percent for East Chicago and 3 percent for Hammond. Yet, the two wealthiest school districts in the state for family income — Zionsville and Carmel — would see large increases in total state basic tuition aid: 10.6 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively, over the two-year budget period. Neither district has more than 10 percent of its students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Please support and sign this petition to prevent millions of vital dollars from being taken away from South Bend Community Schools and other urban districts across Indiana serving our lowest-income populations.