TAKE ACTION: Oppose state budget that takes away teacher bonuses and offers inadequate public school funding for many
02/20/2017
The state biennial budget bill and school funding formula (HB 1001), as amended by House Republicans, would strip away the state teacher bonus program and provide weak funding levels for already cash-strapped public schools.
The House budget would remove $84 million in teacher performance bonus money over the two-year period ($40 million each year under the bonus program and $2 million each year for bonuses to teachers who would not otherwise receive one due to working in a D or F school).
Make no mistake - ISTA is not a believer that paying teachers by stipend should be the model and the implementation of these bonuses has not been consistent, nor fair. However, the $84 million was set aside specifically to augment teacher compensation, address teacher needs and lessen the teacher shortage.
Overall statewide funding needs to be higher. For the past eight years, public schools have dealt with base funding at or below inflation. This budget calls for just a 1.1 percent statewide average increase in 2018 and the promise of 1.7 percent in 2019.
ISTA opposes this version of the state budget for several reasons and is asking lawmakers to find a way to do better for our community-based public schools, where 90 percent of Hoosier kids are enrolled.