To be honest, I am not a fan of referendums. I believe when we elect officials to public office, we hire them to make the tough calls. That usually involves soliciting public input, studying all the facts and then making the decision. Now with that said, the law is the law, and when a local government wants to raise taxes in some instances, it must go to the voters. Indianapolis Public Schools is asking the voters for a nearly $300 million tax increase. And as anti-tax as I usually am, I support the school district’s request.
Now had you asked me this question a decade ago, I would have told the district to go pound sand. We all remember those days, well at least I do. I recall a school district nose-diving into a fiscal abyss and a school board whose majorities of members were more concerned about employing adults and placating unions than educating children. And if there weren’t a headline about the state getting ready to take over another failing school, we would have thought we were reading the wrong newspaper or living in the wrong town.
IPS has come a long way.
The district’s graduation rate is 83 percent. It was 72 percent back in 2015, and it was 47 percent a decade ago.
After years of hemorrhaging students, the district’s population has held steady, hovering between 30,000 and 31,000 students.
The district has been restructuring to offer students a better, quality education at a more efficient cost to the taxpayers.
However, with that said, the district is still short on resources. Between property tax caps, a decrease in federal funding reduced state aid and a drop in reimbursement in the costs per pupil, IPS has lost at least $80 million. So when the district decided to ask the taxpayers for more money, via referendum, I inherently supported the concept.
I have to admit though, the initial ask of nearly $1 billion was a bit much to take in, even though it was only $92 million annually over eight years. That number came down dramatically and through work with the Indy Chamber, that number is now under $300 million, which translates into about a $3.20 increase in the property tax bill for someone who owns a $75,000 home, and the two organizations are working together to keep the district on a more solid financial footing.
Part of my decision-making process is rooted in the fact, the despite its financial challenges the district has managed to make investments in teachers, in part by reducing central office expenditures. And it also helps that IPS has not asked for a referendum since 2008, many of the township schools have, and one had to ask twice after the first one failed.
But it’s not just how IPS has improved its fiscal management that has me supporting the referendum it’s where the new dollars will go. The referendum dollars will go toward teacher salaries so the district can continue to offer students a quality education; also, the money generated from the capital portion of the referendum will go towards school safety. If the environment is not safe teachers can’t teach, and students can’t learn.
And here is something else to ponder. The lifeblood of any community is its school district. If you have quality schools, you end up with a quality community. And IPS is crucial to the long-term survival of the city of Indianapolis, particularly the urban core. Without the referendum, the district would have to look at teacher layoffs, reducing services at some of the schools that face the biggest socio-economic challenges.
However, bypassing the referendum, along with assistance from the Indy Chamber and taxpayers and parents staying engaged with the district, the end result will be a much healthier and viable school district. And at the end of the day, not only is that good for IPS but good for all of Indianapolis as well.
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is an attorney, political commentator and publisher of IndyPolitics.org. You can email comments to him at abdul@indypolitics.org.
