INDIANAPOLIS — School choice is a stance on education. Some parents say it helped their kids get the best instruction.
"Charters get to choose a little bit more and be a little bit more hands-on with the curriculum and how they administer their education to their students,” Chantelle Edwards said.
All three of Edwards' kids attend charter schools. She would like to see a change in how her tax dollars are used to fund education in the state.
"The dollars are not to fund the building,” Edwards said. “The dollars are not to pay for the superintendent. The dollars are there to educate the children."
In Indiana, charter schools are public schools. However, they are all 501-C non-profits and they do not have elected school boards. Instead, they answer to a board of advisors.
Scott Bess, the CEO of the Indiana Charter Innovation Center, says state education dollars already follow the student. He thinks property tax dollars should too.
"When a charter school has to pay for its building, when they have to pay for their school buses, when they have to pay for the people that do all those things, that money comes out of the money that is intended to go the classroom,” Bess said. “That puts charter schools at a disadvantage."
Charter schools do get money from both the state and federal governments. Some charter school parents, like Edwards, would like to see their property tax dollars contribute to their kid's education.
"Those dollars were never owned by any system,” Edwards said. “They should follow the student wherever that student is educated."
The Indiana State Teachers Association disagrees with that point of view. In a statement, ISTA said the following:
“ISTA opposes efforts to divert local property tax revenue from traditional public schools to charter schools. Local property tax dollars are intended to support community schools that are accountable to elected boards and serve all students. Diverting these funds would undermine the stability of public schools, which educate over 90% of Indiana’s students, while charter schools—lacking the same public accountability—have experienced significant instability, with roughly one in three Indianapolis charters closing since 2001. Recent legislation already requires public schools to share voter-approved referendum dollars with area charter schools, further straining their ability to meet students’ needs.
Public schools remain the cornerstone of their communities, providing stability and essential services to all students. We urge lawmakers to prioritize equitable funding solutions that support all students without jeopardizing the resources, programs, and facilities that traditional public schools rely on to serve their communities effectively.”
The Indiana Charter Innovation Center says they are currently drafting legislation that will be filed during the 2025 session.
For more information about the organization, click here.
