I was surprised to see the recent call for Indianapolis Public Schools to share property tax revenue framed as a fiscal solution. Cannibalizing the same shrinking pot of revenue will do more harm than good.
Hicks: I support school choice. It hasn’t worked in Indiana.
Redundancy is a bigger problem. IPS Superintendent Aleesia Johnson made a little over $280,000 in 2023, smack in the middle of Indy’s eleven superintendent salaries. Meanwhile, the CEOs of charter schools within IPS boundaries – leaving out any who do double-duty as principals — made over $4 million. That overhead is more than the combined salary of all eleven superintendents, and that doesn’t count the salaries of other executive staff. Some make more than the superintendent managing far fewer schools. What’s efficient about having so many people doing the same job?
A more sensible place to look for money would be in the ballooning cost of vouchers, which cost taxpayers $439 million last year, mostly going to families who were already paying private school tuition and have never attended a public school. That cost is expected to grow to $600 million this year.
The goal was to create new access for families who couldn’t afford it, but we’ve strayed pretty far. Maybe we should start looking for money there?
Arlington Middle School, a formerly closed high school building, has reopened with money from a property tax referendum in Indianapolis.
Ronak Shah lives in Indianapolis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Look at vouchers, not IPS, for money to share with charters | Letters