School vouchers becoming a way of life in Indiana

Choice Scholarships, also known as vouchers, allow a student to use public school dollars to attend a private school. The parent or guardian signs an endorsement authorizing the Indiana Department of Education to pay the school directly on the student's behalf.

This school year, 29,148 students received vouchers, or 2.6 percent of the total state student population, according to the Choice Scholarship program's annual report released in February. IDOE paid those private and Christian schools nearly $116 million in the 2014-15 school year.

St. Stanislaus Principal Mary Jane Bartley and Jodi Lineburg, Highland Christian Center Director of Development and Recruitment,  said the voucher program has opened doors to families that otherwise might not be able to afford to send their children to those private schools.

"The voucher program is extremely important," Bartley said. "Our students are getting a quality education. It makes a huge difference in the lives of these children."

East Chicago's St. Stanislaus received a B from the Indiana Department of Education. Of the 199 students in grades K through eight, 126 received vouchers. That's down from the previous school year, when 170 students received vouchers. The majority of students go on to attend high school at Bishop Noll Institute in East Chicago.

Lineburg said Highland Christian school has 341 students in grades K through eight. Of that number, 142 use vouchers. There are another 106 youngsters in the preschool, but they are not eligible for vouchers. Kindergarteners became eligible for a voucher in the 2013-14 school year.

Lineburg said the school attracts students from 28 different zip codes, including Highland. She said most continue on at Illiana Christian High School in Lansing.

The state report shows that of all the students getting vouchers, 61 percent are white, 17 percent are Hispanic and 14 percent are black. Of the total enrolled, 4 percent are in special education.

According to the report, this school year 765 students who live in Gary Community School Corp. boundaries, attended a private school, costing the financially strapped district more than $5 million, based on a per-pupil cost of $7,686 per student.

The School City of Hammond reportedly lost about 700 students to private schools, and about $4.4 million. The School City of East Chicago followed with 327 students, losing about $2.5 million. The report estimated Merrillville Community School Corp. lost 216 students this year, and an estimated $1.2 million.

Several school districts didn't lose any students to parochial schools including School Town of Munster and MSD Boone Township in Hebron.

Help for low-income students or boon to private schools?

Interim Merrillville school Superintendent Tony Lux said the report shows slightly more than half the students who attend private schools using vouchers never attended a public school, which he believes means the number of students lost to Merrillville public schools is inaccurate.

"I am sure there have been some Merrillville children who have attended private school all their lives and never attended Merrillville public schools, and many of them are now qualifying for some financial level of voucher," he said.

"My concerns are that private school vouchers were sold to the public and the legislature as supposedly benefiting students of poverty in low-performing public schools.

"But what's happening is that limited state tax dollars are being diverted from public school funding -- that could be used to educate students of poverty -- to subsidize families on the basis of religion," he said.

"The state is currently in the dilemma of overcoming financial deficits of schools serving advantaged students in wealthy communities at the expense of lowering the funding dedicated specifically for the special needs of disadvantaged students of poverty, while at the same time, expanding funding for more charter schools, the majority of which are not doing better than public schools ..."

The report says Lake Central Schools lost 11 students the first voucher year, 2011-12, which administrators believe is correct, because "the law at that time required students to try our schools prior to qualifying for a voucher," Lake Central Superintendent Larry Veracco said.

But it is "highly unlikely" the district lost 99 students this school year, he said. Echoing Lux's remarks, he said many of those students never attended a public school.

"When visiting with local legislators prior to and during this current session of the General Assembly, I explained that if vouchers are here to stay, then the Legislature must more equitably distribute the money, since it is common knowledge that private schools are selective and frequently deny admittance to students who are more difficult to educate," Veracco said.

"Students with learning differences definitely require more resources, and this is where Gov. Pence’s plan to allocate equal dollars to voucher students is flawed. ... whenever the pool of money for public education is shrunk due to sending significant resources to private schools, it makes it more difficult to maintain special programs in public schools."

Gary school Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt agreed, decrying the way vouchers have been used in Indiana and especially Gary: "This system divides the education dollar, hurting the public school system and taking much-needed funds to other schools that, as a whole, have not demonstrated they can do a better job of educating our children."

" ... HB 1001 is a massive school funding bill, and, if it goes through as written right now, it could mean we will have lost $25 million in funding between 2013 and 2017. We could lose about $11 million in the next two years. I don’t know of any business or home that can lose 20 percent of its revenue in two years without feeling the pinch."

Portage Township Schools Superintendent Richard Weigel said his teachers and those in other region public schools are among the most highly trained and professional anywhere, noting, "The lure of something different does not always mean it has the same quality. ... we offer learning opportunities that are research-based and highly effective."