School funding bill won't fix all

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Superintendents from Lafayette, West Lafayette and Tippecanoe school corporations are all echoing the same story: a new funding flexibility bill is appreciated, but it is not enough.

They said if this bill is signed by the governor, it will only cover about a third of the deficit left by cuts he made in January. And superintendents fear the budget situation will only get worse.

"Everything we hear from the economic analysts says that even though the nation might be experiencing a rebound from the recession, public education in particular may not have seen the worst yet," said Tippecanoe School Superintendent Scott Hanback.

And Hanback said local schools are no exception.

"That scares us to no end to think that we might have to face further cuts," he said.

Those cuts would likely include staff and teacher layoffs already announced for this year, even in light of a new bill passed in the General Assembly that would give school districts more spending flexibility, Hanback said.

Lafayette School Superintendent Ed Eiler said his district is in the same boat.

"We're appreciative of any relief we got," Eiler said. "But the reality is, the relief is probably... maybe a seventh to a third of the cut. And it is one time. And therefore whatever measures that we've put in place, we're going to have to continue and carry through."

West Lafayette schools face a similar situation. In a statement over the weekend, West Lafayette Superintendent Rocky Killion said, "Every dollar we can get saves teachers jobs and other programs, but we must continue to look for other revenue sources in order to avoid further extreme budget cuts."

State Sen. Ron Alting (R-22nd district) said Sunday that this measure is simply a band-aid, and he's already working on a new, long-term funding formula. For local administrators, a new formula couldn't come too soon.

"Our concern is this is not the end of the cuts," Eiler said. "There will be additional cuts, and my concern is they will be as severe or more severe than this round of cuts. All of us are waiting for the other shoe to drop."

It's up to the governor to decide whether to even sign this bill into law. According to his Web site, he hasn't received the bill yet. When he does, staffers will review it and recommend a course of action.