State, public differ on schools

Niki Kelly | The Journal Gazette
INDIANAPOLIS – Hoosiers pointed to creating jobs and upgrading K-12 education as top priorities for the state legislature and Gov. Mitch Daniels in 2011, according to a new public opinion survey released Thursday from Ball State University.

The polling contradicts the agenda of Daniels and House and Senate Republicans on several specific education policies.

The poll was unveiled at the 2011 Legislative Conference in Indianapolis, where Daniels also delivered the keynote speech.

In the Ball State survey, 45 percent of Hoosiers said schools in communities that face the greatest obstacles to learning should receive more money than schools in communities that are experiencing the greatest growth.

About 14 percent of the Hoosiers surveyed believe that both types of schools should receive equal funding.

Daniels and key Republicans are pushing for funding to be based solely on a district’s number of students, rather than extra money going to some urban and declining-enrollment schools facing high levels of poverty.

The governor said Thursday that the system is currently set up to aid poorer schools, but he said that the disparity has become a concern.

“That makes less sense to me, and we’ve been moving away from that,” he said. “It clearly penalizes schools with population growth.”

The Ball State survey also noted that Hoosiers believe more parental involvement would make more of a difference in education than would other changes, such as paying teachers more.

Daniels said he can’t pass a law requiring parental involvement and “it would be a complete non-sequitur to say because too many parents don’t do enough, we just forget these other changes.”

He said studies show teacher quality is the major factor behind student performance, and when good teachers are identified, “I’m for paying them more.”

Another difference is that Daniels wants to expand the number of charter schools. But those surveyed, by a 2-to-1 margin, prefer to support current schools rather than create more charter schools.

Daniels also used his speech to tell the lobbyists, lawyers, school officials and media in attendance that state tax revenue was up slightly in November and that he expects to balance the next biennial budget without a tax increase.