Local boards lack power

What a difference a decade makes.
Ten years ago, the Jay School Board actually had some real authority.
Today, though the board still hires and fires and deals with personnel issues, the lion’s share of control has shifted to the state.
When it comes to the budget, local school officials are reduced to building a spending plan, while there’s little authority when it comes to raising revenues.
School corporations are given a revenue forecast by the state and are told to build a budget spelling out how to spend those dollars.
But there’s no real assurance that the dollars will be there, because state sales tax revenues are more volatile and unpredictable than property tax revenues.
Ten years ago, about 60 percent of the school system’s general fund came from state tax revenues.
The balance mostly came from local property taxes.
Today, state revenues make up 97 percent of the general fund. Federal grant programs make up the rest.
No property taxes are involved.
But when money moves, power moves.
In this case, it’s moved away from local control, something that used to be quaintly called “home rule” but which has been largely forgotten in the current climate.
So who’s calling the shots?
These days, it’s the Indiana General Assembly, which has assumed for itself the role of statewide school board. Every few years, a new crop of lawmakers with a new agenda and a new set of gimmicks comes to office.
It’s the Indiana Department of Education, which is more deeply involved in day-to-day classroom curriculum than ever before through its emphasis on standardized testing and “teaching the test.”
And it’s the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, which is attempting to use “departmental authority” to micromanage local school spending.
The irony of it all is that the people behind this top-down approach to school governance are Republicans who used to espouse the virtues of “home rule.”
The party that used to remind us that the best decisions are those made closest to the people now apparently believes state government should be in charge.
What a difference a decade makes. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]