Guest column: What Indiana’s school funding situation really looks like

Six Hoosier school communities sought to pass referendums in the most recent election. Five succeeded, and one fell short. Yet just a few weeks earlier, postcards went out to constituents all across Indiana in which state representatives touted the 5% increase in K-12 funding last session as the “highest funding level to date for Hoosier students.” In addition, they claimed that the latest educational results prove that Indiana is leading the way by “putting students first.” To be clear, adding even one penny to last year’s budget would also produce “the highest funding level to date.” While we at the Indiana Coalition for Public Education (ICPE) celebrate the successes of our public schools and the hard work of educators and students, we urge Hoosiers to look beyond the glossy postcard fo