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July 21, 2010

Most Northwest Indiana schools lag on classroom spending

Chelsea Schneider Kirk:

A majority of Northwest Indiana schools districts fell behind the state's average in the percentage of dollars spent in the classroom, according to an annual school expenditures report released by the state's Office of Management and Budget this month.

But at least seven school districts were above the state average of 58 percent. Gary Community School Corp. was among the highest in the region with 66 percent of its overall budget tied to student achievement compared to other operational and overhead expenses, such as salaries and costs for transportation and construction.

Lake Station Community Schools and the School City of Hammond routed 65 percent and 63 percent to district classrooms, respectively, during the 2008-2009 school year.

Those numbers include teacher salaries, textbooks as well as guidance counselors, social workers and other expenses tied to instructional support. While the state average is comparable to previous years, Indiana lags 5 percentage points behind the national average. Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett challenged school districts to not only meet the national average but to push more dollars to classrooms than any other state.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at July 21, 2010 3:42 AM
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