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Indiana
Recent Events | Costing
Out | Useful Resources
Historical Background
Prior to 2007, Indiana was one of only seven states
in which there had been no court review of the constitutionality
of the state's school funding system. A 1987 case, Lake
Central v. State, No. 56 C01-8704-CP81 (Newton
Cir. Ct.), was withdrawn after the State developed a
new funding system.
Bonner v. Daniels
In January 2007, an Indiana judge granted - in an extremely
brief opinion - the state’s motion to dismiss
a school funding lawsuit brought against the state,
ruling that school funding is a “political question”
that is not appropriate for review by the courts. Plaintiffs
in Bonner v. Daniels argued that the state’s
school funding system is insufficient to provide all
students an adequate education, as required by the state
constitution.
Named defendants in the case were Governor Mitch Daniels,
Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen K. Reed,
and the Indiana Board of Education. Judge Cale Bradford,
the presiding judge, ruled that Governor Daniels and
Superintendent Reed are not responsible for the funding
formula and thus were not proper defendants. As for
the plaintiff’s claim against the remaining defendant,
Judge Bradford noted that it “seems to be, in
reality, dissatisfaction with how the formula is weighed
and implemented by the State Board of Education, not
the formula itself.” Saying that such decisions
were political and did not lend themselves to a likely
judicial remedy, Judge Bradford ruled that he could
not order a remedy out of respect for separation of
powers. Plaintiffs attorneys have said they will appeal.
On May 2, 2008 the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed
the lower court’s holding that the separation
of powers doctrine precludes the courts from considering
plaintiffs’ claims that children throughout the
state are being denied their constitutional right to
a quality education and ruled that these issues are
justiciable.
Oral arguments took place on December 4, 2008. In July
2009, the state Supreme Court dismissed
the case on justiciability grounds. The Court held
there that “[b]y its own terms, Article 8, concerning
education, does not speak in terms of a right or entitlement
to education…To the extent that an individual
student may have a right, entitlement, or privilege
to pursue public education, any such right derives from
the enactments of the General Assembly, not from the
Indiana Constitution.”
Recent Events
Hamilton Southeastern Schools, et al. v. Daniels
In February 2010, three suburban school districts and
parents of students attending their schools filed a
suit after the state announced budget cuts that they
allege disproportionately affect their schools; the
complaint claims that the system as a whole, exacerbated
by the recent cuts, favors urban districts like Indianapolis
and denies their students a “uniform education”
as well as other constitutional protections.
Plaintiffs in this new case, Hamilton
Southeastern Schools, et al. v. Daniels, specifically
take issue with 1) the adjusted “average daily
membership” (ADM) and “complexity index”
components of Indiana’s funding formula, 2) 2010
amendments that, at the same time, lower base-line per-pupil
funding for all schools and provide “restoration
grants” to some other districts to mitigate the
cuts, and 3) the prohibition on using property tax revenues
for general school expenses like teacher salaries.
To succeed in this case, the plaintiffs will have to
overcome the strong precedent of the state Supreme Court’s
Bonner decision.
Costing Out
In 2002, Augenblick & Meyers conducted a costing-out
study for the Indiana State Teachers Association. The
study concluded that
Indiana's school spending was less than the estimated
amount needed to provide an adequate education, and
it strongly recommended increased state funding for
special education and “hard-to-serve” students.
Useful Resources
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
Report, "Public School Finance Programs of the
United States and Canada," describes the Indiana
school funding system.
Last updated: April 2010
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