Dear Friends,

Public education in Indiana is under attack from both the federal side and from the state legislature. Voters in Indiana in this crucial November election will decide whether or not public education will be dismantled in favor of private schools and state-funded homeschools.

This election is the most crucial for public education in Indiana since private school voucher advocates took power in the tea party election of 2010.  I urge all who support public education and want to see it survive and prosper to actively support candidates who support public education.  A list of candidates who have pledged to support public education can be found on the ICPE website.

Thirty candidates have signed the pledge.  Give them your support!

From the Federal Side

A federal plan to dismantle public education is hitting in the same election season as an Indiana plan to give every parent control of education funding, instead of funding schools as they are currently funded.

The federal plan is found in the now infamous Project 2025 from the Heritage Foundation, the 900+ page guideline for “the next conservative President.”  Wide speculation is that it would guide a new Trump administration if he wins in November.

Project 2025’s chapter entitled “Department of Education” calls for the elimination of the federal Department of Education and the transfer of K-12 spending decisions to individual parents rather than publicly elected community school boards:

“Elementary and secondary education policy should follow the path outlined by Milton Friedman in 1955, wherein education is publicly funded but education decisions are made by families.  Ultimately, every parent should have the option to direct his or her child’s share of education funding through an education savings account (ESA), funded overwhelmingly by state and local taxpayers…”   (quote from page 319, Project 2025)  

From the State Side

The Indiana plan was announced by Senator Mishler last January in Senate Bill 255.  It would give every parent in Indiana a voucher/education scholarship account (ESA). All family income limits would end. Taxpayers would foot the bill for education but would have no influence on what is done with the ESA money. Parents would control what is spent.

Both federal and state plans call for funding ESAs for all parents, rather than funding public schools.  This plan has been dubbed “universal vouchers” or “universal ESAs.”   It would carve up the funding base and completely undermine funding for our public schools.

What’s Wrong with ESAs for All Students?

ESAs for all students would bring enormous problems for our democracy and economy, which were detailed in Vic’s Statehouse Notes #385.  This plan would represent a fundamental shift in our nation’s philosophy of education in a democracy. If parents are in control of education spending for their children, we don’t know if they will support democracy and elections.  Here is a summary of this radical proposal:

• Parents would get control of the state money to educate their child, not the schools.
• All education standards would be set by parents running their state-funded homeschools, not by local school boards, the General Assembly or the state board of education. Efforts to raise literacy in the early grades with additional IREAD tests could be ignored by parent-run homeschools.
• The movement to raise standards in Indiana begun 25 years ago would be dead.
• Homeschools run by parents in this program are unaccredited, unsupervised, and unaccountable.
• Education standards and curriculum, set solely by parents, would have no input from taxpayers or from the community.
• Taxpayers would still pay but would have no say.
• Parents of all students would be eligible to apply for an online account, called an education scholarship account (ESA), worth approximately $6,000.
• Funding would shrink for public school students because when a parent gets an online account, the money (approximately $6,000) is subtracted from the State Education Fund that funds all public schools.
• For the first time, this plan would give state money to run unsupervised homeschools, at an estimated additional cost of $46 million, according to the fiscal analysis of the non-partisan Legislative Services Agency.
• No criminal background checks are required for parents seeking state-funded ESAs.
• No criminal background checks are required for providers of education services approved for payment in the ESA program by the Indiana Treasurer.
• Current mandates to teach about democracy, elections, our Constitution and our nation’s history would be unenforceable and would not apply to students using ESAs.
• Extremist parents could easily teach hate and discrimination with state dollars. No one would know.
• Economist Milton Friedman (1922-2006) advocated for this plan to end public education and get government out of education policy.  Once considered unthinkable, this plan now has powerful political advocates at both the state and federal levels, threatening the entire institution of public education that has held our democracy and our communities together for 180 years.

Let the Voters Decide

Discuss this with General Assembly candidates for the November election.  Tell them if they don’t publicly oppose the universal voucher ESA plan, you will not vote for them.

Talk to your friends and neighbors.  Your work in the grassroots on this issue could determine whether or not public education declines and fades away in Indiana as Milton Friedman wanted.

The Indiana Coalition for Public Education board members have endorsed Jennifer McCormick in the race for Governor.  As the former State Superintendent of Public Education, she knows how to protect and advance public education.

Mike Braun posted his education plan last week in his campaign for Governor, calling for “universal vouchers.”  The choice is clear for every voter who supports public education.

Spread the word!  Thank you for your active support of public education in Indiana!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith      vic790@aol.com

About Vic’s Statehouse Notes and ICPE…

Vic’s Statehouse Notes and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!

ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We rely on memberships to help support ICPE lobbying efforts and outreach across the state. Our lobbyist Joel Hand represented ICPE extremely well in the 2024 short session. We need all ICPE members to renew their membership if they have not done so. We also welcome new members and general donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Visit ICPE’s website at www.indianacoalitionforpubliced.org/join for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools.  Thanks for asking!  Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969.  I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor.   I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009.  I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998.  In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.  In April of 2018, I was honored to receive the 2018 Friend of Education Award from the Indiana State Teachers Association.