Drastic cuts in state education funding have triggered cuts in staff and programming at schools across Indiana — and the teachers-in-training at Ball State University are worried.
With a tradition that goes back to the school's founding in 1918, Ball State's Teachers College is one of the largest education schools in the state, the place where the long road to a classroom assignment begins for more than a thousand students.
Indiana is facing $300 million in budget cuts for K-12 education, something Gov. Mitch Daniels said two months ago would be a last resort. K-12 education comprises about half of the state's operating budget.
Adjacent states also are feeling the strain. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 41 states have seen mid-year shortfalls, totaling $38 billion, or 7 percent of those budgets. In Illinois, where education comprises about 48 percent of the operating budget, they're looking at $5 billion cut. In Kentucky, an estimated $1.2 billion will be cut, comprising 12.9 percent of the budget. In Ohio, a $296 million cut is the projection, affecting about 1 percent of the budget.
The CBPP forecasts lasting damage. According to its report, "In the early 2000s, as in the early 1990s and early 1980s, state fiscal problems lasted for several years after the recession ended. The same will undoubtedly be the case this time."
Indiana's projected mid-year shortfall is one of the lowest.
Experts say the budget cut for education won't affect the economy in Indiana. But teachers looking for jobs, even outside of Indiana, are nervous and those who have a job hope they can keep it.
Sarah Cowie, a recent Ball State graduate, said she's not worried about keeping her job as a teacher's aide, but she's still looking for a full-time teaching position. Cowie works with special needs children in the Hamilton County school system.
"We hear rumors about all the budget cuts," she said. "Hamilton County is one of the healthier school systems, and we're seeing it affect us even here."
Cowie said she's planning on looking out of state for a job soon.
"When there are 30 kids in the classroom, it's not meeting the needs of students," she said. "You have to get to know the students in order to motivate them."
Senior elementary education major Sarah Rettig said she's trying to polish her résumé in the final months of school. She'd like to get a teaching job in-state, but she's also looking at alternatives, like working at Connor Prairie, a history park in Indianapolis, or staying at the Goddard School, a private preschool where she currently works.
"We talk about the job market in a lot of classes," she said. "[Our teachers] know the economy is rough right now."
Rettig said she's heard Florida, Texas and North and South Carolina schools are seeking out Ball State graduates, but she'd rather not teach out of state unless it's temporary.
Senior Amanda Phipps said in Gas City, Ind., where she is student teaching, teachers are afraid for their jobs next year. Phipps said a lot of teachers get their foot in the door by being an aide first. If schools eliminate teachers' aides, it'll make her job search that much harder.
PROFESSIONALS' VIEWS
The Indiana State Teachers Association anticipates 5,000 teaching jobs will be lost this spring.
ISTA Communications Director Mark Shoup said this trend will drive prospective teaches to other states that have avoided cutting teachers.
"Kids don't get a second chance," he said. "We're making cuts on top of cuts on top of cuts."
Shoup said at some point the economy will turn around, but this isn't a time when Indiana should be laying off teachers.
"They're consumers, and we're slicing a well-educated work force," he said. "It will be hard to recover from this when the economy turns around."
John Mutz, chairman of the Lumina Foundation Board, is among those who believe the economy won't be affected by the $300 million cut to K-12 education in Indiana. However, he said he has a radical plan he'd like to see introduced.
He said high school should consider eliminating the last year or two of high school. It would allow teachers' salaries to be raised and improve the quality of teachers, he said. One problem in Indiana, he said, is the state employs teachers who have graduated in the lower quartiles of their graduating class.
In much of Europe, students finish their sophomore year and then take a test to measure their attainment levels, he said. Roughly 60 to 65 percent will have achieved a level of mastery and go to the college level their senior year.
He said these views are reflected in the book "Tough Times: Tough Choices," which suggests starting from scratch with a more comprehensive school system.
Mutz said he believes teaching majors will be able to find a job as long as they're qualified and graduate in the top quartile. He doesn't think the economy will be affected by the K-12 budget cuts, but he said education is always a necessity. He said he sees job trends progressing toward service jobs in technical areas and in the finance industry.
IN MUNCIE
Budget cuts are nothing new for Muncie Community Schools. Associate superintendant Mark Burkhart said they have been downsizing since he started working for the school system in 1970. At that time, there were 20,000 students. Now there's 7,000.
"It's just another cut for us," he said. "It's still challenging because it's all negative, reducing, cutting, eliminating. We want to address instructional programming last."
Muncie schools need to cut about $2.8 million from their general funds and $2 million from funds dealing with capital projects, transportation and bus replacement. Burkhart said the system is well on its way to meeting the budget cut requirements.
In February, the school board approved cuts of $1.2 million. In March, Burkhart will propose cutting another $1.6 million.
In April, they will look at cutting teachers and administrators because the deadline to notify them of layoffs is May 1. In May, the school system will look into cuts for all other faculty.
Burkhart said Muncie is saturated with housing, and young families have started moving to the county to raise their families and build new houses.
At least, from 1970 to 1995 that was the case.
Families would move from Center Township to other districts in Delaware County. The more recent trend, he said, is for families to leave Delaware County altogether and move to other Indiana cities like Fishers, Carmel, Avon and Zionsville.
"There are no jobs here," Burkhart said. "Manufacturing has left East Central Indiana."
Burkhart said he's hopeful downsizing will level off soon. Muncie schools have seen almost full retention between the Fall and Spring Semesters, which he took as a good sign.
"Muncie's salvation as a community has been the university and the hospital," Burkhart said. "They're both regional institutions. The community's not going to go anyplace."
AT-RISK STUDENTS
More than half of the students in all Muncie schools have free or reduced lunch. Students who qualify for free and reduced lunch are considered "at-risk" by the state of Indiana. At Longfellow Elementary School, the portion of at-risk students reached 98 percent in October 2009.
"Students of poverty come in the doors everyday with more issues than the average student," he said. "They're hungry, among other things."
Burkhart said poverty will not be used as an excuse for academic performance.
School rankings by psk12.com show a correlation between the number of at-risk students and ranking by school. Psk12.com provides school performance information based on the nation's report card provided by U.S. Department of Education.
In 2008, Storer Elementary School, which has the fewest number of at-risk students in Muncie, ranked 82nd among 1,385 Indiana elementary schools. By contrast, Longfellow Elementary with 98 percent at-risk students ranked 1,280th. North View Elementary School ranked closest to the bottom at 1,359.
BALL STATE'S ROLE
Teachers College Dean John Jacobson said everyone is feeling the pain, but Indiana is better off than most states. He said Ball State has a strong educational leadership program, which will prepare students to deal with budget issues. He said the university will look at Indiana laws and how cuts are administered.
Patricia Clark, associate professor of elementary education, is optimistic about students finding teaching positions. She said teaching is a hot job right now, and officials at the state level are calling for more people to fill teaching positions.
"I think that if children are there, you'll still need to teach them," she said.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
