The State of the State of Indiana

 The Governor did his State of the State speech, Holcomb touts state’s “position of strength,” $30 million trail deal, but what stood out for me was this:

The governor also asked lawmakers to prioritize education, asking for an increase of $1.1 billion toward K-12 tuition support and an additional $120 million to pay for textbooks and curriculum material.

Indiana is one of just seven states in which public school students’ families shoulder the cost of textbooks and other curriculum materials — which Holcomb dubbed a “disguised tax.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray was unenthusiastic about the proposal in comments to media after Holcomb’s speech. He acknowledged that “public education is super important” but said the caucus would have to discuss “whether or not we can get to that with the textbooks.”

And the Republicans say they are for families. This has been an issue for about a third of my life. How much longer will Indiana keep families paying for textbooks? As long as they can if the Republicans have their way.

A comment on Indiana's educational system: 2023 – the year for universal school choice from Andrea Neal, of which I will note:

Today, 21% of Hoosier students take advantage of some form of choice: public charter or magnet schools, home schools, inter-district transfer, and vouchers to help pay private school tuition of students whose households meet certain income criteria. As of this year, Indiana also offers an Education Savings Account program, limited to students with special needs to be used to pay for private school tuition or individualized services. Unlike vouchers, which function as scholarships, ESAs allow parents to apply allocated state dollars to a variety of education expenses.

Sounds good to have choice, so long as it is not a means for the state government to evade its constitutional obligations:

 Knowledge and learning, generally diffused throughout a community, being essential to the preservation of a free government; it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to encourage, by all suitable means, moral, intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement; and to provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.

Meanwhile, it sounds like the judiciary is actually doing some good things. Chief Justice highlights courts’ accomplishments in State of Judiciary. I do not know for sure, keeping my distance from my old life as I am. 

sch 1/13/23