State Republicans Say Education Will Be Priority In Next Session

Brandon Smith / IPBS

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis

House Republicans announced their legislative priorities for the upcoming session on Tuesday, and education issues took center stage.

House Speaker Brian Bosma said the legislature wants to invest more in public school funding by “fixing” the funding formula.

“We have great disparity with some schools as low at $5500 per students in state and federal funds and some schools as high as $9,500 per pupil,” Bosma says.

To help close this gap, Bosma says he hopes to see the state’s economy grow by two percent over the next two years, because most of that would go toward education.

He says Republicans also want to propose a tax credit for teachers to offset the cost of classroom supplies spent with their own money.

State superintendent Glenda Ritz says this agenda is in line with what the IDOE wants to accomplish.

“I’m hoping, number one, we get more money to our schools,” Ritz said. “Second of all, I’m always about making sure we have fair ways of making sure that our schools are getting money for their students.”