Muncie Schools Struggling To Hire Enough Teachers

Over the last few years, Muncie Community Schools has struggled to maintain its budget after property tax caps and a new funding formula went into place. They will end transportation services in 2018 and are struggling to pay staff. (photo credit: Kyle Stokes / StateImpact Indiana)

Some Indiana schools struggle to find enough teachers as the new school year begins.

Muncie Community Schools officials say the district lost 53 teachers, about 11 percent of its staff, between May and Aug. 9. The district will not rehire all of the positions, but it did hired back 13, and it is still looking for three guidance counselors.

In May, the district announced they would reduce 37 staff positions, which was a combination of retirements, resignations and layoffs.

At that time, superintendent Steven Baule told StateImpact the district lost around $29 million after property tax caps went into place in 2008 and the new school funding formula passed out of the legislature in 2015. Baule says both of these caused the district’s financial problems.

Last year, the school board voted to end bus transportation by 2018 because of a protected tax law that diverted the district’s funds away from transportation.

But money is not the only challenge.

More teachers are moving districts over the summer, more teachers are resigning within days of the start of school, and there’s a smaller pool of applicants.

Teachers have less incentive to stay in a district. A state law in 2012 tied teacher pay to performance evaluations, meaning that teachers would no longer get a pay increase for staying at a district another year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.