Schellinger says education his top priority
Schellinger says education his top priority
Mon. April 14 - 2008
Associated Press
Democrat Jim Schellinger said yesterday that he would make education his top priority if elected governor, pledging never to cut overall spending for public schools and to try to attract and retain more qualified teachers.
"Education has to be the cornerstone of the focus of our state," Schellinger, an Indianapolis architect, said at a Statehouse news conference.
Schellinger released an 18-point education plan that also touches on trying to make college more affordable and includes a promise not to let funding for higher education drop. Its release came a day before he and former U.S. Rep. Jill Long Thompson, who also is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, planned to square off in the first and perhaps only debate before the May 6 primary.
The winner in May will face Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, who has no primary opponent.
Long Thompson responded to Schellinger's education plan by saying that her proposal is focused on reforming education policy to emphasize vocational training for jobs of the 21st Century, improving access to higher education and trying to give teachers more flexibility in the classroom.
"With nearly a third of our high school students failing to graduate, we cannot continue to allow this to become a partisan issue," she said. "We must all work together, and I welcome Mr. Schellinger to the discussion."
Schellinger said he would never let overall spending on public schools fall below current levels, but he would not promise that funding for some individual schools - such as those losing enrollment - would not drop.
He said as governor he would present two budgets - one on education and one for everything else. He said during good economic times, 50 percent of all remaining surpluses in the state's main checking account would be put in a trust fund to generate interest that could only be used to fund schools.
He said he would dedicate any future lottery revenue growth exclusively to schools. Money from the lottery is now used to pay for cuts in auto excise taxes enacted in the mid 1990s and for pensions for public safety personnel.
Schellinger said he would help attract more teachers by partially repaying student loans of those who agree to teach in a school deemed high-need by the Department of Education. They must be willing to teach in Indiana schools for at least five years. The program would cost $3 million the first two years and $5 million each year after that.
To help retain quality teachers, his plan would make available $20,000 loans to public school teachers buying their first homes. The money - $5 million per year - would be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and have no interest or payments due as long as the person continued to teach at a state public school.
After 10 years, the loan would be forgiven. If the person stopped teaching in Indiana before that, any portion of the loan that is outstanding must be repaid.
Schellinger said he would ensure that higher education funding would not drop, but said universities should hold up their end of the bargain. He said many state universities have seen their endowments grow significantly, but they are not using those funds to make college more affordable.
He said if state universities see their annual endowments grow more than 10 percent, they must use half the additional funds above that level to keep in-state tuition in line with the inflation rate.