Lawmakers to hear from school officials on funding plan

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Proposed school funding changes that could lead to cuts for many of Indiana’s urban and rural districts with shrinking enrollments is set to get a close look from state lawmakers.

A Senate committee is scheduled to hear testimony Tuesday afternoon from school officials on the House-backed funding plan that would shift tens of millions of dollars to growing suburban districts.

The leader of the Senate Appropriations Committee said last week he wants to consider ways of possibly easing those school funding shifts.

The state spending plan approved by House Republicans includes 2.3 percent increases in school funding in both years. But Democrats maintain the plan would cause “devastating” funding cuts to more than a third of Indiana’s nearly 300 school districts, many of which are in the poorest communities.