Bremen Public School Superintendent Dr. Jim White presented a resolution to school board members Wednesday night that would oppose House Bill 1005 that would establish Education Savings Accounts and expands Indiana’s voucher programs.
Dr. White said while the bill seems to be positive, it could have a negative effect on public schools.
Dr. White commented, “So, for the cost overruns, generally that voucher may not pay for an entire private school tuition so those parents can get tax credits for having Education Savings Accounts. Also, schools that don’t take credits, those parents would get tax savings by creating an Education Savings Account and putting money into that. Why do those tax problems bother us? It means less revenue for the State and less revenue coming back into public schools.”
He added that the pandemic showed how important public schools were to the local economy.
“I think it’s just the wrong time to be trying to expand the vouchers and taking money out of the system when we’re really needed more now than ever before,” stated Dr. White.
Dr. White noted that the Bremen Education Association supports this resolution opposed to House Bill 1005.
The school board unanimously voted to support the resolution.
Beyond that discussion, the school board talked about the school corporation’s relationship with St. Paul’s Lutheran School in Bremen. With House Bill 1005 looming, Dr. White believes a conversation should be held with the private school officials concerning shared uses of buildings and other services.
