CHICAGO -- A group of Indiana school districts voted this week to suspend their lawsuit against the state indefinitely because they believe Indiana is making progress toward equitable school funding.
A majority of the districts voted to extend an agreement, reached last year with Gov. Evan Bayh, that suspended the suit. The suspension was designed to give the General Assembly time to work on measures that would equalize school funding throughout the state.
Last year school district officials said they would wait until the end of the 1993 legislative session, evaluate the progress on school funding, and then decide whether to refile the suit.
The session finished this summer, and a majority of the districts were satisfied that the legislature had "initiated the structure of a new funding formula" and passed a measure aimed at equalizing property tax rates, according to Charles Skurka, superintendent of the Crown Point Community School Corporation, one of the plaintiffs in the suit. A press release from the districts said that officials at most of the schools involved in the suit believe that "the appropriate course of action is to continue to work with the General Assembly to improve and correct the new formula."
In addition, most of the officials believe that the new formula "with proper funding and with the removal of restrictive elements can provide the vehicle for true equity in educational funding," the release says.
The 1994-95 biennial budget, which was approved in June, increases annual spending for schools by 3.3%. and guarantees at least a 1.25% annual increase in state school funds for each school district.
Skurka said many school officials believe that cooperation with lawmakers is the fastest way to win long-term changes in school funding.
"Allowing the General Assembly to work on it will be shorter than going through the legal battle," Skurka said.
The school districts said they will continue to monitor legislative efforts and will refile the suit if the state does not come through.
Officials from the governor's office did not return phone calls. The suit, originally filed in 1987, charges that the state's school funding formula results in unconstitutional differences in per-pupil spending among the state's 296 school districts. At present, the figures for different districts range from $2,673 to $5,412, according to Marilyn Holscher, an attorney for the school districts.
The suit was filed originally by 52 school districts, but 12 districts dropped out, primarily because of legal costs, Holseher said. A ruling against Indiana could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars a year, according to state officials.
The school districts that did not vote to suspend the lawsuit have until Sept. 28 to file suits on their own, Skurka said.
