While Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb’s $34 billion biennial budget includes new dollars for teacher pay,  it’s not new money.

In a plan unveiled before the state budget committee today, OMB Director Micah Vincent said the state is taking dollars that were previously used for teacher appreciation grants and will use them for tuition support for schools to raise teacher pay.

Over the next two fiscal years, $20 million will be allocated annually for teacher pay, while $10 million will be used to tax credits when educators purchase school supplies.

Overall, K-12 education will see a two percent increase in funding next fiscal year and then an additional two percent on top of that the following year, for a total of $432 million over the biennium.

In addition, $14 million annually is geared toward school safety,

Some other budget highlights include…

  • A nearly $2 billion budget surplus
  • $286 million annually for the Department of Child Services
  • Eliminates the state subsidy for the Hoosier state line.
  • Includes an overall two percent increase for higher education over the biennium.
  • Budget allocations were based on how much agencies actually spent last year, as opposed to how much was appropriated.

Indiana House Republicans are moving forward with a  measure that calls on school districts to spend 85 percent of their operational expenses on classroom instruction.