GOP State Senator Vaneta Becker “[goes] off on education funding”, calls school choice program “voucher expansion tool for rich to educate their kids for free”
Indiana Coalition for Public Education: Every Indiana public school is losing money because of vouchers
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today called out the Indiana Republican Party for passing two budgets in the Indiana General Assembly that bolster an unregulated and dangerous school choice system at the expense of Indiana’s public schools, educators, and the future of our students. Regardless of what the final figure will read in about a week, every single one of Indiana’s public schools will lose money due to the state paying for a separate education system. The Republicans’ plan is so tone deaf that even GOP State Senator Vaneta Becker publicly condemned her own Party’s extreme partisanship.
Attacks on Indiana’s public schools is just another chapter in the INGOP’s opposition to the state’s public education system. Not only have they consistently chipped away funding from classrooms, but Indiana Republicans like Governor Eric Holcomb refuse to even give teachers a much-needed pay increase. This partisan-first agenda doesn’t set up Hoosier kids for success.
“Indiana Republicans will try to claim they are providing a ‘full investment’ in Indiana’s education system at the end of session, but what they really mean is that their political pet project — an unregulated school choice program — will reap all the benefits…and all at the expense of our students and public schools,” said Lauren Ganapini, executive director for the Indiana Democratic Party. “Hoosiers deserve better opportunities, not to be used as policy test subjects for Republicans in Washington, D.C. Indiana Democrats are ready to put away the politics and the rhetoric by getting things done for our families — because the future of our state and our kids literally depend on it.”
The Indiana Republcian Party’s irresponsible partisanship has gotten out of hand, and it’s harming Indiana’s future in the process. From an agenda that amounts to bullying in Indiana General Assembly to voting against the American Rescue Plan and hard-working families in Washington, Hoosier Republicans have made it abundantly clear they don’t want to abide by responsible, fact-based government, but rather, they’ll let an extreme partisan agenda guide them — even if it’s riddled in misinformation and conspiracy theories. It’s an agenda that will cause many Hoosiers to lose trust and support for the Indiana Republican Party overall.
In contrast, the Indiana Democratic Party has checked partisanship at the door to get things done for Hoosier families. Democrats have consistently tried to restore public school funding in the state legislature and believe educators deserve a pay raise. Further, Indiana Democrats have passed the American Rescue Plan, voted for the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and delivered on Indiana House Bill 1006. Hoosiers want a return to responsible government and respectable discourse, and Democrats are ready to step up.
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