Ft. Wayne poised to pass Indy in public school enrollments next year

As Indy parents continue to exercise choice by moving out of the district-- at least those with the means to afford it...

From Indy Channel 6 (hat tip: C-J)...

Indianapolis Public Schools lost more than 900 students from last school year, putting it within 800 students of falling behind Fort Wayne's school district as the state's largest....IPS officials had hoped that last year's 3 percent decline would remain steady...a temporary lull in a long slide as more families move to the suburbs.

It's not odd for them to have that "hope", but it'd be odd for them to have that expectation.

The state uses the enrollment figures to determine how much money each district gets in its general fund. Typically, IPS gets $8,000 per student and $11,000 per special education student, who make up 20 percent of the student population.

This implies that these are the monies from the state, rather than all of the monies received by the district. Since special education is defined so widely, it's difficult to have any sense whether the premium in the subsidy for those students is appropriate.

"Unfortunately, less money means less programs," said IPS spokeswoman Mary Louise Bewley. "We're going to have to take a hard look at how much money we will get, what kind of programs we must offer our children and what may end up on the chopping block."

Less total money is not the same as lower per-student spending (the larger issue)-- which would be unchanged (or perhaps higher) with declining enrollments. (Does she not know this or is she trying to play a political card.) That said, one might expect fewer programs with fewer students and less money-- IF they are, now, suddenly unable to take advantage of previous economies of scale.