Debate is healthy. Inaction isn’t. With a $40M projected deficit, “nothing changes” isn’t neutral — it’s costly. A quick look at what HB 1423 actually does, and why the status quo isn’t solving the problem.
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Yesterday, the Indiana Senate passed HB 1423, the bill implementing the Indianapolis Local Education Alliance’s recommendations to the General Assembly on facilities, transportation, and long-term financial stability for public schools within IPS boundaries. The debate was spirited and, at times, heated. A number of comments stood out. But one, in particular, stuck with me.
“If this bill dies today, nothing changes.”
Senator Jackson said those words during floor debate. She meant them as encouragement to defeat the bill. But in this moment, they feel more like a warning.
Because “nothing changes” is not a neutral outcome.
Chalkbeat reported this week that IPS anticipates ending the school year with a $40 million cash flow deficit. That is the financial reality. So when we say nothing changes, we are also saying the structural challenges remain, the inequities remain, and the fiscal instability remains. Students live with those consequences.
During debate, there were plenty of sweeping claims about HB 1423. A few are worth setting straight:
CLAIM: Charter students “directly receive” transportation, facilities, and debt service funding.
REALITY: They do not. Charters cannot levy property taxes. They have no local operations fund for transportation, no capital projects fund, and no access to district debt service revenue.
CLAIM: New Orleans is “moving back to the district,” implying that its charter model failed and that communities are retreating from charter schools.
REALITY: That’s not what happened. Governance shifted in 2018 from a state-run recovery district back to the locally elected school board, but the schools remained charter-operated. Today, the vast majority of New Orleans students still attend charter schools. Oversight changed. The charter model did not disappear.
CLAIM: 75% of IPS students are under IPS Board control.
REALITY: The number is closer to 38% of students living within IPS boundaries attending IPS-run schools.
CLAIM: HB 1423 strips board authority.
REALITY: The elected IPS Board retains authority over curriculum, staffing, contracts, and school operations.
CLAIM: Last year’s SB 1 caused IPS’s current financial challenges.
REALITY: Property tax sharing has applied only to growth in assessed value, not existing revenue. No spike in assessed value means no significant shift. SB 1 has had zero impact on IPS’s current budget.
Then there is the math. As Senator Garten put it plainly, “That math doesn’t work.” Since the 2017–18 school year, IPS revenue is up 61 percent while enrollment is down 24 percent. Those numbers do not tell the whole story, but they do tell us that maintaining the status quo is not solving the structural problem.
That is why Senator Mishler’s comment in Appropriations stood out when the bill left committee last week. In supporting it, he said, “This is better than a total state takeover.” That is not partisan rhetoric. It is recognition that action, even debated action, is better than drift.
We can debate policy direction. We can argue about implementation. We can disagree on the approach. But we cannot credibly argue that doing nothing is a responsible option.
If this bill died yesterday, nothing would change. The deficit does not shrink. The inequities do not resolve themselves. The funding structure does not rebalance.
Doing nothing was a decision. It was simply a decision to preserve a system already under significant strain. In a district facing a $40 million cash flow deficit, stagnation is not stability. And it is certainly not a meaningful strategy for students.
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