Publisher’s Perspective
A bill, co-authored by State Rep. Tony Cook (R-Cicero), seeking to remove publication of school districts’ Annual Performance Reports from newspapers has been sent to the Senate after passing the Indiana House of Representatives.
The Annual School Performance Report is arguably the most important report produced by school districts. The report includes information such as student enrollment, number of certified teachers, teacher salary ranges, attendance rates, A-F ratings, percentages of students passing standardized tests, and school suspensions including suspensions and expulsions for weapons, drugs and alcohol.
If the bill passes the Senate, school districts will only be required to publish a summary of the report with an explanation on how the report can be found on the Department of Education’s website.
I mentioned Cook co-authored the bill; however, the bill was supported by State Representatives Goodrich, Schaibley, Huston and Torr – all represent portions of Hamilton County.
If Cook and the other lawmakers believe placing the report on the DOE’s website will provide for more exposure, I’ll argue they are wrong.
According to the Hoosier State Press Association (HSPA), 3 million adult Hoosiers read newspapers at least once per week. Also, according the HSPA, the Department of Education’s website, where the performance reports are recorded, only received 14,500 unique page views last year. To put that in perspective, the Hamilton County Reporter’s website, which publishes school reports, received 730,664 unique page visits over the last year.
Accessing the report could be troublesome for some internet users.
There are areas of the state that do not have high speed internet, as well as areas without adequate internet service making it difficult to obtain the report.
An older generation of Hoosiers simply do not use the internet and only read print news. This generation of Hoosiers are taxpayers, homeowners and voters, who have spent much of their adult lives engaging in politics and investing in the health of their school districts.
Some low-income Hoosier taxpayers simply can’t afford internet service.
If Cook and the other lawmakers believe there is a significant cost savings in not publishing the report in newspapers, I’ll again argue they are wrong.
The average cost of a school report published last year in the Reporter was $600. Many of those reports were more than a page long. The cost is much less than a business would pay to place the same size ad, and the advertising rate to publish the report is dictated by a state law passed by Indiana lawmakers.
Hamilton County schools are continuously receiving accolades for being some of the best in state. Attracting students to their schools is a competitive process for districts. According to local realtors, people looking to relocate to Hamilton County have used the reports in their decision as to what community they will reside in.
Indiana lawmakers are gradually chipping away at the public’s right to know through their attempts to eliminate public notice advertising. Lawmakers that seek to limit the number of people able to access public notice advertising should be held accountable.
Remember 2020 is an election year, and many of our state representatives have opponents on the primary election ballot.