Daniels: Give old school buildings to charters
Posted: June 18, 2010
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels today called for a law to force public school districts to transfer unused school buildings to charter school startups looking for space.
Daniels said school districts in the state are withholding completely empty buildings from charter schools that are looking for property. Doing so, he said, unnecessarily costs taxpayers money when those charters have to buy or build new schools instead of moving in to the empty ones. Taxpayers paid to build both the empty school and the new charter school.
"People say they should sell them," he said. "Sell them? Hell, they should give them away. The public already paid for them."
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said it's a problem in Indianapolis and that the charter schools he authorizes have been interested in purchasing buildings that are owned by school districts. He would prefer, though, that school districts be willing to sell or transfer the buildings without requiring the legislature to act.
"Maybe not a law," Ballard said, "by maybe a general policy would be better."
A spokeswoman for Indianapolis Public Schools could not immediately be reached today. The district is closed on Fridays during the summer as a cost-saving