INDIANAPOLIS -
There may be help from the Indiana Statehouse for parents concerned about losing teachers and free school buses to budget cuts.
Franklin Township parents are paying hundreds of dollars to put each child on a school bus, and they don't like it.
Teri Perkins has two children, one of them in school.
"It would be nice to have the $47 a month back to put towards other things," she said.
Parents who can't afford the fees must drive their children to school or let them walk. Another mom, Betsy Welch, told us, "If you are a working parent you really can't take time out to get your kid from school."
Some Indiana legislators want the pay-to-ride policy outlawed. Rep. Mike Speedy is leading the charge.
The Indianapolis Republican told the Senate committee hearing his bill, "The primary reason I'm here and behind this bill is for public safety. I am here to help protect students on their way and home from schools."
Schools in Marion County and across the entire state are affected. Although Franklin's financial crisis is among the most extreme in the state, other schools with similar problems are looking at bus fees as a solution to their situation.
Estimates put one in ten school systems in deep financial trouble. Outlawing transportation fees, superintendents say, may force even more painful cuts.
"They are going to have to cut programs. They are going to have to cut people," said John Ellis, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents.
High debts, property tax caps and falling state funding are squeezing schools. Another proposal making its way through the Statehouse would allow the most troubled districts to more easily refinance their loans, transfer money to where it's needed most, and borrow from the state.
It's a stopgap measure at best for communities trying to keep their buses rolling.
The House voted 92-2 last week in favor of the bill banning such fees. The Senate committee is expected to vote next week on the bill.
