Universal school choice crosses finish line in Indiana

All Hoosier families will have access to school choice beginning next year after a dramatic conclusion to the 2025 legislative session and the passage of Indiana’s next two-year budget.

Following a marathon session at the Statehouse extending to 1:30 a.m. April 25, the Indiana General Assembly passed a biennial $45 billion budget that Gov. Mike Braun said will “keep Indiana among the top states in the nation to raise a family” and “empower parents to take the lead in their children’s education.” Nearly half of the budget supports K-12 education statewide, including a provision to expand school choice eligibility to 100 percent of Indiana families with no restrictions beginning in the 2026-27 school year.

Advocates for school choice, including the Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC) and its allies, hailed the milestone following years of effort.

“We did it – we got it across the finish line,” said John Elcesser, executive director of the Indiana Non-Public Education Association (INPEA), which represents the state’s more than 400 non-public schools, including Indiana’s 175 Catholic schools. “It took everybody, including principals and families who traveled to Indianapolis to testify in front of committees. This was truly a team effort, and now very soon all families in Indiana will have the ability to choose the school that they believe is the right fit for their child.”

In the last budget year, 2023, the Indiana General Assembly expanded school choice eligibility to 97 percent of families statewide. While advocates celebrated the move to near-universal school choice for Indiana, they continued to point to the administrative burden that has remained for both families and schools to determine income eligibility for participating.

Now, beginning in year two of the new biennial budget, the income cap will be removed entirely on Indiana’s Choice Scholarship Program, more commonly known as the voucher program.

This will allow every Indiana family to take 90 percent of the portion of the state’s budget allotted for their children to attend their local public school and apply it to tuition at a non-public school if they choose, according to Elcesser. At the conclusion of his 18th and final legislative session at the helm of the INPEA, he described the journey to universal school choice as a rollercoaster ride to the end.

While the Indiana House of Representatives had included universal school choice in its proposed budget early in the legislative session, the Indiana Senate did not in its version, amid cost concerns. More recently, the state revenue forecast projected a $2.4 billion budget shortfall for the next three years, further complicating the picture.

“The revenue forecast put a cloud over what we thought we were going to be able to accomplish,” Elcesser said. “But we were still hopeful. We knew we had strong support in the governor’s office and strong support among House leadership. Even with the challenging economic forecast, we were still hearing that the commitment (to universal school choice) was there.”

Ultimately, in the final hours of the legislative session, lawmakers agreed to include universal choice in the budget, although they postponed implementation by one year to save costs. The new biennial budget includes a 2 percent increase in state tuition support across all K-12 education, which will also have a positive impact on school voucher amounts.

“A lot of important items in the budget took cuts, but we are thankful that K-12 education did not,” said Elcesser, whose organization has always emphasized that Indiana needs strong public schools because they educate the majority of the state’s children. “For many years, the General Assembly has said that we fund students, not systems, and the newly passed state budget reflects that.”

The Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC), the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Indiana and a longtime ally of the INPEA, shared in the advocacy efforts to attain universal school choice.

“We believe in parental choice in education,” said Alexander Mingus, executive director of the ICC, in a recent podcast. “It’s a fundamental right that parents have, and the Church has had this understanding for much longer than our modern debates over school choice. Equally so, we also want public schools to thrive because we know that there are countless Catholic and non-Catholic students alike who go to public schools.”

Universal school choice was among numerous priorities for the ICC in the 2025 legislative session.

“Like any session of the Indiana General Assembly, we work to promote the common good and encourage lawmaking that aligns with the moral law,” said Mingus, who just completed his first legislative session at the helm of the ICC. “We are grateful for many good outcomes this session. In addition to reaching universal school choice, we welcome the defeat of expansions to predatory lending and punitive approaches to homelessness and immigration.”

A number of legislative maneuvers aimed at criminalizing homelessness in Indiana ultimately failed at the Statehouse. These efforts, which would have prohibited camping in public spaces and resulted in misdemeanor charges for repeated violations, were backed by a Texas-based think tank that has had legislative successes in other states.  

The ICC and other advocates for the poor had spoken strongly against the many iterations of this legislation and welcomed their defeat in Indiana.

“In these times of economic volatility, the most vulnerable Hoosiers and the community organizations that serve them can sleep a little better knowing their elected officials chose not to force local law enforcement to fine and jail people just for not being able to afford a place to lay their heads,” said Andrew Bradley, senior director of policy and strategy for Prosperity Indiana and a steering committee member for the Hoosier Housing Needs Coalition.

Another measure that had posed concern to the ICC and its allies was House Bill 1174, which would have expanded predatory lending in Indiana. The legislation proposed new loan products with triple-digit annual percentage rates (APRs) – well above the 72 percent APR that Indiana currently considers criminal loansharking.

The ICC had issued an action alert on the bill, urging the Catholic faithful to contact their lawmakers to oppose the measure, which ultimately stalled in the Senate.

“Without further amendments and guardrails, this bill would have exploited the poor, who too often turn to high-interest loans and then become entrapped in a cycle of debt,” said Roarke LaCoursiere, associate director of the ICC. “We are grateful to everyone who reached out to their legislators on this and other issues that have an impact on the most vulnerable people in our state.”

Another victory for the ICC was the defeat of House Bill 1044, which would have legalized the so-called “water cremation” process of alkaline hydrolysis as an additional service that could be offered by the funeral industry in Indiana. Proponents wanted Indiana to become the 29th state to offer this option, which involves dissolution of a deceased body by water and a chemical solution instead of fire.

The ICC was the lone voice of opposition to the bill, with Mingus testifying at the Statehouse about the Catholic Church’s views concerning proper reverence and respect for the deceased and how alkaline hydrolysis did not meet these criteria. The measure passed the House but did not move forward in the Senate.

One measure that the ICC had hoped would advance at the Statehouse was House Bill 1030, which aimed at eradicating capital punishment in Indiana. A Catholic lawmaker, Rep. Bob Morris (R-Fort Wayne), had authored the bill following the first execution carried out by the state of Indiana in 15 years.

The ICC had helped to orchestrate a press briefing highlighting the bill early in the legislative session, bringing together bishops, other advocates and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers.

Despite the measure not moving forward this year, leaders of the ICC expressed hope for increased attention on the death penalty as a pro-life issue in the future, particularly with another state execution scheduled. The Indiana Supreme Court recently set May 20 as an execution date for death row inmate Benjamin Ritchie.

Mingus and LaCoursiere said that the long history of Catholic social teaching will continue to serve as the ICC’s guide on the death penalty and other issues, including the just treatment of migrants and the undocumented population in Indiana.

“The dignity of the human person, so beautifully articulated in 2,000 years of Catholic social doctrine, will always serve as the basis for our position on important issues and legislation in our state,” Mingus said. “We call on the Catholic faithful and all people of good will to join us in speaking for the marginalized and most vulnerable among us.”