An Indiana school corporation was charging an extra $20.00 for every enrolled student to help pay for some of the costs associated with the school. The Indiana Constitution guarantees "tuition shall be without charge, and equally open to all.” The two met head to head in the Indiana Supreme Court and the additional $20 charge was declared unconstitutional.

The case is Nagy v. Evansville-Vanderburgh Sch. Corp. It is an interesting case to read and the nature of free tuition in Indiana is fully examined. I implore any readers who live and deal with Indiana schools to read it. The history of Indiana's schools is quite fascinating. The court concluded that "shall be without charge" means something other than "free." However, the activity charge did violate the "without charge" provision. The court found:

However, absent specific statutory authority, fees or charges for what are otherwise public education cost items cannot be levied directly or indirectly against students or their parents. Only programs, activities, projects, services or curricula that are outside of or expand upon those identified by the legislature—what we understand to be “extracurricular”—may be considered as not a part of a publicly-funded education. And thus a reasonable fee may be assessed, but only against those students who participate in or take advantage of them.

It seems then, that charges for anything that is provided for as part of the public education curriculum, shall be publicly provided. I would assume this includes fees for textbook charges and science supplies and drafting equipment and so on. However charges can be assessed for extracurricular activities.

Look for schools, then, to shift the money after this case from that which is presently being provided for any extracurriculars to the general education funds. Then, the schools will charge fees for every extracurricular activity from football to scholar bowl to yearbook to everything else.

It seems there are still some issues for the legislature to address. If schools are going to start charging high prices for extracurriculars, then will everyone still have access to participation? Isn't after school activities just part of the school experience? It is hard to imagine elementary school without thinking of the times I spent having fun with friends in after school activities. The Indiana Court has weighed in, now it is up to the Indiana Legislature and legislatures around the country to provide for extracurricular funding as well.