As a 1977 graduate of Shortridge High School, I was taught to think critically about the issues facing society. The most important lesson: If you want students to reach the finish line, it will take less time, energy and resources to move the ones who start a mile away than the ones who start two or three miles away.

School systems such as Indianapolis Public Schools, with a disproportionate number of students starting three miles away, will require a disproportionate amount of time, energy and resources.

This also affects how we measure success. Which school is better, the one that moves all its students one mile to the finish line, or the one that moves all its students two miles, but only half of them get to the finish line? As charter, private and suburban schools continue to siphon off the IPS students who start at the one- and two-mile markers, do we really expect IPS to move those three-mile-marker students to the finish line with fewer resources?

It is certainly appropriate to discuss the best way for school districts to use the money they receive, and to question whether it is being spent efficiently. But because needs vary so widely, we cannot use per-student expenditures to determine whether districts are being fairly funded. To do so ignores social and political realities.

Carolyn M. Watkins

Indianapolis