When asked who NC’s rival is, the average student would respond with Carmel High School. NC students are seen decked out at athletic events, screaming in student sections, collectively turning their backs when the opposing team is introduced, and often donning anti-Carmel attire to demonstrate disapproval and hatred to the school.
But the question remains: Why Carmel? Is it genuinely for our passion and support of our amazing teams as we anticipate winning? Or is it because there is an underlying tension that justifies our seemingly self-enforced rivalry?
“I don’t like Carmel. Carmel has unfair economic advantages and they make that clear,” senior Ian Hirschfeld said.
Until 2023, state funding for English language speakers was a flat-line amount of $22 million per year for all non-English speaking students. In 2023, for the first time in decades, the Indiana General Assembly increased funding for this category and incorporated this line item in the education funding formula.
Washington Township has more English speakers than Carmel Clay Schools (CCS). However, for years, the $22 million were distributed across the state based on self-reporting mechanisms that shortchanged school districts like MSDWT compared to CCS.
Property taxes are another source of funding for our schools. School facilities and transportation systems in suburban communities get more funding because of higher home values, which generate higher property taxes. Carmel’s viral TikTok in February of 2023 touring the facility gained millions of views, further establishing itself as a testament to the impacts of property taxes and its direct correlation to academic opportunity.
The final component is the complexity index and special education funding disparities. For decades the state of Indiana has underfunded the most vulnerable students in our schools as made evident by their official School Funding Formula document published for public access. Because of this underfunding, students who are recipients of SNAP, TANF and Foster Youth programs did not receive the necessary resources to close the achievement gap.
“Yes, I believe the tensions are a result of that gap because our teams aren’t even winning that much so we just realize as students we aren’t getting as much. We ask why that is and unite when we can against our opponent, which is why it is basically one-sided” freshman A.J. said.
“We want to beat them so badly and be better than them, and they are only better because they have more money. We want to prove that we can be just as good without the money, and if we try hard enough we can get there” Hirschfeld said.
