Indiana may be a textbook example of legislative meddling in education. Every legislator went to school (presumably), so they all know how to solve education problems. Certainly, they would not allow educators to be involved in such weighty matters!
At the top of their agenda is their determination to eliminate State Superintendent Glenda Ritz’s job, even though she still has the title. They seem sure to pass bills that removes all authority from her elected position and transfers it to the state board of education, which was appointed by Governor Mike Pence. They are also intent on passing legislation to cripple teachers’ unions. Although they repealed the Common Core adoption in the last session, they have not yet decided what to do about new standards and assessments. This would normally be an issue that would be resolved by the State Superintendent and the Department of Education, but the Indiana legislature has decided to make these decisions by themselves.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Every single person in Indiana, even those who voted against Ritz, need to be up in arms about this. It’s not about partisan politics, it’s about democracy, of which we have precious little left as it is.
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Arg. *needs* to be. Yes, my teachers did teach me subject-verb agreement.
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I hate to admit that I live in Indiana. This is unconscionable. AND education is only one of the issues. I have written to our legislators but have no belief that it will change anything. We seem to be digging a deeper and deeper hole from which it will be difficult if not impossible to dig our way out of.
TRAGIC!!!
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HERE IS A COPY OF THE LETTER I HAVE SENT TO EACH OF THE HOUSE EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
To: Indiana House Education Committee
RE: HB 1638 & 1009
Dear Representative,
I was shocked to see that you are considering bills HB 1638 & HB 1009 that encourages public schools to be replaced by charter schools or other schools for profit. I am a retired music teacher and know very well what is happening to education in the name of ‘education reform’. These bills go against the pubic good. No one has talked about closer scrutiny to determine whether Indiana is spending its education dollars on high-quality charter or private schools. In some cases, yes– but not all. Having more charters doesn’t recognize the scope of the problem affecting children nor does it offer any improvement over the current status quo.
There is no statistic that proves charter schools are capable of doing a superior job. If they have better test scores, it is because they are able to select their student population by eliminating those who are discipline problems, non-English speakers or students who are in some way disabled. The real reason that students don’t achieve is from the stress of poverty. Addressing that fact is more difficult than blaming public schools for failure.
We need to give children in poverty level schools a meaningful education. That means quality teachers, small class sizes up-to-date equipment and, if we’re serious, provide things that overcome the damages of poverty. We have to meet their health needs, their mental health needs, after-school programs, summer programs, parent engagement and early-childhood services.
Research shows that students who are low income spend less time in school due to economic factors such as lack of transportation and insufficient clothing. Nearly half of U.S. children have gone through a traumatic experience like exposure to violence, economic hardship, family discord or mental health and substance abuse. Those kids were twice as likely as their peers to have a chronic condition and special health needs. And they were 2.5 times more likely to repeat grades in school.
Statewide, “about 15.7 percent of Hoosiers, or a little over 1 million people, don’t know where they’ll get their next meal,” said Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry Inc., based in Indianapolis. It often comes down to a choice between buying necessities or buying food. This fact causes problems in learning for poverty students who come to school hungry.
HB 1009 fast tracks school takeover with minimum staff and very short time frames, and leaves employees without bargaining rights and due process. This is not the way to attract our best and brightest teachers. Teachers are leaving education because of of the stress caused by poor working conditions, lack of support and no due process for grievances.
These proposed bills will not solve any education problems. Please listen to the will of your constituents.
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They have their fingers in their ears and are singing la-la-la as loud as they can. 😦
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Sadly, there will be few who are or will be up in arms over this issue. Citizens United and the free flow of copious amounts of right wing PAC money that came in during the 2014 Indiana campaign cycle has made the climate here absolutely toxic to any candidate or organization outside of the extremest right.
By associating virtually every non-GOP candidate with the sitting POTUS and the Affordable Healthcare Act (both hugely unpopular with rednecks, bigots, and small-minded business-types here) and prodding those who just don’t stay informed, ALEC/Koch Bros. bought themselves an election. We’re sort of a miniature version of what happened at the national level. But at least at the national level, there is still a wisp of checks and balances and many other states haven’t reached the extreme that is Indiana today.
Pay very close attention to what happens here. Indiana is the poster child for purchasing a state government. We are a test case. I am a laboratory animal. The G.O.P. leadership is performing vivisection on education here. There are zero checks and balances. The concept of “Do no harm” is inapplicable. It’s like a slasher film trailer:”Coming soon to your hometown in Technicolor!” Repeating “it’s only a movie” won’t make it go away.There is no negotiation with their ilk. There will be no survivors.
It’s most likely too late for a generation of students here. If you live here, get out. If you you are faced with a move or a transfer here, look elsewhere. If you see this coming to your state, do what you can to slow the infection and be prepared for a helluva rough ride ahead. Expose the hydra whenever you can.
As for me, retirement can’t come soon enough. Three years and adios! I’m not sure where my wife and I will land, but I intend to vacate myself from this backward thinking haven for Fascists and Doninionists.
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That would be “Dominionists.” My spelling suffers when I’m under stress…
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My spelling, grammar, syntax, and other writing mechanics look awful when I post here — I get so mad I don’t see red, I see purple.
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And you are spot on with your analysis of Indiana’s politics.
Somewhere recently I read a remark which is somewhat unkind but has a biting truth to it: “Indiana is the middle finger of the south” (with apologies to my friends to the south).
Geographically, it looks exactly this way, surrounded by Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio where, for many years, politics leaned left due to the large metropolitan manufacturing areas and the associated unions.
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Bilgewater,
Do you have a blog where you can be contacted?
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No I do not. Too busy with school to have extra time for blog writing…but I enjoy this one. As you might guess from my post below, I live in “Michiana” (Notre Dame / South Bend area).
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I agree with much of what you wrote. However, to say that only bigots rednecks, and small minded people have a problem with the Affordable Healthcare Act is a little narrow minded in scope and makes you sound like a bigot of sort. I am neither of the above, and I do not agree with what is nothing more than a mandatory tax on the American people. There is nothing affordable about the ACA. Obamacare was rolled out via deceptive practices and the things we were told about it were flat out lies. Most of the plans have deductibles between ten and twenty thousand dollars before anything meaningful is covered. Does that sound affordable to you? Again, if the Affordable Healthcare Act is so wonderful, then why are our elected leaders exempt from the mandate? I suggest you research the Affordable Healthcare Act thoroughly and you will find that it is nothing more than a huge windfall for insurance companies. Talk to Doctors and they will also tell you the same as they are one of the major players getting screwed by this terrible law. Now in respect to education, you have to see that today, both parties are as equally bad when it comes to Public School policy. Obama gave you NCLB on steroids and Hillary will do the same; yet you only mention Republicans in your post above. Why the free pass? Clinton signed NAFTA and sent in motion the disappearance of millions of high paying jobs and now Obama will sign the Trans Pacific Partnership which will exacerbate the demise of our economy. It is time for many to realize that regardless of party affiliation you are essentially forced into one of two choices; both of which will yield the same end result and both of which answer only to one master (Corporations). You can leave Indiana, but unless you leave the United States altogether you will find much of the same. Ten years ago it would have been unconscionable to think what would happen to Public Schools and Unions in traditionally blue States. Yet today, those States resemble States in the South. Where were the Dems? They were too busy accepting cash from the very people who are trying to screw ninety nine percent of the American Public! Welcome to the Corporate Fascist State people!
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Here’s a little game you can play. Read an ed reformers Twitter feed and try to find a positive mention of a public school.
Here’s Jeb Bush but I admit he’s an easy win 🙂
Not only won’t you find a positive mention of a public school, you won’t
find public schools mentioned at all. it’s as if public schools no longer exist.
They’ve effectively disappeared the schools that educate the vast majority of US children.
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There is something going on here — NOT the general “blah blah blah” from the GOP controlled Indiana State School Board. 50% enrollment in Indiana teacher training programs — that is the average enrollment lost in the last ten years. Why, now, is the state school board so interested in “lowering the standards” to be a teacher due to required test scores? Did they finally do the math and figure out the critical teacher shortage is here — right now? We need to pay attention to this — they don’t go against all the rhetoric and policy without some sort of agenda.
http://www.wthr.com/story/28024898/board-of-education-votes-to-lower-passing-score-for-teacher-exams
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A little off topic but perhaps a little on-topic….
On Thursday, February 19, the movie “RISE ABOVE THE MARK” will be shown FREE OF CHARGE at the Lerner Theater in downtown Elkhart, Indiana (6:00 – 8:00 PM, doors open at 5:00).
The movie will be followed by a panel discussion (sponsored by the Elkhart Teachers Association and Elkhart Community Schools).
One of Indiana’s state legislators lives in an adjoining school district and one of my colleagues plans to invite him because they have ties outside the school. If we can reach more of the local legislators and invite them to the showing, we might be getting somewhere.
Lerner Theater is a major landmark in Elkhart (back in the 1970’s it was named “The Elco”) and easy to find in downtown on Main Street (East side of street; parking lot just north at the next block after a right turn). Address is 410 South Main Street, Elkhart, IN 46516
Phone:(574) 293-4469
Thank you, Dr. Ravitch, for being a part of this excellent movie, which was produced right here in Indiana. (Other contributors interviewed in the movie include Dr. Pasi Salberg of Finland, Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, and columnist Karen Francisco of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
“Rise Above The Mark, narrated by actor Peter Coyote (E. T., Erin Brockovich, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History) gives a glimpse inside America’s classrooms and the struggles teachers and students experience as increased legislation, standardized testing, and the subsequent elimination of the arts create rote learning and heartbreaking time constraints. Few hours remain in the school day for creative instruction and individualized study.
Rise Above The Mark is a documentary for parents, teachers, school administrators, and taxpayers who care about providing a quality education for all students. Rise Above The Mark sparks a much-needed conversation.”
(See https://riseabovethemark.com/about)
The documentary movie “RISE ABOVE THE MARK” can be purchased online. I saw a link by which the owner of this movie can get permission to show it publicly. (https://riseabovethemark.com/buy)
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Reblogged this on Dolphin.
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The number of political agendas is staggering. All of them are concerned with money and power, which is even more money. The only ones with no agenda are the teachers who only want to help kids but become political whipping posts for their very lack of agenda. See the blogspot of w.d. Haverstock (my agenda) for more on this from a real teacher with nothing to lose.
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Oh, I suspect they would allow TRUE “educators” to be involved in such weighty matters without much problem. So-called “teacher” union hacks, however, who have repeatedly shown that they have virtually nothing to offer but “gimme, gimme” demands are – thankfully! – a different story.
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What’s new? I am a retired teacher from Alabama.It’ not a pattern with these legislative bodies.Wish teachers all throughout the U.S. could politely hand over the classrooms to the politicians for a day without any assistance, I mean any and then see what medication of choice they would need or just realize they need to get off their thrones.
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