Archives for category: Indiana

Indiana: GOP Plan to Privatizatize Public Schools Revealed

By dianeravitch

November 6, 2013 //

There is a pattern on the rug.

First, you silence the teachers’ unions.

Then, you strip teachers of tenure, ie, any job protection, to keep them fearful.

Along the way, you keep saying that the public schools are broken, failing, obsolete.

Keep demonizing teachers.

Destroy public confidence in public schools.

That clears the way to hand public money to private corporations. That opens the door to for- profit schools.

As Randi says in this article, “Follow the Money.”

Here is how it happened in Indiana.

There was a snag in the plan when the voters turned out privatizer-in-chief Tony Bennett and elected Glenda Ritz, who polled more votes than the governor.

Since then, Tony Bennett was hired by Florida but resigned because of a grade-fixing scandal back home in Indiana. And Governor Mike Pence has set out to strip the job of Commissioner of Education of all its powers, to sneer at the voters and keep the destruction of public education on track.

Categories Charter Schools, Indiana, Privatization, Unions

A High-Stakes Exam for the People of Indiana

By dianeravitch

November 2, 2013 //

Cindi Pastore created this multiple-choice exam for the people of Infiana.

It illustrates the current crazy situation there. Glenda Ritz won a startling upset victory last fall, winning more votes than Governor Pence. Yet Governor Pence has worked unceasingly to dilute Ritz’s authority and render her powerless to carry out her official duties. He and the unelected state board are thwarting her so they can continue to privatize education in the state of Indiana.

Here is the test:

An Eight Question High Stakes Test for Governor Pence, Brian Bosma, David Long, and Members of the State Board of Education

1. Who was elected by an overwhelming majority (roughly 1,300,000) of the voters (many of whom crossed their party lines) of this state to be the Indiana Superintendent of Public Schools?

a. Claire Fiddian-Greene
b. Brian Bosma
c. GLENDA RITZ
d. David Long
e. Mike Pence
f. Any of the appointed Members of the SBOE
g. Daniel Elsener

2. Who campaigned and won on the platform of re-introducing evidenced-based educational methods, policies, and standards including: more teaching and less testing, more local control for implementing standards, safe and respectful schools, high standards for educators, improved vocational education, and reserving public dollars for public schools?

a. Claire Fiddian-Greene
b. Brian Bosma
c. GLENDA RITZ
d. David Long
e. Mike Pence
f. Any of the appointed Members of the SBOE
g. Daniel Elsener

3. Who is a National Board Certified Teacher, holds two masters degrees with licenses to teach elementary, middle and high school in the areas of special education, general education, and library science, and has won both the Teacher of the Year for Washington Township Schools and a Golden Apple Award?

a. Claire Fiddian-Greene
b. Brian Bosma
c. GLENDA RITZ
d. David Long
e. Mike Pence
f. Any of the appointed Members of the SBOE
g. Daniel Elsener

4. Who held a Community Partners School Improvement Summit and started the Hoosier Family of Readers program since beginning her elected job of Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction?

a. Claire Fiddian-Greene
b. Brian Bosma
c. GLENDA RITZ
d. David Long
e. Mike Pence
f. Any of the appointed Members of the SBOE
g. Daniel Elsener

5. Who has been continually thwarted in her attempts to carry out the duties of her office, the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, by a bombardment of politically motivated and unnecessary requests for ill-conceived action and irrelevant information?

a. Claire Fiddian-Greene
b. Brian Bosma
c. GLENDA RITZ
d. David Long
e. Mike Pence
f. Any of the appointed Members of the SBOE
g. Daniel Elsener

6. Who is being hurt by the Governor, the members of the SBOE, and those legislators who are being obstructionist to Superintendent Ritz’ work?
a. The CHILDREN of this state
b. The CHILDREN of this state
c. The CHILDREN of this state
d. The CHILDREN of this state
e. The CHILDREN of this state

7. Whose money is being wasted by the creation by Governor Pence of an agency with an non-elected head, that is essentially an attempt to be a duplication of the Indiana Department of Education?

a. The TAXPAYERS of Indiana
b. The TAXPAYERS of Indiana
c. The TAXPAYERS of Indiana
d. The TAXPAYERS of Indiana
e. The TAXPAYERS of Indiana

8. Who will respond to the bullying of Superintendent Ritz by the Governor, the SBOE board members, and members of the state legislature?
a. The VOTERS in Indiana
b. The VOTERS in Indiana
c. The VOTERS in Indiana
d. The VOTERS in Indiana
e. The VOTERS in Indiana

Answer Key: For each of questions 1-5, the answer is c. For each of questions 6-8, the answers are a,b,c,d, and e.

Grading Scale: A= 8 correct answers F= 0-7 correct answers

Categories Charter Schools, Common Core, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Indiana, Resistance, Vouchers

Indiana: Does the Public Have a Right to Know What Public Officials Do?

By dianeravitch

October 27, 2013 //

State Superintendent of Instruction Glenda Ritz is suing because the state board of education, appointed by Governors Mitch Daniels and Mike Pence, took a vote to strip her of any role on reviewing the A-F grading system when she was not present. She is the chair of the board, by law. The decision was made in secret, without an open meeting.

Indiana Lesley Weidenbrener says the suit raises important questions:

“if a judge decides what the board did is legal, it could set a dangerous precedent for other public groups and may call for legislators to rethink the Open Door Law.

“After all, what would stop city council members from simply circulating a letter to approve a contract for snow removal? Or why couldn’t the Indiana Gaming Commission vote to discipline a blackjack dealer who broke the rules by just emailing the proposed punishment around to members?

“For that matter, why would a board ever really need to meet again at all if the members could take care of business through email?

“Sound extreme? Of course it does. And the action taken by 10 members of the State Board of Education was nothing like approving a contract, spending money or issuing a penalty.

“The members requested that the legislative branch get involved in a Department of Education function. They didn’t even have the authority to demand that lawmakers get involved.

“Still, there’s a reason these types of actions are supposed to take place in public.

“In a democracy, constituents and the media are responsible for holding their elected officials — and often appointed officials — accountable for their actions. That’s tough to do if the public can’t see the actions taking place.

“In addition, most government bodies let the public weigh in before they take action. That won’t happen when the decision is made through an email exchange.

“So this case is one to watch — not just because of the impact it could have on education and state politics. It’s also about the public’s right to know and it could affect every layer of government in Indiana.”

The bottom line is that Governor Mike Pence will go to any extreme–including breaking the law–to strip Ritz of the powers of the office to which she was elected by the people of Indiana.

Categories Indiana

Glenda Ritz Sues Governor Mike Pence for Violating State Constitution

By dianeravitch

October 22, 2013 //

Governor Mike Pence, in his continuing efforts to make sure that the duly elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz is stripped of her constitutional authority as chair of the state board of education, has encouraged the state board to hold secret meetings when Ritz was not present.

At a recent meeting, the Pence board voted to transfer authority over the A-F grading system from the board to the state legislature. This is the same grading system that was created and manipulated by former Superintendent Tony Bennett to protect the charter school of a campaign contributor.

Superintendent Ritz issued the following press release today:

INDIANA SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION GLENDA RITZ FILES SUIT AGAINST GOVERNOR PENCE’S STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Daniel Altman

Press Secretary

daltman@doe.in.gov

INDIANAPOLIS – In response to apparent violations of the Open Door Law by members of the State Board of Education, Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz filed suit today naming ten members of the Board as defendants. The lawsuit alleges that the named members of the State Board violated Indiana’s Open Door Law by taking action in secret by drafting, or directing the drafting of, a letter they sent to President Pro Tempore Long and Speaker Bosma dated October 16, 2013. The suit seeks to prevent the State Board of Education from continued violations of the Open Door Law and declaratory relief.

Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that ten members of the State Board violated Indiana’s Open Door Law when they took action by requesting that Senator Long and Speaker Bosma appoint Indiana’s Legislative Services Agency to perform calculations to determine the 2012-2013 A-F grades for Indiana schools. The suit alleges that no public notice was issued for a meeting that allowed for this action and that Superintendent Ritz was not made aware of this action until after it was taken, despite her role as Chair of the State Board of Education.

“When I was sworn in to office, I took an oath to uphold the laws of the State of Indiana,” said Superintendent Ritz. “I take this oath very seriously and I was dismayed to learn that other members of the State Board have not complied with the requirements of the law. While I respect the commitment and expertise of members of the board individually, I feel they have over-stepped their bounds.

“Since my inauguration, I have worked tirelessly to communicate openly with the Board and the public. I do not take this action lightly, but my obligations as elected state Superintendent require it. I look forward to continuing to work to improve education for all Indiana students in a fair, transparent and collaborative manner.”

The suit is Ritz v. Elsener, et al and it has been filed in the Marion Circuit Court. The cause number is 49C01-1310-PL-038953. The Department of Education is using in-house counsel to avoid any additional costs to the state.

Categories Accountability, Administrators, superintendents, Indiana

Disgrace in Indiana

By dianeravitch

October 18, 2013 //

One of the few certainties to emerge from the intense effort to privatize public education is that giving A-F letter grades to schools is incoherent, punitive, and does nothing to help schools. Former superintendent Tony Bennett, a hard-right ideologue out to destroy public education in Indiana, imported the A-F grading system from his mentor Jeb Bush. No matter where it came from, it is useless.

Bennett resigned his job as state commissioner in Florida after the news broke that he toyed with the A-F to help a charter school founded by a major campaign contributor.

Instead of throwing out this tainted system, the State Board handed responsibilty for it over to the legislature, to further dilute the authority of State Commissioner Glenda Ritz, who beat Tony Bennett.

What a civics lesson for the students I’d Indiana: if you don’t like the winner of the election, carve her job away.

Whatever you do, the reformers believe, pay no attention to research, evidence, experience or election results.

Categories Indiana

Disgrace in Indiana

By dianeravitch

October 18, 2013 //

One of the few certainties to emerge from the intense effort to privatize public education is that giving A-F letter grades to schools is incoherent, punitive, and does nothing to help schools. Former superintendent Tony Bennett, a hard-right ideologue out to destroy public education in Indiana, imported the A-F grading system from his mentor Jeb Bush. No matter where it came from, it is useless.

Bennett resigned his job as state commissioner in Florida after the news broke that he toyed with the A-F to help a charter school founded by a major campaign contributor.

Instead of throwing out this tainted system, the State Board handed responsibilty for it over to the legislature, to further dilute the authority of State Commissioner Glenda Ritz, who beat Tony Bennett.

What a civics lesson for the students I’d Indiana: if you don’t like the winner of the election, carve her job away.

Whatever you do, the reformers believe, pay no attention to research, evidence, experience or election results.

Categories Accountability, Indiana

Indianapolis: Ground Zero for the Privatization Movement

By dianeravitch

October 1, 2013 //

Rod Ellcessor of the Indiana Education Association raises a question: what kind of “new Democrat” wants to eliminate unions and public schools? He writes:

“Diane, unfortunately, we are besieged by the Mind Trust in Indianapolis. Bill Gates’ money is one of the primary sources for the Mind Trust which allows TFA to be placed in the Schools in Indy. As the Director of the Indianapolis Education Association, we are fighting the war with the right wing agenda and the super majorities in our Legislature. As well, our Tea Party Governor is no better. The goal of the Mind Trust is to collapse our Indianapolis Public Schools. The Director of the Mind Trust is David Harris who headed the Charter Schools for the former Indy Mayor Bart Peterson, a “New Democrat.” We have had horrible results with the TFA teachers. In fact, IPS administration came to us not knowing what to do due to their dismal results and discipline. The TFA’s barely last two years and DO NOT join the Union. Indiana has to be ground zero with all of the Charter schools and unrestricted vouchers. As well, we have had our collective bargaining rights diminished to a point that we just meet and confer. Clearly, if we do not follow the advice of Robert Reich and get involved there will be nothing left of Public Education. Thank you for your national leadership and the latest book, “Reign of Error.” I am recommending it to everyone I know and make contact with.”

Categories Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Indiana, Privatization, Teach for America TFA, Unions

Oops! Bennett Left GOP Fundraising Lists on DOE Computers

By dianeravitch

September 16, 2013 //

Former State Superintendent Tony Bennett left detailed fundraising lists on Department of Education computers. Whether he broke the law or was merely careless is under investigation. Meanwhile, the files are public due to a Freedom of Information request by reporter Tom LoBianco of the Associated Press.

Categories Florida, Indiana

Tony Bennett Embroiled in Néw Scandal

By dianeravitch

September 12, 2013 //

The Associated Press reports that Indiana’s former superintendent Tony Bennett may have violated state law by using state offices and staff for political activities.

“INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indiana schools chief Tony Bennett kept multiple campaign databases on Department of Education servers and ordered his staff to dissect a speech by his Democratic opponent for inaccuracies last fall in apparent violations of Indiana election and ethics laws, documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

“Bennett on Wednesday denied instructing his staff to do campaign work and told The Associated Press one of the lists was used to make “thank you calls” on his own time after the election.”

Is this why he was so fast to resign as state commissioner in Florida? It is very puzzling.

Categories Administrators, superintendents, Florida, Indiana

Was Tony Bennett Exonerated?

By dianeravitch

September 11, 2013 //

Rick Hess believes that a report on the Tony Bennett grade-fixing scandal exonerated him. But Indiana parents and friends of public schools don’t agree. Here they explain that no one understood the school grading system and that Bennett was voted out of office because of his policies, not his style.

Somehow I suspect we haven’t heard the end of this matter. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Industry, Indiana, Vouchers