1. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: "an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who ... exemplified ... the most disagreeable traits of his time" (David Cannadine).
2. Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf.
A Loyal Opposition has been telling you for weeks that Governor Mitch Daniels intends to cut public education. For months he has dribbled out funding cuts always with the promise that he was doing everything he could to not cut education, but he has always known that he would have to cut education or dip into his surplus.
It's spelled d-i-s-i-n-g-e-n-u-o-u-s.
The governor hasn't been forthcoming. He hasn't told Hoosiers this from the start because he wants Hoosiers to think it is his last resort and that he had no intention of ever cutting education. He has put together this slow movement towards what he knew was inevitable so he could make it look like his hands were tied even when he has long been a proponent of getting the state out of the business of schooling.
In today's Indianapolis Star he continues to pump out his party line:
Schools must slash spending by at least 3 percent - about $300 million statewide - under emergency budget cuts that Gov. Mitch Daniels called a necessary "last resort."
The State Board of Education will meet Thursday, and Daniels said he wants recommendations on his desk by Friday on how to make the cuts without laying off classroom teachers or increasing class sizes.
The governor said the decision was forced by continued shortfalls in state tax collections and a new revenue forecast, delivered just before his announcement Tuesday, that projects Indiana will take in $1.8 billion less in revenue during the next year than expected only six months ago.
The Superintendent of Education in the state of Indiana, Tony Bennett, along with Governor Mitch Daniels, want to de-professionalize the teaching profession in the name of U.S. Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan's Race to the Top funding plan.
Bennett, through his proposed Rules for Educator Preparation and Accountability (REPA), wants to tie teacher evaluation, retention, and licensing to student test scores. No longer would teachers be required to meet professional standards, no longer would they be required to continue professional development, and one person, one school principal who may or may not have an educational background, will decide whether or not a teacher gets to keep a state license.
This is WRONG. Bennett must be stopped.
Bennett had this to say about today's release of the final application procedures for Race to the Top funds:
"In Indiana, we are eager to compete for the historic funding available under the Race to the Top. This competition catches us mid-stride in bold education-reform efforts that align well with the grant's criteria. Our application will be aggressive and comprehensive, designed in collaboration with schools, communities and leaders around the state.
"Our reform efforts already under way closely mirror the pillars of Race to the Top, because they have been crafted with the goals of increasing accountability, freedom and competition in our schools to increase students' academic achievement. Securing funding for our state will only increase the scope and speed of change for Hoosier students.
"For this reason, I am disappointed in the USDOE's choice to set target amounts for specific states, capping the funding for states regardless of their approach and commitment to reform. It's my belief that America's students would benefit more from Race to the Top if the quality, aggressiveness, and comprehensiveness of states' reform plans determine the funding amount.
"For Indiana, Race to the Top isn't about securing more funds; it's about accelerating reform. I am committed to ensuring Indiana's application secures our position as a national leader in education reforms that will help us reach our common goal - outstanding achievement for all Indiana's students."
Bennett is spewing a bunch of baloney.
First of all, this plan was conceived and drafted by Bennett and his conservative ilk and does not have the widespread support of professional educators across Indiana.
Secondly, Bennett's claim that his proposals "mirror" Race to the Top ideals is just plain garbage. They go far beyond funding requirements and are a blatant attempt to take away collective bargaining rights from Indiana teachers: in fact, there are going to be coordinated efforts in the Indiana state house to pass just such legislation, to break teachers' unions in Indiana.
Lastly, Bennett's disappointment is merely his veiled conservativism showing through, and when he speaks of "reform" he is really talking about taking away local control of schools and continuing Mitch Daniels' legacy of union-busting. The application and disbursement rules announced today insist that state teachers' unions be on-board with the states' applications; at present, this is NOT the case, though Bennett plans to push his "reform" down local schools' throats, changing rules in committee as much as possible without legislative changes to Indiana Code.
Bennett attempted to push his plans through last summer, when most teachers are out of the classroom. After an outcry, public comment period was delayed until school was in session; still, Bennett is scheduling sessions during the week when teachers are in the classroom and not able to express in numbers their opposition to his plans.
The Indiana State Teachers Association had this to say about Bennett's proposed rule changes:
November 3, 2009
Dear ISTA Member,
Thanks for the activism on the part of those of you who submitted comments online or attended and testified at one of the recent REPA hearings. By our count, more than 600 members took time off from school to attend one of the 10 a.m. hearings. We know that thousands of you also took the time to email your comments to Dr. Bennett and members of the Division of Professional Standards Advisory Board. We hope that the volume and quality of the testimony and comments alter the thinking and decision making of Dr. Bennett and the Board regarding teacher relicensure.
I also wanted to let you know that this morning I attended the Indiana Education Roundtable meeting co-chaired by Gov. Daniels and Dr. Bennett. Topics of discussion at today's meeting included:
* Elimination of tenure and seniority, meaning that every teacher would only be issued a one-year license;
* Evaluation of teachers by student test scores;
* Pay based on those evaluations;
* School choice;
* Teacher licensure retention tied to passing a test;
* Allowing multiple and non-traditional paths to become a licensed educator;
* Elimination of collective bargaining in Indiana.
When given the opportunity, I spoke to the Roundtable on behalf of all of Indiana's dedicated public educators.
After sitting through today's Roundtable meeting, I believe the groundwork is being laid for legislative efforts in the upcoming session of the General Assembly that will advance the same agenda that was shared at today's meeting. Once the legislative session starts in early January, I will be calling on you and other supporters of public education to help me as ISTA works to prevent the passage of legislation that will severely undermine the basic tenets of the public education system in our state.
Rest assured that ISTA will continue to monitor all education issues and advocate on behalf of public education, Indiana's students, and you.
Sincerely,
Nate Schnellenberger
The ISTA had posted a statement on August 31st saying that they were trying to work with Bennett on ensuring the continuation of tenure programs and fair teacher licensure, but their language and concern is obviously elevated now as Bennett was openly opposing the union's concerns at the Indiana Educators Roundtable.
With the NEA, they have an action alert page set up to alert your state legislators of concerns regarding Bennett's plans. Please take the time to contact your legislators and let them know that school reform, particularly regarding teaching licensure and professional standards, should not be rushed through, and that Tony Bennett's plans are NOT good for the state of Indiana.
With the recession adding to anxiety over rising college costs, Sen. Luke Kenley wants public universities to justify their recently announced tuition increases.
Kenley, R-Noblesville, has asked university officials to come before his State Budget Committee, a bipartisan panel made up of legislators and the state budget director, Tuesday.
The senator admits the committee he chairs has no power to change tuition increases already approved by the universities. The most it could do, he said, is ask the colleges to reconsider.
The cost of a college education has skyrocketed even as the need for a two- or four-year degree has increased across the board for Americans. The result will be a underdeveloped workforce with those who actually attend post-secondary institutions so overwhelmed with debt as to make the whole process unsustainable.
For most state schools, the increases have been in the mid-single digits, but for some -- such as my current home at IU School of Law -- the jumps have been as high as 25%.
(For what it's worth, the jump at my fine place of learning as more to do with marketing than money, methinks.)
Maybe we can chalk this up to a nuanced answer being lost in translation, but if this is even close to what Governor Daniels said yesterday in Lafayette, I only hope someone laughed out loud.
"I didn't hear any concerns about the effect of the tax cap, but, except the concern of tax payers that somebody might take it away from them. And we're doing all we can to make sure that doesn't happen," said Daniels.
Daniels said a property tax cap will help people purchase or keep their home.
Some local school corporations have expressed concerns in the past over the general fund relying on income taxes for funding instead of property taxes because of the cap.
But Daniels said Indiana has the best funded schools in America.
For the record, 2006 figures from the US Census Bureau show Indiana's per-pupil funding falling below the national average, with nearly two-dozen states dedicating greater resources to their local school systems.
Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said maintaining the same level of spending in the education budget is the best way to change the discussion in the state.
"Very few Hoosiers will be able to say they made more in calendar year 2009 than they did in calendar year 2008," he said. "The discussion shouldn't be 'How do we get more money for education?' but 'How do we get more education for our money?' "
In short, making the children of this state get by with less will help us all understand ...uh... something.
Needless to say, the days of Suellen Reed -- and the open independence from gubernatorial control that helped her become a force to be reckoned with across administrations in both parties --are long, long gone.
I've written some additional thoughts yonder, but here's a quick and simple thought: The Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected, not appointed, for a reason. And by all accounts, Bennett -- who had less than two years experience as a superintendent at the county-level -- seems extremely willing to submit to the control of Gov. Daniels and his education agenda. And if the above comment is any indication, the agenda emanating from the Governor's Office isn't always going logically line up with the needs of schools across the state.
Apparently newly-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett has a plan to save troubled Indiana schools. And that plan is him:
The state has had the authority to take over chronically low-performing schools but never has done so, unlike education departments in several other states.
[...]
Bennett hopes a bill that narrowly passed the Republican-controlled Indiana Senate would give him the authority to force changes on schools as early as next year. The bill is now in the Democrat-controlled House. Current law would force him to wait several years and would grant authority over fewer schools.
Under Indiana law, school boards still would have control over schools; Bennett would have broad authority to appoint a team to manage the school or require the district to implement specific recommendations.
I made mention of this elsewhere this morning, but in thinking about the absurdity of the party of local school control advocating for Indianapolis-based management, I think there's another point that deserves repeating.
Talking about school reform is easier than doing it.
Aside from the political issues -- and there will be some, albeit in heavily Democratic areas of the state -- Bennett seems willing to invest his reputation in his ability to quickly, completely, and single-handedly reform schools around the state. While that sounds good on paper, the reality is that by gutting the state education administration, and claiming that "Indy Knows Best," Bennett has effectively put his reputation and political future on the line in the first three months in office.
Bold? Maybe. But failure won't be an option with such lofty rhetoric, and all eyes will be squarely glued to any substantial intervention on the part of the state in local affairs.
Gov. Mitch Daniels may not honestly believe that curse words and spitballs are keeping up Hoosiers at night, but you wouldn't have known it by listening to his State of the State address, which was as strangely heavy on the "get off my lawn!" rhetoric as it was bizarrely light on any talk of economic recovery. Lesley Stedman Weidenbener pointed this much out in her write-up of the remarks:
Throughout his address, Daniels referred often to the economic downturn, calling this a time of "great stress" and "national and even international alarm."
But Democrats said that they were surprised Daniels didn't speak more directly about jobs. He offered no new spending specifically to create jobs.
Instead, he referred to jobs only as he spoke about the need to keep taxes low.
"A state striving for economic greatness should constantly be looking for ways to reduce its burden on workers and enterprise," Daniels said.
Hey, here's a big burden curently facing hundreds of thousands of Hoosier workers: They are unemployed.
Which isn't to say that Daniels didn't discuss a few potentially fruitful ideas last night. Local government reform and redesigning our classrooms are necessary parts of a broad-based campaign to pull Indiana into the 21st Century. But if we arrive there with no public infrastructure, failing local governments, and an unemployment rate of ten percent, I doubt the stunningly low tax rate for businesses is really going to be the talk of the town.
One thing I mentioned last night on Abdul's show that I think bears repeating is the simple fact that Republicans will soon be dealing with the quickly diverging paths of Mitch's ideology and his party's partisanship. A lot of what he did manage to discuss last night -- the good, the bad, and the proverbial ugly -- will not come without a fight on both sides of the aisle. Small government and lower taxes sounds great in theory, but when Republican lawmakers from rural Indiana have to tell their constituencies that half the fire department is getting facing lay-offs and the school system is fundamentally changing, we'll see how many folks are willing to ride around on a motorcycle with the My Man Mitch machine.
It's going to be a very, very interesting session, to say the least.
Governor Mitch Daniels just began speaking, and we can expect a speech heavy on the comparisons to other states. The struggle will be for Daniels to convince individuals from both parties to sign on to a legislative agenda that faces stiff opposition from the left and the right sides of the aisle in both chambers.
I'll have a transcript below the fold, and video as soon as it is posted.
Additional thought: Is it just me, or is Mitch Daniels trying to spectacularly throw school bullies under the bus in the hopes that no one notices he is flat-lining public education funding. Sure, we all hate lawyers -- or at least say we do -- but I'd rather we have a more serious conversation on our financial situation and less focus on backtalk in the classroom.
Video: Watch it here. I'll have some additional thoughts in a little bit.
I'll be watching with interest to see how much incoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett will be immediately cutting from his own budget as the Daniels lackey takes the reins of Indiana's school system.
Incoming state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett told 25 employees this week that they would not have jobs when he officially takes office Monday.
After the reorganization, the department will have fewer positions than it now has, but the number of people fired is not the same as the number of positions being eliminated, Bennett said. Some of the positions will be moved to work more directly with schools, Bennett said.
Bennett and a spokesman said they could not identify the employees who lost jobs or the positions that were affected, in part because Bennett has not officially taken office and does not yet have the power to fire employees.
No one will deny the opportunity for reform in our schools from the top to the bottom. Whether that reform is pursued responsibly is the big question, and with his mentor's hack-and-slash track record preceding his arrival, Bennett has a lot to prove in the wake of Suellen Reed's tenure.
Politics aside, there is no denying that Indiana is facing the prospect of a staggering revenue shortfall. Belts will be tightened, cuts will invariably be made, and the legislative session will see more than its fair share of compromise. All that being said, this is a bit troubling.
Don't be surprised if a two-year state budget Gov. Mitch Daniels plans to propose on Tuesday includes no overall spending increase for public schools.
"Protecting education at today's levels would be a huge achievement when revenues are plummeting or are down significantly," Daniels said last week. "In many states right now, education is being cut, and I mean 2, 4 and 5 percent."
Ah, the standard Daniels response: It could be worse!
But while the "aiming higher" mantra seems to have fallen by the wayside long ago, I think what we're seeing is another lost opportunity to invest in the future. Indiana is hurting right now, and it is due in no small part to the fact that we need a radical redesign of our workforce. That transition won't be easy, and the harsh reality is that it won't be cheap. School reforms will need to be made, but asking the already cash-strapped school systems to make due with less and less is a recipe for disaster, not success.
And besides, Hoosiers seem willing to pay a little more for the next generation.
A new poll has found that Indiana residents are willing to pay higher taxes to finance improvements they'd like state government to carry out.
The Hoosier Poll released today by Ball State University found that by margins ranging from 61 percent to 71 percent, Hoosiers said they'd support higher state taxes if it led to improvements in the state's schools, better health care and stronger environmental protection.
The state took over a large swath of education funding, and with it the responsibility to deal with the inevitable revenue downturns. And while there is no denying that Mitch and the gang are salivating at the chance to cut funding for programs far and wide, now is the time to be spending more, not less on programs to create the workforce of tomorrow.
The rumor mill is churning down here in God's Country as the Dean of IU's School of Law and the President of the University have called a press conference for 1pm today. There are signs up all over the place advertising the event as the law school "making history" or some such. The email blast sent to students and faculty alike simply says this:
Please join us for a historic announcement regarding the future of the Indiana University School of Law-Bloomington.
The announcement, which will include remarks by Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie, Dean Lauren Robel, and others, will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, in the Moot Court Room at the Indiana University School of Law in Bloomington. A reception will follow.
Smart money right now is on a renaming of the school to honor someone who apparently was willing to empty their deep pockets for the benefit of this fine institution.
If nothing else, I think we deserve a proper foosball table for the student lounge.
Pam Hickman is the Democrat running for Indiana House District 87 in Carmel, Zionsville and the northern edge of Marion County. You may find out more about Pam at her website at PamHickman.org and of course, donations are always accepted via ActBlue.
(Cross posted, by me, from Daily Kos, where I post under the user name Randian)
This sort of story, currently running on CNN's website - an experienced and seemingly enlightened teacher being punished by a bunch of prudish, power hungry, yokels - never fails to make me both angry and queasy. It calls to mind other such censorious and irrational cases as the Scopes trial, the burning of Beatles albums by Southern evangelicals in the 60s, and the attempts to keep certain reading materials out of the hands of young people; in fact, that is what this is. I get outraged by seeing idiot mobs getting away with such abuses of power.
Part of the reason for dumbing down in our culture has to do with power being placed in the hands of such entities as the Perry Township School Board, as expressed by Jon Baily, its pasty faced, censorship-legitimizing attorney, and of other such unenlghtened boards across the country. My sympatheties here are absolutely with Connie Heermann and her students. She is clearly a woman of character and integrity, and this school probably doesn't deserve her. I hope that her union will continue to fight for her.
A 27-year veteran of Perry-Meridian, Connie Heerman, faces possible termination for utilizing the "Freedom Writers" approach to teaching which encourages her students to read and fosters acceptance of cultural diversity. Not an approved part of the school's curriculum says the school's administrators. As a consequence, Heerman faces possible termination for insubordination. The Star's Andy Gammil writes:
A Perry Meridian High School teacher's attempt to follow the lessons in the popular movie "Freedom Writers" has ended with her saying she was censored and the district trying to fire her for insubordination.
Connie Heermann, a 27-year teacher, attended training last summer with Erin Gruwell, the California teacher who inspired the movie.
Gruwell has earned fame for sparking excitement in her apathetic students through writing. Heermann hoped to have the same impact at Perry Meridian.
So when Heermann returned from the training, she started talking with Perry Township administrators about using the lessons in her 11th-grade English class and talked of plans to use a book of diary entries from Gruwell's students in her own classroom.
The book, which has been taught in other schools around the country, contains passages with racial slurs and some sexual content. At least one other district - in Howell, Mich. - has seen controversy over using the book . . .
The "Freedom Writers" approach encourages students to write about their own experiences, to reach out to other students of different backgrounds and to work toward a future that includes attending college and taking an active role in their communities . . .
The discussion of the book echoes a debate last year when a School Board member and local ministers protested Perry Meridian's production of the play "Ragtime" because it contained racial slurs.
So, the bottom line is that this teacher, acting on the basis of a motivation to get her kids excited about reading (which she apparenty did successfully), is now pretty much out of a job because of some fears that some parents might be offended by mere "profanity" in a textbook. While she apparently sought (but did not necessarily get) official approval for using this book, she made the decision, as an educator, that the book had a great deal of merit, used it in her writing class, and then got reprimanded for it.
And what this school is missing out is this (taken from the Freedom Writers Foundation).
Following the Rodney King Riots and the O.J. Simpson trial, the mood in our city was unsettling, and on our first day of high school, we had only three things in common: we hated school, we hated our teacher, and we hated each other.
Whether it was official or not, we all knew that we had been written off. Low test scores, juvenile hall, alienation, and racial hostility helped us fit the labels the educational system placed on us: "unteachable," "below average," and "delinquents." Somehow, Ms. G recognized our similarities, and used them to unite us. She gave us books written by teenagers that we could relate to, and it was through these books that we began to realize that if we could relate to a little girl who lived on the other side the world, fifty years before we did, we could certainly relate to each other.
We felt like Anne Frank, trapped in a cage, and identified with the violence in Zlata Filipovic's life. We were so inspired by the stories of Anne and Zlata, that we wrote letters to Miep Gies, and to Zlata, in hopes that they would come to Long Beach and share their stories with us. When Miep visited us, she challenged us to keep Anne's memory alive and "passed the baton" to us. It was then that we decided to begin chronicling our lives.
We began writing anonymous journal entries about the adversities that we faced in our every day lives. We wrote about gangs, immigration, drugs, violence, abuse, death, anorexia, dyslexia, teenage love, weight issues, divorce, suicide, and all the other issues we never had the chance to express before. We discovered that writing is a powerful form of self expression that could help us deal with our past and move forward. Room 203 was like Anne's attic or Zlata's basement, it was our safe haven, where we could cry, laugh, and share our stories without being judged.
We decided to call ourselves the Freedom Writers after learning about the Freedom Riders who fought against segregation during the Civil Rights Movement. When we began writing these entries as a simple English assignment, we had no idea that they would one day be collected and published in a book, The Freedom Writers Diary.
Since graduation, we have kept our promise of trying to change education. We are pursuing our undergraduate and graduate degrees, many of us at California State University, Long Beach, while continuing to share our story and mentor students across the country about what it's like to receive a second chance.
We have created this website because we want to form a community like the one we formed in Room 203, where people feel safe, accepted, and understood. We hope that The Freedom Writers Diary will inspire you to succeed academically, change your community, and share your own story.
Talk about a golden opportunity for some deep, meaningful teaching, lost to an unenlightened community in Indiana!
(Bumped from the user diaries. Interesting stuff, so check out the whole story below the fold. - promoted by Thomas)
During my reading political blogs, I've seen a plethora of diaries railing against the traditional media. Most of them, I'll concede, are right on target. I've done my own share of bemoaning their shortcomings. Happily, this diary focuses on an opportunity to open a productive dialog with one of their more open minded contributors, Jerry Davich.
I've been writing regularly on this Post-Tribune blog site for a few months now, but I'm still unclear on its promise, potential, and practicality.
Since I'm still a relative newcomer to blogging myself, I'm turning to the seasoned veterans here to help me clarify the power of the NetNation in response to this sincere disclosure.
After reading through MfM's rundown on gubernatorial candidate Jim Schellinger's plan for higher education this morning, I started my usual routine of news site rummaging. And what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature Guv and a new set of super-duper talking points!
Gov. Mitch Daniels wants the state to help bankroll the first two years of college for Hoosier families struggling to pay tuition.
The governor doesn't know how the state will pay for the plan, which he said would provide $6,000, the equivalent of two years of tuition at Ivy Tech Community College.
[...]
"The careers of tomorrow will require training beyond that which is available in high schools today," Daniels said, noting college tuition has risen 21/2 times faster than Hoosier incomes.
Hey, not a bad idea. The cost of higher education is skyrocketing for Hoosier families. If only we had known about this problem sooner...
Mitch Daniels on July 13, 2004 -- Railing against Governor Kernan for not doing anything to address college affordabiliy:
Marc Lotter, a spokesman for the Daniels campaign, said Indiana's college affordability problem did not surface overnight, and he contended it has worsened during the past eight years. Kernan was lieutenant governor for seven years before he was sworn into office last September after Gov. Frank O'Bannon's death.
"The answer starts with universities controlling spending, but the real solution is reversing Indiana's economic decline and raising the income levels of everyday Hoosiers," Lotter said.
Mitch Daniels on September 2, 2004 -- In response to the issue of capping tuition increases:
Daniels' deputy campaign manager, Ellen Whitt, said even a limit of 4 percent increases might be too much.
"We need a harder look at the costs and efficiencies of Indiana's universities, which this administration has failed to do," Whitt said.
Mitch Daniels the candidate was a big fan of talking the talk when it came to providing every Indiana student the opportunity to have an affordable post-secondary option, but he hasn't even raised a finger over the last four years to address any of the big issues facing the hardworking families across this state.
Now he wants to throw up a policy band-aid, release a few balloons, and tell us that he's back to the warm, caring guy we saw on the campaign trail four years ago? Handing out some money in an election year won't do anything if tuition rates continue to climb at such ridiculous rates. We need a governor who realizes this.
From an email sent out by Central Indiana Jobs with Justice:
The Indiana General Assembly may change the property tax "circuit breaker." Yes, Indiana needs property tax relief, but the proposed caps mean that 38 school districts will lose $1 million or more each year - as much as 40% of their annual budget -- while other districts lose nothing. Urban school districts serving a high percentage of poor children will be hurt by the circuit breaker change more than others.
We already have a resource gap between the wealthy and poor school districts in Indiana; the circuit breaker change will make that gap even worse.
If you believe in kids . . .
If you believe in the power of public schools . . .
If you support equal opportunities to have a quality education . . .
Join us
Tuesday, February 19, 2 p.m.
Statehouse Rotunda
Indianapolis
RALLY DETAILS
The rally starts at 2 p.m.
Allow enough time to park and to go through security.
Superintendent Suellen Reed has long been one of the most popular elected officials in the state. Currently enjoying her fourth term in office, Reed has made a name for herself through her general unwillingness to get involved in the partisan bickering that often characterizes what comes out of the statehouse. This has occasionally put her at odds with her GOP cohorts, but as Democratic Rep. Greg Porter is quoted in today's Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, "Dr. Reed has never played politics with children."
At Wednesday night's Lincoln Day Dinner in Whitley County, Daniels introduced [Tony] Bennett as the person who will likely be the next superintendent of public instruction in Indiana.
Bennett told the Louisville Courier-Journal in January that he is running for the position on the Republican side. He has been the superintendent for the Greater Clark County Schools district for less than a year.
Daniels' statement either indicates he is endorsing a rookie against a veteran or that fellow Republican Reed will not seek a fifth term.
Reed appeared disappointed when told about Daniels' quip Thursday and said she hopes to make a decision in the next week on a re-election bid.
"I'm considering all the possibilities and options," she said.
Interesting stuff, to say the least.
I've heard rumors for the last few weeks that Daniels and the Republican heavy-hitters are pushing hard for Bennett's candidacy. A campaign website is being designed as we speak, and the list of people helping to steer the inexperienced Bennett includes such GOP stalwarts as Bob Grand.
The question remains: Why?
Perhaps Suellen Reed really isn't planning on running for another term. But in some ways, I think we may be watching a much more calculated move on the part of a Governor who clearly has big plans regarding educational reform in this state. If he knows for a fact that Reed isn't likely to support whatever policy shift he plans on pushing, his maneuvering may be pretty easy to explain.
There was a lot of column space this morning dedicated to the current debate over property tax restructuring and school spending. With the final legislative committee hearings being held over the next week or so, it seems characteristically late to begin these critical discussions, but I suppose the General Assembly is what the General Assembly is.
For those of you who are still a little confused about the controversy, the South Bend Tribune provides another overview of the debate. The long and the short of it, financially speaking, boils down to this:
School systems would lose a projected $173 million statewide in 2009 and $171 million in 2010 if the property tax caps are enacted. The circuit breakers caps would be 1 percent for residential properties, 2 percent for rentals and 3 percent on businesses.
Up until this point, the argument has stood that many school systems across the state have dedicated millions of dollars to frivolous building projects, and the "Taj Mahal" rhetoric has served its users well.
Respected tax expert Larry DeBoer has a different picture to pain, though, and he thinks the reality of the current tax restructuring may be more troubling than legislators are willing to admit. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette opines:
"There's an awful lot of the talk of why school debt service is growing so fast," DeBoer said in a recent Webcast presentation to school and government officials. "People have pointed to large football fields and natatoriums - I've heard several times someone builds a football field with an elevator to the press box. ... The referendum requirement is a response to that."
But those "Taj Mahal" projects, as they have become known, are the exception rather than the rule. Replacing the current remonstrance-petition check on building projects with a referendum seems inevitable at this point, particularly given the fact that 40 other states have an automatic referendum on bond issues.
But it's important for lawmakers to know the whole story because of other proposed changes in tax policy. The circuit-breaker measure that caps a homeowner's property-tax bill at 1 percent includes no relief valve for schools and local government. The tax credit for the property owner is simply lost revenue. For schools, that means about $170 million statewide next year - all of it lost from capital projects and other levy-supported funds left after the state picks up the balance of the general fund and transportation costs.
Despite the lobbying of many school systems, I'm not aware of much movement to address these concerns. My view is simply that if you want to reform the educational process across the state, you should do so with a bill specifically designed to address the problems you see. Simply slashing budgets and telling local school systems to figure out the rest seems a bit haphazard, especially when done so in the name of a "tax relief" plan a la election year.
Oh, and the "cookie cutter" school plan didn't exactly wow me over to begin with, but this admittedly-biased piece raises a few more questions I would want answered before we embark on that little escapade. Specifically, this one:
In 2006, only eight new schools were built in the state. Yet, lawmakers want to establish a new bureaucracy to create stock designs when only a few districts are considering building.
I've been blockquoting the hell out of any and all stories which bring into question the proposed referendum system, so I think it's only fair to provide you with this morning's Star editorial in support of the full referendum powers.
Why scrap the remonstrance system? For starters, taxpayer review is not automatic now. It's up to opponents to file a remonstrance. They then must compete with the school district to collect residents' signatures. Individual opponents must organize themselves and devote their own time and energy in order to have a say on how their tax dollars are spent. The current system, in short, favors school districts over ordinary taxpayers.
Would adopting a referendum system mean that school construction would grind to a halt? Not at all. Other states have achieved a balance between public oversight and educational needs. But requiring referendums would create a more transparent process and force educators to frame compelling arguments for construction projects. If taxpayers decide they want to underwrite high school swimming pools and multimillion-dollar football stadiums, they still could. And, in fact, residents' buy-in to such projects would be stronger if approved through a public vote.
The Indiana House last week approved a limited referendum system as part of its property tax reform bill. The Senate should restore the bill's original language, calling for a public vote on all major capital projects.
Will I be heartbroken if the referendum process goes through? Of course not. In my heart of hearts, I'm a democratic Democrat.
At the same time, my concerns are still there, and no amount of editorializing is likely to make them go away.
With numerous cities across the state already opting for hybrid buses in their public transportation systems, it was only a matter of time before school districts began to look at these cleaner, cost-effective alternatives to the traditional yellow giants. An Indiana-based company appears to have perfected a retro-fitted option for schools looking to upgrade their existing fleet into the 21st century, and the first few examples should be rolling off of the line soon enough.
A new hybrid school bus can cost up to $200,000. Union City-based Productive Concepts' approach adds about $30,000 to the cost of an $80,000 to $90,000 bus.
[...]
Lykins' company plans to retrofit buses by installing three components: a control system, an electric motor and an ultracapacitor. These devices capture kinetic energy from the bus's brakes and use it to power the engine.
The bus's diesel engine remains on all the time but idles at low speeds while the electric motor powers the vehicle. When the bus hits a speed too high for the electric motor or exhausts the stored energy, the diesel engine seamlessly takes over.
Such a system can reduce a bus's fuel consumption by 25 to 30 percent and cut maintenance costs for brakes by half.
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