ELECTION 2014 - HOOSIER VOICES ENDORSES PRO-PUBLIC EDUCATION CANDIDATES

 

 

If you are keeping up with this years election posts, you have seen many posts supporting candidates from both major political parties, you have read the many reasons why you should or should not support a particular candidate, and you have seen the contributions swell for those who carry their "party's banner" proudly.  Here at Hoosier Voices we put the party affiliations aside as we list endorsements of PRO-PUBLIC Education candidates from across the state.  These candidates are those who we see supporting Hoosier school children by ever means possible if elected to serve in the capacity they have chosen to candidate for.  Please read, research, and VOTE for those in your district or statewide who you see supporting PUBLIC Education and Children on the large scale.  When you vote do so with an informed knowledge that you are electing the best for OUR children. 

 

This is a list of those candidates deemed pro-public education.  We have researched and determined they rise above their opponents in the area of public education support.  Some of these candidates are educators(e) or former educators(fe).  If you have not yet cast your ballot, we encourage you to cast in favor of public education in your district and statewide by voting for these candidates and showing your support for Hoosier children.

 

 

INDIANA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

HD 1:          Linda Lawson

HD 2:          Earl Harris

HD 3:          Charlie Brown

HD 4:   (e)   Deb Porter

HD 6:  (fe)   B. Patrick Bauer

HD 7:          David Niezgodski

HD 8:          Ryan Dvorak

HD 9:          Scott Pelath

HD 10:        Charles “Chuck” Moseley

HD 11:        James Metro

HD 12:        Mara Candelaria Reardon

HD 14: (fe)  Vernon G. Smith

HD 15:        Jim Wieser

HD 16:        Rich Ludington
HD 19:        Shelli VanDenburgh

HD 21:  (e)  Jodi Buoscio     

HD 26:        Randy Truitt     

HD 27: (fe)  Sheila Klinker     

HD 29: (e)   Joe Marcum     

HD 30:        Chuck Sosbe     

HD 32:        Bob Ashley

HD 33: (e)   Shon Byrum

HD 34: (fe)  Sue Errington

HD 35: (e)   Melanie Wright

HD 36: (fe)  Terri Austin

HD 39:        David Russ

HD 42:        Mark Spelbring    

HD 43: (fe)  Clyde Kersey   

HD 45:        Bionca Gambill  

HD 46: (e)   Jim Mann II     

HD 52:        Charles Odier    

HD 54:        Tom Saunders 

HD 56:        Phil Pflum

HD 60: (e)   Daymon Brodhacker

HD 61:        Matt Pierce     

HD 62: (e)   Jeff Sparks     

HD 63:        Mike Braun

HD 66:(fe)   Terry Goodin     

HD 70: (e)   Heidi Sellers     

HD 71:        Steve Stemler     

HD 72:(e)    Kevin Sue Bailey    

HD 73:        Douglas Leatherbury

HD 74:        Christopher Coyle    

HD 75:        Steve Spinks     

HD 76:        Tony Goben     

HD 77:        Gail Riecken     

HD 78:        Stephen Melcher
HD 80:        Phil GiaQuinta     

HD 81:        Thad Geradot  

HD 82:        Mike Wilber    

HD 84:        Fred Haigh     

HD 86:        Ed Delaney     

HD 87:        Christina Hale     

HD 91:        Patrick Lockhart

HD 92:        Karlee Macer     

HD 94:        Cherrish Pryor     

HD 95:        John Bartlett     

HD 96:        Gregory Porter     

HD 97:        Justin Moed     

HD 98:        Robin Shackleford
HD 99:        Vanessa Summers
HD 100:      Dan Forestal     

 

INDIANA SENATE

 

SD 1:             Frank Mrvan     

SD 4:             Karen Tallian     

SD 6:             Roxanna Hanford
SD 15:           Jack E. Morris     

SD 22:           Ron Alting

SD 29:           JD Ford     

SD 38: (e)      Tim Skinner     

SD 39:           Steve Lindsey
SD 43:           Rudy Howard  

SD 45:           Julie Berry     

SD 46:  (e)     Chuck Freiberger
SD 47:           Richard Young
SD 48:           Larry Vollmer     

 

INDIANA STATE OFFICE HOLDERS

 

Secretary of State      Beth White
State Auditor             Mike Claytor
State Treasurer          Michael Boland     

 

US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

CD 1:                 Peter Visclosky

CD 2:                 Joe Bock

CD 7:                 Andre Carson
CD 8:                 Tom Spangler

 



 

Vic’s Statehouse Notes #180 – July 8, 2014

Dear Friends,

The banned metrics of measuring student growth by comparisons with peers are back again. Despite a law getting rid of them, the State Board will vote on a resolution tomorrow to use them another year.

HEA 1427 was passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2013 saying that the A-F system in Indiana “may not be based on a measurement of student performance or growth compared with peers.” This culminated a three year effort to fix the flawed A-F system by rejecting the use of bell curve statistics in assessing student growth and by measuring the growth of students against fixed criteria.

Now, a resolution brought by State Board member Brad Oliver is on the July 9th State Board agenda which, among other topics, would use peer comparisons to measure growth again in 2014-15.

It is as if the General Assembly didn’t pass HEA 1427 at all. How can the State Board continue to ignore the law?

I urge you to contact State Board members before their July 9th meeting to say that the “Resolution Regarding ESEA Waiver Compliance” is wrong on growth and should be withdrawn.

Evading the Law 

I and others have been campaigning against the unfairness of judging growth through comparisons to statewide peers since 2011. I rejoiced when the Indiana General Assembly passed the following language in 2013 in HEA 1427, Section 5:

“Not later than November 15, 2013, the state board shall establish new categories or designations of school performance under the requirements of this chapter to replace 511 IAC 6.2-6. The new standards of assessing school performance:
(1) must be based on a measurement of individual student academic performance and growth to proficiency; and
(2) may not be based on a measurement of student performance or growth compared with peers.
511 IAC 6.2-6 is void on the effective date of the emergency or final rules adopted under this section.”

I thought the law would actually be implemented, but state board members have resisted. State Board Secretary Dan Elsener has stated many times in meetings his support of the current system that the General Assembly tried to void. Now the Oliver resolution breathes more life into the flawed growth measure using the following language: (this is but a small part of the resolution with many controversial points)

“WHEREAS, Dr. Damian Betebenner, an associate at The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment in Dover, New Hampshire, who advised Indiana on the creation of the Indiana Growth Model, and who is under contract with the SBOE to advise on modifications to the state’s A-F school accountability system, has found that growth may be calculated utilizing data from the2014-2015 ISTEP+ assessment using an equi-percentile concordance analysis that will be both valid and reliable.
Per SBOE regulation, 511 IAC 6.2-6 shall be followed for the A-F School Accountability System for federal and state accountability purposes;Growth in 2014-15 shall be calculated according to the methodology recommended by Dr. Damian Betebenner and approved by the SBOE;”Dr. Betebenner has described in a report that his recommendation is based on Student Growth Percentiles, the same methodology Dr. Bennett put in the A-F system that the General Assembly tried to void due to the peer comparisons used.

Dr. Betebenner devised the system that the General Assembly rejected. Of course he is going to say that it is just fine.

This resolution shows that the State Board has made no progress in getting Indiana to criterion-referenced comparisons for growth as the General Assembly asked for and as we all should ask for.

Send a Message

I urge you to send a message today to State Board members with a copy to your legislators. The message is that the “Resolution Regarding ESEA Waiver Compliance” has not been vetted and should be withdrawn. It tries to reverse the General Assembly’s action in HEA 1427 to remove peer comparisons from Indiana’s growth model.

The entire proposed resolution with all of its controversies can be seen on this link:

http://in.gov/sboe/files/2014-07-09_Resolution_-_ESEA_Waiver.pdf

It is astonishing that the State Board is ignoring the call for fair comparisons in Indiana’s growth model. The growth of every student should be measured based on fixed criterion measures, not on Student Growth Percentiles or any other metric where growth can vary based on how peers across the state perform. 

Your messages make a big difference. Thanks for participating! Please keep up your steadfast support of fair metrics to judge the performance of public schools! 

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

ICPE has worked since 2011 to support public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. The new ICPE membership year began July 1, 2014 and extends through June 30, 2015. We need your membership to help pay the bills for ICPE lobbying efforts. It is time for all of our supporters to renew for the new membership year. I urge you to go to our website today to renew your membership. Thank you!

We must raise additional funds for the 2015 session. We need additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998.

MARCH ON MARIAN

As Glenda Ritz files suit against the Governor's State Board of Education, Hoosier Voices for Public Education is calling on all Hoosier Public Education supporters to take part in a virtual March on Marian.  We need to email, call, and convey our displeasure with Daniel Elsener's role in the continued destruction of Indiana's public schools through his cronyism with Governor Mike Pence and the GOP lead Indiana General Assembly.  Mr. Elsener has made many attempts to circumvent the true will of Hoosier voters through his attacks on Glenda Ritz, his tantrums at SBOE meetings since Ritz's election, and his newest efforts to work outside the auspices of the SBOE by crafting a letter asking the legislature to take over assignment of A-F grades instead of allowing this to continue to be controlled by the Indiana Department of Education.  Mr. Elsener continues to show his true alliances to his GOP cronies in the Indiana General Assembly and Governor Pence.  He proclaims to be an "Independent", yet supports GOP candidates and works closely with the GOP leadership to gain his desired status and preferential treatment for Marian University in order to promote privatization and takeover of public schools.  We all know the GOP favors "privatization" and the "private" institutions.  The General Assembly proved this yet again during the last session by expanding vouchers and once again giving public tax dollars to private institutions.   Mr. Elsener looks to benefit from these monies as private schools push their students to continue on into the private university sector upon completion of their high school requirements.  Mr. Elsener serves a huge conflict of interest being a "private" university president on the PUBLIC State Board of Education.  He also has destructive ties to Tony Bennett, Mitch Daniels, and organizations like Teach For America and the Mind Trust.  It is time to let Mr. Elsener, the Marian Board of Trustees, and Governor Pence know that we are no longer sitting back and watching their shady antics.  We are calling them our for what they are. . . blatant attempts to cirumvent the will of Hoosier voters by grabbing power from the Elected Superintendent of PUBLIC Instruction, Glenda Ritz!

Daniel J. Elsener
President
president@marian.edu
317.955.6103


2013 Board of Trustees
Jerry D. Semler, chair
Susan R. Jones-Huffine, first vice chai
rMichael A. Blickman, second vice chair
Charles A. Liles, treasurer
Patricia D. Curran, secretary
Thomas G. Hoback, immediate past chair
 
Nancy Ayres
William E. Bartelt
Frank M. Basile
Joseph E. Costanza
William Brent Eckhart
David S. Evans
Richard D. Feldman, M.D.
Wanda Y. Fortune
Janis B. Funk
Gary Hentschel
Catherine Hillenbrand Kennedy
Katharine M. Kruse
Daniel M. Lechleiter
James H. Madison
Edward S. Matthews
Craig M. McKee
James W. Merritt Jr.
James T. Morris
Michael B. Murphy
Samuel L. Odle
Ersal Ozdemir
Margaret Cole Russell
William N. Salin Sr.
Robert E. Sexton, D.D.S.
Joseph A. Slash
Dennis M. Sponsel
Lu Carole West

PITCHFORKS MAY BE EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED

 

CLICK HERE TO SIGN NOW

"Please sign and share this petition to change the Indiana law to make the positions on the Indiana State Board of Education ELECTED and NOT APPOINTED by the Governor. Currently, 10 of the 11 positions are appointed. This week, while the sole elected member, Sup. Glenda Ritz, was in China on an education trip, the 10 appointed members drafted a letter to shift oversight and administration of school grading to the legislature. This is just one example of the stonewalling and shady tactics by the appointed members of the board."

Why would these State Board of Education members draft a letter of this sort?  The answer is simple, the GOP fears Glenda Ritz and her knowledge and they are willing to try anything, even circumventing the law, to usurp power from the ELECTED Superintendent and continue the Daniels/Bennett destruction of Indiana's PUBLIC schools.  These appointed board members are treading on sketchy waters if they think that the Hoosier voters, who loudly proclaimed it was time for new educational leadership in Indiana, are not watching and waiting for our opportunity to pounce and regain control.  These board members are taking action outside the law by making such moves without utilizing public open door laws and discussing their plans during public board meetings.  They are obviously meeting outside the board meetings without the presence of the Chair of the SBOE, ELECTED Superintendent Glenda Ritz.  These men and women appointed to the State Board of Education must be stopped.  They need to either resign or be run out of office.  These people do NOT represent the will of the Hoosier voters, and their continued power grabs alongside the General Assmebly are reprehensible. 

It is time for all HOOSIER VOICES to be heard.  We MUST demand a change in the current practice of power grabbing and the constant scoffing at the voters of Indiana.  We ELECTED a Superintendent of PUBLIC Instruction to lead us away from the destructive and divisive ways of Tony Bennett and Mitch Daniels.  Our one big mistake in Electing Glenda Ritz, was that not enough of us voted to elect a different Governor.  It is time to demand cooperative methods between the General Assmebly, the appointed SBOE members, and our Superintendent.  It is time to demand that these people work with the will of the voters, or we show them how we will stand up and put them out.

I do not agree with recent writings that "we're better off finding common ground through reasoned dialogue with legislators than to go after them with pitchforks."  This type of mentality is what has us in this position again.  We voted, and then we just sit back and watch instead of becoming vocally involved.  It is time that we stop watching the destructive actions and SPEAK OUT more loudly than that November day a year ago.  We must go after these men and woman who have the midset that they know more than the voters.  We must run them out of office and show them that the will of HOOSIER VOTERS will not be scoffed at and disregarded for the gains of their cronies and private campaign contributors.  Pitch forks may wll be more necessary than king words and playing nice.  We have watched what happens when the attempt to "play nice" is met with the arrogance of the likes of Dan Elsener and his GOP croines.  Governor Pence sits on his high horse "preaching" his sermon of cronyism while Bob Behning, Dennis Kruse, Brian Bosma, and David Long sing their hymns of praise.  It is time we show these men that we are done playing nice.  It is time we remind them that last November we voted because we want our PUBLIC schools back and we want our ELECTED Superintendent to lead the way!