Tuesday Tattler - Post-Election 2016 - What's Dr. McCormick Up To?

So, as I began to recover from the disappointment of election day, I found myself cautiously optimistic with the comments and "campaign speak" of our newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction.  I thought, "maybe the voters see some type of promise from her experience and her ideas".  It didn't take long for me to realize I was kidding myself.  I went back to her back-peddling statement about changing her mind that "it would be OK for the SPI to be appointed instead of elected".  That comment continued to stick in my head. However, I was calmed by her statements about being non-political, transparent, and open to all stakeholders.

WELL, WELL, WELL...Imagine my surprise when I noticed, while checking post election tweets, that this "non-political - transparent - open to all" Superintendent-elect had blocked the Hoosier Voices Twitter account from following or viewing tweets from the @DrMcCormickIN twitter feed.  What is she concerned about?  She won the election.  Is she afraid we will hold her accountable for her campaign comments?  Does she fear being reminded of her "Plan" for Indiana's schools?  Dr. McCormick blocked the Hoosier Voices twitter account, however, my personal account and those of many other PUBLIC education advocates can still view, follow, re-tweet, and reply to posts from the @DrMcCormickIN account.  There are still many ways for us to keep an eye on her actions and hold her accountable for all of her claims and our expectations.

Dr. McCormick was elected, touting a "plan" that appears to please voters in some way.  Her similarities with Glenda Ritz in most areas were frighteningly confusing.  How could a candidate touted by the GOP establishment, groomed by Tony Bennett, and paid for by Bennett's former donors be anything near to what Glenda Ritz has been as a torch bearer for Indiana's PUBLIC schools.  Is Dr. McCormick just naive enough to think these donors and her GOP "pals" will allow her to do anything other than their bidding to continue destroying Public education here in our state or was she so good in her deceptive nature to persuade voters to believing she would be our new champion? 

Which Dr. McCormick will Hoosiers see once the legislature begins to pull her toward the wishes of the GOP's big "education policy" donors.  With House Education Chair Bob Behning, House Speaker Brian Bosma, Senate President Pro-Tempore David Long, Senate Education Chair Dennis Kruse, and Even Governor-Elect Holcomb all receiving large donations from privatization and voucher supporters like Christel DeHaan, Fred Klipsch, Hoosiers for Quality Education, and the Institute for Quality Education, it appears it would be difficult for Dr. McCormick to go against these Tony Bennett donors and reverse the GOP course of continued robbery of our PUBLIC schools.  Will she be "allowed" to work with ALL stakeholders and do what needs to be done to reverse course and build up our public schools, or will she prove to be another puppet like Tony Bennett and bow to the GOP leadership and their donors to drain our public schools further and allow further demeaning actions toward Indiana's public school educators.

One thing is for certain.  ALL stakeholders need to stay informed, stay alert, and be ready to stand up and be heard at a moment's notice.  We all must hold our elected representatives accountable for our children and the future of our PUBLIC schools.  We at Hoosier Voices WILL NOT GIVE UP! We will continue to fight for high quality PUBLIC education for ALL Hoosiers! We will not give up!

#OrganizeAgitateEducate

TUESDAY TATTLER : WHO ARE THESE "Hoosiers for Quality Education"? PART 2

Who are "Hoosiers for Quality Education"?  Hoosier Voices originally asked this question in February 2015 when we noticed them using "Hoosier Voices" as a section on their website.

They are NOT Hoosier Voices for PUBLIC Education and they most definitely are NOT true supporters of Indiana's children of traditional public education.  We all know too much about their Senior Advisor and Consultant, Tony Bennett.  One can only wonder what he is advising them to do.  However, we can assume that he is very much in support of all the legislative maneuvers to continue the destruction he left behind and the attacks on Superintendent Ritz.  Tony Bennett spent years attacking Indiana's teachers and putting undue pressures on Hoosier students.  He set out to destroy our PUBLIC schools in favor of privatization and the padding of the wallets of the rich cronies of the GOP.  For example, the CEO/Chairman and Founder of Hoosiers for Quality Education (and the Institute for Quality Education), Fred Klipsch.  Let's look at the campaign contributions of Mr. Klipsch and his PAC to see the control H4QE has over the writing and passage of legislative detrimental to Indiana's PUBLIC schools and their hopes to elect a Bennet puppett, Dr. Jennifer McCormick, to replace Glenda Ritz as Superintendent of PUBLIC Instruction.

Below you will find the current campaign finance reports for contributions from the Hoosiers For Quality Education PAC.  Here you will see some very familiar names (names of legislators who have lead attacks against PUBLIC education and Glenda Ritz).  Take a close look, compare this report of contributions to the lists of Roll Call votes on damaging legislation and make the correlation we have made.  H4QE supports charters, vouchers, privatization, and their wealthy stakeholders.  They do not support Hoosier Voices or the very PUBLIC school children we all seek to protect and serve.

Contributions from Hoosiers for Quality Education to Indiana Candidates from June, 2015 to October 15, 2016

Click here to go to the actual campaign finance report

When you do the breakdown of their contributions you can get an idea of their motives.  You can also get a good glimpse of which candidates they are certain will do their bidding if elected.  They hit heavy on contributions to Speaker of the House Brian Bosma, Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, Education committee chairs Behning and Kruse, Chair of House Ways and Means Committee Tim Brown, along with others favorable to their privatization agenda. As you can see they have also poured heftily into the McCormick campaign to unseat Glenda Ritz. Dr. McCormick tries very hard to convince educators, PUBLIC education advocates, and PUBLIC school families that she is not a clone of Tony Bennett and his ideals.  However, when you look at her supporters you can see pretty clearly who is lining her campaign coffers to get her to follow their plans. Take a look at the totals for the "BIG WINNERS" of the H4QE Campaign contribution race and see just where they plan to get their mission accomplished.

McCormick for State Superintendent - $40,000
Brian Bosma - $17,500
Pete Miller - $17,500
David Long - $15,000
Senate Majority Campaign Committee - $15,000
House Republican Campaign Committee - $12,500
Indiana Republican State Committee - $10,000
Eric Holcomb (for Governor) - $10,000
Blake Doriot - $6,500
Tim Brown - $2,000
Bob Behning - $2,000
Dennis Kruse - $1,500

Interesting amounts and recipients, don't you think?



As we pointed out in our original post through a quote from (Public School supporter, now Democratic Candidate for State Senate District 13) Justin Kuhnle,


"Hoosiers for Quality Education was formally known as a 501(c) group, Hoosiers for Economic Growth, who as of 2013, has contributed over $2.3 million dollars in 7 years to 99.4% of Republican candidates.  In that time frame, one lobbyist of interest emerges -- Lindsey Brown.  While your group claims in one point to have only spent $274k in the 2014 election, what's troubling, that according to filing, expenditures totaled $338k.  What's equally troubling that according to the filings with the Secretary of State's page in Indiana, your group is past due in it's Business Entity Reports.  Now, according to some filings, your chairman is Fred Klipsch, who entertains interesting ties to certain groups (Koch Bros. to name one specific.) Wait, isn't he also Pence's treasurer?  One particular agenda item of this group is "projects that explore how the principles of free enterprise and classical liberalism promote a more peaceful and prosperous society" and are issued for education grants.  What's lost on these groups, is free market, as an economic idea, is lost due to risk mitigation to be used at the expense of the taxpayers, with a potential ultimate goal of increasing standardized testing (with projections of 14 hours 30 minutes this year alone for 3rd graders -- thank you GOP mandated at the state level to let CTN/McGraw do their will unabridged) and when standardized tests don't completely destroy public education, privatization will.  So in the end, without releasing all your little secrets, Hoosiers for Quality Education, you are promoting this agenda under the guise of a new, "cheerier" name. "



In closing the original post we promised to call out those who claim one thing and then act contradictory to their statements and goals.  This post is a continuance of our mission to point out the discrepancies of this particular group and who they truly are.  Now we must continue to alert true "friends" and "supporters" of Indiana's PUBLIC schools as to who these characters are and what their ultimate purposes include.  We must stand up to, not only our legislators and Governor, but also to these "false support" groups and make sure our PUBLIC schools and our children are no longer harmed by their desire to make money for their friends and cronies across the country.


WE ARE HOOSIER VOICES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION. THERE IS NO OTHER!!

September Storm - Happy Birthday Glenda Ritz

Thursday, September 1 is Glenda Ritz's Birthday. Hoosier Voices is hosting a twitter storm to celebrate this day by sharing Glenda's accomplishments. Join us by tweeting all day using #istandwithritz #ritz4edand showing your support for her re-election bid.

In order for this storm to be effective it should follow some simple guidelines and run continuously from 7:00am through 8:00pm.

1. Posts should be supportive of Glenda and highlight her accomplishments

2. Posters should post on both Twitter and Facebook

3. Posts should be shared by one's self as well as "re-tweeted" and "shared"

4. Posts by teachers should NOT be made during school time or on school technology; however, posts can be scheduled for twitter using TweetDeck This is a simple site and multiple posts can be written and scheduled hours (even days) in advance.  This will allow those who work during the hours of the STORM to post LEGALLY by having their posts scheduled in advance so they will post during selected time frames. 

TweetDeck

5. Posts should contain #istandwithritz and #ritz4ed along with any other desired hashtags (#NoTonyClone #NoTonyCrony #HappyBdayGlenda #istillstandwithritz)

SUGGESTED TWEETS/POSTS

It would be fun if everyone would start with this post at 7:00am

Happy Birthday Superintendent of PUBLIC Instruction Glenda Ritz #HappyBDayGlenda #istandwithritz #ritz4ed

#istandwithritz because we need fair funding for PUBLIC schools

#istandwithritz because she respects teachers and their profession

Glenda has always put students before politics, that's why #istandwithritz

Glenda knows that students are more than test scores #istandwithritz #studentsRmorethanscores #ritz4ed

Superintendent Ritz knows that teaching is more important than testing #istandwithritz

We need someone who will stand up for PUBLIC education, which is why #istandwithritz

More time for teaching, less time for testing #istandwithritz

PUBLIC schools need an advocate in state office #istandwithritz #NoTonyClone #ritz4ed

ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

Point to these accomplishments in posts or summarize into tweets.

-Replaced a political agenda with an education agenda

-Replaced a “school takeover” agenda with a “school outreach” division

-Improved 103 schools in a single year, by increasing direct support to schools and educators through her innovative Division of Outreach.

-Led the effort to end the ISTEP and is working across the aisle to replace it with a test that is less time-consuming, less costly, and more informative

-Travels 2-3 days every week to local schools to listen to their needs

-Hosted Indiana’s first statewide teacher recruitment conference to encourage high school students to pursue teaching as a career.

-Created a list of Promising Practices found in Indiana schools to improve the visibility of how educators change lives every day

-Achieved a 95% graduation rate for CTE students, by providing more high-quality Career and Technical Education opportunities

-Trained more than 1,700 new school safety specialists and created the IDOE Response Team to better serve schools during a large-scale crisis.

-Meets with education stakeholders every week, including state agencies, non-profit groups, legislators, chambers of commerce, mayors, and more.

-Created the Student Advisory Council to get input from students on education policy

Imagining 2020: In the next four years, Superintendent Ritz will

-Make high quality Pre-K available in every school corporation in the state for every parent who wants it

-Continue to provide more time for learning and less time for testing

-Work towards achieving a 91% graduation rate for all students, the highest in the nation, training them to enter living wage careers or post-secondary education

-Propose fair and adequate funding for all public schools

-Treat our teachers like professionals, including them in the process to end the teacher shortage and increasing opportunities for professional development

To learn more about what Glenda Ritz has accomplished, visit: the Ritz4Education website

We need four more years of Glenda Ritz’s leadership

- another four years giving teachers more time to teach

- another four years reducing costly, high-stakes testing

- another four years expanding a bottom-up outreach program to schools

- another four years building a statewide literacy initiative

- another four years increasing wraparound services for our most vulnerable students

- another four years advocating for the recruitment and retention of quality educators

- another four years advocating for more money to go to public education

The Story of Why Glenda Ritz Ran for Office

In 2012, a third-grade student walked into the library and I asked her if she would like to check out a book. She replied, “Mrs. Ritz, I don’t need to check out a book, because I just passed my iRead3 test.” I thought to myself, “What are we doing to these kids? They think the only purpose of reading is to pass a test.”

That’s when I decided to run for Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction.

I had never run for office before; I am an educator, not a politician. But federal and state politics had entered our schools pushing high stakes testing, demeaning the teaching profession, privatizing public schools through state takeover, and worsening the fight for funding and resources. I could no longer stand by and let out-of-state special interest groups and their political agenda continue to harm our students, educators, schools, and communities.

ANOTHER SUNDAY TWITTER STORM

Twitter Storm

Join us on Twitter Sunday, Feb. 21 4 – 5 p.m. Indy time/3 -4 p.m. Chicago time

It was evident early that many legislators on the Senate Pension and Labor Committee had no interest in hearing from teachers on HB 1004, a teacher bill. The committee offered and voted on two amendments to the bill before anyone could testify and offer context, therefore it appears that the disposition of this bill was predetermined.

So this weekend, join the Twitter Storm and let your voice be heard. Twitter Storms work best when a large group of people tweet messages around a specific topic using the same hashtag. Our goal is to generate as many tweets possible from members, leaders, partners, parents and activists.

Hashtag: #RespectOurVoice #RespectTeachers

Sample tweets:

You can use the sample tweets below or create your own. Because we’re asking for our voices to be heard and respected, ensure that your messages are respectful, but clear.

HB 1004 will cut the pay for the majority of teachers, worsening the teacher shortage, and hurting students. #RespectOurVoice

HB 1004: a backdoor around bargaining with local teachers. #RespectOurVoice

Silencing our voices before the vote is unacceptable. Vote NO on HB 1004. #RespectOurVoice

HB 1004 isn’t local control, it is individual control. Vote no on HB 1004. #RespectOurVoice

Indiana opens the door to discriminatory supplements. Vote NO on HB 1004. #RespectOurVoice

Tag Legislators and Media:

Find your legislators and local journalists (such as @ChalkbeatIN @ShainaRC @nkellyatJC @IndyStarChelsea @kfrancisco) on Twitter and tag them in your tweets. 

WHO WILL BE THE DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE?

Who will rise to the top as the cream of the crop? 

As the Democratic party sets the stage for a true Democratic Primary to lead up to the Governor's race against the likely battle scarred, Mike Pence, it is time to address some questions and issues the eventual Democratic nominee must answer for Hoosiers.  Currently, three Democrats (John Gregg, Karen Tallian, and Glenda Ritz) will seek the nod from the Democratic Party.  Each one has been battle tested in their own way, each has more experience in their little finger than Pence has in his entire political career.  All three will bring something to Hoosiers that the GOP has not been able to deliver in years, economic stability and basic equal rights for ALL.  Let us first discuss each potential candidate and their strongest probable platform item.  Then let us look at what a Democratic platform must include going forward in order to impact the most Hoosier voters in a general election against the the probable GOP candidate and wounded incumbent, Pence.

The Democratic Primary Candidates

John Gregg, 2012 Democratic candidate, is a supporter of the now repealed common construction wage law.  The "man with the mustache" had been a champion of labor unions and a strong proponent of maintaining state recognition of labor unions as a means of supporting the middle class worker.  This is a strong base, but proved not enough to get past Pence in 2012.  How will he increase his voter base, answer questions truthfully about his ties to ALEC and Wall Street, and address the issues below?

Karen Tallian, the Democratic Party's "Marijuana Princess" of the Indiana Senate, supports legalization of medical Marijuana and possibly farther reaching expansion of legalization in the future, as well as a perspective on women's issues regarding healthcare access and abortion rights.  Senator Tallian has also come out as a strong supporter of Democratic Superintendent Glenda Ritz due to the constant attacks on public education during the recent legislative session, but one may wonder if that support was her setting up possible voters for a potential primary run.

Glenda Ritz, Superintendent of Public Instruction, was elected in 2012 as the only Democrat voted into State office.  Ritz garnered more votes than Pence with 1.3M plus supporters on election day over incumbent Superintendent Tony Bennett.  Superintendent Ritz has been a strong proponent of public schools, has cleaned up the messes and mistakes of the Bennett administration,  and weathered many attacks from the appointed State Board of Education and the GOP supermajority.  She has proven time and again to be a steadfast supporter of children and families when it comes to Indiana's Public schools, has displayed a welcoming acceptance of the Hoosier LGBT community, and has a focus on jobs and economic growth, but is her platform multifaceted enough to tackle the issues a Governor will need to address?

Issues they MUST tackle

1 - The number one issue all candidates will need to address is RFRA and LGBT protections statewide.  The disaster created by this unnecessary and discriminatory law stirred up many Hoosiers who call the supposed "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" nothing more than bigoted discrimination against the LGBT community.  The public outrage and business push forced a "fix" to the law, but that fix was a mere bandaid over a wound much larger than recognized, and the bleeding still has not stopped.  A Democratic platform, MUST contain a true goal and push for securing equal rights and protections for all LGBT Hoosiers in State law.

2 - Transparency and true ethics reform are issues facing elected officials across the country, and Indiana is not immune.  There must be clear laws calling for transparency in dealings of elected officials and reforms calling for stiff punishments for ethics violations that go beyond a simple "slap on the wrist".  It is time our elected officials are held accountable as normal citizens are for violating the laws of the state.

3 - Education related issues are always a must to be addressed, and 2016 is no exception.  After the onslaught of attacks on Indiana's Public schools over the past 12 years it is time to stop the destruction of public schools to the benefit of private and charter schools, and put appropriate financial support back in the hands of our public schools more equitibly and with more focus on teaching and less emphasis on testing and privatization.

4 - Reforms of the BMV, Department of Transportation, and infrastructure of highways and interstates is another major issue facing all candidates.  The BMV has faced questionable financial issues of late, the Department of transportation faces much scrutiny over leased toll roads and questionable response times to snow removal, and wasted time on upgrades and improvements to existing roads as well as financing new highways like the nearly $3 billion dollar I-69 project.

5 - Balancing a budget that will meet Hoosier needs and not the pet projects of select legislators.  The budget needs to be one that is less of a spending burden on tax payers yet puts needed resources back into public schools, public housing, welfare assistance, and healthcare expansion as well as cutting frivolous spending on pork barrel projects proposed by ALEC and Wall Street CEOs.

6 - Job growth and economic stability are important factors in maintaining the Hoosier population, as many young families move away to find more economic stability securing better incomes.  A strong and knowledgeable candidate must have a clear cut plan for growing jobs and increasing economic growth across the state to keep Hoosier families in Indiana and avoid more relocation out of state.

Other issues will need to be addressed to secure the nomination of either party, like stopping attacks on employee unions, women's rights to healthcare choices, and affordable education for all, but the main issues above are MUST agenda items for the Democratic Party to secure a win over the stagnant, bigoted, and discriminatory GOP in 2016.

TUESDAY TATTLER : WHO ARE THESE "Hoosiers for Quality Education"?

Formerly known as Hoosiers for Economic Growth, this Fred Klipsch group appears to be a false front for Quality Education in favor of stripping true PUBLIC schools of much needed funding in support of vouchers and private corporation profits through their "false advertisement" of being supportive of Indiana's school children.  Hoosiers for Quaility Education sits in the front line of attacks against State Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz.  They endorse most all of the attempts of the House and Senate leaders, and Governor Pence, to strip Superintendent Ritz of her powers as an elected official and to siphon more financial support from Indiana's PUBLIC schools into the pockets of private and charter school leaders.  

The Institute for Quality Education, a partner with Hoosiers for Quality Education, has gone so far as to "steal" the Hoosier-Voices title for a section of their website. Both of these groups list Fred Klipsch as their CEO/Chairperson and Founder.  This move blatantly confuses true supporters of Indiana's traditional PUBLIC schools, by leading them to believe Hoosier Voices agrees with these bills and the support of the GOP agenda to further destroy our educational system by over testing, under funding, and stripping the ELECTED Superintendent of the duties and powers 1.3 million plus voters put her in office to see through.

Looking further into this group you find that none other than Tony Bennett, the man who lost to Glenda Ritz, acting as a "consultant" to them on matters of quality education.  Hoosier voters, both Republican and Democrat, saw through his inabilities and together voted him out.  Why would any group claiming to support quality education and the children of Indiana choose this man as a consultant in any manner.

Onto other matters with this group, their name and economic status, there are major questions and issues bordering on legality.  Public School supporter Justin Kuhnle points out...

"Hoosiers for Quality Education was formally known as a 501(c) group, Hoosiers for Economic Growth, who as of 2013, has contributed over $2.3 million dollars in 7 years to 99.4% of Republican candidates.  In that time frame, one lobbyist of interest emerges -- Lindsey Brown.  While your group claims in one point to have only spent $274k in the 2014 election, what's troubling, that according to filing, expenditures totaled $338k.  What's equally troubling that according to the filings with the Secretary of State's page in Indiana, your group is past due in it's Business Entity Reports.  Now, according to some filings, your chairman is Fred Klipsch, who entertains interesting ties to certain groups (Koch Bros. to name one specific.) Wait, isn't he also Pence's treasurer?  One particular agenda item of this group is "projects that explore how the principles of free enterprise and classical liberalism promote a more peaceful and prosperous society" and are issued for education grants.  What's lost on these groups, is free market, as an economic idea, is lost due to risk mitigation to be used at the expense of the taxpayers, with a potential ultimate goal of increasing standardized testing (with projections of 14 hours 30 minutes this year alone for 3rd graders -- thank you GOP mandated at the state level to let CTN/McGraw do their will unabridged) and when standardized tests don't completely destroy public education, privatization will.  So in the end, without releasing all your little secrets, Hoosiers for Quality Education, you are promoting this agenda under the guise of a new, "cheerier" name. "

This is the beginning of a series of posts to call out those who claim one thing and then act contradictory to their statements and goals.  This is part one of our mission to point out the discrepancies of this particular group and who they truly are.  There is so much more information to point out there needed to be a starting point.  Now we must continue to alert true "friends" and "supporters" of Indiana's PUBLIC schools as to who these characters are and what their ultimate purposes include.  We must stand up to, not only our legislators and Governor, but also to these "false support" groups and make sure our PUBLIC schools and our children are no longer harmed by their desire to make money for their friends and cronies across the country.


WE ARE HOOSIER VOICES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION. THERE IS NO OTHER!!

#WeAreHoosierVoices