Does Gregg have PUBLIC school interests at heart?

Has Christel DeHann's $50,000 bought her Christel
House Academy another passing A-F grade? 

John Gregg looks to be the Democratic nominee for Governor, barring any last minute challengers entering the Democratic race.  This will set up a re-match of the 2012 Governor's race and call many campaign details into question.  The one hot detail for Indiana's education arena is just how much does/will a Governor Gregg support Indiana Superintendent Glenda Ritz (if she earns re-election) and Indiana's PUBLIC schools.

John Gregg(a supposed FORMER member of ALEC) has received campaign contributions from DFER (Democrats for Education Reform, a group that supports many bogus and destructive reforms similar to those of the Indiana GOP) in the past, and has recently gained the support and a $50,000 contribution from Christel DeHann (Noted Indiana Philanthropist, Freedom Indiana Supporter, and namesake of the Christel House Academy at the center of the Tony Bennett "Grade Changing Scandal". (See Open Letter from Doug Martin to John Gregg)

Bennett changed grades for Dehann's Christel House

Tony Bennett received hefty contributions from DeHann during his campaigns and these contributions have always been rumored to come with strings.  Bennett was defeated by Glenda Ritz in 2012 in Indiana and then left the same post in Florida after the grade changing scandal came to light.

 

Indiana needs a clear cut candidate, openly supportive of PUBLIC schools, clean of campaign contributions from Private and Charter school leaders who give freely with strings attached.  Rumors are that DeHann has contributed to the Gregg campaign to show her support for the LGBT community and the repeal of RFRA.  However, there needs to be a definitive statement from John Gregg as such and a strong statement that he FULLY supports Glenda Ritz, PUBLIC schools, and the end of destructive policies and vouchers.  It is time for a candidate to stand up to the contributors who seek favor from their donations and stand up for the middle class tax payers who pay to fund PUBLIC schools and not continually supplement the voucher seekers and private or charter schools.

 

John Gregg, stand up.  Stop using Glenda Ritz and public schools as photo ops and campaign props.  Say what you truly intend to pursue as Governor for Indiana's school children and stop touting false support in sound bites for the evening news. 

 

Mike Pence MUST GO, but at what further expense to our PUBLIC schools.



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

Final Grades: State Legislators

Hoosier Mom's Public Education Grade Book

Spring Session 2013

It is that time in the legislative session when the Hoosier Mom must submit the final grade card for our legislators. The grades are based on their support for public education as measured through their votes. 

The Hoosier Mom chose 5 bills as "tests" of our legislator's support for public education this session. Just like in school, legislators will earn points by passing the test and using their vote in support of public education. Just like in public school, legislators that chose to not take the test do not earn points: there is no make-up test. 


The 5 tests were:

SB 189 - Performance Qualified Schools

HB 1003 - Voucher Program Expansion

HB 1338 - Charter School Expansion

HB 1357 - Deprofessionalization of Superintendent Licensure

HB 1427 - Common Core & other Tony Bennett matters


There are many legislators who are failing to support public education. The Hoosier Mom suggests a voter takeover of these legislator's positions in the upcoming election year.  Accountability is the priority here: they must be held accountable to the voters.

The only option we have is to elect legislators that will documentably support public education via their vote.

The gradebook is as follows for the House, then the Senate:

 

TAKE ACTION NOW - APRIL 24, 2013

 

 

House Bill 1003 – Voucher Expansion

The word going around the Statehouse on Tuesday was that a conference committee on voucher expansion was planning to give vouchers to all who live in attendance areas of “D” schools as well as “F” schools. This move would be a huge expansion, even beyond the Senate version of the number of students that would get vouchers for living in the attendance areas of failing schools. Instead of 148 F school areas, it would affect 389 D or F schools. That is 18.6% of all schools. Remember, this uses the flawed and widely disrespected A-F system introduced by Tony Bennett last October.

Let your Senator and Representative in the House know that using the flawed A-F system to give vouchers to 18% of Indiana’s school attendance areas is wrong. It will unfairly impact too many schools that were graded unjustly under the A-F system. They should vote HB 1003 down until a revised A-F system that has the confidence of the public is in place.

The Conference Committee report is expected soon which meshes the Senate version and the House version of voucher expansion. Then both houses must pass the final report one more time. We are hoping that changes made in the final version of the bill will lead legislators who voted for vouchers the first time around to decide to vote it down in the final vote. Your messages to them about the A-F system may motivate them to switch.

Contact your Senator and ask them to VOTE NO on HB1003

Several of the Senators are seriously in a tough spot now that House leader Behning changed the bill. Let them hear from the mountaintops! Shout it out! Stand up for your local schools! This bill doesn't make any sense, but it sure does take a lot dollars out of your community!

Specifically contact these senators who appear to be waivering due to Behning's changes.

Rodric Bray s37@in.gov  
Jean Leising s42@in.gov
Johnny Nugent s43@in.gov
Luke Kenly s20@in.gov
Dennis Kruse s14@in.gov
Greg Walker s41@in.gov 
Brent Waltz s36@in.gov
Brent Steele s44@in.gov
 

Copy the following letter and Paste into your message.

Dear Senator,

I was astounded and sorely disappointed by your vote for Hb1003. The House version coming back over to the Senate is estimated to cost traditional public schools $100 million in four short years. Traditional public education can not survive and effectively instruct the children of our state while taking that type of cut in funding on top of the original $300 million cut that was never fully restored.

But an opportunity exist for redemption. When the amended House version arrives which has been modified by Representative Behning to be even more damaging to traditional public schools than the Senate version, just vote NO.

Will be watching with interest and hopeful anticipation,

Sign your name and send.

 

HB1338 – Charter School Administration and A-F Revisions

This new version of HB 1338 is 39 pages long, and the last four pages propose a rewrite of Public Law 221 to recreate the A-F system following Rep. Behning’s revision that he introduced early in the session in House Bill 1337.

One issue is that it uses the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s proposal for how to change PL221 that the House resoundingly voted down in HB 1337 back in February. It goes into prescriptive detail in telling the State Board how to prepare a new A-F system.

The other controversial addition to the new HB 1338 is to put the “A” through “F” labels in Indiana law. This proposal drew immediate opposition from Rep. Vernon Smith and Sen. Rogers during Monday’s brief conference committee meeting.

Let us remember what happened to this language back in February when it was pages 2-4 of House Bill 1337. It was defeated decisively 61-33, with 31 members of the Republican caucus turning against it.

We need to ask them to turn against it AGAIN!

 

Senate Bill 189

SB 189 originated as a bill to provide some flexibility to school districts that were... deemed "A" districts. One of the key issues embedded in ESB 189 has been enabling "high-performing" districts to have calendar flexibility (ie. to allocate the 180-day school year into equivalent hours/minutes and not be bound by 180 separate days of instruction).

The House sponsor, Representative Todd Huston (R-Fishers) amended ESB 189 to remove the 180-day calendar year flexibility and he replaced it with enabling high-schoolers at "qualified high schools" to go to school for something less than a six-hour instructional day-in effect, as the bill read, "a student instructional day for a qualified high school consists of 'any amount of instructional time'."

At its core, SB 189 has become a "high school redesign" reform bill and at the very least, this new concept has funding implications, accountability implications, virtual education issues, student safety implications, teacher force implications, and taxpayer implications.  

The proposed Conference Committee Report did not "fix" any of these concerns.

In fact, it makes it clear that any student activity that is organized by the "A" grade district, an "A" grade high school, or a "waiver" high school that "occurs outside the traditional classroom" and is "designed to provide instruction or academic enrichment" is considered student instructional time. In effect, outside activities are on a par in value to classroom instruction.
 

While it didn't start out that way, SB 189 has become yet another major education reform-this time with minimal public input since this new high school concept was not inserted until later in the 2nd half of the session.
 

Please contact both your Representative and your Senator to  OPPOSE Conference Committee Report #1 to SB 189.
 
Special Thanks to Vic Smith and to Keep the Promise Indiana for providing helpful information.

WEDNESDAY WIRE

Spring Break is over and, as I journey back to Indiana from sunny Daytona Beach, Florida and review the week's political happenings so far, I write to remind all readers how we accomplished our goal in November and what we must do now to continue that success.

We did not elect Glenda Ritz by sitting idly by and watching others take on the task alone.  Nor did we let our opponents go unnoticed for their attempts to destroy our PUBLIC schools.  No, we worked together to turn a grassroots campaign into a nationally historic election event.  It is now time for our legislators to be reminded of this accomplishment.  They continue to be hell bent on ignoring the voices of the voters and pushing through legislation to further destroy and deplete public schools across the state.  

The passage of HB 1003 to the full senate is just one clear attempt by our elected officials to take more public tax money and fund their own pockets in the form of private and charter schools.  Do not be fooled one minute that they are simply doing this for those who "seek" to transfer from "failing" schools by assisting them through tuition support.  No, they are doing this to please their campaign contributors who make money from these private  and charter school ventures.  

It is time for the full senate to hear from PUBLIC school supporters regarding HB 1003.  We MUST CALL and demand a NO vote on HB 1003 and put an end to voucher expansion once and for all.  Our elected officials need to be reminded NOW that we vote, and their seats are not safe when they are up for re-election if they continue to slash and deplete our public schools and rob from our children.

Do not think that we stop here! PUBLIC school advocates must be aware that Representative Robert Behning, you remember the florist who is an education "expert", is back at it in House.  Common Core, A-F Revisions and Turnaround Operators are Back

Yesterday, Chairman Behning brought an amendment to Senate Bill 493 revisiting several topics from earlier in the session. Senate Bill 493 is Senator Hershman’s bill to give grants to schools that achieve well on ISTEP. Now it includes several new provisions, including:

· A State Board review of Common Core.

· A fiscal cost assessment of Common Core.

· Voiding the current A-F system, to be replaced by November 15, 2013.

· Putting “A” through “F” school grades in law.

· A thorough rewrite of the 1999 Public Law 221, changing the central goal from “improvement” to “performance.”

· Allowing turnaround school operators who take over a school to expand to other grade levels “not currently provided by the school.”

Many of these ideas came out of the failed House Bill 1337. HB 1337 was defeated as a result of PUBLIC school supporters being involved in the process and expressing concerns overnight Billy's contents.  As we see the negative effects of these provisions being  added to SB 493 by way of amendments by Behning, we must once again take the florist to task and shut him down.  Representative Behning is aware we are coming for his seat, heis trying all he can to push his agenda while he still has a chance to destroy our public schools.  Keep and eye on the battle looming over this bill.   It is worthy to note, while many of us want to see revisions in the A-F system, when Florist Behning was asked if State Superintendent Ritz had input into this A-F plan, he said she did not.

Also in the House Education Committee, an amendment was added to SB 1 that would require an armed school protection officer in every public school in Indiana.  Notice was given by Rep. Sue Errington that this UNFUNDED mandate for an armed person doesn’t apply to private schools.  

 “If you believe this is the way to protect children, why not private schools as well as public schools – especially if they are taking public dollars?” she asked."

According to the bill, a school protection officer would be required in each school and must be on the property during regular school hours and carry a loaded firearm. That person could be a teacher or other school employee who has volunteered and undergone additional training.  If no volunteers come forward,  districts then might have to hire someone, though there is no money in the bill to train employees or hire outside guards. 

A few questions to ask yourself about this amendment and SB 1 ...

1)  Do you want an armed "staff" person in your child's school building?

2) How will schools fund the training and pay of an armed "staffer"?

3) If this is important legislation, why is is good for our Public schools, but not for private schools who receive tuition support from our tax dollars intended to support public education.

Spring Break is over! It is time to get back the momentum from November and raise our voices loud to make sure our PUBLIC schools come out with minimal destruction from this legislative session.  We must STOP HB 1003 in the Senate, and take a stand again when it comes to SB 493 in the House.

TUESDAY TATTLER 6

This week the "tattler" looks at the Hoosier Mom's grading of our Indiana state representatives, especially those who received "F" grades for their lack of support for PUBLIC education.

When you look for your legislator's grade on any of the five "tests" used by the Hoosier Mom for her "mid-term" report card, you are going to want to look at a couple of things to check the reasoning for your representative's overall grade.  When looking at the overall "grades" you will want to note the method of grading.  There is a possible point total of 10 or 0 for each "test".  This makes for a possible total of 50 points for the "mid-term".  Representatives received full credit (10 points) for voting in favor of PUBLIC education.  In the reverse, the representatives received no credit (0) for voting against PUBLIC education or by "skipping the test" (not showing up to vote).

The Hoosier Mom utilized the following grading scale to determine each representative's mid-term grade based on their overall mid-term test results.
 

80-100, A
 

60-79, B

40-59, C

20-39, D

0-19, F

If your representative received a grade of C or below, it is time to question why they are voting against PUBLIC education, or if they are skipping out on votes to save face from going against their caucus.  Click the image below to see how each individual representative scored on the 5 "tests" in the first half of the session.

Hoosier Mom's Grade Report

REMEDIATION

It is not only vital that we note how our legislators are voting, or if they are skipping out on votes on key legislation to save face, it is also important that we begin to look at proper remediation techniques to see that they pass their final exam.  As good "teachers" we must utilize all our available tools to ensure that our "students" understand the full scope of their voting, and how we expect them to rectify this by showing better support of PUBLIC education in their future voting.  What tools do we have at our disposal to better "remediate"?  That my friends is the one question we have an easy answer for.  Here is your "Remediation Tool Kit"

1) Phone Calls - Use the switchboards to contact your direct representatives and key committee members to inform them how they can vote to support PUBLIC education.

2) Emails - Continue to use the email links to email your representatives regarding key legislation and how they can vote to support PUBLIC education. Contact the House Contact the Senate Contact Education Committees

3) Letter Writing - Utilize letter writing skills to "smail" mail your legislators now to inform them, should legislation come for vote of full house, how they can vote to support PUBLIC education.

4) Facebook (social media) - Continue to create and/or share posts supporting PUBLIC education and callling for action in posts to inform others of what they can do to support PUBLIC education.

5) Visit Legislature - Make trips to the house to speak with legislators or to testify in support of PUBLIC education when key education legislation comes up for discussion and vote.

6) BE ACTIVE - STAY ACTIVE - We used our voices to vote in November in support of PUBLIC education.  We me must stay active to make sure the voices (and votes) of 1.3 million hoosiers continue to be heard in support of PUBLIC education.

Mid-Term Grades: State Representative

Hoosier Mom's Public Education Grade Book

Spring 2013


It is that time in the legislative session when the Hoosier Mom must submit the mid-term grade card for our legislators. The grades are based on their support for public education as measured through their votes. 

The Hoosier Mom chose 5 bills as "tests" of our legislator's support for public education this session. Just like in school, legislators will earn points by passing the test and using their vote in support of public education. Just like in public school, legislators that chose to not take the test do not earn points: there is no make-up test. 


The 5 tests were:

HB 1003 - Voucher Program Expansion

HB 1334 - Singling Out Public School Employees & Freedom of Speech

HB1337 - Corporate Takeover of Schools Based On Fatally Flawed A-F Scale

HB1338 - Virtual Charter Expansion

HB 1357 - Deprofessionalization of School Administrators


There are many legislators who are failing to support public education. The Hoosier Mom suggests a voter takeover of these legislator's positions, especially if their grades do not improve over the course of the session. Accountability is the priority here: they must be held accountable to the voters.

Early intervention can also be important in changing a failing legislator's grades. Voters - please contact your failing legislators and provide early intervention services. They need direct remediation on the educational priorities for Hoosier children: the voters expect better from our legislators. This may require extra time on your part - services via phone calls, emails, visiting the statehouse, writing letters, etc. 

If we all work together, we can turn-around the grades of these failing legislators and re-direct their focus on providing a high-quality public education for all Hoosier children.

The gradebook is as follows: