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

WELL, WELL, WEDNESDAY - Who is Dr. Jennifer McCormick, Really?

Over the past several months Hoosier Voices correspondents have researched across the state to find out just who Dr. Jennifer McCormick really is.  We have found interesting comparisons between Tony Bennett and Dr. McCormick.  We shared a series of "He Said-She Said" memes produced by a group called Hoosiers Against Jennifer McCormick showcasing some of the similarities between the two.  The Latest of these memes just came out after McCormick stated her belief that the Superintendent of Public Instruction should be an appointed, not an elected position.

Click here to see the entire series of memes.

Guest blogger, Ben Yoder, wrote a post for us and included a letter he had penned a letter to Dr. McCormick.  We published his post back in June.  In his letter Mr. Yoder found he had many questions about her policies, her interaction with kids, and the buddies she was "rubbing elbows" with.  He concluded with one complimentary observation.  He told her, " I like those boots you wear with most of your outfits.  Classy, yet sassy. Bravo"

Click here to read the post Jennifer McCormick - Faux In Boots

Near the end of September, Jennifer McCormick finally released her education plan, which left some of us confused.  Is she just naive enough to think that after hundreds of thousands of dollars of school reform PAC contributions, her campaign donors will just change their ideological agenda, or is she just that downright deceptive to think she can lie to our faces and have us believe it?

After attempting to decipher the goals and intentions of her plan We posted a blog outlining some questions about the plan and discussed the struggles we had with the manner and location of its original "public" presentation - the headquarters of Hoosiers for Quality Education.  This drew concerns for many reasons.  We grew more concerned with her acceptance of campaign contributions from the "privatization", "school choice", and voucher expansion crowd who strongly supported Tony Bennett through his tenure 2008-2012 and his losing campaign in 2012.  These same contributors have poured large sums of money into campaigns of candidates across the state who are known to have legislative power and pull, who support the very goals of "privatization", "school choice", and voucher expansion.  This lead us to once again draw comparisons between the former Superintendent, Tony Bennett, and his protege, Jennifer McCormick.

Click to read "The McCormick Plan? - or is it  Bennett Plan 2.0

The sources of her campaign contributions brought us back to one of our posts from February 2015 where we asked, WHO ARE THESE "Hoosiers for Quality Education"?  From there we combed through campaign finance reports and found more interesting correlations.  We discovered that candidates from June 2015 to October 2016 who were receiving the majority of H4QE donations were definitely way below the money they were pouring into the McCormick campaign.  McCormick has received $60,000 from the Hoosiers for Quality Education Pack alone ($20,000 more since our most recent post went live yesterday). Their next highest recipients were Speaker of the House, Brian Bosma and Pete Miller who each received $17,500

Click here to view 3rd quarter finance report.

Looking through campaign finance reports from other former Bennett donors we were able to find that, in the past several months, McCormick won another large amount from Christel DeHaan, founder of the network of Christel House charter schools.  DeHaan, whose Christel House Academy was the school whose grade changing fiasco brought Tony Bennett down from his post in Florida, has given the McCormick campaign $125,000 others contributors with Tony Bennett ties include...

Fred Klipsch - CEO/Chairman/Founder Hoosiers for Quality Education $10,000

Betsy Wiley - Head of the Indiana Institute for Quality Education - $1,250

Kevin Brinegar - President of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce - $750

Robert Enlow - CEO of EdChoice - $1,000

Tosha Salyers - Former Bennett Staffer now at H4QE - $50.00

Dr. Jennifer McCormick wants to "distance herself" from comparisons to Tony Bennett by saying, "I am not Tony Bennett, I stand on my own proven leadership".  It's pretty interesting that Betsy Wiley said, "It's important for Jennifer to make it clear...that she is her own person."

So, while McCormick tries to portray herself as "her own person" and convince PUBLIC school supporters that she is not a "clone" of Tony Bennett, doing the math and watching her supporters one must question what they all expect to get from her if she defeats Glenda Ritz.  Jennifer McCormick can rub elbows with Brian Bosma, wear her "sassy" boots, and call Glenda Ritz a "politician", but she cannot distance herself far enough away from the Tony Bennett reformers to comfort us here at Hoosier Voices.  She came out swinging in the Superintendent's debate, but her punches fell short to those of us who truly believe in our traditional PUBLIC schools, their teachers, the students they serve, and our ELECTED Superintendent of PUBLIC Instruction.  We need a leader like Glenda Ritz who will stand up to the legislators, fight for our children, and move obstacles to accomplish PUBLIC education goals for Hoosier children.  The position IS STILL ELECTED.  1.3Million voters put Glenda Ritz in office and have watched as a Governor and GOP controlled legislature attempted to stifle her at every move.  We have been watching and waiting for four years to re-elect Glenda Ritz and give her a Governor and Legislature that will work WITH her to stop the destructive reform policies and money draining vouchers that have plagued our schools too long.  Sorry, Jennifer, but you are much closer to being a Tony Bennett clone than being anywhere near the fighter for public school children that SUPERINTENDENT Ritz has been and WILL CONTINUE to be.

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.