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

Legislative Lunchbox v. 6

"Do legislators deserve the same apples teachers get for their efforts in education? Every Friday, "Hoosier Mom on Politics" makes that decision, giving two legislators a good or bad apple, depending on their support of Public Education and Indiana’s children. Check back every Friday at lunchtime to see what the Hoosier Mom packs in the Legislator Lunchbox for the week!

For this post of the “Legislative Lunchbox”, I chose to pack a lunch for State Representative Bob Behning (R- Indianapolis) and State Representative Earline Rogers (D- Gary).

Representative Earline Rogers received a good apple today for the legislation she authored to direct the Department of Education to develop the "Family Friendly School Designation." It would allow schools to apply to the state agency for the title that signals a strong level of family and parental involvement in student education. The bill would give the Department of Education the ability to draft the guidelines for the designation, ideally with teacher and parent input. This is exactly the kind of civic participation that is needed to make not only our schools exceed, but also to allow our Hoosier state to thrive. A long body of scholarly research has shown that parent involvement in education contributes in many ways to more effective schools and better educational outcomes for children. Better attendance rates, higher test scores, passing classes, improved social skills and behavior, and graduation with progression into post-secondary education are attributed to parent involvement in schools. This designation would not only encourage a more collaborative environment in schools across the state, it will help Hoosier children become more successful students and help parents become advocates with educators for high-quality educational outcomes. Well done Ms. Rogers! With bi-partisan support, I look forward to seeing this bill progress through the chambers and into our mainstream Hoosier life.

On the contrary, Representative Bob Behning received a bad apple this week when - without hesitation - he refused to hear SB 193. This bill calls for public hearings in every Congressional district to discuss the relevancy and appropriateness of the  Common Core national standards as Indiana academic standards. Mr. Behning said,

• "We've never gone to that level of public input. Frankly, most of the public would not have a very easy time even understanding what standards are, let alone trying to help form them."

You must be joking with me. Most of the public is not intelligent enough to have a conversation about what our children are learning? Mr. Behning, your comment smacks of condescension and arrogance that I don't particularly find appealing in a legislator whose job is to serve the people. You are not the Almighty, put in your position because you have some special ability to discern educational issues more effectively than the rest of us. Quite the opposite - you are only elected on the good will of the people in your district. It might be time to come down off that "high-horse" you hoisted yourself upon, and realize that civic participation is an essential component in effective democracies. You need to think about the implications of your comment in regards to your own election - if we aren't smart enough to have conversation about our kids with our teachers, are you suggesting we aren't smart enough to vote, too?


The Hoosier Mom hopes all the readers will spread the word about the Legislative Lunchbox. Feel free to email me with suggestions for next week’s lunch: for whom should I pack lunch and why?