Can You Say Nepotism?

Let us start with a simple definition of the term.

nep·o·tism / ˈnepəˌtizəm/
noun
the practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs.

synonyms:favoritism, preferential treatment, the old boy network, looking after one's own, bias, partiality, partisanship

"hiring my daughter was not nepotism—it was just good business"

Now, lets look at Indiana's "nepotism law" effective July 1 2012.

Ind. Code § 4-15-7-1 : Indiana Code - Section 4-15-7-1: Nepotism

(a) No person being related to any member of any state board or commission, or to the head of any state office or department or institution, as father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, a husband or wife, son or daughter, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, niece or nephew, shall be eligible to any position in any such state board, commission, office, or department or institution, as the case may be, nor shall any such relative be entitled to receive any compensation for his or her services out of any appropriation provided by law.

(b) This section shall not apply if such person has been employed in the same position in such office or department or institution for at least twelve (12) consecutive months immediately preceding the appointment of his relative as a board member or head of such office, department, or institution.

(c) This section does not apply to the authority of the board of trustees of a state educational institution to employ any person the board considers necessary under IC 21-38-3-1.

(d) No persons related as father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, husband, wife, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, niece, or nephew may be placed in a direct supervisory-subordinate relationship.

(Formerly: Acts 1941, c.16, s.1; Acts 1961, c.8, s.1.) As amended by Acts 1982, P.L.23, SEC.35; P.L.36-1995, SEC.1; P.L.2-2007, SEC.44; P.L.3-2008, SEC.8.

With this background information, let's take a look at the reappointment of Sarah O'Brien to the Indiana State Board of Education and her recent election as the board's Vice-Chair.  How does this appointment and Vice-Chair position relate to a possible violation of this "nepotism" law, along with a variety of potential ethics violations?  Mrs. O'Brien isn't just a 4th grade teacher from Avon who, as a Republican, was appointed to the SBOE and recently reappointed after legislative changes to the boards structure, she is also the daughter of Republican State Representative Bill Fine of Munster.  This is where the possible violation occurs.  Representative Fine is a Republican member of the House Education Committee who pushed the passage of legislation that changed the structure of the SBOE and co-authored key language that created the Vice-Chair position to share powers with the Elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, Glenda Ritz.

With the passage of this legislation, Governor Pence re-appointed O'Brien to the Board and set up her opportunity to be elected as Vice-Chair.   This selection was rumored before the SBOE met for their restructuring meeting.  The "election" of O'Brien appears to have been a done deal as part of Pence's plan when he made his recent appointments and refused to reappoint certain members who might have been more viable possibilities to be named Vice-Chair.

This may not be a clear violation of Indiana Law, but it appears to set up potential questions regarding "nepotism", board appointments, committee selections, and legislative ethics.

Indiana voters need to be vigilant in monitoring recent SBOE actions, the Governor's continued education agenda, and the co-mingling of legislators and appointed board members.  Raise questions, raise your voices, and demand transparency in all aspects of government activity.  Most importantly,  voters in Indiana need to get to the polls and vote to save our PUBLIC schools from the continued destruction and privatization planned by Pence and his wealthy corporate "reform" supporters.

TUESDAY TATTLER 8

Former Indiana Governor and new Purdue University President, Mitch Daniels implemented $300 million in education funding cuts in 2010 and 2011 as the recession forced the state to slash its budget across the board: K-12 education, higher education, and unemployment benefits. As the 2012 fiscal year came to a close with nearly $2 billion in reserves, constituent said the surplus should be used to restore funding to programs and budgets that were cut.

Shouldn't any surplus be used to reinstate funding to those programs?  One would think that this idea would make sense, but to the politicians it apparently means nothing.  The legislature has recently set out to continue to destroy Public education in Indiana through bills to strip the power of newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, Glenda Ritz, and by attempting to push through a huge fiscally irresponsible voucher expansion bill.

It appears that newly elected Governor Mike Pence has no desire to increase funding for education or reinstate the $300 million that was cut.  Governor Pence has made it clear that he supports voucher expansion, and his budget does not appear to establish any fiscal improvement for Indiana's K-12 PUBLIC education.  Pence is seeking approval of his proposed budget that includes a cut in Indiana's state income tax rate by 10 percent over the next two years.

What appears fortunate for Indiana's Public schools, is the fact that prominent Republican lawmakers in Indiana are lukewarm at best on the new governor's tax cut plan. Some are even on record as wishing to replenish funding to programs the recession forced them to cut and shore up Indiana's budget for the long haul.  Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma and some other Republican legislative leaders would rather return the budget surplus to the state's public schools.

The current debate is over how much money to restore — and to what programs. Pence's budget would increase K-12 funding by $137 million over the next two years, but this increase only makes up for the gap in  the funding of Indiana's new full-day kindergarten program.  Some Indiana Democrats say Pence's budget falls short of reinstating the education dollars the Daniels administration cut; we're not even halfway there. Speaker Bosma says he'd prefer to restore even more money to public schools, although he declines to say how much and by what means. 

While all this looks good on paper, and while Mitch Daniels laughs from West Lafayette at the debate taking place, Pence's propsed increases in education look to be undercut even more by his push for voucher expansion.  Expanding the state's voucher program looks to rob a significant amount of funding from the very PUBLIC schools still reeling from those $300 million in cuts suffered under the Daniels administration's last budget.  While Daniels secured his future job by appointing the very people who eventually hired him at Purdue, he has set himself up in a comfortable seat to view Pence's battle to make a name for himself in the State House. 

While Pence and Daniels have proven to be on the same page with regard to destroying public education through their "reformist" tactics and vouchers to support their private school cronies and corporate sponsors, it is now time for Hoosier PUBLIC school supporters to continue to stand up to these politicians.  We must push for proper funding for K-12 education to be restored, and for the voucher expansion wagon to be derailed.  It is time for the Daniels era to end and for Pence to understand that the voters sent a loud message in November and will continue to do so throughout his term, which could easily end after 4 years if he continues to scoff at PUBLIC schools as second rate to his precious charter and private schools.  We must let our voices be heard loudly as we procliam that we want funding restored from the previous cuts and more support for PUBLIC education in Indiana.  We must demand our $300 million to be returned to our PUBLIC schools without adding extra unfunded expenses on top.

 

Connecting the Dots: ALEC.....to.....Indiana - PART 2



CLICK HERE TO VIEW PART 1

By Heath Johnson

The "Right" to Know:   Think Again

Call me crazy, but it's my belief that we, as constituent voters, should have the right to know if our legislators are attending ALEC meetings, getting free hotel accommodations, reimbursed travel expenses, free drinks, free meals, free cigars, and.... free corporate-crafted legislation.   This legislation impacts our classrooms and our ability to teach, it impacts our students and their parents, and it impacts the community as a whole.   Well, I guess I'm wrong.   According to an email I received (dated 5/15/12) from the chief counsel for the House Republican Caucus, we don't have a right to such information,

"...the Indiana Supreme Court has held that the provisions of the Access to Public Records Act (“APRA”) do not apply to the Indiana House of Representatives.  In Masariu v. The Marion Superior Court No. 1, 621 N.E.2d. 1097 (Ind. 1993), the Indiana Supreme Court determined that it would not intervene in the internal affairs of the legislative branch of government and that it is up to the legislative branch to decide its own internal procedural rules.

In the time between my May 4 response to your email and today, I contacted the Public Access Counselor (“PAC”) to get guidance on the issue, even though the APRA does not apply to the House of Representatives.  I was advised by the PAC that we are not required to create a list to satisfy an open records request.  [See page 25 of the Handbook on Indiana’s Public Access Laws which you can download here:  http://www.in.gov/pac/files/pac_handbook.pdf or I.C. 5-14-3-3(f).]" 

In other words, constituent voters have no right to know if their legislators are engaging in such activities.  In fact, I think this was the email that finally did it for me.   Following this, I made it my mission to expose Indiana's ALEC members, ALEC legislation, and the ALEC "corporate dating service for lonely legislators and corporate special interests" (Wisconsin State Rep. Mark Pocan).  ALEC's DNA Here are some documents that I've found which helped me understand just how extensive ALEC's influence has been with pushing and passing the education reform legislation.

Prior to ALEC Taskforce meetings the "charitable organization" mails out a packet of information to its members.   Referred to as the 35-day Mailer, it includes the model bills, agenda, registration fees, and information about free hotel accommodations and travel reimbursement.   

Linked below is the ALEC Taskforce 35-day Mailer for the December, 2010 Washington D.C. ALEC taskforce "summit".

http://www.commoncause.org/atf/cf/%7BFB3C17E2-CDD1-4DF6-92BE-BD4429893665%7D/ed_35daymailing-dc.pdf

Much of the "model" legislation in this "Taskforce packet" was authored ad sponsored by the Goldwater Institute and much of it was introduced and/or passed in Florida prior to being pushed in Indiana.   The huge model bill in this packet is referred to the  "A-Plus Literacy Act" and it incorporates "model" legislation already adopted by ALEC.   Discussion and voting was sponsored by Matt Ladner, The Goldwater Institute and moderated by Ms. Mickey Revenaugh, Connections Academy, Private Sector Task Force Chair

Page 15 - School A-F grading "model" legislation
Page 18 - School bonus money grant "model" legislation

Page 19 - School choice scholarship "model" legislation

Page 30 - Private school tax credit "model" legislation

Page 36 - REPA II "model" legislation - alternative teacher certification.

Page 38 - I-Read 3 "model" legislation

Page 70 - Parent Trigger "model" legislation (authored by the Heartland Institute)

Page 121 -  Language outlining Taskforce Member free hotel accommodations and reimbursement of travel expenses.

Specifically, the Parent Trigger bill (HB 1358) in the Indiana General Assembly was written by the Heartland Institute. 

This piece of legislation was authored and presented by the Heartland Institute at the December 3rd, 2010 at the ALEC Education Task Force Meeting held at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.   Discussion and voting on this original model legislation occurred at 5:05 p.m. on December 3rd, 2010.   It was sponsored by Marc Oestreich, Heartland Institute. and moderated by Ms. Mickey Revenaugh, Connections Academy, Private Sector Task  Force Chairman.
The legislation was authored by (page 99 of the pdf):

Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute
Ben Boychuk, managing editor of The Heartland Institute’s School Reform News
Bruno Behrend, J.D., director of the Center for School Reform at The Heartland Institute
Marc Oestreich, legislative specialist on education and telecommunications at The Heartland Institute

AGENDA of this ALEC 35-day Mailing (page 8 of the pdf)
MODEL BILL (page 70 of the pdf)

See Heartland Institute's statement on the 2013 Indiana bill.

http://heartland.org/press-releases/2013/02/13/heartland-institute-education-expert-reacts-indiana-parent-trigger-bill-pa

CLICK HERE TO READ PART 3

HOOSIER VOICES CELEBRATES SUPPORTERS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

 COMMENT BELOW TO BE ELIGIBLE TO WIN A FREE GIFT!

Hoosier Voices for Public Education would like to thank all our supporters for our growing success and our statewide reach.  We are amazed and excited about the opportunity we have had and will continue to have to bring pertinent information regarding PUBLIC education to those who truly support all that PUBLIC education represents.  As we celebrate the success of making over 1,300 “friends” on Facebook and reaching over 7,200 page views on the blog (in our first 37 days of existence on blogspot), we would like to give back to our supporters.  Make sure you have liked the Hoosier Voices page on FB, clicked like on the celebration post on Facebook,  and comment below on this celebration post by our 2 month anniversary (March 25). We will randomly select one lucky supporter to receive a free gift.

Legislative Lunchbox v.4

"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 Randy Truitt (R-West Lafayette) and for State Representative and House Ways & Means Committee Chair Tim Brown (R-Crawfordsville).

Representative Randy Truitt received a good apple in his lunchbox for having the conviction to stand-up for the best interests of Hoosier Children. He voted no on HB 1358 (known as "The Parent Trigger" bill) which would use the fatally flawed 'A to F' school grading system as an avenue to - literally - allow parents to pull the trigger and shoot down a public school that receives a D or F grade. First of all, as a mother of 2 Hoosier Public School children and as an Aunt of 2 Hoosier Public School Children (going to school just Northeast of Lafayette in a farm community where I grew up), THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU - for choosing to apply good ol' Hoosier common sense with your vote! Every mom and dad in this State should be sending you personal "Thank You" notes for your vote and this is why...

This bill is chock full of horrible policy choices. The A to F grading scale is relatively new and pretty much makes absolutely no intelligible sense. It applies grades to public schools nilly-willy, with no method behind the madness. There are some schools that have received a decent grade (A or B) one year, just to be followed up with a D or F the following year, and last year received some other completely random grade. Maybe whomever had the genius idea of implementing this grading system in Indiana could explain to me how exactly this correlates to how well my children learn and excel academically? In the real world, that is what all of us care about - how our kids are doing and what kind of citizens they will grow up to be. The grading system seems like a bunch of red tape and a waste of time and money to me! Now, some in the House are suggesting this flawed and bureaucratic grading system is what can initiate the take-down of a public school? What an absolutely ridiculous notion.

Not to mention that it is the TAXPAYERS who invest in our public schools, it should be the TAXPAYERS - not 51% of parents votes - who make decisions relating to the use of TAXPAYER dollars. The bill as it stands now allows parents to receive a vote for each child they have in the Public School and then a 51% majority of those parent's votes could shoot down a Public Institution and hand it over to a Charter Corporation. Mind you - TAXPAYERS - there is NO voter accountability in Charter Schools. Their Boards are established similarly to a PTO or a PTA, where the volunteering parents at the school run for and are elected to the Board by the other volunteering parents. The TAXPAYERS don't get a say-so in the administration of the Charter Corporation. I ask, where is representative government and accountability in that type of system? What happened to our American philosophy of "no taxation without representation"? Did any of these legislators that wrote and passed this bill go to their History classes on the Founding Fathers and the American Constitution? Representative Truitt, I can't thank you enough for being a true American and having the fortitude and consideration to vote "no" to this garbage bill that does wrong by the taxpayers, makes no common sense, and most importantly will not serve the best interest of Hoosier children academically.

Representative Tim Brown received a bad apple in his lunchbox for leading the committee process on HB 1338 which expands funding of "Virtual" Charter Schools. Current policy allows for Virtual Charter Schools to be funded at 87.5% following a rationale that it is significantly less expensive for a student to "attend" (and I use that word very loosely here) a computerized "clicks and portals" school compared to a real live "bricks and mortar" school. You know, the kind of real live school which TAXPAYERS invest because schools are one of the leading contributors to positive Economic Development within a community. From teaching Hoosier kids hands-on skills to being an anchor for community development, schools - and more accurately - public schools are the #1 source of jobs now and in the future for Hoosiers. 

Rep. Brown decided that Virtual Charter Schools needed more money and his committee heard - then passed - this bill which contains language to expand funding of Virtual Charter Schools by over 14%. Now, I don't claim to be the sharpest tool in the tool-shed, but I can tell you from personal experience - virtual classes are EASY compared to a class to by a real teacher. In fact, they are exceptionally easy which is why I prefer to take virtual classes at the collegiate level in my non-major requirement study, if at all possible. Some people may criticize me for that decision - and that is probably a discussion better had at a different time and place. The fact remains - I don't see how a 7 year old, or an 8 year old is going to really learn much of anything from a virtual class. I don't doubt that they will pass the class, but from my experience there is no way these 6,500 kids that "attend" Virtual Charter Schools are learning at the same level as their peers who attend a bricks and mortar school. And Rep. Brown now wants to give more money to these Virtual Charter Schools that clearly do not have the same expenses as a traditional school? Let's get real here, Rep. Brown. Crawfordsville is a really nice town and with a really great Public School system. Your voters attended that Public School and their kids and grandkids attend it now. Heck, you probably went to that Public School. How can you justify to your constituents a bill like this that will only serve to fund a lesser quality education than what you and your voters know is available? This bill doesn't make any common sense, except for if one's goal is to 'dumb-down' Hoosier kids. Shame on you Rep. Brown for drinking the Huston and Bennet Kool-Aid and doing a disservice to our great State. You should take a lesson from Rep. Truitt on how to stick-up for what is right.


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?

Legislative Lunchbox v.3

"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 Senator Karen Tallian(D-Ogden Dunes)and for State Representative Jim Lucas (R-Seymour).

Senator Karen Tallian received a good apple in her lunchbox for authoring SB 469 which provides that Full-Day Kindergarten become mandatory and, more importantly, that each Kindergarten Pupil counts as a full student in the annual ADM. Sen. Tallian, kudos to you for not only recognizing the need for a continuum of early childhood education provided through Indiana's public schools, but for actually standing up and doing something about it. So many legislators pay lip service to the educational needs of Kindergartners, sometimes taking action simply to publicize and further their own political careers. But not you Senator Tallian! This bill is simple and to the point - not only does it outline mandatory Kindergarten but it counts Kindergartners as full students so Public Schools can receive full-funding for the education provided. But here comes the sticking point - this bill hasn't even received a hearing in the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development. Bills are getting heard which expand vouchers to fully-fund preschool but apparently the legislative rationale is that during the magic year of Kindergarten, Indiana children only deserve to have their education only halfway funded. Where the heck is the common sense in that? Come on Senate Committee on Education and Career Development: listen to Senator Tallian on this matter. It is time for Indiana to have a hearing on this bill.

Representative Jim Lucas received a bad apple in his lunchbox for his letter to an Indiana voter concerned about the voucher expansion bill (HB 1003)which cleared the House Committee on Education Thursday. Mr Lucas writes, "I am aware of the potential for the growth of vouchers, and yes, this growth may come at the expense of what is referred to as our public system, but as long as that child is receiving an education, and better yet, an education of the choice of the parent, then I fail to see the negative of this." There are so many levels of 'wrong' in this statement (let alone the whole letter), where is a Hoosier Mom to begin? First of all Mr. Lucas, "what is referred to as our public system" is the public education system which you, as an elected official, are required to provide (please read Article 8 of the state constitution, Mr. Lucas if you are unsure of what I reference about your job). I understand that this is your first term and you aren't particularly familiar with all the 'ins and outs of serving your constituents, but I can guarantee you that if you take this kind of "my way or the highway" approach, you will be out of this job soon enough and back shilling awnings in Seymour. I don't think I need to remind you but this is the first time in a while that a Republican has been elected to district 69, and if you continue with your back-handed comments about public education, I can guarantee that reelection is not in your future.

Just in case you weren't aware Mr. Lucas, most all of your constituents received their education via Indiana's public school system and most all of your constituents with children are sending their kids to public school. These are your constituents: as an elected representative it is your duty to serve the best interest of the people, not the best interest of a few private religious companies that seek to receive government hand-outs (via corporate welfare) on the backs of hard-working Hoosiers. As a tax-paying mom and life-long Hoosier, I can tell you that I don't care to pay for some other parent's education "choice". If a parent chooses to send their child to a private school, then they can pay for their choice - I and the other taxpayers in Indiana aren't financially responsible for their personal preference and you should stop trying to make us pay for it. However as a taxpayer, I strongly believe the money I give to the state needs to go to the betterment of most ALL Hoosiers, not just a few. Public Education is the only means and method which effectively and efficiently provides for a common education of Hoosier children. It is time you learned to not only vote in the best interest of your constituents, but also in the best interest of Hoosiers on the whole.

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?