Archive for August, 2009
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
I e-mailed Dr. Eugene White this afternoon to let him know tomorrow I was dropping of my Freedom of Information request regarding the budget at the district office.
Here is his response.
Abdul,
I will check with my budget developer and we will let you know how soon we can have the total budget information ready for you. I assume that your interest is in the General Fund Budget. That is the one referred to in the Sunday Indianapolis Star.
Dr. Eugene G. White, Superintendent
Although I am glad the Superintendent plans to honor my request, it shouldn’t take a FOIA request from the media to get simple budget information and the members of the board who voted for the budget without going over this information should be run out of town on a rail.
And just so you know, I still plan to drop off my FOIA request tomorrow just to be on the safe side and that there is something in writing. Once I get the information I plan to make it available to all of you.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2,557 Comments »
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
Although I have my issues with the management of Indianapolis Public Schools, I have been trying to give them the benefit of the doubt this school year. However that was shot down this morning when I read at Tuesday’s budget hearing, board member Kelly Bentley was denied an itemized copy of the District’s $448 million budget.
According to the Star’s behind Closed Doors, board members were given a general overview of the budget, but not an itemized breakdown of expenditures. Bentley said as a board member she should know how funds are allocated, however IPS Superintendent Eugene White said he would not “waste the board’s time” by giving it a total budget to review. He said Bentley could make an appointment and come in and see the numbers.
No offense Dr. White, but the Board is made up of the duly elected representatives of the people and are entitled to review the budget line-by-line before they vote on it. And a a majority of the Board members (the budget passed 5-1) don’t have the political spine to demand such information, I will.
Below is a copy of my Freedom of Information request that I will be dropping off by your office Monday morning.
31 August 2009
Dr. Eugene White
Indianapolis Public Schools
JMF Center For Education Services
120 E. Walnut
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Dear Dr. White:
Pursuant to the Indiana Access to Public Records Act (IC 5-14-3), I would like to obtain the following public records:
- A printed copy of the District’s $448 million budget adopted this past Tuesday by the board by a vote of 5-1.
- An electronic copy of the District’s $448 million budget adopted this past Tuesday by the board.
- Any and all Executive summaries of the budget, as well as a line-by-line breakdown of funds by character, department and school.
I understand that if I seek a copy of this record, there may be a copying fee. Please inform me of that cost prior to making the copy. I can be reached at 317-XXX-XXXX.
According to the statute, you have 24 hours to respond to this request. If you choose to deny the request, then you are required to respond in writing and state the statutory exception authorizing the withholding of all or part of the public record and the name and title or position of the person responsible for the denial.
Thank you for your assistance on this matter.
Respectfully Submitted,
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz, Esq.
WXNT-AM
9245 N. Meridian, Suite 300
Indianapolis, IN 46260
(317)816-4000
I get very suspicious when school districts aren’t willing to open up and provide full disclosure and individuals have to jump through hoops to get public information. It makes me think they’re hiding something. For example, it’s been rumored IPS hired an “Activity Director” at Broad Ripple High School for $85,000 at a time when teachers are getting laid off. A good look at the budget would put that to rest. Taxpayers could also find out how much they are paying to put gas in Dr. White’s car.
This attitude by Dr. White is the epitome of intellectual arrogance (which I of all people am a expert on) and a total disregard for the taxpayers. It’s amazing that someone would spend all legislative session crying poverty, but when asked to show their budget line-by-line, as my lovely grandmother would say, “they start acting funky and talking crazy.”
I am dropping off my request Monday morning after my radio show. I will let you know what happens. And if I get an electronic copy of the budget, I will make it available for you to inspect yourself.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1,230 Comments »
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
I’ve got a poll running up at my other web blog, Indiana Barrister. I’m asking who would be the best Democratic candidate for Mayor of Indianapolis.
I put it up in the wake of former Bart Peterson aide Melina Kennedy announcing an exploratory committee for the job.
The other possible candidates include…
- Jose Evans
- Joe Hogsett
- Melina Kennedy
- Woody Myers
- Kip Tew
- Brian Williams
This is totally unscientific, but will make a nice straw poll. So feel free to vote. Please note, the poll is set up that you can only vote once per computer.
Happy voting.
Posted in Uncategorized | 3,721 Comments »
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
I got a tip late Friday afternoon that dozens of IPS teachers and staff were at the main building downtown mad as all get out because they were not getting paid.
When I got to the building they were waiting in the hall looking for their pay. None of them would speak on the record but I overheard one teacher say this was the second time in a row he hadn’t been paid and another teacher she her pay check reflected five years of service, when in fact she had been in the district for 15 years.
I did manage to speak to Jane Ajabu, director of human resources for IPS, she told me the district has installed a new pay system, but they haven’t worked out all the bugs and will probably take years to get the entire system fixed.
Jane Ajabu
I’ve been hearing stories about IPS teachers either not getting paid or major errors in their paychecks. It was something to see it up close and personal with all the issues the school district is facing.
Posted in Uncategorized | 785 Comments »
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
I got back this afternoon from my annual tri-state trip to the land where all the radio and TV stations start with the letter K. I didn’t get many text messages or phone calls while I was away, so I can assume there were no earth shattering events. However, I did do a quick jaunt around the blogosphere and here’s what I found.
Democrat Brett Voorhies officially announced his run against Republican Phil Hinkle for State Rep in District 92 on Indianapolis’ west side. This should be an interesting race. Although Marion County is trending more Democratic, in 2008 Hinkle beat Stephanie Dekemper by 3,000 votes when the County went heavily for Barack Obama. Hinkle also won in 2006 by a similar margin.
Also former DNR Commissioner Kyle Hupfer has filed to run against Democrat Scott Reske in HD 37 in Pendleton.
There was an interesting exchange between local attorney Paul Ogden and Kevin Murray, the attorney for Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson at last week’s budget hearing. Check out the video. It starts about 12 minutes into part 2 of the Public Safety Committee hearing. What was most interesting is that Ogden, with no proof, accused Anderson of taking kickbacks from a contractor. He tried to take it back, but the cat was out of the bag. I’m not a big Frank Anderson fan, but you never publicly accuse an elected official of committing a crime with no evidence to back it up.
Speaking of budget hearings, I plan to get caught up watching them and give you some details over the course of the week.
And by the way, while in Illinois, one candidate for Governor, State Senator Kirk Dillard, told a radio interviewer that he wanted to model my home state after Indiana based on the job current Governor Mitch Daniels has done.
Nice to be back. Missed you guys, but I missed the future Mrs. Shabazz more.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1,747 Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2009
There’s nothing like starting out the week with a good bunch of gossip, rumor and political innuendo. Most of it falls on the Democratic side today. And as always, take it for what it is worth…
Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson apparently has felt the need to justify some recent purchases in these tight budget times. Anderson reportedly sent letters out to members of the council justifying the acquisitions of some motorcycles and other vehicles, saying he got a good deal on them.
Wayne Township Trustee David Baird is offering up retirement benefits to members of the Wayne Township Board. However, my sources say the Board is going to tell him, thanks but no thanks.
A new name is being surfaced in the nomination for U.S. Attorney in the Southern District. I’m hearing Marion County Superior Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt as a likely nominee.
The new City-County Council maps are expected to be complete by December 2010. It will be interesting to see how they are drawn now that there is a Republican Council and Republican Mayor.
Expect a major change to occur in the Mayor’s Office in about two weeks.
Rumor has it there was a serious mix up in the pay of some IPS teachers this past week. It was reportedly so bad that IPS spokeswoman Mary Louise Bewley had to send out a formal apology to staff.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2,305 Comments »
Saturday, August 15th, 2009
The above is French for “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” That phrase has been on my mind a lot lately as I have monitored the health care reform debate.
As an observer of political events, I tend to chuckle somewhat slightly as political roles tend to reverse over time.
For example, some Democrats have labeled some of the protesters as “un-American” and “political terrorists” and of course Republicans cry outrage.
However, six years ago, Republicans accused Iraq war protesters of providing aide and comfort to the enemy. And I don’t recall anyone yelling “read the bill” when the Patriot Act was passed, although nice chunks of it were later found to be unconstitutional.
Now of course, the posts and responses will start with how Iraq and health care are two totally different issues, please save it for someone who cares.
If you believe in liberty, freedom and free speech, then you have to believe it for everyone, regardless of the issue and not just when it’s convenient.
But then again, I of all people should know better that the truth is never the first casualty of political gamesmanship, consistency is.
Posted in Uncategorized | 2,875 Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2009
Posted in Uncategorized | 1,319 Comments »
Thursday, August 13th, 2009
As I was looking for something to talk about during the first hour of my morning radio show, I had a person call in who identified themselves as an IPS school teacher. He told me that during their first general meeting of the semester, Dr. Eugene White berated the teachers and told them the reason students got poor test scores was because of their inability to teach.
Now I don’t know if that’s exactly what went down, but it does bring up an interesting question. When schools fail, whose fault is it?
Is it teachers who can’t teach?
Is it administrators whose policies aren’t based in reality?
Is it parents who are uneducated themselves and could care less?
Or are some students just incapable of learning, regardless of the teaching style you use?
I personally put the blame more so on the shoulders on parents. And if a student has parents, or in most cases a parent, who is uneducated and has no appreciation for education, that attitude is going to transferred down to the kid.
I’ll be interested in your thoughts.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1,779 Comments »
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
Now that the Indianapolis City-County Council has passed the one-percent hotel tax increase, I’m in the process of gauging the fallout from the bi-partisan 15-14 vote. And I can report so far my political geiger counter is not picking up very much.
There’s been some chatter in the blogosphere, but there have been no calls to either the Mayor’s office nor the Council office from citizens complaining about the tax increase.
I also spoke to several City-County Councilors who voted both for and against the tax increase and reaction has been scant at best. One councilor told me he got a handful of e-mails, but they were split 50-50. One got four text messages thanking him for voting against the tax. Another just got one complaint on their facebook page.
Councilors also told me they got more calls from constituents over the smoking ban, human rights ordinance, and dangerous dog ordinance than they did the hotel tax increase. And even in those instances, the Council chambers were packed with citizens. With the hotel tax vote, the room was barely half full.
I bring this up because despite what the chatter class might say, anyone who thinks the hotel tax is going to be a game changer in 2011 is probably in for a surprise. The income tax increase of 2007 was a mandatory tax that was passed in an election year. The hotel tax was a voluntary tax paid for by visitors and it occurred more than two years before the next municipal election.
Now, if there’s a bailout of the Indiana Pacers and the city takes over the operations of Conseco Fieldhouse for $15 million and gets nothing in return there will be blood in the streets and citizens shall bend their plowshares back into swords and rightly so.
But for now, the world moves on and maybe it’s time for the rest of us to do the same.
Posted in Uncategorized | 1,599 Comments »
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