Archive for May, 2011
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
This is the second installment in a series of blog posts this week regarding the possible takeover of several failing Indianapolis Public Schools by the State of Indiana.
When I was a young boy growing up, my grandmother used to have a saying. She used to say “you don’t believe fat meat is greasy.” To translate that into the modern vernacular, “you are about to find out the truth the hard way.” She would use that phrase whenever she had had enough of me or my siblings antics. In typical Grandma Hemphill fashion she would send us out into the yard and have us bring back a switch off the tree which she could use for our own punishment. I bring up this story not raise red flags over at child protective services, but to illustrate the point that Indianapolis Public Schools and their enablers are about to get a real taste of fat meat.
Tonight the state is begins its hearings on the very strong possibility that it is going to take over several IPS schools which have been failing since the last decade. The liberal-oriented think tank Center for American Progress rated IPS as the second worst district in the state when it came to return on investment for the taxpayers; Gary came in first. Under Indiana State law, any school that been on academic probation for at least five years is eligible for the State to step in and take control. That control can range from mere oversight to a wholesale firing of staff and teachers and control shifted to an outside agency. The schools slated for potential takeover include Broad Ripple, Arlington, Manual, Northwest, Howe, George Washington and Emma Donna Middle School. The factors that ultimately determine whether the state takes control include ISTEP test scores improvements and graduation rates.
What’s so funny about this entire matter is that now that state is seriously looking at taking these failing schools, IPS administrators and the community that makes excuses for the District them are all freaking out like 8-year olds at Michael Jackson’s house.
I have to give these guys credit. It is admirable to want to save schools. But where the hell have you people been for the past five years. This problem didn’t just pop up overnight. The State didn’t just wake up yesterday and say to itself “Let’s go declare some IPS schools as failing and take them over.” This problem has been taking place for the last five years. These schools have been on academic probation since 2005. Think about what these people are defending. They are defending schools that for the past five years have been graduating seniors from failing schools. And I pity the kids who started their as freshmen. And the good news about the 50% or so who drop out is at least they can say they didn’t graduate from a failing school.
Instead of looking at real solutions, Dr. White decides it better to blame his problems on charter schools and then declare to the world he intends to break state law by not allowing any students from charter schools who live in IPS to transfer into the district. Members of his staff try to place the race card by sending out e-mails to incite the community into thinking this is some grand conspiracy. The Black Caucus in the Indiana House of Representatives fought against meaningful school reform for years. Reforms that would help students in the worst school districts have a shot were instead shot down. Who needs Jim Crow when you have friends in the legislature like this?
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett warned people two years ago that he would no hesitate to use existing state law to step in takeover failing schools and do whatever was necessary to help children in need. That day is here. Fat meat is greasy. Dinner is about to be served!
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Monday, May 30th, 2011
I hadn’t planned to start posting again until tomorrow, but I didn’t want to wait and thought this was a topic definitely worth discussing. So here is part one.
This week I’m focusing my blog posts to education and the likelihood the Indiana Department of Education will intervene and take over several failing Indianapolis Public Schools. Today’s post will focus on the background of how turnaround/takeover actually works.
The Indiana Department of Education will begin holding hearings at several Indianapolis Public Schools that have been on academic probation for the past five years. Under Public Law 221, any school that has been deemed as failing for the past five years is subject to state intervention. That intervention can include one of the following options…
- Provide technical assistance to the school.
- Assume total control of school.
- Assign a special team to operate all or part of the school.
- Allow the school to continue to function if it’s making steady progress.
Schools are measured based on student achievement, performance and yearly progress. A school can avoid takeover if its test scores improve by three percent.
The state taking over a school is not a new concept. Since 1999, state law has allowed the DOE to intervene if a school is has been failing for more than five years. This law was passed two years before No Child Left Behind went into effect.
Hearings are set for the following schools…
- May 31 — Broad Ripple HS, 6:30 p.m.
- June 1 — Arlington Community HS, 6:30 p.m.
- June 8 — Emerich Manual HS, 6:30 p.m.
- June 9 — Northwest HS, 6:30 p.m.
- June 13 — TC Howe Comm. HS, 6:30 p.m.
- June 20 — Emma Donnan MS, 6:30 p.m.
- June 29 — George Washington HS, 6:30 p.m.
The state has already held a hearing in South Bend. It’s important to note that these hearings are not to debate whether the state will intervene, but absent an increase in test scores, how that intervention will take place. The DOE can also choose to keep teachers and staff at the turnaround school or dismiss them entirely. Turnaround usually lasts for about two years.
Official test results for schools won’t be out until July, however, test scores for individual students should be out later in the week. School officials can take those individual scores and put together a pretty accurate composite of what the overall picture will look like and that should let them know which schools are ripe for takeover and which ones can avoid intervention.
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Sunday, May 29th, 2011
As you can imagine, I’m taking a couple days off to commemorate Memorial Day. There are the family cookout traditions, but of course Memorial Day is about remembering the men and women who died serving this country so we can enjoy our freedoms. I’ll be back on Tuesday. I’m going to spend a lot of time this upcoming week writing about education and turnaround hearings that will be taking place in Indianapolis Public Schools. It should make for interesting reading.
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Friday, May 27th, 2011
With the news that Nordstrom is leaving Circle Center Mall, I am going to exercise a point of personal privilege and encourage the movers and shakers of this town to see if Target can fill the void. I’ve always felt that a store like Target is the one thing downtown Indy was missing. It’s worked in other places so there’s no reason why something like that wouldn’t work here.
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Thursday, May 26th, 2011
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is suing to block parts of the state’s new immigration law. I’ve embedded a copy of the suit for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.
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Thursday, May 26th, 2011
Democratic Mayoral candidate Melina Kennedy Wednesday unveiled her “education” plan. Since I’m not on their media distribution list, I can say she and staff were surprised to see me there. She outlined her proposal and took questions. I know you all expecting some snide comments and criticism but I’m going to surprise all of you and simply embed her comments here. Part one is her outlining her plan. Part two is her taking questions, including mine. Enjoy.
Melina Kennedy (Education - 1)
Melina Kennedy (Education - 2 )
If you listen to the audio, you will clearly hear I am not the devil. I am just a guy with a moderate conservative opinion who happens to have a radio show, newspaper column, TV air time and an internet blog who can back up his arguments with facts.
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Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction has the show Thursday morning from 6-9. You can listen in here. Of course he’ll be talking about education reform. You can call in at 317-228-1430. Enjoy!
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Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels spent some time with the news media today speaking on a number of issues; his decision to not run for the Presidency, the current crop of Presidential candidates, the recent Supreme Court ruling that there is no right to reasonably defend yourself from police if they enter your home illegally and a number of other state issues as well as his future and his recent injury.
Instead of paraphrasing the Governor, I decided to go ahead and embed the audio here. Each segment is between 6 - 9 minutes.
Mitch Daniels -1 (Decision Not to Run for President) - 6:38
Mitch Daniels - 2 (Arrest of FSSA employees, Indiana’s current climate ) - 7:38
Mitch Daniels - 3 (Chrysler Bailout, Abortion Law Challenge, At Peace with Decision not to run for President) - 8:44
Mitch Daniels - 4 (Future plans, future state agenda) - 5:21
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Tuesday, May 24th, 2011
The only thing better than getting more than 900 birthday wishes (Facebook, Twitter, e-mails, text messages, phones calls) is the political gossip, rumor and innuendo that comes along with it. So without further delay, here we go…
- Governor Mitch Daniels’ mood was described to me Monday as “majorly bummed” because he is not running for President. Daniels told supporters he was not running because of family concerns. Daniels really wanted to run, but he gave his wife and daughters veto power over that decision. The Governor will chair the state Education Roundtable this morning. I expect this one to be more attended by media than any in recent memory.
- The race for the Republican Primary in the U.S. Senate is getting interesting. State Treasurer Richard Mourdock put out a news release today touting a support of the majority of the State Party committee. However, a Dick Lugar supporter called me Monday night saying most of those members are either retiring this year or face challengers in next month’s committee elections and may not be back, so Mourdock only has a third of the support he says he has. This race gets more interesting everyday.
- Indiana’s Congressional races continue to shape up. John McGoff plans to announce tomorrow on my morning radio program that he’s going to take on Dan Burton in the new 5th Congressional District. McGoff has challenged Burton twice in the past. In addition, former State Representative Luke Messer will formally announce his candidacy for the new 6th Congressional District today. Messer also has a major fundraiser planned for Wednesday with a lot of heavy hitters.
- Speaking of races, there’s reportedly some grumbling in Marion County Democratic circles that Melina Kennedy’s attacks on Republican Greg Ballard may backfire. The discussion centers around the fact that unemployment grew 70% in Indianapolis from 2000-2005 when Kennedy worked on economic development and job creation for the Peterson administration. Kennedy has attacked Ballard on his job record, claiming the city has lost 35,000 jobs since Ballard took office.
- Also, the new talk is Marion County Democratic Chairman Ed Treacy is giving up on the Mayor’s race in Beech Grove and instead focusing his attention on Lawrence. Treacy is reportedly recruiting volunteers to help Democratic Mayoral candidate Dean Jessup defeat Republican Paul Ricketts. The irony of all that is Jessup was part of the group “Democrats for Ricketts” in 2007. He even signed a petition supporting Ricketts for Mayor. Treacy also allegedly has promised support to Libertarian candidate Ed Coleman in his City-Council race against Jack Sandlin.
- The family of Brandon Johnson can’t seem to stay out of the news. Brandon’s older brother and cousin were shot Monday night at 21st and Post Road. I’m told the shooting was the result of gang violence. Brandon’s brother and cousin are reported to be members of the Pop It Off Boys gang. My sources all tell me the Pop It Boys have been embolden lately because some members of the community (Baptist Ministers Alliance) have been coming to Brandon and his family’s defense against the police. Rival gangs reportedly haven’t been too thrilled about that and this could escalate some serious gang warfare this summer. That won’t be good for anybody.
- If Franklin Township School officials thought they had problems before, they haven’t seen anything yet. A number of parents are not happy with proposed District plans to close either Wannamaker or Acton schools. I’m told if the District does close the schools a number of parents will create a charter school out of one of them. Take their children out of Franklin schools and put them in the charter school. State law makes it easier for charters to acquire property from traditional schools. In addition, the schools are close to the interstate so it could draw students from Franklin, Center and Warren Townships, as well as Shelby and Hancock counties.
That’s all for now.
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Monday, May 23rd, 2011
Today is your favorite political pundit’s birthday. So I’m going to spend the day doing what I love to do, talking (we’ll be discussing Mitch Daniels’ decision not to run for President; easiest three hours of radio in the Universe), smoke a good cigar, have a few good cocktails, play a few video games, and of course enjoy the company of the Lovely Mrs. Shabazz. In other words, it will be just like every other day. Why should you limit enjoying life to one day a year? Back tomorrow.
Photo Credit: Seger Photography
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