2018 Legislative Candidates Survey Results, Monroe County
The following are the candidates up for local and federal legislative positions that represent the citizens of Monroe County.
Indiana House District 46
Bob Heaton (incumbent)
E. Thomasina Marsili
Indiana House District 60
Penny Githens
Peggy Mayfield (incumbent)
Indiana House District 61
Matt Pierce (incumbent, running unopposed)
Indiana House District 62
Jeff Ellington (incumbent)
Amy Swain
Indiana House District 65
Chris May (incumbent)
Jared Stancombe
U.S. Senate
Mike Braun
Joe Donnelly (incumbent)
U.S Congress, Indiana District 9
Trey Hollingsworth (incumbent)
Liz Watson
The questions
- Describe your connections to public schools.
- What is the goal of a public education system?
- What are the biggest problems in public education?
- What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
- What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
- Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
- How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
The responses
E. Thomasina Marsili, District 46
1. Describe your connections to public schools.
My association with public schools begins with my grandmother, who with only an eighth grade education, ran the lunch/dietary programs for Venango County, Pennsylvania from 1950 to 1968. My mother was an English teacher, and both of my sisters are public school teachers. In the small rural area were I grew up, public school was our saving grace, the only system, and the heart and soul of our community.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
Public education is a right for all citizens. It is a place for teaching fundamental learning as well as public health, public gathering, and structures of the community. The future of our democracy relies on an educated citizenry and its public education systems.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
According to Maslow’s theory of human motivation, extracurricular activities aid in goal attainment on several different levels. For example, the act of going to school will assist in physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem. Additionally, participating in an extracurricular activity teaches students to set goals and attain self-actualization.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
Promoting a foundation of standardization while working in EVERY community to ensure equal and fair solutions for improvement. Student growth, student outcomes, and the breadth and depth of student experiences provide critical insights into the quality of our public school system.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
We serve the public, not private institutions. When we allow private entities to obstruct the right of every child having equal education, we destroy a fundamental pillar of democratic society. Education should never be a place for private gain. Education is a place for growth, sustainability, and support for all communities. Publicly funded vouchers for private and parochial schools must be eliminated. Charter schools should be limited to adult learning and disenfranchised students, and all records of charter schools should be publicly available. Regular charter school board meetings should highlight student performance, enrollment, and financial data, and ineffective charter schools should be held to the same or higher standards than the surrounding public school.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
My association with public schools begins with my grandmother, who with only an eighth grade education, ran the lunch/dietary programs for Venango County, Pennsylvania from 1950 to 1968. My mother was an English teacher, and both of my sisters are public school teachers. In the small rural area were I grew up, public school was our saving grace, the only system, and the heart and soul of our community.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
Public education is a right for all citizens. It is a place for teaching fundamental learning as well as public health, public gathering, and structures of the community. The future of our democracy relies on an educated citizenry and its public education systems.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
- Lack of funding generally; lack of equitable funding in particular
- Low wages: low starting wages; low wage growth; and removal of wage incentives for advanced degree attainment
- State legislators who are disconnected from public education and who do not understand and embrace its purpose, its successes, and its challenges.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
According to Maslow’s theory of human motivation, extracurricular activities aid in goal attainment on several different levels. For example, the act of going to school will assist in physiological, safety, belonging, and esteem. Additionally, participating in an extracurricular activity teaches students to set goals and attain self-actualization.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
Promoting a foundation of standardization while working in EVERY community to ensure equal and fair solutions for improvement. Student growth, student outcomes, and the breadth and depth of student experiences provide critical insights into the quality of our public school system.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
We serve the public, not private institutions. When we allow private entities to obstruct the right of every child having equal education, we destroy a fundamental pillar of democratic society. Education should never be a place for private gain. Education is a place for growth, sustainability, and support for all communities. Publicly funded vouchers for private and parochial schools must be eliminated. Charter schools should be limited to adult learning and disenfranchised students, and all records of charter schools should be publicly available. Regular charter school board meetings should highlight student performance, enrollment, and financial data, and ineffective charter schools should be held to the same or higher standards than the surrounding public school.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
- Just as with trades, there should be a state-funded teacher apprenticeship program that begins during the sophomore year of high school. This will aid mentors in assisting students through the college process as well as building a network with the student as they proceed through education, student teaching, licensing, and obtaining employment.
- With collegiate educational programs, grants must be awarded to each student so that they will have free education in return for their service to the community.
- RAISE THE SALARIES
- Bring back collective bargaining for salaries and working conditions.
Bob Heaton, District 46
Did not provide a response.
PENNY GITHENS, DISTRICT 60
1. Describe your connections to public schools.
I attended public schools growing up, did my student teaching at Gary Roosevelt High School (Gary, IN), sent both of my sons to public schools, and volunteered hundreds of hours to MCCSC when my sons attended Childs Elementary School. I volunteered even more hours as an IN*SOURCE (http://insource.org) special education advocate because I believe that our public education system offers the best and broadest opportunities for students with special needs. I have also volunteered with the sports teams my two sons were involved with in both middle school (Jackson Creek) and high school (BHSS).
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
In a democracy like ours, schools should be the incubator of good citizens; schools should foster creativity, collaboration, public involvement, and critical thinking; and, schools should teach acceptance of differences. As Erika Christakis said so eloquently in a recent article in The Atlantic, “Our public education system is about much more than personal achievement; it is about preparing people to work together to advance not just themselves but society.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-war-on-public-schools/537903/
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
Lack of proper funding, the notion that once the student is inside the classroom what happens to him or her outside of the classroom has no influence on his or her academic progress, and a general demonizing of our teachers and schools. I also think that the idea that competition makes schools better is absurd: In a competition there are winners and losers, and when schools lose, students lose. Surely, as the richest nation on earth we have the knowledge and the resources to properly education all students; we just need the political will to make it happen. In a 2018 report using data from 2016, the website Governing reports that Indiana is 34th in per-pupil spending (http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html). If our budgets reflect our values, what does that say about how Hoosiers value our children?
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
Extracurricular activities allow a student the opportunity to explore other interests and to involve themselves in the general community. Research indicates that involvement in extracurricular activities helps keep high school students in school until they graduate. There is also a good deal of research which indicates that heavy physical activity, such as occurs in some sports and marching band, actually promotes learning. The bottom line is that extracurricular activities lead to better student outcomes.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
Graduation rates, attendance, suspension and expulsion rates, scores on national tests such as the ACT, PSAT and SAT, and teacher retention. I am not opposed to tracking student growth, but I feel it should be done with off-the-shelf testing, such as the NWEA, if it is used diagnostically. I am opposed to high-stakes testing and the amount of time and money currently being devoted to it.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
I am against vouchers as I think tax dollars should always be overseen by public officials. If public schools in a given area are not performing well, the Indiana Department of Education should have out-reach programs to serve as consultants to local school districts. Student outcome is directly linked to the socio-economic status of the family, so if we wish to help students in low-income areas, we need to address poverty. If we eliminate the voucher program, the need for oversight and transparency no longer exists.
I am strongly opposed to the chartering of schools by religious-based institutions, such as Grace College and Calumet College. In the United States, there is a long tradition of the separation of church and state, and I think that allowing religious-based institutions to charter public schools is a violation of this precept. Since chartering entities earn 3 percent of all state money going to the chartered school(s), they have a financial incentive to grant such charters. In the meantime, taxpayers have no oversight as to how this 3 percent is spent. If the current chartering methodology continues, I support a full accounting of how the administrative chartering fee is spent to ensure all of it supports oversight of the chartered school(s).
The advent of charters and vouchers, along with Indiana’s current funding system in which the money follows the child, has led to public schools competing for students with private schools, charter schools, and other public schools. Public schools are now spending money to market themselves to students outside their catchment area, rather than using it to educate the students they have. (Richland-Bean Blossom now has a billboard on North State Road 37 Business. Having priced billboards recently, and depending on how long they rent this space, they are probably spending several thousand dollars on this “ad.” Prior to the 2017-2018 school year, the MSD of Martinsville mailed out postcards touting their various programs to potential students.)
There are other issues tied to charters and vouchers which are problematic. Charter and voucher schools, in general, perform no better than public schools, and on-line charter schools perform much worse. There are private schools, such as Lighthouse Christian Academy, which accept voucher money but engage in discriminatory practices. We see charter and voucher schools which do not provide transportation or meals to students who qualify for free- and reduced-price lunches. We see voucher schools that find ways to reject special education students. We see both private schools and charter schools which close their doors in the middle of a semester, leaving the students – with no money attached to them – flooding into public schools because there is too little over-sight and accountability. And, unlike in public schools, we see unlicensed teachers running classrooms and unlicensed administrators overseeing schools. Public schools accept all students, a claim that voucher and charter schools cannot truthfully make.
One of the items you haven’t asked about is the “On My Way Pre-K” pilot program. I strongly believe that we should be offering qualify pre-K programming to all 4-year-olds in Indiana, and the programs should be run by licensed teachers in public schools. Pre-K programming should include access to special education, transportation, and meals. And the state’s program should be administered through the Indiana Department of Education, not through the Family and Social Services Administration. Research shows that quality pre-K programming leads to higher graduation rates and lower incarceration rates, so why aren’t we doing it?
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
There are several ways to address the teacher shortage in Indiana, and here are a few:
I attended public schools growing up, did my student teaching at Gary Roosevelt High School (Gary, IN), sent both of my sons to public schools, and volunteered hundreds of hours to MCCSC when my sons attended Childs Elementary School. I volunteered even more hours as an IN*SOURCE (http://insource.org) special education advocate because I believe that our public education system offers the best and broadest opportunities for students with special needs. I have also volunteered with the sports teams my two sons were involved with in both middle school (Jackson Creek) and high school (BHSS).
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
In a democracy like ours, schools should be the incubator of good citizens; schools should foster creativity, collaboration, public involvement, and critical thinking; and, schools should teach acceptance of differences. As Erika Christakis said so eloquently in a recent article in The Atlantic, “Our public education system is about much more than personal achievement; it is about preparing people to work together to advance not just themselves but society.” (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-war-on-public-schools/537903/
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
Lack of proper funding, the notion that once the student is inside the classroom what happens to him or her outside of the classroom has no influence on his or her academic progress, and a general demonizing of our teachers and schools. I also think that the idea that competition makes schools better is absurd: In a competition there are winners and losers, and when schools lose, students lose. Surely, as the richest nation on earth we have the knowledge and the resources to properly education all students; we just need the political will to make it happen. In a 2018 report using data from 2016, the website Governing reports that Indiana is 34th in per-pupil spending (http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html). If our budgets reflect our values, what does that say about how Hoosiers value our children?
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
Extracurricular activities allow a student the opportunity to explore other interests and to involve themselves in the general community. Research indicates that involvement in extracurricular activities helps keep high school students in school until they graduate. There is also a good deal of research which indicates that heavy physical activity, such as occurs in some sports and marching band, actually promotes learning. The bottom line is that extracurricular activities lead to better student outcomes.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
Graduation rates, attendance, suspension and expulsion rates, scores on national tests such as the ACT, PSAT and SAT, and teacher retention. I am not opposed to tracking student growth, but I feel it should be done with off-the-shelf testing, such as the NWEA, if it is used diagnostically. I am opposed to high-stakes testing and the amount of time and money currently being devoted to it.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
I am against vouchers as I think tax dollars should always be overseen by public officials. If public schools in a given area are not performing well, the Indiana Department of Education should have out-reach programs to serve as consultants to local school districts. Student outcome is directly linked to the socio-economic status of the family, so if we wish to help students in low-income areas, we need to address poverty. If we eliminate the voucher program, the need for oversight and transparency no longer exists.
I am strongly opposed to the chartering of schools by religious-based institutions, such as Grace College and Calumet College. In the United States, there is a long tradition of the separation of church and state, and I think that allowing religious-based institutions to charter public schools is a violation of this precept. Since chartering entities earn 3 percent of all state money going to the chartered school(s), they have a financial incentive to grant such charters. In the meantime, taxpayers have no oversight as to how this 3 percent is spent. If the current chartering methodology continues, I support a full accounting of how the administrative chartering fee is spent to ensure all of it supports oversight of the chartered school(s).
The advent of charters and vouchers, along with Indiana’s current funding system in which the money follows the child, has led to public schools competing for students with private schools, charter schools, and other public schools. Public schools are now spending money to market themselves to students outside their catchment area, rather than using it to educate the students they have. (Richland-Bean Blossom now has a billboard on North State Road 37 Business. Having priced billboards recently, and depending on how long they rent this space, they are probably spending several thousand dollars on this “ad.” Prior to the 2017-2018 school year, the MSD of Martinsville mailed out postcards touting their various programs to potential students.)
There are other issues tied to charters and vouchers which are problematic. Charter and voucher schools, in general, perform no better than public schools, and on-line charter schools perform much worse. There are private schools, such as Lighthouse Christian Academy, which accept voucher money but engage in discriminatory practices. We see charter and voucher schools which do not provide transportation or meals to students who qualify for free- and reduced-price lunches. We see voucher schools that find ways to reject special education students. We see both private schools and charter schools which close their doors in the middle of a semester, leaving the students – with no money attached to them – flooding into public schools because there is too little over-sight and accountability. And, unlike in public schools, we see unlicensed teachers running classrooms and unlicensed administrators overseeing schools. Public schools accept all students, a claim that voucher and charter schools cannot truthfully make.
One of the items you haven’t asked about is the “On My Way Pre-K” pilot program. I strongly believe that we should be offering qualify pre-K programming to all 4-year-olds in Indiana, and the programs should be run by licensed teachers in public schools. Pre-K programming should include access to special education, transportation, and meals. And the state’s program should be administered through the Indiana Department of Education, not through the Family and Social Services Administration. Research shows that quality pre-K programming leads to higher graduation rates and lower incarceration rates, so why aren’t we doing it?
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
There are several ways to address the teacher shortage in Indiana, and here are a few:
- Properly fund public education and increase teachers’ salary. This includes providing health insurance at a reasonable cost and reasonable options for retirement funding.
- Reduce the stress that teachers currently feel by reducing the extensive standardized testing which is being conducted and allow teachers to teach the child instead of teaching to the test.
- Halt the practice of grading teachers and schools using standardized testing. As I have heard many others say, “There is no ‘standardized’ student.”
- Offer additional scholarships to education majors and student-loan payback incentives.
- Provide students with the services they need outside of the classroom – food, housing, clothing, stability, medical care, etc. – so that they can succeed inside the classroom.
- Include teachers and school administration in the discussion. As an example, the Education Committee of the Indiana Legislature is tasked this summer (2018) with looking at the education of students with autism. There is not a single legislator on that committee who is an educator, nor is there anyone with expertise in autism.
PEGGY MAYFIELD, DISTRICT 60
Did not provide a response.
MATT PIERCE, DISTRICT 61
1. Describe your connections to public schools.
I was educated in public schools. During my time as a legislator, I have visited public school classrooms to see first-hand what is happening there or to talk with students about the legislature. I supported referendums to allow an additional property tax levy for MCCSC.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
While most policymakers now speak of public education in terms of workforce development, schools should not be thought of as worker training facilities. They should have the goal of providing students with a basic foundation of knowledge and skills that can be built upon for specific occupations. Public schools can play an important role in bringing together students from different backgrounds and teaching the basic principles of democracy.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
The biggest problem in public education is a failure of policymakers to recognize or admit the barriers to academic achievement raised by poverty and other societal problems. Rather than addressing these underlying socio-economic issues, the legislature has left schools on their own to grapple with the challenges those issues cause in the classroom and then blame teachers and administrators when students do not meet expectations.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
Extracurricular activities such as art and music are not frills. They foster greater student engagement with their schools and can help boost achievement in core academic subjects. Sports can teach students the importance of setting goals and working hard to achieve them.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
The public schools are being ruined by the use of standardized tests to label schools. The tests are being misused by policymakers to judge the effectiveness of schools. The current “accountability” system is crowding out valuable parts of the curriculum that promote creativity and critical thinking by forcing schools to focus on teaching to the test. Matters have been made worse by constantly shifting standards and tests.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
I oppose diverting tax dollars to private and charter schools. The legislature is unable to properly fund three separate education systems. This has resulted in many public schools struggling to balance their budgets. Private and charter schools that accept state funding should be held to the same standards and regulations as public schools.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
The most important step in ending the teacher shortage is to once again treat teachers with respect and dignity. The legislature and many recent governors have looked upon teachers as assembly line workers in a widget factory rather than trained professionals. Collective bargaining rights have been severely restricted, diminishing the influence of teachers in their schools. Many who may have considered a career in education have been discouraged by this lack of respect. Teacher pay must also be addressed. When adjusted for inflation, salaries are almost 16 percent lower than they were twenty years ago.
I was educated in public schools. During my time as a legislator, I have visited public school classrooms to see first-hand what is happening there or to talk with students about the legislature. I supported referendums to allow an additional property tax levy for MCCSC.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
While most policymakers now speak of public education in terms of workforce development, schools should not be thought of as worker training facilities. They should have the goal of providing students with a basic foundation of knowledge and skills that can be built upon for specific occupations. Public schools can play an important role in bringing together students from different backgrounds and teaching the basic principles of democracy.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
The biggest problem in public education is a failure of policymakers to recognize or admit the barriers to academic achievement raised by poverty and other societal problems. Rather than addressing these underlying socio-economic issues, the legislature has left schools on their own to grapple with the challenges those issues cause in the classroom and then blame teachers and administrators when students do not meet expectations.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
Extracurricular activities such as art and music are not frills. They foster greater student engagement with their schools and can help boost achievement in core academic subjects. Sports can teach students the importance of setting goals and working hard to achieve them.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
The public schools are being ruined by the use of standardized tests to label schools. The tests are being misused by policymakers to judge the effectiveness of schools. The current “accountability” system is crowding out valuable parts of the curriculum that promote creativity and critical thinking by forcing schools to focus on teaching to the test. Matters have been made worse by constantly shifting standards and tests.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
I oppose diverting tax dollars to private and charter schools. The legislature is unable to properly fund three separate education systems. This has resulted in many public schools struggling to balance their budgets. Private and charter schools that accept state funding should be held to the same standards and regulations as public schools.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
The most important step in ending the teacher shortage is to once again treat teachers with respect and dignity. The legislature and many recent governors have looked upon teachers as assembly line workers in a widget factory rather than trained professionals. Collective bargaining rights have been severely restricted, diminishing the influence of teachers in their schools. Many who may have considered a career in education have been discouraged by this lack of respect. Teacher pay must also be addressed. When adjusted for inflation, salaries are almost 16 percent lower than they were twenty years ago.
AMY SWAIN, DISTRICT 62
1. Describe your connections to public schools.
I am the product of a public school education. I have friends who are teachers, and I have talked with them and with school administrators about the current state of affairs in education in Indiana.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
The goal, as I see it, is to provide access to all children to an education that will help prepare them to take their place in the world whatever their path may be, to help prepare them to be a productive part in our society whatever their role may be, and to help them reach their full potential as they grow to take over as the next generation.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
Some of them are directly related to family issues such as poverty and home environment. Children who are hungry or tired don’t learn at their full potential. Some children aren’t allowed to do “school” work at home, and family dynamics can cause stress which interferes with learning. Poor nutrition can lead to health factors that can also interfere with learning.
The emphasis on testing to determine success. It impacts students, teachers and schools. Some teachers want to retire early because testing has taken the joy out of teaching for them and out of learning for their students. And schools and thus teachers are impacted by possible takeover if they don’t perform well on only two areas of the educational curriculum.
Funding is also a critical issue for public education. Siphoning away money from public schools through vouchers and the unchecked growth of charter schools here in Indiana has put increasing financial strain on many public schools, and hasn’t resulted in better outcomes for the students.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
Extracurricular activities is a way to develop social skills in adolescents among other things. They provide a way for children to foster relationships with others and form bonds. Children can gain more confidence and self-esteem by participating in activities where they have some degree of skill and/or support by peers. Extracurricular activities are important in the overall development of young people.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
How to measure the learning environment in a public school is a good question. How do you evaluate student learning, motivation and engagement? The ideal would be to have assessment and evaluation policies that help improve outcomes. And all schools should be evaluated using similar criteria. Evaluating some schools based on performance on ISTEP tests on learning growth and others on growth alone skews the results and provides an unequal and unfair comparison.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
Charter schools were never meant to be an alternative to public schools. They were supposed to be an incubator of ideas that, if they worked, could be introduced into public schools, and if they failed, were lower risk and lower cost. The growth of charter schools in Indiana has run unchecked, and needs to be reined in.
The growth of vouchers has also remain unchecked. Almost a third of all vouchers now are going to families who could afford to send their children to private school without the aid of taxpayer monies. The whole voucher system needs to be revisited and re-evaluated.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
Looking at funding is probably the most impactful way to currently address the teacher shortage. Many young people are choosing not to go into the field of education because of low salaries and the struggle for resources within the schools.
If elected, I would be open to meeting with teachers and with school administrators to work to address this issue and others connected with education.
I am the product of a public school education. I have friends who are teachers, and I have talked with them and with school administrators about the current state of affairs in education in Indiana.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
The goal, as I see it, is to provide access to all children to an education that will help prepare them to take their place in the world whatever their path may be, to help prepare them to be a productive part in our society whatever their role may be, and to help them reach their full potential as they grow to take over as the next generation.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
Some of them are directly related to family issues such as poverty and home environment. Children who are hungry or tired don’t learn at their full potential. Some children aren’t allowed to do “school” work at home, and family dynamics can cause stress which interferes with learning. Poor nutrition can lead to health factors that can also interfere with learning.
The emphasis on testing to determine success. It impacts students, teachers and schools. Some teachers want to retire early because testing has taken the joy out of teaching for them and out of learning for their students. And schools and thus teachers are impacted by possible takeover if they don’t perform well on only two areas of the educational curriculum.
Funding is also a critical issue for public education. Siphoning away money from public schools through vouchers and the unchecked growth of charter schools here in Indiana has put increasing financial strain on many public schools, and hasn’t resulted in better outcomes for the students.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
Extracurricular activities is a way to develop social skills in adolescents among other things. They provide a way for children to foster relationships with others and form bonds. Children can gain more confidence and self-esteem by participating in activities where they have some degree of skill and/or support by peers. Extracurricular activities are important in the overall development of young people.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
How to measure the learning environment in a public school is a good question. How do you evaluate student learning, motivation and engagement? The ideal would be to have assessment and evaluation policies that help improve outcomes. And all schools should be evaluated using similar criteria. Evaluating some schools based on performance on ISTEP tests on learning growth and others on growth alone skews the results and provides an unequal and unfair comparison.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
Charter schools were never meant to be an alternative to public schools. They were supposed to be an incubator of ideas that, if they worked, could be introduced into public schools, and if they failed, were lower risk and lower cost. The growth of charter schools in Indiana has run unchecked, and needs to be reined in.
The growth of vouchers has also remain unchecked. Almost a third of all vouchers now are going to families who could afford to send their children to private school without the aid of taxpayer monies. The whole voucher system needs to be revisited and re-evaluated.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
Looking at funding is probably the most impactful way to currently address the teacher shortage. Many young people are choosing not to go into the field of education because of low salaries and the struggle for resources within the schools.
If elected, I would be open to meeting with teachers and with school administrators to work to address this issue and others connected with education.
JEFF ELLINGTON, DISTRICT 62
Did not provide a response.
JARED STANCOMBE, DISTRICT 65
1. Describe your connections to public schools.
I am a 2005 graduate of Bedford North Lawrence High School and a 2009 graduate of Indiana University. Also, I was an AmeriCorps member with an organization called City Year, which places teams of young people in public schools across the nation to address the achievement gap. I worked alongside teachers of record and acted as a mentor and tutor to approximately 300 students at a middle school in Washington, DC.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
I believe that access to a quality and affordable education is an absolute right and critical to creating a thriving economy and an informed citizenry capable of engaging in our democratic process. The goal of a public education system is to create an environment where all young people can reach their potential, develop a passion for learning, and prepare themselves for the future.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
There are many problems with public education, especially in Indiana. The top issue in Indiana is the teacher shortage and teacher turnover. Teacher pay is decreasing as responsibility is increasing. Teachers make 16% less than what they made 2 decades ago in Indiana. Some teachers I have spoken to take on part-time jobs to make ends meet. Also, standardized testing is an issue that is important to me because teachers are being placed in a position of teaching to a test for months on end, rather than teaching their students what they need to thrive after they graduate. Teachers are not involved in the evaluation process and schools are evaluated on ISTEP scores. Finally, the Indiana Statehouse is bent on privatizing education with the voucher program, which takes hundreds of thousands of dollars out of our public school districts every year. In the 2017-2018 school year, Brown County’s school corporation had over $250,000 taken from it due to vouchers. The Statehouse also wants to take away the right for people to vote for their local school boards, as evident by their actions in Muncie and Gary.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
I was in the marching band in high school and it was an invaluable experience. Not everything in school should be learned in a classroom. Extracurricular activities teach the soft skills that people need to succeed and thrive later in life. It also helps promote a sense of community and culture in the school that gives the schools character. I learned invaluable skills in how to follow directions, discipline, leadership, and the importance of grit. I also learned the importance of failure and how to learn from it.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
ISTEP must go. Every teacher I speak to hates it and sees very little value in it. This is because ISTEP is more about how people with no experience in education want to determine how “successful” a school is in educating its students. They also dislike teacher evaluations and see very little benefit in the feedback that is provided to them.
Something I’ve often found working in the nonprofit sector is that many people make up the wrong metrics to measure success. Rather than standardized testing and low-impact teacher evaluations, I would rather focus on measuring how well a school and individual teachers are capable of producing evidence that their students are learning and growing through feedback. I would also like to see younger teachers coached and mentored by senior teachers, where actionable feedback is exchanged and growth is measured at how well they respond to the feedback in the classroom.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
If public money is going to something, there must be a process of accountability. From what I understand, public charter schools receive taxpayer money but are not accountable to local school boards. This is unacceptable. As for school vouchers, I will work to destroy the vampire that is the voucher system in Indiana.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
Well, they can pay them a living wage to begin with when they begin teaching. We can also work to create a career progression ladder much like the District of Columbia Public Schools, which allows for better pay, opportunities, and more responsibility based upon performance and experience. DCPS created this career progression ladder because the average teacher quit after 2 years. DCPS teachers start out at $50,000 per year.
We can also vote for people friendly to teacher unions and the concept that public education is a right that must be protected. The Republicans want to put temporary workers in our classrooms to make up for the teacher shortage. Our kids deserve better, and our future depends on it.
I am a 2005 graduate of Bedford North Lawrence High School and a 2009 graduate of Indiana University. Also, I was an AmeriCorps member with an organization called City Year, which places teams of young people in public schools across the nation to address the achievement gap. I worked alongside teachers of record and acted as a mentor and tutor to approximately 300 students at a middle school in Washington, DC.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
I believe that access to a quality and affordable education is an absolute right and critical to creating a thriving economy and an informed citizenry capable of engaging in our democratic process. The goal of a public education system is to create an environment where all young people can reach their potential, develop a passion for learning, and prepare themselves for the future.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
There are many problems with public education, especially in Indiana. The top issue in Indiana is the teacher shortage and teacher turnover. Teacher pay is decreasing as responsibility is increasing. Teachers make 16% less than what they made 2 decades ago in Indiana. Some teachers I have spoken to take on part-time jobs to make ends meet. Also, standardized testing is an issue that is important to me because teachers are being placed in a position of teaching to a test for months on end, rather than teaching their students what they need to thrive after they graduate. Teachers are not involved in the evaluation process and schools are evaluated on ISTEP scores. Finally, the Indiana Statehouse is bent on privatizing education with the voucher program, which takes hundreds of thousands of dollars out of our public school districts every year. In the 2017-2018 school year, Brown County’s school corporation had over $250,000 taken from it due to vouchers. The Statehouse also wants to take away the right for people to vote for their local school boards, as evident by their actions in Muncie and Gary.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
I was in the marching band in high school and it was an invaluable experience. Not everything in school should be learned in a classroom. Extracurricular activities teach the soft skills that people need to succeed and thrive later in life. It also helps promote a sense of community and culture in the school that gives the schools character. I learned invaluable skills in how to follow directions, discipline, leadership, and the importance of grit. I also learned the importance of failure and how to learn from it.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
ISTEP must go. Every teacher I speak to hates it and sees very little value in it. This is because ISTEP is more about how people with no experience in education want to determine how “successful” a school is in educating its students. They also dislike teacher evaluations and see very little benefit in the feedback that is provided to them.
Something I’ve often found working in the nonprofit sector is that many people make up the wrong metrics to measure success. Rather than standardized testing and low-impact teacher evaluations, I would rather focus on measuring how well a school and individual teachers are capable of producing evidence that their students are learning and growing through feedback. I would also like to see younger teachers coached and mentored by senior teachers, where actionable feedback is exchanged and growth is measured at how well they respond to the feedback in the classroom.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
If public money is going to something, there must be a process of accountability. From what I understand, public charter schools receive taxpayer money but are not accountable to local school boards. This is unacceptable. As for school vouchers, I will work to destroy the vampire that is the voucher system in Indiana.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
Well, they can pay them a living wage to begin with when they begin teaching. We can also work to create a career progression ladder much like the District of Columbia Public Schools, which allows for better pay, opportunities, and more responsibility based upon performance and experience. DCPS created this career progression ladder because the average teacher quit after 2 years. DCPS teachers start out at $50,000 per year.
We can also vote for people friendly to teacher unions and the concept that public education is a right that must be protected. The Republicans want to put temporary workers in our classrooms to make up for the teacher shortage. Our kids deserve better, and our future depends on it.
CHRIS MAY, DISTRICT 65
Did not provide a response.
JOE DONNELLY, U.S. SENATE
1. Describe your connections to public schools.
My public service career started out on my kids’ school board. I was just a dad who wanted to be more involved in my kids’ education. There, I became familiar with the challenges and problems that communities and schools across our state face every day. And these issues remain among the most important I work on every day.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
I believe we should do everything we can to give every child the best chance to reach their dreams. There’s nothing more important to Indiana’s future than the education our children receive today. That means we have a duty to ensure our schools are safe and well-funded, and our teachers are properly equipped and trained.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
I believe that our biggest challenges in public education are proper funding and ensuring our students are suitably prepared once they graduate.
Preparing our children for success starts early. Strong pre-K education sets up our kids to do better at every stage of their life. In Congress, I have fought to expand early childhood education to as many young Hoosiers as possible, and for increased funding for these programs. It’s too important for our future not to fight for.
I have also worked to make sure Hoosier students are prepared for and have the skills they need in the workforce. In 2013, my AMERICA Works Act, which addresses the “skills gap” and makes sure students have the abilities they need in today’s economy, was signed into law. My law would modify federal training programs to place a priority on those programs and certifications that were in-demand by employers. I have also introduced legislation to require the Department of Labor to develop a strategy to address this gap and to invite employer involvement in worker training. I will never stop working to make sure all Hoosier students, not just those who attend four-year colleges, are prepared to reach their fullest potential.
We also have to understand how issues in our schools are connected to broader issues we must confront—how the rise in child food insecurity rates means we must take steps make sure our children have the fuel to be successful in the classroom and how funding for mental health services is increasingly important for our schools.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
Coaching my kids’ little league teams was what led me to my time on the school board, so I have always appreciated the valuable lessons clubs and teams provide. Extracurricular activities are vital to public education. Whether it’s time spent in a science club, learning an instrument, starring in a school play, or playing a sport, extracurriculars provide lessons on teamwork, hard work, and problem solving that reinforce those taught in the classroom. And while participating in these programs, students may discover a lifelong skill or passion. Our students are always better served when our schools are equipped with robust extracurriculars.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
Evaluations for public schools in Indiana is a state level decision. However, I do believe the federal government can play an important role in helping states to identify low-performing schools and utilize locally-designed, evidenced-based interventions to provide the support necessary to ensure we are providing all students with a quality education.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
Funding decisions for public schools in Indiana is a state level decision. However, I do believe that a voucher program that cuts funding for public schools, lacks oversight, and particularly hurts students in rural areas is not right for Indiana.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
Funding and hiring decisions for public schools in Indiana is a state level decision. As I am a federal legislator, I do not determine policy for our state government.
My public service career started out on my kids’ school board. I was just a dad who wanted to be more involved in my kids’ education. There, I became familiar with the challenges and problems that communities and schools across our state face every day. And these issues remain among the most important I work on every day.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
I believe we should do everything we can to give every child the best chance to reach their dreams. There’s nothing more important to Indiana’s future than the education our children receive today. That means we have a duty to ensure our schools are safe and well-funded, and our teachers are properly equipped and trained.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
I believe that our biggest challenges in public education are proper funding and ensuring our students are suitably prepared once they graduate.
Preparing our children for success starts early. Strong pre-K education sets up our kids to do better at every stage of their life. In Congress, I have fought to expand early childhood education to as many young Hoosiers as possible, and for increased funding for these programs. It’s too important for our future not to fight for.
I have also worked to make sure Hoosier students are prepared for and have the skills they need in the workforce. In 2013, my AMERICA Works Act, which addresses the “skills gap” and makes sure students have the abilities they need in today’s economy, was signed into law. My law would modify federal training programs to place a priority on those programs and certifications that were in-demand by employers. I have also introduced legislation to require the Department of Labor to develop a strategy to address this gap and to invite employer involvement in worker training. I will never stop working to make sure all Hoosier students, not just those who attend four-year colleges, are prepared to reach their fullest potential.
We also have to understand how issues in our schools are connected to broader issues we must confront—how the rise in child food insecurity rates means we must take steps make sure our children have the fuel to be successful in the classroom and how funding for mental health services is increasingly important for our schools.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
Coaching my kids’ little league teams was what led me to my time on the school board, so I have always appreciated the valuable lessons clubs and teams provide. Extracurricular activities are vital to public education. Whether it’s time spent in a science club, learning an instrument, starring in a school play, or playing a sport, extracurriculars provide lessons on teamwork, hard work, and problem solving that reinforce those taught in the classroom. And while participating in these programs, students may discover a lifelong skill or passion. Our students are always better served when our schools are equipped with robust extracurriculars.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
Evaluations for public schools in Indiana is a state level decision. However, I do believe the federal government can play an important role in helping states to identify low-performing schools and utilize locally-designed, evidenced-based interventions to provide the support necessary to ensure we are providing all students with a quality education.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
Funding decisions for public schools in Indiana is a state level decision. However, I do believe that a voucher program that cuts funding for public schools, lacks oversight, and particularly hurts students in rural areas is not right for Indiana.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
Funding and hiring decisions for public schools in Indiana is a state level decision. As I am a federal legislator, I do not determine policy for our state government.
MIKE BRAUN, U.S. SENATE
Did not provide a response.
LIZ WATSON, U.S. CONGRESS, IN DISTRICT 9
1. Describe your connections to public schools.
I am a product of Bloomington’s public schools: Childs, Binford, Batchelor, and Bloomington South. My own children now attend those same schools. I know from experience the difference that a great public school can make, in my kids’ lives and in mine. That’s why I am committed to protecting those schools for generations of Hoosiers yet to come.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
The promise of America, at the most basic level, is twofold: that we all should be able to rise on our own merits, and that we all have a right to choose our own government. That promise cannot be fulfilled unless a high-quality public education is available to all our children. None of us can rise on our own merits without the chance to develop our skills and talents; none of us can shoulder the responsibility of self-government without the chance to deepen our civic competence and engagement. When our government undermines public schools, it ensures that the foundational promise of our country is kept only for a few. When we defend public education, we are fighting for the American Dream itself.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
The biggest problem in public education is a government that is hostile not only to teachers and students, but also to the basic goals and priorities of the public education system as a whole. Elaborate, time-consuming, and expensive standardized tests undermine teachers’ ability to do their jobs. Unaffordable pre-K ensures that some of our students start their learning a crucial step behind. Vouchers strip funds from public schools and redirect them, at a disproportionate rate, to lifelong private school students. Unaccountable charter schools deprive communities of input into their children’s education. These are distinct problems and require distinct policy solutions, but they proceed from a common wellspring: government hostility to public education. Repudiating that hostility is the first step in fixing what’s wrong in our public schools.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
If the goal of public education is not merely to prepare students for economic life, but also to help them reach their full potential as citizens and individuals, then extracurricular activities are surely crucial in that mission. They build character, support creativity, broaden understanding, strengthen relationships. These activities deserve to be treated as an integral part of public education.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
Standardized testing systems, and the regimens of reward or punishment based on them, have proven profoundly ineffective as criteria for evaluating our public schools. Not only do they frequently have the effect of punishing already struggling schools, they also force teachers to teach to the test instead of to the student in front of them. Instead, we should use the flexibility of the Every Student Succeeds Act to develop a new model with input from all stakeholders – including parent-led activist groups, teachers, and students themselves. That model should be focused on saving schools time and money, supporting low-income school districts instead of punishing them, and making student flourishing instead of raw test scores the measure of educational success.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
While effective communities of teachers and parents have grown up around some charter schools, the unaccountability of these schools to elected boards remains a toxic incentive. I believe that the charter school system requires fundamental reform in order to meet its potential. Vouchers, on the other hand, quite simply represent an attack on public education: last year, they diverted $146 million away from Indiana public schools, and more than half of vouchers go to students who have been in private school their entire lives. I believe that we need to reinvest in public schools as the foundation of our education system, not abandon them in favor of flawed alternatives that work for the few but not for the many.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
The teacher shortage in Indiana is a real and serious long-term threat to the public education system in this state. We can’t solve it by slackening our standards for teachers; instead, we have to make it easier to retain qualified educators. I strongly support legislation to address this crisis in a number of ways: by greatly expanding student loan forgiveness and repayment for public educators; by addressing class size and working conditions that drive teachers to quit; and by improving our efforts to recruit teachers of color so that our public school workforce reflects our communities. These steps may not solve the teacher shortage, but they would certainly help to ensure that fewer qualified, enthusiastic educators feel forced to leave our public schools.
I am a product of Bloomington’s public schools: Childs, Binford, Batchelor, and Bloomington South. My own children now attend those same schools. I know from experience the difference that a great public school can make, in my kids’ lives and in mine. That’s why I am committed to protecting those schools for generations of Hoosiers yet to come.
2. What is the goal of a public education system?
The promise of America, at the most basic level, is twofold: that we all should be able to rise on our own merits, and that we all have a right to choose our own government. That promise cannot be fulfilled unless a high-quality public education is available to all our children. None of us can rise on our own merits without the chance to develop our skills and talents; none of us can shoulder the responsibility of self-government without the chance to deepen our civic competence and engagement. When our government undermines public schools, it ensures that the foundational promise of our country is kept only for a few. When we defend public education, we are fighting for the American Dream itself.
3. What are the biggest problems in public education?
The biggest problem in public education is a government that is hostile not only to teachers and students, but also to the basic goals and priorities of the public education system as a whole. Elaborate, time-consuming, and expensive standardized tests undermine teachers’ ability to do their jobs. Unaffordable pre-K ensures that some of our students start their learning a crucial step behind. Vouchers strip funds from public schools and redirect them, at a disproportionate rate, to lifelong private school students. Unaccountable charter schools deprive communities of input into their children’s education. These are distinct problems and require distinct policy solutions, but they proceed from a common wellspring: government hostility to public education. Repudiating that hostility is the first step in fixing what’s wrong in our public schools.
4. What is the role of extracurricular activities in public education?
If the goal of public education is not merely to prepare students for economic life, but also to help them reach their full potential as citizens and individuals, then extracurricular activities are surely crucial in that mission. They build character, support creativity, broaden understanding, strengthen relationships. These activities deserve to be treated as an integral part of public education.
5. What are the best or most important criteria for evaluating our public school system?
Standardized testing systems, and the regimens of reward or punishment based on them, have proven profoundly ineffective as criteria for evaluating our public schools. Not only do they frequently have the effect of punishing already struggling schools, they also force teachers to teach to the test instead of to the student in front of them. Instead, we should use the flexibility of the Every Student Succeeds Act to develop a new model with input from all stakeholders – including parent-led activist groups, teachers, and students themselves. That model should be focused on saving schools time and money, supporting low-income school districts instead of punishing them, and making student flourishing instead of raw test scores the measure of educational success.
6. Describe your position on public funding of charter and voucher schools and what level of oversight and transparency is appropriate.
While effective communities of teachers and parents have grown up around some charter schools, the unaccountability of these schools to elected boards remains a toxic incentive. I believe that the charter school system requires fundamental reform in order to meet its potential. Vouchers, on the other hand, quite simply represent an attack on public education: last year, they diverted $146 million away from Indiana public schools, and more than half of vouchers go to students who have been in private school their entire lives. I believe that we need to reinvest in public schools as the foundation of our education system, not abandon them in favor of flawed alternatives that work for the few but not for the many.
7. How can legislators address the teacher shortage in Indiana?
The teacher shortage in Indiana is a real and serious long-term threat to the public education system in this state. We can’t solve it by slackening our standards for teachers; instead, we have to make it easier to retain qualified educators. I strongly support legislation to address this crisis in a number of ways: by greatly expanding student loan forgiveness and repayment for public educators; by addressing class size and working conditions that drive teachers to quit; and by improving our efforts to recruit teachers of color so that our public school workforce reflects our communities. These steps may not solve the teacher shortage, but they would certainly help to ensure that fewer qualified, enthusiastic educators feel forced to leave our public schools.
Trey Hollingsworth, U.S. Congress, IN DISTRICT 9
Did not provide a response.
Why are the Republicans absent from this survey?
ICPE-Monroe County is a nonpartisan organization advocating for the support for public education.
We invited all state representative candidates whose districts contain a part of Monroe County to fill out our survey. Only the Democrats filled it out. Republicans did not do so. Republican state legislators also did not participate in our legislative forum on education held on September 12th. While we know that there are some Republicans who have voted against their party's majority on some public education bills—those in our area have fallen in step with the supermajority. We are also mindful of the fact that many Democrats, in city and statewide offices, have supported charter schools, which divide our resources and our communities. The support of public schools, the cornerstone of our democracy, must be a nonpartisan effort. We hope Republicans and Democrats alike will bear this in mind.
We expect our state and federal legislators to show up. We expect that, given the fact that they represent all of their constituencies, they will explain to us why they have voted on these harmful bills. And yet, repeatedly, we invite these legislators to attend our forums and respond to surveys, and they don't. Democracy requires a polite discourse—an engagement of citizens to find common ground. These representatives of the people are refusing to be part of the conversation in Monroe County and yet their votes at the statehouse have a serious impact on our lives.
We hope citizens in Monroe County as well as the rest of Indiana will take this into account when they go into that voting booth.
We invited all state representative candidates whose districts contain a part of Monroe County to fill out our survey. Only the Democrats filled it out. Republicans did not do so. Republican state legislators also did not participate in our legislative forum on education held on September 12th. While we know that there are some Republicans who have voted against their party's majority on some public education bills—those in our area have fallen in step with the supermajority. We are also mindful of the fact that many Democrats, in city and statewide offices, have supported charter schools, which divide our resources and our communities. The support of public schools, the cornerstone of our democracy, must be a nonpartisan effort. We hope Republicans and Democrats alike will bear this in mind.
We expect our state and federal legislators to show up. We expect that, given the fact that they represent all of their constituencies, they will explain to us why they have voted on these harmful bills. And yet, repeatedly, we invite these legislators to attend our forums and respond to surveys, and they don't. Democracy requires a polite discourse—an engagement of citizens to find common ground. These representatives of the people are refusing to be part of the conversation in Monroe County and yet their votes at the statehouse have a serious impact on our lives.
We hope citizens in Monroe County as well as the rest of Indiana will take this into account when they go into that voting booth.