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Dear Friends,
Was Monday’s special session the death knell of accountability in Indiana? How can the General Assembly vote that Muncie public schools don’t need to follow the accountability and school letter grades law without questioning the need for any school to have letter grades. Their action Monday leaves a huge question mark over the accountability mandates that have dominated Indiana education policy since 1999. The Indiana General Assembly opened a new can of worms called “beyond accountability” when they passed House Bill 1315ss by votes of 63-30 in the House and 34-14 in the Senate. The roll call showing individual votes is below. As planned, no amendments were allowed in the contentious bill. If the supermajority party had a plan to dampen controversial election issues before the November elections, that plan got tossed out on the way to passing an extremely controversial bill which will resonate through November. Three Firsts in Indiana History When the history of public education in Indiana is written, the special session approving House Bill 1315ss will serve as a landmark moment when threepreviously unassailable pillars of public education were knocked off. As a result of this bill, which went through finance committees but not education committees, public education has changed in three ways:
Pillar 4: Every public school district should be run by a school board of district residents. In my Notes #321, I described the deconstruction of public education in Indiana, pillar by pillar. I cited three pillars that have already fallen and more pillars that would fall if HB 1315 is passed. They have now fallen, starting with an attack on school boards and the basic belief held for the past 180 years that every public school district should be run by a school board of district residents. The passage of HB 1315 has dissolved the elected school board in Gary and turned it into an advisory board, a move that Gary leaders including Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson vigorously and futilely denounced. The new law includes no pathway to return to having a school board. In Muncie, as many as three of the seven school board members appointed by Ball State can be non-resident outsiders. Allowing outsiders to serve on a geographically based public school district is a first for Indiana history and forces everyone to rethink the meaning of democratic self-rule. How can this be considered democratic representation when school board members are not from Muncie? Representative Tim Brown, the bill’s author, said in defending this stark departure from previous school board law that the Ball State appointed board might need to have a member who is an expert from Indianapolis, maybe from the Mind Trust. Here is his exact quote as he presented the bill on the floor of the House: “Maybe we could have a specialist from education that came out of – maybe could come out of Indianapolis, somebody who has dealt with a turnaround school and innovation going forward. Maybe somebody from the Mind Trust could be on the school board, something like that.” I wonder how that comment is going over among the electorate and property tax payers of Muncie who have now lost their right to elect their school board members with no legal provision to return to local elections. The Senate version of HB 1315 inserted a plan to elect two board members starting in 2022. Senator Mishler, however, lost the argument to Representative Brown in the Conference Committee, and Representative Brown’s vision of an entirely appointed board pushed Senator Mishler’s election plan aside. Pillar 5: Every public school district should follow the education laws of Indiana. For the first time in Indiana history, a public school district will be not have to follow hundreds of Indiana education laws, including the bullying prevention law and the law requiring instruction in child abuse and child sexual abuse. This makes the Muncie public school district, which must follow only 29 laws listed in HB 1315, essentially equivalent to a charter school, which must follow only 21 laws listed in the charter school law. This change clearly undermines the Indiana Constitution in Article 8 which says the General Assembly has a duty “to provide, by law, for a general and uniform system of Common Schools, wherein tuition will be without charge and equally open to all.” It is no longer a “general and uniform system” if all public school districts must follow hundreds of education laws except for Muncie which must only follow 29. Pillar 6: The accountability law applies to every public and private school. For the first time since its 1999 passage, the General Assembly has given a school district a pass on following the accountability law, a dominating law established with bipartisan action that has been given the highest priority for two decades. No group of schools has ever been excluded from the accountability law:
Now, Muncie schools will not have to follow the accountability law. When Minority Leader Terry Goodin objected to this fact in Monday’s debate, Representative Brown said that Ball State would have to report back to the General Assembly and to the Distressed Unit Appeals Board in 9 months, implying that this report would provide accountability. Apparently, giving a report to the General Assembly is now equal to school letter grades which under IC 20-31 can threaten the future existence of a school. The General Assembly’s hard-nose stance on accountability has been changed for the first time. Have we now entered the “beyond accountability” era of report and reassure? I’m quite sure many school districts would trade the punitive letter grade law for a report to the General Assembly about their progress. Representative Goodin asked Representative Brown if following the accountability law could be amended back into the bill as a third reading amendment or in the next session. Representative Brown said “we will consider all things” but “I don’t again want to commit to the future.” With that comment, the accountability law in Indiana has entered a new controversial era of selective enforcement. Partisan Support and Bipartisan Opposition in the House Three Republicans in the House joined all 27 Democrats voting to oppose HB 1315ss. They should be thanked. Republicans voting against HB 1315ss: Representatives Nisly, Saunders and Siegrist Democrats voting against HB 1315ss: Representatives Austin, Bartlett, Bauer, C. Brown, Candelaria Reardon, DeLaney, Dvorak, Errington, GiaQuinta, Goodin, Hamilton, Harris, Hatfield, Klinker, Lawson, Macer, Moed, Moseley, Pelath, Pierce, Porter, Pryor, Shackleford, V. Smith, Summers, J. Taylor and Wright. All 63 voting to pass HB 1315ss were Republicans: Representatives Abbott, Aylesworth, Bacon, Baird, Bartels, Beumer, Borders, Bosma, T. Brown, Burton, Carbaugh, Cherry, Clere, Cook, Davisson, DeVon, Eberhart, Ellington, Engleman, Friend, Frizzell, Frye, Gutwein, Hamm, Heaton, Heine, Huston, Jordan, Judy, Karickhoff, Kirchhofer, Lehe, Lehman, Leonard, Lindauer, Lucas, Lyness, Mahan, May, Mayfield, Miller, Morrison, Morris, Negele, Olthoff, Pressel, Richardson, Schaibley, Slager, Smaltz, M. Smith, Soliday, Steuerwald, Sullivan, Thompson, Torr, VanNatter, Washburne, Wesco, Wolkins, J. Young, Zent and Ziemke. Five were excused from voting: Representatives Behning, Culver, Kersey, McNamara and Speedy Two did not vote: Representatives Forestal and Stemler Partisan Support and Bipartisan Opposition in the Senate Six Republicans in the Senate joined all 8 Democrats voting to oppose HB 1315ss. They should be thanked as well. Republicans voting against HB 1315ss: Senators Alting, Becker, Bohacek, Ford, Ruckleshaus and Tomes. Democrats voting against HB 1315ss: Senators Lanane, Melton, Mrvan, Niezgodski, Randolph, Stoops, Tallian and Taylor. All 34 voting to pass 1315ss were Republicans: Senators Bassler, Boots, Bray, Brown, Buchanan, Buck, Crane, Crider, Delph, Doriot, Eckerty, Freeman, Glick, Grooms, Head, Holdman, Houchin, Koch, Kruse, Leising, Long, Merritt, Messmer, Mishler, Niemeyer, Perfect, Raatz, Sandlin, Smith, Spartz, Walker, Young, Zakas and Zay. Two were excused from voting: Senators Breaux and Charbonneau Three more pillars have now fallen The controversies of House Bill 1315 go deep into the fabric of public education:
These surprising outcomes of a short session now become the fodder for the fall election debates if the candidates or the voters take actions to make them issues in the campaign. Best wishes, Vic Smith [email protected] “Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma! Join ICPE-MC. We need your help. Our lobbyist Joel Hand represented ICPE extremely well throughout the 2018 short session and during the special session in May. We need your memberships and your support to continue his work. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word! Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio: I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana. In April, I was honored to receive the 2018 Friend of Education Award from the Indiana State Teachers Association.  This guest column is from Raymond J. Golarz, a former superintendent of Richmond and Hobart community schools and co-author of The Problem Isn’t Teachers.
I had been invited to keynote a conference in Phoenix. The day before my address, a superintendent colleague invited me to visit some elementary schools. As we walked through one of the school hallways, we noticed a young teacher farther down the hall on one knee with what appeared to be two primary-age boys. We could see that she was attempting to resolve a fight. Tears streamed down the face of one boy. the other still had his fists clinched and a scowl on his face. As we neared she looked up and said, “I’m so sorry, I’ll get them back into class soon.” I responded, “You need not apologize.” The next morning, I gave my address. Afterward, several participants approached forming a line. Near the back of the line was the teacher who had been working the day before in the hallway with the young boys. When she finally approached, she said, “Dr. Golarz, may I please talk to you?” We found a quiet spot outside near a fountain and some very lovely orange trees. She began, “Today in your presentation you said that besides caring for our students, we must also remember to take care of ourselves, the caregivers. I knew when you said this that I needed to talk to you. “Yesterday in the hallway at my school, I knew I should have been in my classroom teaching, but they were fighting and I had to ... I had to...” She began to get choked up and was momentarily unable to continue. I said to her, “Don’t ever apologize for the work that you do. Your job always includes assisting children to understand the meaning of civility. You were doing the right thing.” Then she blurted out, “But Dr. Golarz, it happens all the time ... all the time. I have 35 students in my classroom, seven of whom I cannot control. I’ve had lots of administrative help, and I have tried all the new instructional strategies. Several veteran teachers have confided in me that no one has ever been able to handle this group. “They’ve told me to just try to make it through the school year. But I don’t know if I can. Last Tuesday, I was physically attacked and struck. An older teacher heard the noise and rushed to my aid. It’s only October, just October. I can’t sleep. I am losing weight, and I’m jittery all the time. On Friday, the principal and I had a conference with a parent who yelled and screamed at me the whole time. She told me I was picking on her son and that there were other children just as bad and that I was a racist. “Dr. Golarz, I am from Iowa. It was my idea to go into teaching. My dad only agreed to my teaching if I kept my other major in business. Therefore, I graduated with a double major and a 3.7 GPA. At night, if I call my parents, I can hear my dad hollering in the background. He says that if things don’t change soon, he’s coming out on a plane, gonna punch some people out and take me home. “Dr. Golarz, I so wanted to teach. It has been my dream since childhood.” She took a deep breath, dropped her head, then turned and slowly walked away. She didn’t go far, just nearer the fountain in the center of the courtyard garden. I didn’t follow. She needed a moment alone. The orange trees in the courtyard didn’t look quite so lovely anymore. Dear Friends,
Two questions:
The unprecedented experiment in HB 1315 to have Ball State run Muncie public schools “subject only to” following 29 out of hundreds of Indiana’s education laws cries out for an amendment. Allowing a public school district to follow only a small list of education laws is a first in Indiana history. As currently written, the bill will (1) remove important protections for students, (2) remove community protections, (3) remove basic standards, and (4) remove opportunities for state grants for student programs. It’s a flawed plan that has received little attention. For the safety of Muncie public school students and to preserve accountability to the Muncie community, HB 1315 must be amended. Yet after a two hour hearing on HB 1315 today in the Legislative Council, the bill was approved with no amendments for consideration in the May 14th special session. The vote was 10-4, a party line vote. To restore the laws protecting Muncie students and other important laws, contact your legislators and contact Ball State to ask them to delete Section 3 (c) on pages 32 and 33 of the proposed draft of House Bill 1315 ss. How Does HB 1315 Remove Protections for Muncie Students? Under this unprecedented experiment, Ball State can ignore:
How Does HB 1315 Remove Accountability to the Muncie Community? Under this unprecedented experiment, Ball State can ignore:
How Does HB 1315 Lower Basic Standards? Under this unprecedented experiment, Ball State can ignore:
How Does HB 1315 Remove Opportunities for Grants for Student Programs? Under this unprecedented experiment, Ball State can ignore:
This isn’t right. Ignoring these laws has nothing to do with the financial problems that Muncie is digging out of. This appears to be one more step in the deconstruction of public education in Indiana. In the long history of public schools in Indiana, an Indiana public school district has never been allowed to ignore the hundreds of education laws except for a cherry-picked few. It’s an ominous signal to the future of the rule of law in Indiana schools. Ball State should actively dictate an amendment to repair these student protections or else they should withdraw from the plan. Their reputation is at stake. It saddens me that Ball State is involved in a plan that would remove laws protecting Muncie students and the Muncie community. I am an honors graduate of Ball State, Class of 1969. The best thing that Ball State could do is to run Muncie public schools based on the education laws that all other public school districts follow by asking for the deletion of Section 3 (c) on pages 32 and 33 in the proposed House Bill 1315ss. What Can You Do? If you agree that these changes are needed, please contact your House member or your State Senator this week to let them know that Muncie students should not lose the protection of the bullying prevention law or of any of the hundreds of other laws the Indiana General Assembly has passed. This experiment to lop off hundreds of Indiana education laws makes no sense. Tell your House member and your State Senator before the May 14th special session that they must make changes to protect Muncie students and the Muncie community. Even after a two-hour hearing today we still must ask: What is wrong with having Ball State follow the education laws of Indiana when they take over the Muncie Community public schools? Thank you for your active support of public education! Best wishes, Vic Smith “Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma! ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership. Our lobbyist Joel Hand represented ICPE extremely well throughout the 2018 short session and will represent us during the special session in May. We need your memberships and your support to continue his work. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word! Join ICPE–Monroe County. Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio: I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana. In April, I was honored to receive the 2018 Friend of Education Award from the Indiana State Teachers Association.  Today, May 7, at the statehouse in room 404 at 10 am, there will be a short public testimony period for the awful HB1315. Our lobbyist, Joel Hand, will be speaking along with leaders from ISTA and IAPSS and other organizations. Across the state concerned citizens are making their voice heard through phone calls, letters, and social media activity. You should be just as outraged about this bill. Not only does it not reflect democracy but it essentially makes Muncie Community Schools different from other public schools, eliminating protections that children, parents, and employees have by law. Legislators who vote in support of this bill are careless and are concerned only about the bottom line. What can you do? Make your voice heard. Seek out your legislator if you can. Speak to them face to face and ask them if they are aware of 10 items in the list above. Find your legislator here. Need more information. Read this Vic's recent Notes here. Follow the Meet Up/Greet Up/Tweet Up Facebook event here. You can find ways to get involved, taking points, etc. Want to be more fired up? Read this newspaper editorial here. The article was originally written by the Hoosier State Press Association, a trade group consisting of 167 newspapers and radio outlets, most of them very small and serving rural communities.  Press release from Indiana Coalition for Public Education
BILL PUTS 5,000 STUDENTS AT RISK OF BULLYING AND ABUSE INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 7, 2018 -- The safety and education of more than 5,000 Muncie public school students are at risk if the Indiana General Assembly passes House Bill 1315 in the May 14 special session, according to the Indiana Coalition for Public Education (ICPE). "The bill is flawed and incomplete," said Vic Smith, an ICPE board member. "The future of Muncie students is too important to rush to pass a bill that could put students in danger." House Bill 1315 would put the Muncie Community Schools (MCS) district under the control of Ball State University and exempt the district from many laws that govern Indiana's public schools. ICPE opposed many provisions of HB 1315 during the regular Indiana General Assembly 2018 session. The bill seemed dead after it failed to come up for a vote on the final day. "Now the bill will be brought back in the Indiana General Assembly May 14 special session, and it's as bad as before," said Smith. The organization cited 10 reasons it is asking General Assembly members to vote no on the bill (see list above). "This is the worst form of this bill," said Smith. "Just before the final day, amendments made by the Senate to improve the bill were stripped out." General Assembly leaders announced April 20 they would resurrect House Bill 1315 in the one-day special session and allow no amendments and no public testimony. "We regret that much-needed financial relief for the district is now tied to a flawed bill," Smith said. "We would prefer to see the proposed financial relief considered separately. Muncie students should not lose protection of the bullying law or of any of the hundreds of other laws the Indiana General Assembly has passed to protect the state's other public school students." ICPE is a grassroots, bi-partisan, not-for-profit, taxpayer group focused on preserving public dollars for public schools. For more information about the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, visit icpe2011.com. **** And, as always, we need you to be a member. Please join us and be sure to renew every year! |
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