Indiana Coalition for Public Education — Monroe County
  • About Us
    • Mission & Vision
    • Our Beliefs
    • By-Laws
    • Who Is Our Lobbyist
    • Why We Need to Defend Public Education
    • Board Members
    • Friends
    • How You Can Help
  • How to Join
  • Meetings & Events
    • Meetings & Calendar
    • Events
  • Blog
  • Press
    • Contact the Press
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • Videos
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters

Crucial Primary Race for the future of Public Education

5/6/2014

 
Picture
Today is primary day and voters in house district 91 in Indiana have a very important choice in candidates.  Our state's House Education committee chairman, Robert Behning is being challenge by a man, Michael Scott, who is pro-union and pro-public education.  Here is a letter from a parent (who happens to be our ICPE-Monroe County chairperson), Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, explaining the issues surrounding this race:

"As a mother of four, I see how decisions made by non-educators at the statehouse are directly affecting my children in their public school classrooms. My third-grader just took a test that will determine whether or not he is to go on to fourth grade, regardless of his teacher’s opinion. He is about to take the ISTEP and the stigma of a failing school grade rests on his small shoulders. His teacher knows that developmentally appropriate practice is the best way to reach him, but she also knows that her job is tied to his test scores and she needs her income. How did we get here? Take a look at the legislative record of Rep. Bob Behning and then follow the money from his campaign contributors. 

If you have wiped your child’s tears over the stress of testing, I hope you will go to the voting booth this May.

If you had concerns about new standards and were happy that they were being reviewed, I hope you remember this quote: “Frankly, most of the time the public would not have a very easy time even understanding what standards are, let alone trying to help form them.” 

If you voted for Glenda Ritz, I hope you remember who said that her win indicated that the “public didn’t really know the issues.”  and don’t forget how he introduced the bills that would undermine her control. 

If you have raised money for your schools at bake sales, I hope you remember that last year alone, $81 million dollars of our taxes was redirected to private schools through the vouchers that Behning’s authored bills made possible. They sold those to us as a way of giving poor children an opportunity for better schools. Now Behning says it’s not about quality, it’s about giving families a choice regardless .

Accountability? How about a $91 million bailout for charters’ loans while some of our public schools can’t even afford buses to transport kids safely? Why must I buy my kids’ textbooks while the homeschool and private schools parents get tax credits? Public schools accept all learners, vouchers don’t.

Bob Behning’s website declares him “a champion for smaller government and free market principles.” Yet he has taken away our local control through his policies. Last year he even introduced a bill that would take away our local school boards and hand control over to the governor-appointed state board (HB1337). And when glowing teacher evaluations came back this year he responded: “We may have let there be too much local control”.

Schools should be for kids, not for profit in a free-market experiment. Your kids and mine are not data points on a graph for investors, they are children who deserve a fully-funded, high quality education."

Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer"

Our fingers are crossed that voters in District 91 will make the choice that supports our public schools as the cornerstone for our democracy.  Here's hoping they exercise that democratic right.. and vote.


Comments are closed.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Categories

    All
    Accountability
    A To F Grades
    Call To Action 2020
    Call To Action 2022
    Cathy's Speeches
    Charter School Program (CSP)
    Charter Schools
    Covid 19
    CRT
    Death By A Thousand Cuts $
    Democracy
    Diploma
    Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs)
    Equity
    Events
    Follow The Money
    Free Lunch
    ILEARN
    IPS
    Kindergarten
    Petitions
    Race/history
    Redistricting
    Referendum Sharing
    Religion
    Reopening
    School Board
    School Choice
    School Marketing
    Special Education
    Statehouse
    Teachers
    Tech Trep
    Testing
    Textbooks
    Vic's Statehouse Notes
    Vouchers
    Year In Review

    Archives

    September 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    April 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    February 2014

    Friends

    Vic's Statehouse Notes
    Network for Public Education
    Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photo from wuestenigel
  • About Us
    • Mission & Vision
    • Our Beliefs
    • By-Laws
    • Who Is Our Lobbyist
    • Why We Need to Defend Public Education
    • Board Members
    • Friends
    • How You Can Help
  • How to Join
  • Meetings & Events
    • Meetings & Calendar
    • Events
  • Blog
  • Press
    • Contact the Press
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • Videos
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters