2020 began as an ordinary year for us. We were watching education legislation, writing postcards to our representatives, working on scheduling an event, and holding our meetings. And then, of course, everything changed. What We AccomplishedNow we can divide the year into a clear “before” and “after.” In the before—that stretch of time from January through early March—we met in person. We held a well-attended event about the struggle for school desegregation with historian Elizabeth Mitchell and education professor Stephanie Power-Carter at the site of Bloomington's first segregated school. A friend opened her house to us on a few Sundays so that we could write letters to legislators together. And some members attended the annual Rally at the Statehouse on President's Day. In mid-March, that all changed, and like everyone else, we had to approach our work very differently. We met on Zoom and tried to get our bearings. And we did. We accomplished a lot in 2020—despite having a chair who was obsessively checking covid numbers every night. ICPE–Monroe County members worked on several creative and collaborative projects this past year.
In the summer, our membership committee of Peg Smith, Wendy Marencik, and Janet Stake conducted a thorough and successful membership drive. We also collected donations for our “Vote for Public Education” yard signs. Keri Miksza designed them and drove them throughout the state. Proceeds went to public education candidates through the state ICPE PAC. In July, we issued a call for metrics around reopening schools during the pandemic. This was cosigned by other ICPE groups and the Washington Township Parent Network. We certainly can’t take credit for this, but several weeks later the Indiana Department of Health did introduce its county metrics map and somewhat more specific guidelines for schools in different phases of virus spread. As we geared up for the election in the fall, our member Heather Hundley organized phone banking for public education candidates. In September, Bob Arnove and Debbie Fish participated on a panel about assessment organized by Democracy for Monroe County. And, with the gracious help of Sofia McDowell and Democracy for Monroe County, we hosted two school board forums, one for Richland Bean Blossom, and one for MCCSC. In October, Keri and I presented at the Monroe County Children’s Summit sponsored by Building a Thriving Compassionate Community. Our topic was school funding and the importance of investing in our public schools. This session was recorded and is available for viewing on the BTCC website. Lastly, in early December, we were able to hear from our outgoing state senator Mark Stoops and our incoming state senator Shelli Yoder about what we might expect in this upcoming session. How We Spent Your Annual Membership Fees and DonationsMembership fees and general donations provide essential support for our efforts. Here is how we spent your contributions last year. Keep in mind that $25 of every combined state/local membership goes to the state-level ICPE to support them and our lobbyist, Joel Hand. Joel attends education committee meetings at the Statehouse, gives testimony representing ICPE’s positions, and learns what bills may be headed our way. This year, even though we spent most of the year operating remotely via Zoom, we did decide to put large chunks of our funds towards things we believed in. We brought in $2861, which was $739 shy of our goal of $3,600. While no one wants to be short a financial goal, it was a pandemic year. In total we spent $3,393 this year, pulling funds from our cash reserves to help make ends meet. Special Thanks and Going ForwardIn closing, thank you to all our members for supporting our work for public schools. Special thanks are owed to my fellow officers, Pam Bessler, Nancy Goswami, and Keri Miksza. Pam as our treasurer does the careful and meticulous work of keeping track of our budget, income, and expenditures. Nancy stepped up and took on the crucial role of secretary when we needed to fill it. And Keri has about twenty hats—among them, researcher, designer, data cruncher, maintainer of social media, writer, and builder of relationships.
2020 was also a year of change: Three of our long-time board members left our board during the course of this year: Charlie Savage, Janet Stake, and Debbie Fish. Also, Byron Turner decided to step back from the board after serving through December 2020. Each of them has given so much to this organization over the years and I cannot begin to thank them for all their time, creativity, and knowledge. Please thank them when you see them, either in the material or the virtual world. Lastly, I am thrilled that our amazing Keri Miksza is taking over as chair. Volunteer if you can—Keri will put you to work! Here's to a healthy 2021. Jenny Robinson Indiana Coalition for Public Education–Monroe County (ICPE–Monroe County) advocates for all children to have high quality, equitable, well-funded schools that are subject to democratic oversight by their communities. We are a nonpartisan and nonprofit group of parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, and other community members of Monroe County and surrounding areas. Join us.
As promised, we have been updating the list below as we make our way through this election season. The next report will happen after the election as that is how the filing deadlines work.
But we're closing in on $1 million from privatizers to our state candidates in one way or another (I mean, we've got PACs giving to PACs). To catch yourselves up, read this blog entry first. A few things to dig in on in this post: Hoosiers for Great Public Schools, Reed Hastings, John Arnold, and RISE Indy. But first, the chart. Hoosiers for Great Public Schools
Recall from the previous post, Hoosiers for Great Public Schools is "a PAC created by former mayor of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson in May 2020. Bart Peterson is currently president and CEO of Christel House International. PAC was registered by Caryl Auslander on April 30, 2020. She is director of Advanced Energy Economy. Her consulting firm is Torchbearer Public Affairs. She was formerly vice president of Education and Workforce Development Policy, and Federal Relations for the Indiana Chamber."
They only have two major donors (so far) totaling $400,000: Reed Hastings (Netflix) and John Arnold (turned his Enron millions into billions as a hedge fund manager). The PAC has dished out $451,000 so far this election cycle, with $200,000 going to another newbie PAC called RISE Indy. What is RISE Indy?
Per the Indianapolis Recorder, RISE Indy is a PAC that wants to "bypass controversy." Well, it didn't take too long to get controversial and the article highlighted why. Its board of directors include Al Hubbard (recall him from the last post) and Bart Peterson (who created the PAC Hoosiers for Great Public Schools). A quick search of contributions shows that Hoosiers for Great Public Schools PAC gave $200,000 of money (from Reed Hastings and John Arnold) to the RISE Indy PAC. In addiction Alice Walton has donated $200,000. Yes, that's on top of the $225,000 she has donated to Hoosiers for Quality Education PAC. And Mike Bloomberg donated $100,000 as well. In total RISE Indy has almost $700,000 in its coffers.
And if you're wondering what Great Public Schools for Indy is in the table below, that organization shares the same address as RISE Indy, and its registered agent is Jasmin Shaheed-Young, the founder and CEO of that group (and formerly the VP of a national real estate and construction company).
Where is this money going? Some is going to candidates running in the IPS school board race. Yes. School board races are being funded by PAC money to the tune of over $200,000. RISE Indy alone has contributed $100,000 so far to school board candidates. (You can do your own digging here.)
For more on this matter, read our state-level organization's blog post that speaks about the graphic below. Who to vote for and a pro-public education PAC
Now for a bit of a yay for the people. ICPE–Monroe County took our yard sign donations and donated it to a PAC. A pro-public education PAC run by Indiana Coalition for Public Education--Hoosiers for Public Education. $1,800 is heading to honest-to-goodness pro-public education candidates that have been properly vetted and endorsed by the folks operating the PAC. No corporations were involved. No hedge funds either. And we hope to continue these donations because this fight to protect public education, our children, and public school teachers is never over.
In the end, lots of money may not buy lots of votes. Being an educated voter is powerful. Unsure of who to vote for? Check out the endorsements from Hoosiers for Public Education. Join us. Donate. Vote for Public Education. - Keri Miksza Indiana Coalition for Public Education–Monroe County (ICPE–Monroe County) advocates for all children to have high quality, equitable, well-funded schools that are subject to democratic oversight by their communities. We are a nonpartisan and nonprofit group of parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, and other community members of Monroe County and surrounding areas. How COVID-19 Is Pushing Families out of Public Schools and Putting Public Education at Risk9/26/2020
The following is a guest post from Jessica Calarco, Associate Professor of Sociology, Indiana University
The COVID-19 pandemic is putting public education at risk. It has pushed some families out of public schooling and prompted others to opt out, as well.
As Emily Cox of the Herald-Times reported last week, MCCSC enrollment appears to be down 7% from last year. My own calculations (comparing numbers recently released by MCCSC to last year’s enrollment numbers) suggest that those declines are hitting the younger grades especially hard, with elementary enrollment down 12%. And MCCSC is not alone. A recent EdWeek survey found that more than half of educators in the U.S. are seeing enrollment declines in their districts' elementary schools, and especially in the lower grades, with nearly half reporting enrollment declines at the middle and high school level, as well. Some of these missing students have been pushed out of public schooling. When schools opened online this fall, some of these students didn’t have access to internet or a safe, quiet space to learn at home. Some needed more support than their family can provide at home, either because of disabilities, or because they are English language learners, or because their parents are essential workers. Some are staying home alone all day, and some may have siblings to care for, as well. These are the students for whom participating in online learning would be difficult or even impossible. Some of these students—especially if their families have more resources and more connections—have found alternative school options, and some just aren’t learning at all. Meanwhile, and even if they could participate in online public schooling, other missing students have opted out, instead. Some are being homeschooled by a family member, neighbor, or private tutor. Others in enrolling in online charter schools. And still others have opted to enroll in private schools or other nearby districts where schools opened in-person on time. These families are opting out for a wide range of reasons. My research with families here in Southern Indiana suggests that some families were dissatisfied with the online instruction their children received last spring, and they are confident that they (or a paid tutor) can better meet their children’s needs. Some families have found it difficult to juggle online school schedules with their work schedules, even if they are working from home, so they found an in-person option or created a homeschool schedule that doesn’t conflict with their own. Still other families have been frustrated by the uncertainty around public schooling plans, so they found an option that would give them a more consistent experience this year. And of course, it’s understandable why families are opting out. The pandemic is still raging, and the risks of in-person instruction are high. Meanwhile, public schools haven’t been given the money they need to reopen while keeping students, families, and educators safe—with enough teachers and space for small in-person classes, proper ventilation in every classroom, or enough bathrooms to not have to share. Furthermore, online learning is difficult or impossible for many students and families. And educators haven’t been given the time, training, or tech support to smoothly transition online. The problem, however, is that regardless of why students leave public schooling, the money follows them out. As the Herald-Times reported, a 7% decline in MCCSC enrollment will mean a loss of $5.2 million in funding from the state. And because this year’s enrollment determines funding for next year, MCCSC will lose that money regardless of how many students reenroll. Those funding cuts will almost certainly mean job losses for local teachers and local district staff. They will also mean bigger class sizes and fewer resources and opportunities for the students and families relying on public schools. Students and families who may need those resources the most. But lost resources aren’t the only problem here. As I argued recently in the New York Times, when families pull their children out of public schooling, those opt-outs “undermine the public’s confidence in the quality of public education and the necessity of funding it as a public good.” Essentially, the more families that opt out of public schooling, the more policymakers will feel justified in defunding public education and shifting school resources to private and for-profit options, instead. At the same time, however, it’s important not to blame the families who’ve opted out. The real blame belongs to the politicians who’ve refused to take the steps necessary to stop the virus. To the policymakers who, even more despicably, have treated this pandemic as a political and financial opportunity and not as a serious threat. They're the ones who have the most to gain from families opting out. And they're the ones making the situation worse. —Jessica Calarco We’ll be updating this graphic over the next few weeks as we get closer to the 2020 election. In 2018, the graphic got pretty longAnd the amount spent was pretty massive as well. Why are we sharing this information?We are sharing this because the majority of us are not completely aware of how much private money is fueling legislation that impacts public education in Indiana. And it’s not just Indiana public education. It’s a whole bunch of sectors throughout the United States. Indiana’s public education system is not alone in this attack. When we elect our representatives—local, state, and national, we citizens need to question: Who do they work for? Who did they take money from? Who is influencing their votes on legislation? Who is influencing the legislation they write? How we find this information and how you can tooGo to the Campaign Finance page of the Indiana Election Division. https://campaignfinance.in.gov/ Selection “Contributions” in the left-hand menu. Enter in a recipient name. If there are too many results (red message at top), you may need to enter in some contribution date parameters. You can limit it to the past two years, for example. To find the donors to Hoosiers for Quality Education, we place that name in the “Recipient Committee Name” parameter located near the bottom. If you are interested to see what big names are donating money to candidates or state-level PACs, you can search the following names in the “contributor” field.
For example, here is a DeVos result, which suggests we should ask the question: Who have Indiana’s past three governors worked for? And here is a more specific result using “Hoosiers for Quality Education” as the contributor and “Rogers” as the recipient. State Senator Rogers was the author of the controversial “share referendum dollars with charter schools” amendment in 2020 HEA 1065. $51,500 from Hoosiers for Quality Education is a significant amount for a legislator who has only been in office since 2018. See the second image above. You will see she is near the top in terms of campaign amounts received. Again, we should ask the question: Who does Linda Rogers work for? As we citizens ask questions such as
When you head to the voting booth or complete your ballot by mail, be sure to do your research. Be an educated voter and vote for public education. Sources: Brendan Fischer, “Former Indiana Superintendent, Lauded by ALEC and Education Privatizers, Cheats on School Grading Formula for Top Donor,” PR Watch, July 30, 2013, https://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/07/12198/former-indiana-superintendent-lauded-alec-and-education-privatizers-cheats-school; Wikipedia.com, Sourcewatch.com, K12.com, accessed September 16, 2020 ; and Eric Weddle, “Indy’s Al Hubbard Bows Out of Consideration for No. 2 U.S. Education, Job,” WFYI.org, June 4, 2017, https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indys-al-hubbard-bows-out-of-consideration-for-no-2-us-ed-job. –Keri Miksza
Indiana Coalition for Public Education–Monroe County (ICPE–Monroe County) advocates for all children to have high quality, equitable, well-funded schools that are subject to democratic oversight by their communities. We are a nonpartisan and nonprofit group of parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, and other community members of Monroe County and surrounding areas. |
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