Minutes [approved]
Indiana Coalition for Public Education - Monroe County and South Central Indiana
Business Meeting
Monday, January 12, 2015 -- 9:30 - 11:00 am
St. Mark’s, 100 N. Highway 46 Bypass, Bloomington
I. Welcome and Introductions -- C. Fuentes-Rohwer
Debbie Fish, Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, Craig McDonald, Sofia McDowell, Deborah Myerson, Jenny Robinson, Joyce Rusch, Bob Shanks, Linda Shanks, Jennifer Steinbachs, Janet Stake
II. Agenda
III. Minutes for December 15, 2014, approved.
IV. Treasurer's Report and Membership—No report (treasurer absent). C. Fuentes-Rohwer: we are up to 64 paid members.
V. Other Reports
A. State ICPE Board of Directors
D. Fish (now on state ICPE board of directors) reported on January 8 meeting in Indianapolis. They worked on a statement of what they will support and oppose. Will support full funding, tax credits for public school parents, parental choice for opting kids out of testing when testing is excessive, an elected state superintendent, superintendent being chair of SBOE, policies that support transparency, replacement revenue when other sources of revenue are eliminated or reduced. Will oppose expansion of vouchers and voucher eligibility. State ICPE recommends that when we talk to legislators, we mention that Joel Hand is our lobbyist.
C. Fuentes-Rohwer attended the all membership meeting. Attendees included a teacher who recently moved from Chicago and has founded Indy Apples on Facebook; also a parent from Washington Township, where they have a parent council separate from the PTA; also Richard Wood, Chuck Bennett, and Ann Inness (sp?) from Evansville.
B. Communications and Web Site
D. Fish suggests looking online at teaching.com. Superintendents made pro-public education videos. We could link to them if they are freely available.
J. Rusch asked that we put more thought into getting the word out about events and issues.
There were suggestions that we ask for space for a community column on education in the Herald-Times and that we participate in the Children’s Expo on April 12.
C. Programs
We discussed possible programs on topics such as developmentally appropriate practice, testing, community, and legislative updates. L. Shanks: we need to ask legislators about the $3.9 million in voucher overpayments by the state that the diocese returned. Where did it go? Who’s watching the other voucher recipients?
L. Shanks: a good moment for the legislative update would be when the house and senate send their bills to each other (March? April?).
D. Action Groups
E. Political News
F. Farmer’s Market
VII. New Business
A. On February 9, Dr. DeMuth and Tim Thrasher will have a conversation with us about the upcoming referendum. Our February 9 meeting will be held at the MCCSC administration building at 9:30 a.m. for this conversation.
B. The nominating committee will contact outgoing board members to ask if they would like to continue to serve.
VIII. Other
Respectfully submitted,
Jenny Robinson
We are dedicated to informing, inspiring, and empowering voters
to advocate on behalf of Indiana's children
and their right to a high-quality public education
Indiana Coalition for Public Education - Monroe County and South Central Indiana
Business Meeting
Monday, January 12, 2015 -- 9:30 - 11:00 am
St. Mark’s, 100 N. Highway 46 Bypass, Bloomington
I. Welcome and Introductions -- C. Fuentes-Rohwer
Debbie Fish, Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, Craig McDonald, Sofia McDowell, Deborah Myerson, Jenny Robinson, Joyce Rusch, Bob Shanks, Linda Shanks, Jennifer Steinbachs, Janet Stake
II. Agenda
III. Minutes for December 15, 2014, approved.
IV. Treasurer's Report and Membership—No report (treasurer absent). C. Fuentes-Rohwer: we are up to 64 paid members.
V. Other Reports
A. State ICPE Board of Directors
D. Fish (now on state ICPE board of directors) reported on January 8 meeting in Indianapolis. They worked on a statement of what they will support and oppose. Will support full funding, tax credits for public school parents, parental choice for opting kids out of testing when testing is excessive, an elected state superintendent, superintendent being chair of SBOE, policies that support transparency, replacement revenue when other sources of revenue are eliminated or reduced. Will oppose expansion of vouchers and voucher eligibility. State ICPE recommends that when we talk to legislators, we mention that Joel Hand is our lobbyist.
C. Fuentes-Rohwer attended the all membership meeting. Attendees included a teacher who recently moved from Chicago and has founded Indy Apples on Facebook; also a parent from Washington Township, where they have a parent council separate from the PTA; also Richard Wood, Chuck Bennett, and Ann Inness (sp?) from Evansville.
B. Communications and Web Site
D. Fish suggests looking online at teaching.com. Superintendents made pro-public education videos. We could link to them if they are freely available.
J. Rusch asked that we put more thought into getting the word out about events and issues.
There were suggestions that we ask for space for a community column on education in the Herald-Times and that we participate in the Children’s Expo on April 12.
C. Programs
We discussed possible programs on topics such as developmentally appropriate practice, testing, community, and legislative updates. L. Shanks: we need to ask legislators about the $3.9 million in voucher overpayments by the state that the diocese returned. Where did it go? Who’s watching the other voucher recipients?
L. Shanks: a good moment for the legislative update would be when the house and senate send their bills to each other (March? April?).
D. Action Groups
E. Political News
F. Farmer’s Market
VII. New Business
A. On February 9, Dr. DeMuth and Tim Thrasher will have a conversation with us about the upcoming referendum. Our February 9 meeting will be held at the MCCSC administration building at 9:30 a.m. for this conversation.
B. The nominating committee will contact outgoing board members to ask if they would like to continue to serve.
VIII. Other
Respectfully submitted,
Jenny Robinson
We are dedicated to informing, inspiring, and empowering voters
to advocate on behalf of Indiana's children
and their right to a high-quality public education