Vic’s Statehouse Notes #149 – July 26, 2013

Dear Friends,

Glenda Ritz no doubt thought that winning 1.3 million votes, more votes than Gov. Pence, to become State Superintendent after a 32 year career focused on reading and literacy had at least earned her a respectful hearing at last Friday’s (July 19th) State Board meeting of her plans to improve Indiana’s reading program.

Not so.

State Board member Dan Elsener cut her off in the middle of the presentation to say that the hour was late and he didn’t think the board should consider this proposed rule change today. His thought carried the day, and the Ritz reading plan was deferred until the discussion session, not the action session, of the next meeting.

Later the board voted to have Dan Elsener work with the Governor’s office to hire independent staff for the State Board using new authority to control its own budget. The powers of the State Board have thus been vastly elevated by the Governor.

The Proposed Reading Rule

Implementation of the 2010 reading law has been controversial from the start. Mandatory retention for third graders who don’t pass the I-READ 3 test was not clearly stated in the 2010 law but was enforced under rules endorsed by Dr. Bennett and passed by the State Board. Glenda Ritz had made it a key point in her campaign that mandatory retention for third graders should be reviewed. The proposal last Friday was to initiate rule-making, a first step which would start a revision process with public hearings still months away.

Discussing the reading revisions in tandem with veteran reading consultant John Wolf, she advocated replacing the pass-fail IREAD test with a different test that for the first time would establish every student’s instructional reading level for use by current and subsequent teachers.

She also wants to take out the word “uninterrupted” from the part of the rule requiring 90 minutes of reading instruction every day in elementary schools. Whether the state should require a specific number of minutes or whether local reading staff should determine schedules has been a point of contention since the reading rule was passed. There was general agreement that 90 minutes of reading instruction was a good idea, but not all thought that the state had to prescribe that it be “uninterrupted.” Some argued that without a definition of “uninterrupted”, it had little meaning.

Before she could get to the section proposing that “uninterrupted” be deleted, Dan Elsener called time on her. Perhaps we will hear the “uninterrupted” discussion next month.

The Independent Financing of the State Board

In what some have called a power grab, under a benign agenda item entitled “State Board of Education resourcing,” the State Board voted 8 to 0 with Glenda Ritz abstaining to authorize Dan Elsener to work with the Governor’s office to hire staff for the State Board using money budgeted for the State Board. For the first time, the budgeted money for the State Board is not controlled by the Department of Education.

Obviously, a State Board with its own staff using a budget of $3,010,716 each year could become a power center independent of the State Superintendent and the Department of Education. Apparently, the Governor has quietly put this seismic shift into motion.

I went back to read the budget to see where I had missed the language creating an independent State Board of Education. There is no such language. The budget language describing what the State Board budget may be used for is exactly the same as the budget of 2011, with the exception that the Education Roundtable is deleted from this description and is given a budget line item of its own. It is funded at $750,000, and no description of intended use for roundtable funding is stated in the budget.

This discovery leaves intriguing questions:

1. Who decided to channel the State Board’s budget outside the Department of Education if it wasn’t the plan of the General Assembly in any bill or in the budget?
2. Didn’t this fundamental change in policy deserve some public review and comment?
3. Why wasn’t a bill debated in the General Assembly clarifying the powers of an independent State Board of Education?
4. Are the powers of an independent State Board of Education limited in any way?
5. Could this have been done years ago during the Bayh and O’Bannon years when Republicans Dean Evans and Suellen Reed served as State Superintendents and controlled the State Board funding?
6. When was this decision made?
7. Is this part of a broader plan to undercut the powers of State Superintendent Ritz as head of the Department of Education?

Dan Elsener, with the power of the Governor and a clear majority of the State Board in his corner, showed that he can quickly dispatch any proposal from State Superintendent Ritz that he doesn’t like. His only risk is that seething supporters of Glenda Ritz will have a long memory and will influence the next Governor’s election in 2016. At this moment, that appears to be an unlikely outcome for a far-off election.

The business of quietly reducing the powers of State Superintendent Ritz seems to be underway, leaving her only the powers of the bully pulpit. It remains to be seen whether her vigorous use of that bully pulpit can effectively counter the efforts to marginalize her office.

Advocates for public education have a great ally in Glenda Ritz. She deserves our strong support.

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

ICPE is working to promote public education and oppose privatization of schools in the Statehouse. We need all previous members of ICPE to renew their memberships for the 2013-14 membership year which began July 1st. Please join us! To all who have recently renewed, we say thank you! We have reduced but not yet eliminated our debt from the General Assembly session. We need additional support to carry on our advocacy for public education. We need additional members and additional donations. We need your help!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information.

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.

Action for the Week - July 22, 2013

This week we are asking you to write to the State Board of Education to ask them to listen to what Glenda Ritz (a professional educator and the Superintendent of Public Instruction) is telling them regarding IREAD3.

You can get contact information for the members of the State Board of Education here: http://neifpe.blogspot.com/p/indiana-state-board-of-education.html

Then let us know what happened.

A Few Words from NEIFPE

Now that we have hosted our second Four State Conference and have worked together with other like minded people to strategize about how to move forward with our mission to inform, to engage, and to support public schools, perhaps it is time for us to reflect on the Facebook part of our mission.

As most of you who are regular readers of our Facebook page realize, our mission is to inform people about what is happening in and to public education. We usually post blogs from Karen Francisco, Diane Ravitch, Anthony Cody, Valerie Strauss, and other well known and well respected education bloggers. We feel as though they give us a pretty good window on what is happening in education.

We often post memes from numerous sites--some are liberal; some are conservative; some are off-the-wall. Some memes are inspirational; some are silly; some are thought provoking. We don't always agree with everything those sites (or their site names) espouse; however, if a particular meme catches our attention, we post it. We strive to inform, to enlighten, to inspire, to be ironic, and to laugh. We know that what we are facing is serious, but we also know that we don't always have to take ourselves seriously.

We are a non-partisan group. Considering that Indiana's legislature has a Super Majority of Republicans who appear to be doing the most damage to public schools, we have focused on the egregious policies they support. We are not especially happy with the Democrats either, but since they have no power now, we have not focused much of our criticism on them. We are particularly critical of No Child Left Behind (Bush) and of Race to the Top (Obama). We like to think of ourselves as equal opportunity critics. If either party creates harmful educational policies, we will let them and you know.

Since our daily Facebook reach is generally in the thousands, periodically, we are bound to offend someone about something. It is our hope that when you read our Facebook page, you will read it much as you would a newspaper. Read the posts that interest you and skip the ones that don't. If you disagree with something, please feel free to respond to that post.

Because our mission is and always has been to support educators and to help save public schools, we are happy to share the information and fact sheets that we have created on our blog. You are welcome to adapt the information to your use. We simply ask that you give us credit for our work.

For all of you who read our Facebook page or visit our blog, thank you.

Vic’s Statehouse Notes #148 – July 19, 2013

Dear Friends,

Watching the last State Board of Education meeting on June 24th absolutely confirmed my previous conclusion that when IDOE has intervened in low performing schools, the lead partner approach has succeeded admirably while the state takeover by outside contractors approach has led to acrimony, fractured communities and contentious litigation. The latest litigation was the central item at the June 24th meeting and is part of an ongoing story that many are not familiar with.

Lead Partner Schools

Broad Ripple, Washington and Marshall High Schools were all assigned lead partner organizations to support professional development and to better use data to drive instruction. Within a year in each case, representatives of these schools came before the State Board to report impressive progress and express thanks for the professional development that spurred improvement.

State Takeover Schools

Arlington High School now operated by non-profit contractor Ed Power; Manual and Howe High Schools and Donnan Middle School now operated by for-profit contractor Charter Schools USA; and Gary Roosevelt High School now operated by for-profit contractor Edison have now seen two years of bickering and contentious litigation as control was taken away from the IPS and Gary School Boards. Enrollment dropped by as much as half in the transition to contractor control starting in the fall of 2012, which led to the latest adjudication before the State Board at the June 24th meeting.

Last fall, IPS and Gary Community Schools filed lawsuits saying the State Board gave the takeover operators more money than the law allowed, money which came directly out of funds for IPS and Gary public school students. For example, Arlington and Ed Power were given per pupil funding for 1105 students, the count taken in September, 2011. The true enrollment, however, in September 2012 when the school opened was 518. Essentially, they received double the per pupil funding compared to other public education students. IPS and Gary Community Schools were successful in court and won a judgment that IPS should get back $7,516,046 and Gary Community Schools should get back $1,741,321.

The Bennett administration appealed the decision in December, 2012.

The Ritz administration took a different approach. Since the money had already been spent at the schools, Glenda Ritz requested money from the General Assembly to pay the judgments. The budget passed in April provided 80% of the money, $6.012 million for IPS and $1.393 million for Gary, but it required that the State Board of Education vote to transfer the money by June 30th to conclude the litigation.

The State Board Meeting on June 24, 2013

That was the setting for the drama on June 24th, when six votes were needed to approve the transfer and only six members showed up for the meeting. Every vote would be needed to pass the measure.

In an adjudication of this nature, the State Superintendent does not vote. A representative of the Attorney General presided. Neil Pickett, in his final meeting, described how he was “torn by this. We made the right decision.” He said he doesn’t agree with the Superior Court decision. “The legislature decided to solve this problem by making funds available. … I’m torn.”

Board members discussed the matter for an hour. Many comments related to a desire to leverage their agreement to give up their right to appeal in exchange for a continuation of elevated funding for the five takeover schools, “at least at the same level in 2013-14 as in 2012-13,” in the words of Dan Elsener. After contentious debate, they ignored the five paragraphs the lawyers had presented to the board and instead passed a three-part motion: 1) IPS would get $6.012 million and Gary Community Schools would get $1,393 million, 2) turnaround school operator funding would be “at a level not less than they received in 2012-13”, and 3) the litigation is dismissed. The motion passed 6-0.

After the meeting, officials of IPS and Gary Community Schools seemed relieved that they will get back at least 80% of what they lost. All seemed happy that the litigation is concluded. Regarding funding levels for 2013-14, no one could explain to me how the turnaround schools would be able to get the same double-funding they had last year since the State Board has no power to appropriate money and procedures for determining how the schools will be funded have already been set based on the lower enrollments of September 2012. The future will tell us if the State Board has the power to make funding decisions of this nature.

Later today, the newly reconstituted State Board of Education with four new members will meet for the first time in the Senate Chamber of the Statehouse.

Thanks for your support of public education!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

ICPE is working to promote public education and oppose privatization of schools in the Statehouse. We need all previous members of ICPE to renew their memberships for the 2013-14 membership year which began July 1st. Please join us! To all who have recently renewed, we say thank you! We have reduced our debt from the General Assembly session from $4000 to $2300. We need additional support to carry on our advocacy for public education. We need additional members and additional donations. We need your help!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information.

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.

News Release: THE IMPACT OF EDUCATION REFORM: WHAT NEXT?

NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
July 16, 2013
Contact: Phyllis Bush, qbgone@gmail.com

NEIFPE to Co-host Second, Regional Action Planning Meeting
for Educators from Four States

Saturday’s guest panelists to discuss impact of educational reform
and plan action steps to protect future of public education.

FORT WAYNE, IN – The local educational advocacy group Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education (NEIFPE) is hosting its second action planning meeting on Saturday, July 20 at Plymouth Congregational Church, UCC, 501 W. Berry St., Fort Wayne. The meeting, which will run from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., features a distinguished panel of guest speakers who will discuss the impact that education reform is having on public education.

Featured guests for the 10 a.m. panel discussion are: Vic Smith, an Indiana legislative watchdog from Indianapolis; Rob Glass, superintendent of Bloomfield Hills (Michigan) Schools; Kathy Friend, chief financial officer in Fort Wayne Community Schools; Stephanie Keiles, a mathematics and science teacher at Canton (Michigan) Community Schools; and Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, chair of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education-Monroe County and South Central Indiana, based in Bloomington.

During afternoon small group sessions, participants – educators and concerned individuals from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan – will develop strategies and action steps to help protect public education from damaging, profit-driven initiatives.

NEIPFE is a Fort Wayne-based grassroots organization whose members support public education and are concerned about the damaging effects of current reforms. Additional information about NEIFPE is available at www.neifpe.blogspot.com/, www.ritz4ed.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/NEIFPE.

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Vic’s Statehouse Notes #147 – July 1, 2013

Dear Friends,

Today, July 1st, marks the beginning of the new membership year for the Indiana Coalition for Public Education for 2013-14. We need your membership renewals to allow ICPE to continue to support public education in the Statehouse arena.

ICPE committed $24,000 to the General Assembly session to support public education and to fight voucher expansion through lobbying and sponsoring a public rally. Memberships and donations through the session came in at about $20,000. In our new membership campaign for 2013-14, we have $4,000 to make up as soon as possible to pay our bills.

Will you help us?

Overview Since 2011

ICPE was founded in January 2011 as the curtain opened on the legislative battle over the 2011 voucher bill. In addition to the education associations that were fighting for public education, ICPE became a voice open to all taxpayers and all citizens who believe a strong public school system is vital to our democracy.

After two and a half years, we have received memberships from just over 1000 advocates for public education, but we have never had more than 600 paid members in any one year. It is our goal in 2013-14 to get all 1000 to renew and to find another 1000 who support public education but have not yet joined our ranks. With over a million parents of public school students, thousands of retirees and some 40,000 current public school teachers and administrators, we think our goal is reachable, but we have enough experience to know it won’t be easy without a lot of grassroots support. We know there are many more people out there who care deeply about strong public schools and were disturbed by the low priority given to public schools in the 2013 General Assembly, and we ask your help in finding them.

Will you bring ICPE to the attention of a public school friend and invite them to join us?

Jeannie McNew has been calling members who did not renew in 2011-12 and is getting an excellent response. The conclusion is that they simply didn’t realize that they hadn’t renewed and the mailed reminder somehow didn’t get through. We have an all-volunteer staff and frequent mailings are not possible. If anyone would have the time to join Jeannie in making calls on behalf of ICPE membership, just reply to this email to volunteer for the phone call team.

What Can You Do?

If you are an advocate for public education who has supported the ICPE lobbying efforts on behalf of public education and has benefitted from reading “Vic’s Statehouse Notes”, please help us:

1) Send in your renewal or a new membership check today using the attached form to: ICPE, PO Box 7093, Fishers, Indiana 46037. The basic membership for 2013-14 is $25, up $5 from last year. Other membership levels are available at $50, $100 and $250. The form is also HERE.

2) It would help us immensely if you would mail your check today after reading this or tomorrow so that by the time our ICPE board meets on July 12th we could check our progress on paying off our bills.

3) It would also be a tremendous help if you could send a “second mile” donation of $5, $10, $20 or more in addition to your membership. Many sent extra donations this spring, and we deeply appreciate every donor and the commitment to public education that each donation represents.

4) If you prefer, go online to make a membership payment for 2013-14 on our website: icpe2011.com

5) If you have time to volunteer for the ICPE phone call team, please reply to this email.

6) Look for information coming after our July board meeting about fall membership meetings and fundraisers designed to get ICPE on solid footing for the next session of the General Assembly.

I deeply appreciate your support of public education and your support of ICPE. Thank you!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information.

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.