A Fitting and Timely Cartoon

Here's a cartoon that accurately describes the Indiana legislative session, and unfortunately, most of the state governments in America today.

Study shows certified teachers more effective

A recent study shows that certified teachers are more effective. If this holds true over time it could have implications for alternative licensing programs.

Public school students out perform private school students

New emerging research continues to show that public schools are not only holding their own against charter schools and private schools, but in many cases are out performing them.

Kimberly at Number 2 Pencil discusses the newest research here.

Voucher Vote List

Do you know how your representatives voted on the school voucher bill which was SB 281?

This bill was defeated but it will be back next year. How did your representative vote?

Are you disappointed? Or pleased? Let them know.

VOTING YEA: 45
Alderman Duncan Lutz Torr Behning Espich McClain Turner Borders Foley Messer Ulmer Borror Friend Murphy Walorski Bright Frizzell Noe Whetstone Brown,T Gutwein Pond Wolkins Buck Harris, T Richardson Woodruff Buell Heim Ripley Yount Burton Hinkle Ruppel Mr. Speaker Cherry Koch Saunders Davis Lehe Stutzman Dodge Leonard Thompson

VOTING NAY: 54
Aguilera Crooks Klinker Porter Austin Day Kromkowski Reske Avery Denbo Kuzman Robertson Ayres Dickinson Lawson Smith, J Bardon Dobis Mahern Smith,V Bauer Dvorak Mays Stevenson Becker Fry Micon Stilwell Bischoff GiaQuinta Moses Summers Bottorff Goodin Neese Thomas Brown,C Grubb Orentlicher Tincher Budak Harris, E Oxley VanHaaften Cheney Hoffman Pelath Welch Cochran Hoy Pflum Crawford Kersey Pierce

EXCUSED FROM VOTING: 1 Adams

NOT VOTING: NONE

Vouchers and Tax Credits Defeated

Vouchers and tax credits have now all been defeated for this session.

SB 281 Student Transfers and the Private School Tuition Tax Credit of $1000

Representative Behning stated that the fiscal for 2006 was a $1.1M gain, and a $1.6M loss in 2007. A provision also provided for textbooks for private school students. Representative Cheney noted that the bill would allow transfers for athletic reasons and that it “will cost us big.” He also stated that Representative Turner’s testimony that Indiana was low in the number of students attending private schools “was testimony to the success of our public schools.” It was pointed out in testimony that private schools under this option had the right to take who they like. Rep. Hoy stated that tax credits were misleading, because “a voucher by any name is still a voucher.”

Again, SB 281, included the amended vouchers and tax credits, has now been defeated. The House rejected this final section by a vote of 45-54.

It will be back.

One legislator had this to say about it all, "We should not try to destroy public education overnight."

No....I suppose many of them would prefer to take their time.

Glad to have you back!

Hope everyone is rested up and ready for the last push. I've seen a few tans showing up out there.

It was pretty nice here while everyone was having fun in the sun.

Serious blogging will start up again in a day or so!

Reminder of Board Meeting Change

This is just a reminder that the Wawasee school board moved the board meeting for April to Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 PM. The meeting will be held in the board room at the administration offices.

Favorite signs seen at the statehouse rally

The following sign was seen at the statehouse rally for education on Wednesday.

Carried by a teacher:

"If we taught in a stadium would you support us?"

Education Rally in Statehouse

I attended a statehouse rally Wednesday afternoon in Indianapolis. The rally was put on by a coalition of educational organizations in response to what many feel have been overtly negative attitudes towards public schools coming from the governor and legislators this session.

Wawasee is one of the many schools that will actually receive less money next year and the year after even less. When the Wawasee school system is near the bottom in funding per student and the local board has no control over it, there is nothing to do but to go to Indianapolis and show concern.

Here is one report on it.

We just received the following press release from the Indiana General Assembly

Media Alert Indiana General Assembly Release

Representative Behning to Discuss School Vouchers

State Representative Robert Behning (R-Indianapolis) will be available to the Media on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 to discuss Senate Bill 281 concerning school vouchers.

The media availability will take place in room 125 at the Statehouse at 10:00 a.m. Representative Behning will be joined by Kenneth L. Johnson, a graduate of North Division High School and a native of Milwaukee. Kenneth L. Johnson serves on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors, which oversees the city’s public school system. Johnson, a democrat and an AFL-CIO member, has been a major proponent for school choice in Milwaukee (He was elected in 1999 and reelected in 2003.)A graduate of North Division High School and a native of Milwaukee, Johnson is an officer of Isom Memorial CME Church, a husband, and proud father of a current MPS student. Johnson is a journeyman electrician and member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. A former member of Shalom High School's Advisory Board, Johnson is also a Commissioner of the City of Milwaukee Redevelopment Authority and a Fellow of The Rockefeller Foundation of New York.Johnson believes in improving parental involvement, in setting stronger standards, in strengthening school governance council authority, in expanding career options for students in elementary/middle schools, in increasing community investment & confidence, and in developing a district accountability system. The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program began operation in 1990-91 and currently serves nearly 15,000 children each year by providing school vouchers worth up to $5,882 per child. Being the oldest of the modern school choice programs, Milwaukee is the most widely studied school choice program. Studies from Harvard and Princeton Universities have found student test scores to improve by 6 to 11 percentile points in both math and reading. Studies have also found public schools exposed to competition from the school vouchers have spawned improvement in public school test scores as well. In addition, nearly $100 million of private money has been invested into education through the creation of new schools and renovation of older schools.

Who: Representative Behning Also appearing on the panel will be Kenneth L. Johnson
What: Press Conference to discuss Senate Bill 281When: Tuesday, April 5, 2005 at 10:00 a.m. until 10:30
Where: Indiana Statehouse – Lower Level, Room 125Contact: Christina Nash, 234-2993

NOTE: Here is an opposing view of the Milwaukee experiment

Fort Myer's Beach Weather

With so many community people in Fort Myers right now, I thought I would provide you with the link to keep tabs on their days. Fort Myers Beach Weather

With days like today, who could be jealous!

Miscellaneous

It's 64 degrees and 21 mph winds in Fort Myers, FLA at 2:00 PM today. Not as nice as it could be. Keep telling yourself that!

The Super's Blog has satire again. Check it out.

Joe Thomas is a teacher in Arizona. He has a blog site that has a lot of information about school vouchers. He is not believer in case you wondered. After the page loads click on the word BLOG at the top.

Spring Break Send-Off

Happy times to all you lucky people going to where it is warm and sunny. Hopefully.

Take a deep breath, feel the warm moist ocean breeze on your face, brush the hair from your face and wiggle your toes in the wet sand....

Sigh

Central office will be open and we will be here if you need anything.

Be careful.

Mark

PS: For all those staying in the community, The Wawascene will still be posting so if you get too bored you can check in from home or even from Florida if you can't let go completely!!! LOL

ISTA News Release

NEWS RELEASE FROM ISTA (Indiana State Teacher's Association)

“WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?”

That’s the question that is likely to be asked of Indiana legislators when they hold their Town Hall meeting on Friday, April 1, 2005, 3:00-4:30 p.m. at the Battell Center. Parents, teachers and administrations are planning to ask very pointed questions regarding the state’s funding for public schools. HB 1001, the House version of a budget bill for 2006 and 2007, essentially flat lines the state’s funding for education. With insurance costs rising at astronomical rates of 15-25% and fuel prices soaring, in reality this is a budget cut. Making the situation even worse, the state has reduced tuition support payments for 2005 starting with the March payment. The Department of Education projects the following reduction in funding for area school corporations.

2005 State Funding Reduction

South Bend -$1.1 million
P-H-M -526,490
Mishawaka -274,304
Glenn -91,523
Union-North -69,033
New Prairie -136,000
Plymouth -169,615
Bremen -75,307
Triton -57,669
Culver -59,444
Argos -37,377
Elkhart -671,912
Goshen -308,609
Wa-Nee -166,145
Knox -102,781
North Judson -80,382
LaPorte -318,988
Michigan City -350,012
Baugo -87,000
Wawasee -175,000


While some corporations have not yet fully assessed the devastating effects of this funding shortfall, the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation recently announced that it faces a projected -$2.3 million budget shortfall for calendar year 2005 and a $4.6 million estimated budget shortfall for 2006 calendar year. This dire situation has led Penn Superintendent, Robert Howard, to recommend to the Board of School Trustees the elimination of 20 staff positions for 2005-06, an additional 22+ positions in 2006-07, the elimination of Summer School in 2006, as well as several regular school year programs and the closing of two schools.

Superintendent, Joan Raymond, announced that South Bend’s deficit for 2005 is expected to be at $4,490,417. According to Raymond, cuts necessary to counter the deficit will rival cuts of $8 million dollars made in 2001 and 2002. That doesn’t touch the shortfall to occur in 2006 and 2007 due to the flat lining.

The real kicker comes with a rash of unfunded mandates recently proposed and supported by Republican lawmakers. If enacted into law these mandates will certainly result in huge funding cuts to public schools and magnify the already devastating loss of programs and resources for public school children.


UNFUNDED MANDATES

1. SB 281 - Private School Voucher; Unfunded Tuition Credits
for private schools, and Transfer Tuition Discounts

2. SB 200 - Extension of CORE Curriculum

3. SB 231 - Changes Kindergarten Entrance Age Date Change

4. SB 371 - Increase in Dropout Age; Unfunded Spring I-STEP
testing; Professional Standards Board changes

5. SB 598 - Diverts Common School and Alternative Education
Funds from traditional public schools to charter
schools.


Republicans hosting the Town Hall meeting can expect some heated debate as frustrated educators voice their concerns with legislators who increase expectations for public school performance but continue to siphon off money with unfunded mandates and private school vouchers.

Note from Dr. Stock: Wawasee's projected cut in funding over the two-year budget period is $575,000 in ongoing revenue.

No good deed goes unpunished

One of the strange quirks in political financing, is the situation where local school districts as well as local cities and towns, are often punished when they try to save money.

Wawasee schools has been "punished" for over thirty years because it did the right thing. Back in 1973 Wawasee (as well as most Kosciusko county schools) had a very low tax rate. During this time period, your local board had broad control over the tax rates. In 1973, the state passed legislation taking local control away (especially for the General Fund) and replaced it with a state funding formula. The foundation amounts were "frozen" at those levels, and the state formula took over from there. Schools with high tax rates were forever blessed with higher revenue. School districts with lower tax rates were forever cursed with lower revenues.

Now, the state is at it again. This time it affects cities and towns.

The following newspaper article in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette explains it.

"We thought it took away some local fiscal flexibility," Fort Wayne Deputy Mayor Al Moll said. "We had been prudent in not raising taxes to the maximum every year and wanted that available but instead we're punished for our frugality."

The state of Indiana continues to push funding obligations to the local taxpayer. Under this scenario, local tax payers will experience property tax increases BUT the cities, towns and schools will NOT be experiencing increased revenues proportionate to the tax increases. It is a shift of responsibility from state - to local government.

Once again, no good deed goes unpunished.

Talking about schools, who are the "rich," and who are the "poor?"

This article from the South Bend Tribune quotes protesters saying, "The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer."

I just want to clarify, Who are the poor in this quote?

The quote is referring to schools that have high numbers of students who live in poverty (urban) AND school districts that are at the bottom of the state rankings in dollars per child (mostly rural - but some growing suburban schools as well now).

Because of our county's lake culture, we get unfairly labeled "rich." While we have a significant number of students living in rural poverty, we still lose because the state formula gives most of the money to schools with huge numbers of at-risk students and students with English as their second language. Under the new funding formula, money will be withheld from us, and sent to growing suburban schools. Schools that do need the money badly.

So what is our gripe? Most of those schools get more money per child than we do already. Now we get even less and they get more. Don't blame the growing schools. The problem is that the inequities are growing.

Have you e-mailed your legislators from home yet? Please consider giving them your opinion.

Tips:

1. Skim the papers to make sure you know the name of a bill or legislative action you want to comment on. (See short list below)
2. Hint: Click on The Super's Blog Link on the side of this page and you will see the name of all the main Indiana newspapers on line. Read up on some to make sure you know about the bill or issue.
3. Click on the legislator web sticker on the side of this page.
4. Put in your zip code and address and you will find your legislator's e-mail address.
5. Thank them for their time and sacrifice as a public servant.
6. State your opinion politely.
7. Thank them for their time.

A few important bills that affect education:

1. SB 200 – Core 40 Unfunded Curriculum Mandate
2. SB 231 – Unfunded Kindergarten Entrance Age Date Change
3. SB 281 – Private School Vouchers, Unfunded Tuition Tax Credits for private schools, and Transfer Tuition Discounts;
4. SB 371 – Unfunded Increase in the Dropout Age; Unfunded Spring I-STEP testing; Professional Standards Board changes;
5. SB 598 – Diverting Common School and Alternative Ed Funds from traditional Public Schools to Charter Schools.

At least you did your part.

Vouchers and Tax Credits Move Forward

The House Education Committee amended non-public school vouchers and tuition tax credits into SB 281 Tuesday on a party-line vote with all Republicans in favor and all Democrats opposed.

Successful students in schools failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) can take a voucher and transfer to a private school. Adequate Yearly Progress is part of a federal law called No Child Left Behind (NCLB) which requires 100% of all students in Indiana to pass ISTEP by 2013-2014 or the school and school district is labeled a failure. If a school fails, than even successful students in the "failing" school can receive vouchers to transfer to a non-public school that NEVER has to meet AYP requirements. This would permit the non-public schools to take the better students from failing schools, leaving the failing students behind. Does that sound fair to ANYONE?

Adding insult to injury, the voucher and tuition tax credit schools are permitted to discriminate in admissions not only on the basis of student test scores and student ability or disability, but also on the basis of religion, wealth, gender, inability to speak or understand English, inability to provide one's own transportation or textbooks, inability of the parents to volunteer, and more. Does that sound fair to ANYONE?

The fiscal impact of this legislation is estimated to be $250 Million when fully implemented. Since no funding source is identified, the funds must come from draining public schools, increasing the state deficit, or both. Does that sound fair to ANYONE? Wawasee is currently planning our response to the state's funding crisis already. What will happen if more funds are taken from public schools?

On the surface, giving a student more options doesn't seem to be a bad idea. But giving public tax dollars to private groups with no accountability or obligation to accept all students seems grossly unAmerican to me.

From your home computer, please consider e-mailing your legislators and letting them know your position on SB 281.

The Michael T. Fiscus Memorial Fund

In memory of Todd Fiscus, a memorial fund has been established to help support his family.

The Michael T. Fiscus Memorial Fund has been established through the area Lake City Banks. The money is intended to go towards his memorial and the future of his young girls. Donations can be made at any Lake City Bank.

ISTEP Spring Test Back on Table

The Indy Star reports that the legislature still seems bent on changing ISTEP back to the Spring.

There is no practical advantage to changing. It is in fact, a colossal waste of money at a time when schools are going to be cutting programs to children.

The current Indiana government wishes to erase any track record of progress made by our public schools. And that is sad. In the absence of any legitimate, research-based rationale, what else could it be?

Anti-school sentiment in Indy

This article in Sunday's Journal Gazette pretty accurately describes this legislative session when it comes to schools.