Your main premise lacks any significant data that larger school systems are more cost effective.

Show me the data and maybe I'll be convinced.

However, here is the data that I pulled off the Indiana Department of Education Web site for Marion County Public Schools:

School System Enrollment Total Expenditure per Student
Speedway 1,653 8,224
Beech Grove 2,293 8,941
Decatur 6,131 10,025
Perry 14,272 10,413
Warren 12,503 10,755
Franklin 8,607 11,044
Lawrence 16,153 11,625
Washington 10,421 11,849
Pike 10,620 11,874
Wayne 14,917 12,628
IPS 35,327 12,656

Isn't it interesting that the smallest public school system in Marion County has the lowest cost per student and the largest school system has the highest. There is also a good correlation that the smaller systems have better scores. (just visit the web site)

If IPS could operate at the same cost as Speedway, there would be an annual savings to tax payers of $156 million.

Jeff Vickers

Spreading gang activity, intimidated faculty, dropping property values, the dismissal of citizen elected school board administration, and most disturbing will be the necessity to raise & then spend the tax base revenue to transport our kids to an IPS/Wayne Twp. sight foreign to them. For we all know that the present town supported facility wasn't created for a 30% increase in population.

This is state governments answer to making education better? For whom, Governor? The Speedway School System is the envy of the county academically. None of the institutions
in IPS or Wayne Twp. has been able to match Speedway's ISTEP scores over the last five years (check the STAR results) Have any of the schools in Marion County maintained a "Four-Star" rating longer that Speedway and NOT been up to their neck in debt?

We, the citizens of this community regard ourselves as sovereign in our ability to enforce the common laws of this state, to administrate the education of our children, provide for the protection of our property, and administrate the competent dispersal of our revenue to provide security and services for the benefit of those whom have invested their future here.

Since I am sure a public referendum on this "Issue" has a snowballs chance in a hot oven of success. It would be prudent not to play a shell game with the education of the constituencies children so close to election day.

Jeffery A. Marlott

I am a resident of the proud town of Speedway Indiana for the past 14 years. My wife and I live in a small little house with our daughter who attends and loves the Speedway School system. The idea of consolidating our schools to us is an outrage and an insult to the Speedway School system and our town. Instead of ending this letter with just saying that I am going to state my reasons and concerns first, then with research I have conducted for the past week regarding my concerns.
My fear and opinion, I feel regardless of what is said and promised, that children with special needs will be ignored with the increase of student population. Our student population is small enough that my wife and I can contact our school administration to speak about our child’s progress. Just recently, my wife scheduled a conference with the staff that teaches our daughter. It was scheduled within a few minutes to take place the following week. With an increase in student population, I fear that this will not be able to occur as quickly and frequent as we need. The student population issue and problems that can possibly and more than likely will occur.
My opinion/fear aside, I wish to state fact regarding my reasons for not following the report on school consolidation. This comes from the writing in found in the Kernan-Shepherd report. It mentions in the report regarding education, “Reorganize school districts to have at least 2,000 students in each one. Currently, more than half of Indiana 's 293 school districts in Indiana have fewer than 2,000 students, while 46 districts have fewer than 1,000 students”. The school system in the town of Speedway was mentioned in the news that would be forced to consolidate.
As a Speedway resident I am forced to disagree with this idea. My reasons included the following; what educational background does Kernan and Shepherd possess, latest news of crime reports around high crime IPS area and gang activity in the schools.
The educational background of Supreme Court Judge Shepherd include, found on the Indiana Government Website states the following, “A seventh generation Hoosier, Shepherd graduated from Princeton University cum laude and from the Yale Law School. He earned a Master of Laws degree in the judicial process from the University of Virginia . Shepherd was Judge of the Vanderburgh Superior Court from 1980 until his appointment. He earlier served as executive assistant to Mayor Russell Lloyd of Evansville and as special assistant to the Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.”
It continues stating, “Chief Justice Shepherd was also Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He served as chair of the ABA Appellate Judges Conference and of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. During fiscal year 2005-06, Shepherd served as President of the National Conference of Chief Justices. Shepherd was recently appointed by Chief Justice John Roberts to serve on the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules.”
His teaching background, the website also states, “He teaches periodically at the law schools of NYU and Yale.” I see no ties to teaching in the Indiana educational school system, just out of state.
Regarding former governor Joe Kernan, the following information was found at Power Network website, “Joe Kernan, the oldest of nine children, graduated from St.Joseph's High School in South Bend . He was a catcher on the baseball team at the University of Notre Dame , and graduated from there in 1968 with a degree in Government. He was the commencement speaker and received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater in 1998.”
His military background is outstanding which the website states, “Kernan entered the United
States Navy in 1969 and served as a naval flight officer aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk . In May of 1972, Kernan was shot down by the enemy while on a reconnaissance mission over North Viet Nam . He was held as a prisoner of war for 11 months. Kernan was repatriated in 1973 and continued on active duty with the Navy until December of 1974”.
The military history continues stating, “For his service, Kernan received numerous awards, including the Navy Commendation Medal, two Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Flying Cross. After completing his Naval service, Kernan worked for Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati in 1975.”
After coming back to Indiana the website concludes stating “He then returned to South Bend , where he worked for both the Schwarz Paper Company and the MacWilliams Corporation. He was
South Bend 's city controller from 1980 to 1984. Joe Kernan was elected mayor of South Bend in 1987. He served as the city's mayor for nine years, longer than any other mayor in the city's history.”
Once again I am not seeing any educational history or degree with Kernan, just straight business and political appointments. I am not saying that both men are not extremely educated or to take away from the years of service to state and country, it’s that I do not see where they have a degree in education to make the claims they are suggesting in consolidating schools, which includes the Speedway school system.
Looking at the Indiana Barrister website dated September 12 2007, Abdul Hakim-Shabazz states the following, “If you are a parent with kids in a school in Marion County public school, the odds are you have a gang problem. I got my hands on a survey of a number of schools and the gangs that are affiliated with them. The respondents were not administrators or teachers, but students.”
He continues starting on the website regarding this gang subject, “They are ones who see gang activity up close and personal when the rest of us turn a blind eye. Most of the problem is concentrated in schools on the East side of Indianapolis , however all school districts have their fair share. Here is the list. Just so you know the new word for a gang is a “crew”.”
To add to the gang activity at Ben Davis, if they are considered in the school consolidation plan are, Haughville, 2100 Haughville, Goom Squad, BeastMode, Fame Squad and Haughville Assassin. (Care to comment on that?)
His list does not include any gangs in the Speedway School system. IF this school consolidation occurs, this could lead to increased gang activity. If there is no gang activity in schools including Speedway , why let it spread, it would make sense to keep it contained.
This is something Speedway and the smaller schools do not need nor can they afford both in funds and reputation. From this viewpoint, consolidation would cost more money than save money.
In closing I would like to refer to a letter that Andrea Neal, an educator a teacher at St. Richard's School in Indianapolis and adjunct scholar at the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, not a politician, wrote to the Indianapolis Star in which she states, “There's no research to suggest that consolidation would improve student achievement or raise test scores. And headaches associated with consolidation would exceed the modest cost savings.”
She continues stating regarding what policy makers should look at is, “If policymakers want to save money, and boost student performance, they should be thinking about competition, not consolidation. When public schools have to compete for students, productivity rises across the board.”
Thankfully there is a political voice of reason that I hope you and the rest of the state officials will listen to which is Rep. Phil Hinkle which he stated from the Statehouse December 12, 2007 ,
"I laud the commission for the excellent work they have done in such a short period of time," said Rep. Hinkle. "They have done a tremendous job looking at all levels of government and trying to eliminate inefficiency.
"Regarding school consolidation, there is no justifiable reason to consolidate Speedway schools into another district. It has less than 2,000 students, just been recognized by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce as one of the 'Best Buys', it has one of the highest achievement rates in the state, kids walk to their neighborhood school and it is less than 40 percent of the tax bill, which is far better than most school districts. Having fewer than 2,000 students does not mean it is costly. In fact, changing the situation could be more costly, not only in money, but in learning ability as well. The commission's report emphasizes that one size does not fit all. Placing Speedway schools under a consolidation plan will not benefit the taxpayers. What we do in the way of reform should benefit the taxpayer and not be change for change sake."

Rep Hinkle even states, “bigger is not always better and that only 37% of a Speedway taxpayer's bill is dedicated to operate the schools. The statewide average is 54%.”
State Senator Mike Young also attended the meeting to urge residents to voice their concerns with the governor's office. Leave the consolidation of schools idea on paper and not put it into action. Speedway has a rich and strong history in the community and in education. We in Speedway do not need the potential of higher crime and gang activity to infiltrate our schools as I have stated in this letter.

There is no town or school system in Indiana run better than Speedway. To consolidate our schools with IPS or Wayne township is the first step in destroying Speedway. Our property values would immediately drop with no schools. For sale signs would be everywhere flooding an already poor market. I would probably be pretty close by saying at least 90% of the parents will not send their children to IPS or Wayne, I don't think you'll even see a noticable increase in those school systems, however I'm sure the surrounding towns and private schools will. Most people live in Speedway or moved to Speedway for the schools and the safety our town provides and I don't know of too many that would sacrifice their children's education & safety,they would probably move no matter the cost or the loss they would take on their property. What happens then? Our town will be filled with rentals and undesirable people who don't really care or know how to take care of anything and now they can afford to live in Speedway. Now, what about the re-development on Main St.? Who's going to put upscale shops and businesses in an unsafe area? And if they did, who's going to use them? Certainly not the residents. Do you think people are actually going to park in these unsafe neighborhoods to go to the races? there certainly is'nt enough parking inside the track so the pride of Indianapolis would also take a huge hit as well. If anyone thinks this trickle effect won't happen, Your only fooling yourself and insulting our intelligence. I'm sorry Bart Petersen spent all the money to run Indianapolis on a new stadium and trying to get a super bowl. I'm sorry Indianapolis will still owe 75 million on a stadium that is being torn down in the spring. Petersen let Irsay blackmail him and it cost him his job. None of this is Speedway's fault and we do a good job of running our town and keeping our schools at the top, please don't ruin that. Consolidation will not work. People in Speedway will not settle for a school system where disrespectful students are tollerated, where parents dare teacher's to disapline their children, and the teacher's are afraid or just don't really care, and the classroom sizes are huge. Do you really think people are ignorant to these problems? Do you really think people in Speedway will settle for this when we have the best there is? NO NO NO NO!!!! It's no secret why IPS & Wayne schools are failures, and we the parents, students & residents of Speedway do not want to be a part of that. Indianapolis and Mitch Daniels should take a long look at how Speedway and Speedway schools are run and transfer what they learn to running Indianpolis and leave our town alone.

You mention on a previous posting regarding gangs. Here are the gangs you listed that are at Ben Davis and North Central:
Ben Davis HS
Haughville
2100 Haughville
Goom Squad
BeastMode
Fame Squad
Haughville Assassin

North Central HS
Red Mafia
7-1
New port Apartments
Wood Ridge

Consolidate, that increases gang activity. Was Speedway listed on your posting? Let me answer that for you, NO.

Do you want increased gang activity? I say NO. I think the area will agree.

It's obvious the writer of this website does not live in Speedway. Attention lawmakers!!! LEAVE SPEEDWAY ALONE!!!!

As a 12 year resident of Speedway, and the mother of two children who attend school there. I would beg of you – please, please, please don’t let the proposed resolution to combine with IPS/Wayne Township occur. We are very proud of our town and our fine standards. I am a product of Wayne Township and I got swept under a rug - I want more for my kids. Our town is in the process of major redevelopment - - this is an attempt to bring families and businesses back to our great town. If this process actually is approved all of this would be for nothing. Families would flee our town or go broke trying to afford private school! I BEG of you - KEEP SPEEDWAY - SPEEDWAY!

As a resident of Speedway for over 14 years we are strongly against any consolidation of our schools. Speedway is the best performing and best managed school in the state of Indiana. We moved here knowing that we would have children and they would be going to these schools. We would feel it would be necessary to move out of Speedway if the school is consolidated with IPS. This is a strong community and why do you feel it necessary to rock the boat when something is working so well. Our children enjoy their schools and are exceeding in them I would hate to see the education of children compromised for no reason. Please help by supporting that this consolidation DOES NOT OCCUR.

My husband and I both graduated from Speedway. We moved back into Speedway so that our children could get the same great education we did. I am threatend by the idea of sending my children to another school district just to save money. If you look at our test scores you will see our administration and their staff do an exceptional job. We continue to stay in Speedway because of the school system. We love the teachers and the principals of our schools.
Our system is great just the way it is!

I've said it already - local government is involved government. It's the benefit of liberty and a nation ruled by the people.

The last two commentors have shown exactly why it is important.

That being said, I'd love to see someone with spare time (that's not me!) go over some processes, procedures, and tools that various branches of local gov't use to accomplish their jobs.

If the goal is to save money rather than to dismantle local representation, maybe the first step should be to look at current tools and practices and see if there's not some way to cut costs via increasing effinciency and eliminating dead weight.

Something else to consider is to maintain local representation and organization, but to phase out positions that are clerical and actuarial in nature. Utilize technology to consolidate much of the administrative work, for example, where all townships and municipalities would share the resources of a common county administrative center.

There are many ways to skin this cat without having to eliminate local leadership. Consolidation should be the last resort in the process, not the first.

I can call my superintendent and have a meeting with him that same day if I have concerns about what's going on in our schools here in Speedway. I can do the same with the principals for each of the schools my children have attended. I know many of our students and many of our parents, they live next to us and are not shipped in from around us. We are active in our schools with our parent teacher organizations, sports and extra-curricular activies. My reason for purchasing here in Speedway is our town has our own school system. We know our school board members and can call them up to talk about concerns, they know us too. We do not want Speedway's school system to be changed, including consolidation of administration. We live in the same neighborhoods with most of our administrators and know them as friends too.

Want is accomplished with consolidating Speedway Schools? It has less than 2,000 students, one of the highest achievement rates in the State, Kids walk to their neighborhood school and it is less than 40 percent of the tax bill (37% to be more precise.In the case of Speedway Schools, being under 2,000 students does not mean it is costly. In fact, changing the situation could be more costly, not only in money, but learning ability as well. Remember, the report points out that "one size does not fit all". Placing Speedway Schools under a consolidation plan does not benefit the taxpayers. What we do in the way of reform should benefit the taxpayer and not be change for change sake.

Children, Can you spell "weighted student formula"?

There's some Washington Township school guy going ballistic on our blog. I'm nervous they might get violent tonight at that school board meeting defending all that money flowing to Schellinger and CSO. There's a guy on our blog about to blow a gasket!

Tonight's school board meeting could be as contentious as some of the most dramatic CCC meetings of last summer.

Consolidating schools and consolidating administrators are two very different things.

Conant style consolidation as practiced in Indiana led to no improvement at all in student academic achievement nor did it lead to any reduction in costs. Modern thinking would lead to the conclusion that costs needlessly increased and that academic performance was degraded.