I hope you're wrong about the timeframe. We need government consolidation sooner, not later. And not just the actual consolidation–we need the spirit that tells these thousands of local boards and councils: get smarter about your budgets. If this referendum issue is the elixir that gives added life to the “business as usual” folks, then you are right. Sadly.

Just wait. Washington Township Schools plans two. One next year would continue a referendum they passed easily, in 2003. It shifted one dime of the Building Fund levy to the general fund levy…effectively, no tax increase. But the rules have changed, given the legislature's assumption of some of the school budget.

Afterward–and they won't say this very loudly–they plan to continue on a huge construction program, in the $120-150 million range.

No I'm not kidding.

They need some updates. But their judgment is suspect–when they had the chance to cut back on a new pool, they charged ahead, foolishly, on the original bid which was 25-30% over an agreement they'd reached with remonstrators.

The biz-as-usual crowd, at all levels of government, needs a massive infusion of voter intelligence. Fast.

Why do how want consolidation in government but not with schools? All Marion county schools should be consolidated. Oh I get it. then we wouldn't have the for-proft schools because there wouldn't be funding issues. It's like teachers union- “bad”, cops/firemen, electrical workers union- “good.”

Re the referendum-No one should be able to vote on one that affects property taxes unless they actually own property. IPS pushed theirs through with the help of non property owners. Wishard will do the same since they said they have the votes all lined up and since an off election will get it through.

I have to differ with you on this one Abdul….. Are you saying that IPS is such a well run and successful school district that the townships should consolidate with them? Under the theory of consolidation, a larger entity would be more streamlined and efficient therefore more successful. I think that IPS underscores that this is not always the case. Bigger is better in some instances, but not in the case of IPS. Of course there are many other factors, poverty rates, attendance, parent involvement, etc that affect school achievement. Bigger sometimes leads to more graft, cronyism, mismanagement and waste. I think that consolidation in some cases is a good thing but at some point you have to reach a critical point in size where it does more harm than good. Hypothetically, if all schools in Indiana consolidated into a “super district” would we honestly expect it to be well run?

You never, ever hear them screaming in fear that they will have to fire an administrator, do you? The problem has a lot to with administrators.

I'm hearing via emails from various sources that the Washington Township Superintendent has it out for board member Greg Wright.

Last I checked the Superintendent worked FOR the board, not the other way around.

Your sources are 100% correct Melyssa. And that wil manifest itself next spring, when Greg is up for election, and the parent group and teachers will endorse candidates.

The parent group is a lap-dog to the Superintendent. The teachers want smooth contract negotiations, so they'll cave on whatever he wants. The die is already cast. It'll take a large campaign by Greg to prevail, and it won't be won on the blogs. It'll take direct mail, yard signs, radio…not cheap. Let's get out our checkbooks now.

The moral of this story? Ask questions, get creamed in the process.
Go along, get the free tickets to events and conferences, and all is well.

Streetfighter: just what do you think monthly rent includes? Renters in this town, and everywhere, pay property taxes as a portion of their rent, and deserve every chance to vote in these referenda.

So take your high-and-mighty property owner nonsense and put it somewhere else. It's not just my opinion: ample Appeals Court decisions on this subject, in all 50 states. Checkmate.

Greg should start getting donations now. When I see him again, I'm gonna talk to him about it. There's no way that Mervilde is going to get away with this crap.

TA…don't under estimate the free power of the Internet! Google James Mervilde's name and you will see what I mean. I'm sure he's googled his name and that's why he's fighting dirty.

We need to also get a Facebook campaign going that speaks the truth about these tactics used by Mervilde.

We need to make sure that the blogs put up lots of articles about the school board candidates so that when their names are googled, it is not good. Our blogs have been around a while and linked everywhere, so our google rankings are high.

While the township schools like to bash IPS. anytime someone mentions consolidation, they panic. They know that the student population of IPS [of all races] is at risk and very difficult and very expensive to educate. They dont want these students who they would be required to provide extra services and who would cause a decline in their already declining test scores and graduation rates.

You are exactly right. No one in the townships wants to consolidate with IPS and I can't really blame them. It's like asking a ship if it would like to consolidate with the Titantic! Everyone would like to help IPS improve – but not at the cost of their children's education and their own property values.

Dear rude think again: As a landlord for thirty years -property taxes do not fully figure in my rents- because the rents have more to do with neighborhoods and my upkeep of the property than anything—So don't hand me that “high and mighty 'renter'” (to change your comment) nonsense either. I can't raise my rents to fluctuate with property taxes because if that was the case I wouldn't be able to keep tenants because the rent would be too high. Tenants are not fully vested in a renting situation nor do they care about the owners property taxes, and they benefit by my not being able to raise my rents in addition to income tax breaks. Therefore , I keep my opinion, high and mighty as you think it is. Geesh.

Get back on topic; this was about HSE specifically, not IPS even though it and Marion County government were lumped into this rant. The HSE problem has to do with the fact that they (we) lost some of the funding they receive from the State in the new budget as a result of the shenanigans down at the State House this Summer. Recall a post by Abdul a while back that stated that IPS and Lake County schools receive more per pupil than the other schools including the schools in so-called 'wealthy' districts such as HSE and Carmel. Recall also, that HSE was considering filing suit against the State for the new funding formula as recently as a few of weeks ago. That's the travesty of all this; HSE, a 'wealthy' school has to ask the citizens for more money to operate one of the best school systems in the state because the Dems/Teachers Union took money from them to give to two of the Worst performing school systems in the State.

JW, if only you knew whereof you spoke.

The state School Funding Formula was devised under Republicans. Wealthy, growing districts like HSE have benefitted from itsd largesse for decades.

The pendulum swings, baby.

We could spend a few billion on this. Oh wait we already did to

Indiana 10th Worst State for Infant Deaths
Fox59.com
2:31 PM EDT, July 28, 2009
Fox59.com
2:31 PM EDT, July 28, 2009

A national survey shows infants and children up to age 14 die at much higher rates in Indiana than in other states.

The 2009 Kids Count report released Tuesday shows an average of 24 out of every 100,000 Indiana children ages 1-14 died during 2006. The Indiana rate was about a quarter higher than the national average of 19 deaths per 100,000 children.

Child deaths in Indiana previously had fallen to 20 per 100,000 in 2003 from 25 per 100,000 in 2000.

Indiana's infant mortality rate of eight deaths per 1,000 live births in 2006 was the 10th highest among states. The U.S. average was 6.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Overall, on 10 indicators of child well-being, Indiana ranked 31st among states.
Copyright © 2009, WXIN-TV, Indianapolis

Canada has a lower infant mortality rate than the U.S. and the life expectancy in Canada is longer than in the U.S. Yet we hear commercials from the medical insurance companies talking about how poor their health care is……does this make sense?

NO referendum should pass until the constitutional property tax caps in Senate Joint Resolution 1 are passed by the Indiana House of Representatives and approved by the voters on November 2, 2010. If the caps do not become a permanent part of the Indiana Constitution, the caps will be eroded by future General Assemblies or ruled unconstitutional if challenged in the courts – we run the very real risk of being left with disappearing property tax relief AND an additional tax burden if we approve referenda before the property tax caps become part of the constitution!

TA,
Are you saying that House Dems (I believe I read that it was specifically the Black Caucus) didn't get what they wanted in the funding formula to benefit IPS/Marion County/Lake County schools at the expense of suburban schools? It's my recollection that the funding formula was not changed to a more equitable one (where the money follows the student if they change schools) which would have benefitted the suburban and Township schools as a result of the House Dems during the special session. If I'm wrong, please correct the misinformation I've received the last 2 months or so.

hello. i'm in an hse school right now, and i think it should pass. woo.

hello. i'm in an hse school right now, and i think it should pass. woo.