This morning I interviewed two of the plaintiffs in the Indiana school funding lawsuit and their attorney.   The interview will be posted later at  wxnt.com. I also spoke with Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller about the litigation as well.

After spending the weekend doing some legal research and actually talking to the parties involved, I am convinced that while the plaintiffs may have a legitimate concern with the way schools are funded in Indiana, I frankly don’t see how they win.

Fundamentally,  they have an issue with the “deghoster” portion of the school funding formula.  Deghoster is a term that describes what happens when a student leaves one school district and goes to another one and how money follows the student.  In a nutshell let’s say the state gives a district  $9,000 a year to educate each student.   If the student leaves one district and goes to another, the $9,000 doesn’t automatically transfer.   The district losing the student doesn’t have all its funding taken away, it’s phased out over a three year period.

According to the plaintiffs, because of that deghoster provision of the formula the state is paying for the equivalent of 16,000 students who don’t exist to the tune of about $100 million.    They say that money should be spent on students who exist.  Districts losing students say the deghoster is necessary because when they lose students, it happens over the district, not in one school or classroom.  And they still have the same labor costs regardless.

I can see both sides of the issue and if I were a growing school district, in the immortals words of that annoying commercial, it’s my money and I want it now.  However,  I don’t see how you get it going to court.   Past case law on this is pretty clear, the Indiana Constitution calls for a “general and uniform” system of school funding, not equal.  And in it’s most recent ruling on the subject, the Court  gave wide deference to the legislature when it comes to school funding.

Unless there is discrimination in education funding based on race, sex or some other protected status, I don’t see how the plaintiffs win.  Granted stranger things have happened, but they don’t happen often and I don’t see it happening here.

I am fully convinced there are some families and people in the Carmel-Clay school district who are either in complete denial about what’s going on in their school district or they have no clue what-so-ever.

As we all know by now, local authorities are investigating an assault that took place on a bus where a freshman was attacked, some call it hazing, the authorities  are  calling it criminal deviate conduct.

What surprises me are people who get mad at the press as opposed to the school district and perpetrators of the alleged act.  As my news brothers at RTV 6 reported, the media was booed at a school event Friday night.  Some people were upset the press was covering this event and blowing the entire matter out of proportion.

Really?!

Let’s put a few things in perspective.

1. There are at least two reports of student athletes being assaulted in Carmel schools, and only a complete idiot would think these are isolated incidents which have never happened before.
2. The Department of Child Services is looking at whether the coaches on the bus may have violated state law by failing to protect one of the students.
3. Had the athlete been a girl instead of a boy, all hell would be breaking loose.

So let me make sure I understand this.  Some student athletes are being all but raped in Carmel schools, the media reports it, the school district fails to protect these students and the media is the bad guy.

Whatever.

This week is shaping up to be pretty busy and it’s not even Monday.   Here’s what I’m following.  If there’s something I’m missing, let me know.

Monday night the Marion County GOP will fill the position left vacant by Kent Smith.  My front runner list hasn’t changed.  It’s still, not necessarily in this order, Angel Rivera, Avacino Reeves, Dorothy Henry, Jackie Cissel and Aaron Williams. I expect 2-3 ballots before a winner is declared.  I am hearing some of the candidates are upset at the process and may hold a news conference Tuesday to complain about it.

On Tuesday, the Marion County Clerk will hear candidate challenges.  I’m especially interested in the 14 filed against precinct committeemen that were brought to the table by Indy Mayoral candidate Brian Williams.  For all the huffing and gnashing of teeth in the blogosphere you would have thought there would have been a lot more challenges filed.

On Thursday, we’re doing the radio show live from the Statehouse, and following that, the Indiana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Voter ID case.  I hope to have the audio up by noon.

This is also the last week of the Indiana General Assembly.  Lawmakers still have to figure out an agreement on unemployment insurance, school funding, ethics  and township government reform.

And finally, expect some posts this week going into more detail on the lawsuit against the state over the school funding formula as well as the Carmel school district hazing incident.  My sources tell me the Department of Child Services is investigating the coaches who were on the bus at the time to determine if they have any liability.

Also, I’m told the situation involving local labor leader and Democrat Lettie Oliver is a lot more serious than originally believed and the next 12-24 hours will be outcome determinative.   Keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I woke up this morning to news that local Democrat and labor activist Lettie Oliver was hospitalized last night.

She was taken to Community East.   It’s unclear why she was taken or what her condition is.

Despite our huge differences on labor and union issues, Lettie has always been a good friend and her charm and demeanor is very much like my own mother.    One day I will tell you the story of how when I told her I was getting married, she gave me one the best lectures on marriage and told me if I screwed it up she would come after me with a stick.

All the best for a speedy recovery, Lettie.

On Monday, Marion County Republicans will choose a new candidate to fill the seat vacated by former City-County Council member Kent Smith.  The final line-up looks like this…

Jacqueline Cissell
Gary Conner
Kevin Green
Dorothy Henry
Michael Jezierski
Michael Kalscheur
Avachino Reeves
Angel Rivera
Bruce Schumacher
Eric Smith
Aaron Williams

Although the situation is fluid and anything can change, from what I’ve been able to gather, the front-runners are Rivera, Revees, Henry, Cissel and Williams; not necessarily in that owner.

The way balloting will work is that any candidate not getting more than 10 percent of the vote will be eliminated on the first ballot.   After that, delegates will vote until one person gets more than 50-percent of the vote.

If  the Marion County Democratic establishment was going to knock down Mayoral candidate Brian Williams, it’s going to have to hit a little harder next time.

Last Friday the Williams’  campaign filed more than 200 candidates for precinct committeemen (PC) spots.   PC’s are crucial to a political party as they choose the County Chairman, and in a slating system, recommend candidates for offices. However, the chatter has been that many of  those filings were invalid because individuals weren’t registered voters or voted in Republican primaries.   However, when the rubber hit the road there were only 14 challenges filed against Williams’ candidates.  The total number of challenges filed was 31.

In addition, the Williams’ campaign has more than 100 uncontested candidates for precinct committeemen.   The conventional wisdom is that if any candidate can control more than 70 PC’s, he or she can pretty much control the slating and county convention process.

The hearing for the challenges is set for Tuesday, March 2.    Life just got more interesting.

Like a lot of you,  I’m trying to get my arms around the hazing regarding a Carmel  student athlete.   Obviously, we’re limited by the facts that can be confirmed, but what I was interesting was one of the pending charges.

According to the police report, one of the offenses was criminal deviate sexual conduct, IC 35-42-4-2.   I checked the statutes and here’s the full definition…

IC 35-42-4-2
Criminal deviate conduct
Sec. 2. (a) A person who knowingly or intentionally causes another person to perform or submit to deviate sexual conduct when:
(1) the other person is compelled by force or imminent threat of force;
(2) the other person is unaware that the conduct is occurring; or
(3) the other person is so mentally disabled or deficient that consent to the conduct cannot be given;
commits criminal deviate conduct, a Class B felony.

Here’s the definition of deviate sexual conduct…

IC 35-41-1-9
“Deviate sexual conduct” defined
Sec. 9. “Deviate sexual conduct” means an act involving:
(1) a sex organ of one person and the mouth or anus of another person; or
(2) the penetration of the sex organ or anus of a person by an object.

These charges take this whole matter to an entire different level.  What makes matters worse is that there were reportedly two 10-minute assaults and there were three coaches on the bus when it allegedly occurred.

This is not going to end well.

Unlike some of my colleagues in the political press corps, I’m not cynical when it comes to the Indiana General Assembly.  I think the 150 men and women who serve in that body are mostly good and honorable people.   However, part of me has to chuckle as some lawmakers give themselves rotator cuff injuries from patting themselves on the back for moving forward with ethics reform.

The latest version to come out of the State Senate would ban lawmakers from lobbying the legislature for a year after they leave office.  It also lowers the gift reporting requirement from $100 to $50 and bans elected officials from advertising with money from the General Assembly.

No offense, but none of these measures will really make anyone in the Legislature more or less ethical.  In fact, I really did laugh at the proposal to ban elected officials from advertising with state dollars, but lawmakers can still send out legislative surveys and district newsletters with their photos on them.

In addition, steak dinner doesn’t get you a vote.  Years of relationships get you a vote.    Knowing people, building trust, keeping your word, knowing your issue and never promising what you can’t deliver, those are the tools for successful lobbying.

And let’s look at the one-year limit on lobbying.  Let’s say I’m State Senator Shabazz (what a scary thought) and I’m chairman of a major committee.  I’ve got lots of contacts and friends in the Legislature and built up a lot of good will.  I decide to retire.  Do you really think I’m going to sit on my hands for a year.  I don’t have to lobby the legislature directly to get rich.   I can consult and get rich off of telling people who to talk to.  And let’s say I’m having dinner with my former colleagues and they mention a client of mine called to set up a meeting.  What do I say?  If I say thanks, am I lobbying?  Do I pay a penalty?

I understand the need for good government, but the best type of government is open government.   And the best way to do that is with full, timely disclosure.   But hey,  if this makes everyone feel better and we can now say Indiana is a more ethical place, whatever.

The Indianapolis City-County Council Parks and Recreation Committee tonight will hear Libertarian Ed Coleman’s proposal which would allow guns in city parks.    Depsite the fact, the Mayor has already said he will veto the proposal in its current form, the Coleman proposal is running into strong headwinds from other Council members.

While some members tell me they would vote for the measure if it got to the full body, they are extremely upset over how the measure came forward.  They say Coleman never floated the idea by any other members of the Council before introducing it and they doubt if he is willing to do the work that it will take to navigate the proposal through the amendment process.  

They point to Coleman’s proposal to put city contracts on-line in order to achieve more transparency, however it was Councilmember Bob Lutz who did all the work and heavy lifting to make sure the contract were put on-line, but also protected proprietary information.

Several Councilors also cite the fact the National Rifle Association has been cool to the plan as well.

By my count, if the plan went to the floor today, it would fail.   It might pass with a lot of work and a lot of amenedments.  The real question is will Coleman be willing to do the work and shepard the proposal through?   That remains to be seen.

A new report from the Mayor’s Office on Charter schools shows them making more progress overall than their traditional public school counterparts.

According to the 2008-2009 Accountability Report, students at the Mayor-sponsored elementary charter schools improved on their ISTEP+ test scores by nearly 7%, compared to 1.5 % in Marion County and 1.3 % statewide.

Progress was even better at secondary level where charters showed improvement of 6.5% on ISTEP+ and other Marion County Schools showed a decrease of .87 %.  The number was 0.75 % statewide.

Some other good news for charters shows that the longer a student is in a charter school, the better they perform academically.

They have their challenges, such as clear lines of governance.  However they still manage to do the job cheaper than traditional public schools.

And for anyone who thinks charters take kids away from Indianapolis Public Schools,  charters only make up 4% of Marion County’s student population; 76% are minority and 73% qualify for free and reduced lunch.

I think that is important to point out because black lawmakers in the Indiana General Assembly want to eliminate charter schools in order help the teacher’s unions and protect failing school districts.

Where I come from, that’s called black on black crime.

Full disclosure:  I teach a college speech class at Fall Creek Academy, a charter school,  for Ivy Tech Community College.  My students consist of sophomores, juniors and seniors.  Many come from impoverished backgrounds, but they are the most fun group I’ve ever had interacting with in my 7 years of teaching college.