From Indiana House Democrats…

The news conference scheduled at 1:15 p.m. today to announce the plans of State Reps. Ed DeLaney, John Barnes and Mary Ann Sullivan (all D-Indianapolis) for Marion County fire department consolidation has been postponed indefinitely.   “The legislative vehicle that we intended to use to push for fire consolidation plans will not be eligible for debate as rapidly as we anticipated,” DeLaney said.   A rescheduled news conference will be announced at a later time.

With about 6 weeks left to go before the end of session, I spoke with House Speaker Pat Bauer and Minority Leader Brian Bosma to get their perspectives on the remaining days.  Here are their interviews…

House Speaker Pat Bauer

Minority Leader Brian Bosma

Are Indianapolis Public Schools going to be doing some damage control this evening?  

Maybe.

The IPS Parent’s Advisory Council, a group created by the Superintendent’s Office, is holding a meeting tonight from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m in the IPS Board room at 120 E. Walnut.   The purpose is for parents to meet with Dr. Eugene White to “hear news about IPS and share their concerns and ideas.”

Parents got notice of the meeting yesterday.

It will be interesting to hear what the parents concerns are and more interesting to hear the district’s spin.

State Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker may have a contender for his job when party officials meet this weekend.  

Marion County Democrat and labor leader Bob Voorhies’ name is surfacing as a challenger.  Voorhies reportedly sent out an e-mail to State Central Committee members expressing his intent  to run for State Chairman, even though he did not file the necessary paperwork by Wednesday’s 12:30 p.m. deadline.   Party officials are treating his e-mail as a declaration of candidacy should he decide to run.

Word on the street is that Voorhies is representing a faction of Indiana Democrats who are not happy with Evan Bayh over his positions on some labor issues such as the Employee Free Choice Act and the lack of public support for Jill Long Thompson in the last gubernatorial campaign and want to challenge Parker as a way of going after Bayh.

If only my Republican friends were this exciting. 

Indianapolis Public School teachers say it is virtually  impossible for them to do their jobs because the district won’t discipline problem students.  The complaint is part of a continuing fight between the teachers and the administration over wages and working conditions.

More than 200 teachers and their supporters showed up at Tuesday night’s school board meeting to express their concerns. 

Teachers say that in certain schools it is impossible to maintain discipline in the classroom because if they kick a student out, the district just sends them back.  I am scratching my head as to why a school district would not remove problem students from the classroom.

One bit of good news for teachers is that IPS has backed off withholding their pay in order to make adjustments to the district’s pay schedules.   IPS officials had planned to withhold one day of pay for five weeks, but the Indiana Education Association filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations board arguing the withholding of pay would violate their union contracts.  IPS has since backed off that move and teachers will be paid.

You can hear the entire interview with teacher spokeswoman Rhonda Cornett by clicking below.

Rhonda Cornett

And once again, people wonder why I support school choice.

ATF officials say it was arson that destroyed the 218-unit apartment building at Senate and Michigan last week. Officials would not release any more details, only to say the fire last week was intentionally set.  They have also posted a reward for any information leading to an arrest or conviction.

The developers of the property also say they were no threats to the building.  And they were assured by ATF that it was not an arson for profit or retribution.  They do plan to rebuild on the site.

I recently got an e-mail from someone accusing me of hating public schools and doing nothing to promote the positive things that take place in them.  My first instinct was to rip the writer a new one in my usual brilliant prose; however, I decided to take a more thoughtful approach and further clarify my position.

Here’s my response…

Dear XXXXXXXX,

Thank you for you e-mail.  I understand your passion for public education, and believe it or not, we are a lot closer than you think.  First, I do not hate pubic education.  I am a product of a public elementary, high school, college and grad school.  I did not attend private school until I went to St. Louis University School of Law.  I also teach at a public community college and frequently offer my services to speak to students in public and private schools.   

Where we respectfully differ is that while I have the utmost respect for teachers and educators who really care about kids, I have absolutely no use for educrats.  An “educrat” is a person who works in a school system and they have nothing to do with educating students.  They are simply there to fill space and cost the taxpayers money.

In addition, I don’t think demanding high standards for education is a bad thing.  In a world where students are competing not only with kids in the next town, but also on the next continent, a good education is crucial for their economic well-being.  As a good friend once told me, public education may not compete locally, but their graduates do compete globally.

And while we’re at it, what’s wrong with school districts privatizing non-educational functions such as transportation, human resources, janitorial and food service?  Privatization would free up funds and provide more classroom instruction.

And in Indiana, the new Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett is making it easier for school districts to educate kids by waiving rules that can impede classroom instruction.  All districts have to do is take advantage of the opportunities.

XXXXXX, hopefully I have shown to you that I don’t “hate” pubic education.  I am very critical of the ways schools operate, particularly IPS.  But the criticism is not out of spite, but actually out of concern for the children; a significant portion come from backgrounds where their only hope is a good education.  I have no plans to stop pointing out where I think people are being short changed.  To do otherwise would be a disservice.

Thanks for the e-mail.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard today announced that the city approved two of the three charter schools up for a 7-year renewal.

Flanner House and Christel House both either met or exceeded city standards.  The third school, Fall Creek Academy did make improvements, however the Mayor’s office said Fall Creek’s improvement had not been consistent enough over the past several years to warrant a full 7-year renewal. Instead the school will be given two more years to get up to speed in areas of management and oversight.

Fall Creek met city standards in its first and second years of performance, but dropped off in years three and four shortly after moving from Union Station to its current location near Ivy Tech.  The school’s performance later picked up again in years five and six, which is why it’s being given a two-year extension.

The Mayor’s Office also said today that letters of intent have been submitted to create five new charter schools, but the city could not go into details as full plans have not been submitted yet.

Here are my thoughts for the morning…

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels was featured Friday night on 20/20 about the leasing of the Indiana Toll Road.  It’s a pretty good interview.  Opponents of privatization still don’t make a valid argument about why it was a bad idea.

Lawrence Township Trustee Mike Hobbs says he is definitely open to talk fire consolidation with the City of Indianapolis.  One sticking point has been the promotions of several Township fire fighters and how that would fit into the organization of IFD.  Hobbes says that issue can be worked out.  He says he’s just waiting for the City to come in have discussions.

Rumor has it Marion County Libertarians my try to offer up some rule changes to the City-County Council in the future to get more recognition for Council Member Ed Coleman.  Currently the rules only allow for majority and minority party organization, not third party.  Because of that Coleman lost his committee appointments, which had libertarians crying foul.

Speaking of foul play, the Smoke Free Indy crowd is at it again.  First it was calling bars and taverns they knew allowed smoking and pretending to be patrons.  They would ask if the bar was smoking and then tell the owner that they would not patronize the establishment.  Now Smoke Free Indy is going into bars and trying to “convince” employees  that they don’t want to work in a place that allows smoking.  I didn’t know employees could dictate workplace policy to employers.  But then again this is also the same group that did some “surveillance” over the weekend at an anti-smoking ban pub crawl.

When it comes to the problems surrounding the Indiana Pacers and their request the city take over $15 million in the operational expenses of Conseco Fieldhouse, I’m fully convinced that there is a workable solution to this problem.

I will admit though, when I first got the news I was ticked off.   I equate it to a child telling their parent that they are in trouble and they need some fast cash to avoid disaster.  The parent is angry at first, but eventually cooler heads prevail and the situation gets resolved.  I think the same thing applies to the Indiana Pacers.

From what I have been able to gather, the Pacers truly are running a deficit and the city picking up the $15 million in annual costs would immensely help their bottom line.  So I say the city pick up the $15 million tab, but also get a few other things in exchange.  Just for starters…

1. All naming rights revenue.
2. All revenue from non-Pacer events at Conseco.
3. All parking revenue from Pacer and non-Pacer games.
4. Rent from the Pacers.
5. Whatever else can cover that $15 million expense.

Now the exact figures each of these would generate has yet to be determined, but somehow I think it wouldn’t be too hard to get some accurate numbers.   And if my memory serves me correct, the Pacers originally asked for operational control of Conseco when it was built so they could keep a good chunk of the revenue.  Well guess what, if the city takes over the costs of running the place, it also gets the revenue  Conseco generates.  The Pacers could also help their bottom by learning how to win a few games and then they could increase their ticket prices.

I don’t believe the city should let the Pacers just fold, they are too important a component to the downtown area. But I also don’t believe the city should just bend over and give the Pacers the lubricant.     Reasonable minds can reach reasonable conclusions.   The Pacers need to do a public vetting of their finances and the city needs to constantly reassure the public it is negotiating to the best of its ability.  And just like that annoyed parent, you help your kids, but you make sure this never happens again.