The state’s teacher’s union are getting ready to cover their rear ends.

ISTEP testing has begun and the union is complaining that the test is too hard and will lead to students not performing well.   

Call me crazy, but shouldn’t we wait until the test results are in before making this kind of judgment call about whether ISTEP is too hard?  

And shouldn’t the test that’s administered in the Spring be more difficult than the one given in the Fall because students are supposed to know more?

It would be one thing if Indiana had a few years of Spring ISTEP testing under its belt and there were some serious issues with the test, but it hasn’t even been a week yet.

This sounds to me like there are a bunch of people who don’t want to be held accountable for test results so they are already laying the groundwork for the excuses that will be coming later.

And people wonder why I am a big fan of school choice.

If you were counting on any big changes this weekend in the leadership at either the Marion County Democrats or Republicans party re-organizations, forget it about.

No one has filed to run challenges against either Democratic County Chairman Ed Treacy nor Republican County Chairman Tom John.  So either everyone is happy with their leadership or no one can must enough precinct committeemen to mount a credible challenge; of course the truth is somewhere in between.

Also expected to re-elected to second terms are Jen Ping (R-Vice-Chair), Alvachino Reeves (R-Secretary), Lisa Dietrick (R-Treasurer) , Tony Duncan (D-Treasurer) and Sarah Riordan (D-Secretary)  to their respective positions.   The only change expected to take place on the Democratic side is that Andre Carson aide Andrea Scott will likely take the place of County Auditor Billie Breaux as Vice-Chair for the Democrats. 

I just finished watching the latest meeting of the City-County Council Municipal Corporations Committee.  You know what the subject was?  Lucas Oil Stadium.  The Committee got a presentation from Capitol Improvement Board Executive Director Barney Livengood and CIB President Bob Grand.  You can click here to see it for yourself.

You will see the CIB folks do the presentation they have done in past and you will see Councilors ask the questions you would expect them to ask.

What you won’t see are the “revolutionaries” who’ve made Grand and the CIB their rallying cry for change.  It was an open meeting and members of the public (IndyGo expansion supporters) were there.  Granted the meeting wasn’t at the City-County Building but it was at the CIB offices in the Convention Center.  And there was public notice as mandated by law.

I am surprised that the children of the revolution didn’t show.   It would have been the perfect opportunity for them to ask questions, because the public was allowed to speak, and to get the transparency that they are always asking for.

This tells me one or two things.  Either no one was paying attention and they were asleep at the wheel, which is scary if you’re going to write and make a big deal about these events and not show up.  In the alternative, no one cared enough to show up and make their voice heard which is even more scary.

No offense guys, but if say you want a revolution, you have to show up at these things.  You can’t just do it when a political party is exercising its rights to take away someone’s committee assignments when they are no longer a member.  Revolutions are hard work.

Any solution to fix Indiana’s unemployment trust fund deficit won’t be pretty.  That’s according to Republican State Senator Dennis Kruse, who’s chairing the committee that’s trying to solve the problem.  

Kruse has been holding hearings this week on the fund which is $470 million in the hole and running deficits to the tune of $20 million – $30 million per week.  He says any solution would have to achieve three goals, break even, payback the federal government and build up savings in the long run.  Kruse says the state can accomplish that by cutting back some benefits and having some employers pay more.  

In the area of benefit cuts, Kruse suggested the state eliminate benefits for workers who are temporarily laid off due to plant closings because they are going back to work and they still get vacation pay and retirement benefits.  In addition he also discussed lowering the top benefits from $390 per week to $340 per week or gradually decreasing benefits over time to encourage people to get back to work.

In the area having employers pay more, Kruse said that employers who use the system more than they pay in would likely have to pay more to the unemployment insurance fund, while those who don’t layoff employees would pay less.

Another hearing is scheduled today over in the Statehouse.

IPS Superintendent Eugene White to the Indianapolis Star on the possibility of the State taking over failing schools…

“If the state paid people more money and didn’t honor the teacher contract and got rid of teachers [sic] then, yeah, they can do better.”

Explains a lot doesn’t it.

Another Marion County Democrat is throwing his hat into the ring for Prosecutor.  Butch Schroyer announced he was running at Tuesday night’s Southside Democrat Club.

Schroyer is a retired police officer who became an attorney about 20 years ago.

So far the only other announced Democratic candidate is former State Representative David Orentlichter. Incumbent Prosecutor Carl Brizzi has not yet announced if he is running for a third term.

Although they are telling city officials that can’t afford to keep up their commitments with Conseco Field House, the Simons are apparently hoarding cash in order to pay for any new properties that come on the market.

Bloomberg and the IBJ are reporting the following…

Simon Property Group Inc. plans to hoard cash this year to purchase property that may come on the market, said David Simon, CEO of the Indianapolis-based mall owner. Simon made the comments this morning at a Citigroup 2009 Global Property CEO Conference in Naples, Fla., Bloomberg News reported. “We are going to hoard and warehouse capital, I think, so ultimately we can continue to be a leader in this industry, and ultimately take advantage of external opportunities once we see opportunities in the marketplace,” Simon said, according to Bloomberg.

No offense guys, but if you’re going to cry poverty and ask the taxpayers to pick up the bill, you might want to actually act like it.

Carmel residents are outraged today over the estimated cost overruns regarding the Keystone Avenue Redevelopment project.  The road reconstruction was supposed to cost about $90 million, but that actual figure is closer to $150 million.

Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard told the Carmel City Council last night that he never promised that the project would run $90 million, but that it could.  That is not sitting well with some Carmel residents who are already upset with the city’s spending and it could lead to a serious challenge for Brainard in 2011.

As the state of Indiana and municipalities are trying to figure out exactly how they can spend economic stimulus dollars from the federal government, some of them are finding the money is more trouble than its worth.    For example, before certain federal dollars are spent, the state must get approval from federal agencies, however a number of those federal agencies are still without key appointments.  Officials expect to know more later in the week as to how exactly those dollars can be spent.  Stay tuned.

By a unanimous vote, former Republican now Libertarian City-County Councilor Ed Coleman, was stripped today of his committee assignments.  Coleman switched parties a couple weeks ago saying he was dissatisfied with his fellow Republicans.

He served on the Rules Committee and the Economic Development Committee.  He is being replaced by Barb Malone and Ryan Vaughn, respectively.  Councilors said the rules don’t allow for third parties, just majority and minority parties.

Public testimony was not allowed, however Coleman was eventually allowed to speak on his own behalf, saying that Libertarians are a legitimate party in Indiana and have ballot access.  He also questioned what was the point of a third party running for the Council if they could not get a committee assignment.  He also promised to put out a press release accusing the GOP of being bullies.

For the record, Council rules do not make distinctions among Republicans, Democrats or Libertarians, simply majority and minority parties.  Nor is any Council member entitled to a committee assignment.  Republicans also say Indiana usually defines minority parties on legislative bodies as the minority party with the most members when there is more than one minority party on a governing board.