This is the fifth and final installment in a series of blog posts this week regarding the possible takeover of several failing Indianapolis Public Schools by the State of Indiana.

There is a debate beginning about whether the Mayor of Indianapolis, regardless of who he or she should have control of the schools.  Let’s all be frank here, what we’re really talking about is control of the monument to Murphy’s Law know as IPS.  Democrat Melina Kennedy is open to the idea. Incumbent Mayor Greg Ballard is cool to it.

I spoke to three key players this past week who would have some say if control of IPS were to be transferred to the Mayor’s office.  State Representative Bob Behning (R-Indianapolis),  Chairman of the House Education Committee,  State Senator Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee and Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Each offered an interesting perspective on the subject.  Kruse said he was open to discussing the idea, although he didn’t see it as a pressing issue.   Behning was also open to the idea, but also questioned whether the decision should be made by referendum or the legislature.  And if the decision was put to the voters would it be just the IPS school district or should it be all of Marion County since it impacts more than just the District.  Bennett was also open to the idea as well.

I, frankly, have never had a problem with turning control of Indianapolis Public Schools to the Mayor, whomever they might be.  Although, I do recall floating this idea by former Mayor Bart Peterson five or so years ago and he looked at me like I was on drugs. However, this discussion may be both too early and too late. Here’s why.

Indiana lawmakers just passed some of the most comprehensive school reform in the nation so we might want to let some of these reforms kick in.  Secondly, as evidenced this week, the state is in the process of intervening with the worst performing schools in the city.  And if it decides to take them over, the State will have control of those schools for the next five years, with no guarantee the schools will be returned to the IPS.   So with those two dynamics taking place, talking Mayoral control would be academic because reform is already taking place.  Now once the reforms have had a chance to work and the failing schools have been turned around, I have no qualms to handing the Mayor of Indianapolis a fully functioning school district.

In the interim though, we should be looking at more ways to increase accountability.  Right now, state accountability standards are already being changed to give individual schools a grade of “A” through “F” based on their performance, why not extend that to entire school districts?  Give the school district a grade based not only on its academic performance, but also its financial performance.  And if any school district receives a grade of “F” in both categories they are put on probation and two or more years of “F’s” in both categories the state should be allowed to assume control of the entire district and turn control of it over to another entity. That could be a Mayor, a University, a private entity, etc.

So should the Mayor have control of Indianapolis Public Schools, sure. They certainly shouldn’t remain under the control of the current crop.  I just don’t think that time is now.  Once things are turned around, give him or her the keys to the education kingdom.

This is the fourth installment in a series of blog posts this week regarding the possible takeover of several failing Indianapolis Public Schools by the State of Indiana.

This week concluded the first two of seven hearings regarding the possible takeover/turnaround of Indianapolis Public Schools that have been on academic probation for the past five years.  And while it may be early, I am noticing a trend here and I’ll be interested to see if it continues throughout the remainder of the hearings.

Of the five options the state has presented regarding intervention no one wants the state to takeover a school and just about everyone who offered testimony at Arlington and Broad Ripple preferred the option of  the state to adopting  IPS’ plan to fix the ailing school.   For both schools IPS has offered both a Plan A and Plan B.  Plan “A” usually involves the school district hitting several benchmarks on testing, attendance, etc.  Plan “B” tends to involve removing the teachers, administrators and staff from the failing schools and replacing them.  Under no scenario does the state assume total or partial control of the school. In fact, Plan “B” tends to reset the clock and give the school district more time to turn things around.

At both hearings a number of parents, teachers, community leaders all extolled the virtues of how their schools were working and addressing deficiencies and all they needed was more time to get things moving.  Something else I heard that was pretty disturbing was the need for consistency, where it was in academic policies or disciplining students.  It was also shocking to find that both Broad Ripple and Arlington have been playing musical principals for the past several years averaging a new principal every 13 months.  One teacher talked about 13 different curriculum for three grades in five years.  No offense, but that is no way to run a district.

I spoke to Dr. Tony Bennett and State of Education Board member Dan Elsner, the President of Marian University, and both expressed concerns about the lack of consistency that seems to plague the IPS administration in the edicts it hands down to the individual schools.  And while they were hesitant to say how they were leaning when it comes to a takeover, neither seemed keen on the idea of leaving the same people in complete control  who are responsible for the putting the schools in the condition they are today.

And maybe that’s where the compromise lies, taking each school on academic probation and turning it into an individual learning center or free standing school.  A special team comes in to manage the school, with a board made of up parents and other stakeholders.  The state can oversee the logistical aspects of the school, but it is owner operated and the central office involvement is reduced to observer status.    And please note, the takeover period is for an initial five years, and if the school has made a lot of progress and the district hasn’t gotten its act together, the state may not return the school to the district.  Just a little something to ponder.

Tomorrow, we conclude the blog series by asking and answering the big question, should the Mayor have control over Indianapolis Public Schools? My answer may surprise you.

I got an e-mail from Dr. Eugene White today replying to the one I sent him at Tuesday night’s Department of Education hearing on the possible takeover of Broad Ripple Magnet School.  As I said in the previous post, Dr. White came across as disinterested in what was going on at the hearing because he was texting/playing with his phone and looking extremely bored.   So I e-mailed him the following…

Could you at least pretend to look interested?  It might help!

Here’s Dr. White’s reply…

Abdul,
You have no interest in anything that benefits me or the school district. Please, let’s just be real about this.  You don’t like me and you have no plans to stop taking every opportunity to make me and the district look badly.  It’s the only way to make your show relevant and it gives you a false sense of your own importance.  I am willing to bet that you said nothing on your show about  IPS having the “Number One” Magnet Elementary School in the Country last week.  You didn’t congratulate anyone because if its positive it doesn’t count when it comes to IPS with you.

Don’t contact me on a personal level again.  You are the worst kind of man and a poor public servant.  If you have a business question, ask it.  Oh yes, you guys don’t ask questions anymore you simply answer them yourselves or you find some other unsuspecting victim to take advantage of by asking them questions that they are not prepared or qualified to answer.

Have a good life Brutus!

My initial reaction to Dr. White’s e-mail was going to be the black version of “give me a break” because I’ve never e-mailed Dr. White for anything but business-related matters,  but instead I told him “thank you”.  You see Dr. White didn’t just send that e-mail to me but the entire school board and a good chunk of his staff.  I don’t think he ran this by Mary Louise Beweley before sending.  So I figure there was no need to embarrass him more than he did himself.

But with respect to his allegations about not saying anything good about IPS, he’s partially correct which is why for these series of posts I’ve made it perfectly clear there’s a difference between the schools and some of  the educational troglodytes in the Central Office that oversee their operations.  And I have to say the kids and teachers were very impressive with their comments before the State Board.

However, I think it’s interesting that at the end of Dr. White’s e-mail he refers to me as Brutus from Julius Caesar.  If we’re going down that road someone needs to remind Dr. White of  Cassius’ line to Brutus, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves…” (Act 1, Scene 2).

See you tonight at Arlington.

Originally my idea for today’s blog post was to link you with my column today in the Indianapolis Star on why any takeovers or turnarounds should of failing IPS schools should not include anything Superintendent Eugene White has to say.

You can read that here.  I argue Dr. White should be fired and after Tuesday night’s meeting at Broad Ripple High School it’s pretty clear that Eugene White’s is as about as useful as a 8-track tape player. Not only did he present a proposal that was the equivalent of asking Dean Wormer for one more chance, but as he sat on stage he looked bored, disinterested and played with his phone. I did send him an e-mail asking him to at least pretend to care.  He never responded but I’m assuming he got it because he eventually quit.   If one of the Broad Ripple students had done that they would have been sent to detention.

The teacher, students and parents were more passionate about the school and they made some very solid points worth considering.  I think after watching the Broad Ripple hearing, absent final test scores, I think it is a school worth saving and could just use some technical assistance to get up speed.

One person the school doesn’t need any more assistance from is Dr. White.

This is the second installment in a series of blog posts this week regarding the possible takeover of several failing Indianapolis Public Schools by the State of Indiana.

When I was a young boy growing up, my grandmother used to have a saying.  She used to say “you don’t believe fat meat is greasy.”  To translate that into the modern vernacular, “you are about to find out the truth the hard way.”  She would use that phrase whenever she had had enough of me or my siblings antics.  In typical Grandma Hemphill fashion she would send us out into the yard and have us bring back a switch off the tree which she could use for our own punishment.  I bring up this story not raise red flags over at child protective services, but to illustrate the point that Indianapolis Public Schools and their enablers are about to get a real taste of fat meat.

Tonight the state is begins its hearings on the very strong possibility that it is going to take over several IPS schools which have been failing since the last decade.  The liberal-oriented think tank Center for American Progress rated IPS as the second worst district in the state when it came to return on investment for the taxpayers; Gary came in first.   Under Indiana State law, any school that been on academic probation for at least five years is eligible for the State to step in and take control.  That control can range from mere oversight to a wholesale firing of staff and teachers and control shifted to an outside agency.    The schools slated for potential takeover include Broad Ripple, Arlington, Manual, Northwest, Howe, George Washington and Emma Donna Middle School.   The factors that ultimately determine whether the state takes control include ISTEP test scores improvements and graduation rates.

What’s so funny about this entire matter is that now that state is seriously looking at taking these failing schools, IPS administrators and the community that makes excuses for the District them are all freaking out like 8-year olds at Michael Jackson’s house.

I have to give these guys credit.  It is admirable to want to save schools.  But where the hell have you people been for the past five years. This problem didn’t just pop up overnight.  The State didn’t just wake up yesterday and say to itself “Let’s go declare some IPS schools as failing and take them over.”  This problem has been taking place for the last five years.  These schools have been on academic probation since 2005.  Think about what these people are defending.  They are defending schools that for the past five years have been graduating seniors from failing schools.  And I pity the kids who started their as freshmen.  And the good news about the 50% or so who drop out is at least they can say they didn’t graduate from a failing school.

Instead of looking at real solutions, Dr. White decides it better to blame his problems on charter schools and then declare to the world he intends to break state law by not allowing any  students from charter schools who live in IPS to transfer into the district.   Members of his staff try to place the race card by sending out e-mails to incite the community into thinking this is some grand conspiracy.  The Black Caucus in the Indiana House of Representatives fought against meaningful school reform for years.  Reforms that would help students in the worst school districts have a shot  were instead shot down.  Who needs Jim Crow when you have friends in the legislature like this?

Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Tony Bennett warned people two years ago that he would no hesitate to use existing state law to step in takeover failing schools and do whatever was necessary to help children in need.  That day is here.  Fat meat is greasy.  Dinner is about to be served!

I hadn’t planned to start posting again until tomorrow, but I didn’t want to wait and thought this was a topic definitely worth discussing. So here is part one.

This week I’m focusing my blog posts to education and the likelihood the Indiana Department of Education will intervene and take over several failing Indianapolis Public Schools.   Today’s post will focus on the background of how turnaround/takeover actually works.

The Indiana Department of Education will begin holding hearings at several Indianapolis Public Schools that have been on academic probation for the past five years.  Under Public Law 221, any school that has been deemed as failing for the past five years is subject to state intervention.    That intervention can include one of the following options…

• Provide technical assistance to the school.
• Assume total control of school.
• Assign a special team to operate all or part of the school.
• Allow the school to continue to function if it’s making steady progress.

Schools are measured based on student achievement, performance and yearly progress.  A school can avoid takeover if its test scores improve by three percent.

The state taking over a school is not a new concept.  Since 1999, state law has allowed the DOE to intervene if a school is has been failing for more than five years.  This law was passed two years before No Child Left Behind went into effect.

Hearings are set for the following schools…

• May 31 — Broad Ripple HS, 6:30 p.m.
• June 1 — Arlington Community HS, 6:30 p.m.
• June 8 — Emerich Manual HS, 6:30 p.m.
• June 9 — Northwest HS, 6:30 p.m.
• June 13 — TC Howe Comm. HS, 6:30 p.m.
• June 20 — Emma Donnan MS, 6:30 p.m.
• June 29 — George Washington HS, 6:30 p.m.

The state has already held a hearing in South Bend.  It’s important to note that these hearings are not to debate whether the state will intervene, but absent an increase in test scores, how that intervention will take place.   The DOE can also choose to keep teachers and staff at the turnaround school or dismiss them entirely.  Turnaround usually lasts for about two years.

Official test results for schools won’t be out until July, however,  test scores for individual students should be out later in the week.  School officials can take those individual scores and put together a pretty accurate composite of what the overall picture will look like and that should let them know which schools are ripe for takeover and which ones can avoid intervention.

As you can imagine, I’m taking a couple days off to commemorate Memorial Day.  There are the family cookout traditions, but of course Memorial Day is about remembering the men and women who died serving this country so we can enjoy our freedoms.  I’ll be back on Tuesday.   I’m going to spend a lot of time this upcoming week writing about education and turnaround hearings that will be taking place in Indianapolis Public Schools.  It should make for interesting reading.

With the news that Nordstrom is leaving Circle Center Mall, I am going to exercise a point of personal privilege and encourage the movers and shakers of this town to see if Target can fill the void. I’ve always felt that a store like Target is the one thing downtown Indy was missing. It’s worked in other places so there’s no reason why something like that wouldn’t work here.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is suing to block parts of the state’s new immigration law.  I’ve embedded a copy of the suit for your reading pleasure.  Enjoy.

Democratic Mayoral candidate Melina Kennedy Wednesday unveiled her “education” plan. Since I’m not on their media distribution list, I can say she and staff were surprised to see me there.  She outlined her proposal and took questions.   I know you all expecting some snide comments and criticism but I’m going to surprise all of you and simply embed her comments here.  Part one is her outlining her plan.  Part two is her taking questions, including mine.  Enjoy.

Melina Kennedy (Education – 1)

Melina Kennedy (Education – 2 )

If you listen to the audio, you will clearly hear I am not the devil. I am just a guy with a moderate conservative opinion who happens to have a radio show, newspaper column, TV air time and an internet blog who can back up his arguments with facts.