Former Indiana Speaker of the House John Gregg is announcing his run for Governor. Here it is. By the way, word on the street is that Dr. Woody Myers is the favorite for the spot of Lt. Governor on the Democratic ticket. Myers is the former State Health Commissioner and ran for Congress in 2008.
Here’s a quick rundown of a few items of note from this past weekend. Enjoy…
There’s been a lot of controversy over an Indiana Supreme Court Decision that says an individual does not have the right to resist an unlawful entry into their home by police. I’ve embedded the opinion here Barnes v. State of Indiana. I’m working to get some 4th Amendment experts on the show to delve into the ruling. I hope to do that by Wednesday’s radio program.
The Libertarian Party of Marion County is fielding its candidates for local offices. The nominees are as follows
Party officials tell me they plan to fill a couple more vacancies as well which they plan to do by June 30.
I’ve sent an open records request to Indianapolis Public Schools regarding their enrollment. Superintendent Eugene White says he has evidence that Charter schools are taking IPS students and then kicking them out after the attendance count date, so I’ve asked him to produce it as well as to cite the legal authority he would use to deny a student who lives in the district re-enrollment if they transferred to a charter, township or private school. According to the Indiana Department of Education, IPS had 32,197 students in October, the most recent unofficial real time count had the district at 28,696, for a loss of 3,501 students. There were 10,214 students enrolled in charter schools in October, the most recent unofficial count had that number at 8,814. However only 425 of those students went back to IPS. So IPS has a loss of more than 3,000 students. So are charters IPS’ problem or is it something else? I’m looking forward to sharing what Dr. White gives me. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I’ve embedded the state’s real time enrollment data in my Slideshare files off to the right. It includes IPS, charter schools and township schools.
Speaking of schools, officials from Hamilton Southeastern, Franklin Township and Middlebury schools have dropped their lawsuit against the state of Indiana over the school funding formula. They say that because lawmakers changed the funding formula during the last legislative session there was no need to move forward with their litigation. Interesting, because apparently someone forgot to mention lawmakers also changed the law so school districts could no longer use taxpayer dollars to sue the state, in most cases, so they would have had to find another source of funding for their litigation other than the taxpayers’ wallets. Funny how that happens.
The trial of former City-County Councilman Lincoln Plowman is scheduled to begin today in federal court. Plowman is accused of taking a bribe from an undercover FBI agent posing as a developer. You can get a refresher on the facts here.
Oh, and before I forget, here’s an interesting note. Apparently an analysis has been done of the new Indiana House and Senate Legislative maps and if you thought things were good for Republicans for the next 10 years, you are correct. How good? Well, if the last election was held with the new maps, Republicans would have had a 70-seat majority in the House and a 40-seat majority in the Senate. Next year should be interesting.
Democrat City-County Councilor Jose Evans is joining together with Republican Mike Leppert to form EvansLeppert, government relations, lobbying firm.
And if you’re up for it, join me Thursday at 5 p.m. for Cocktails and Conversation at Maple Creek Golf and Country Club near 21st and Mitthoeffer. Our guest will be syndicated radio talk show host Michael Smerconish.
I just read a guest editorial in this morning’s paper by Democratic Mayoral candidate Melina Kennedy. And after reading it, once again it would be nice if her campaign and I could put aside our differences and chat because I would love to know why any sane person would advocate more money for Indianapolis Public Schools.
In her op-ed Kennedy says
…81 percent of students in IPS are poor enough to qualify for a free- or reduced-price lunch, which makes it clear to me that we need to do more, not less, for these students.
She also goes on to say…
Shifting public dollars away from the students who need these resources the most is not the road map to a better future for our children. We need a fair formula that strives to provide fair and balanced opportunities for all children to succeed.
Where do I begin?
First of all, IPS gets more money per student than just about any school district in the state. Second, under the new funding formula, the money follows the student. How much more fair can you get? Perhaps Melina thinks it was fair that under the old funding formula the state paid for students for up to three years after they had left a school district. Remember the “deghoster” formula that had taxpayers forking over about $94 million for 16,000 kids who didn’t exist?
Indianapolis Public Schools have gone from 39,000 students down to about 32,000 over the last seven years. And by some unofficial counts they lost another 3300 this school year. Is Melina saying taxpayers should pay for those students who no longer exist?
And since money is a finite resource, is she also saying that money should be taken away from other school districts to pay for IPS? I’m sure the taxpayers and parents in Wayne, Franklin, Warren, Washington, Pike, Lawrence, Speedway, Decatur, Perry , Beech Grove or who attend charter schools will appreciate that.
She also doesn’t address the fact that several IPS high schools have been performing so badly that the State is moving in to take them over next year.
In addition, her op-ed fails to call on any accountability by the school district, nor does it challenge the outrageous statements by Dr. Eugene White that he will illegally bar students who live in the school district from attending if they transfer out and try to come back after the September count day.
You would think that someone whose claim to fame was being the head of economic development would pen something a little more thoughtful. Maybe she did and I’m just missing something here. Maybe one day we can sit and chat and I can figure out exactly what she meant. But until then, I interpret her words as wanting to take money from other school districts and give to the monument to Murphy’s law know as Indianapolis Public Schools.
Although I knew going into Thursday night’s Indiana Republican Party Annual State Diner there wasn’t going to be any news made regarding Mitch Daniels and a potential run for the Presidency, I was still looking for some sign or indication as to what the Governor was thinking.
Pulling a couple of strings I managed to get a seat up close where I could get a good look at the Governor’s facial expressions and body language. After all, 90% of all communication is non-verbal and no matter what comes out of your mouth, the eye-contact, posture, mannerisms and all that all other stuff can say a whole lot more.
Verbally, the Governor’s statement on the Presidency was pretty short, ” he wouldn’t say he wouldn’t do it.
But what did Mitch Daniels’ body language say?
From where I was sitting, it said he would really like to run for President. Notice, I said he would like to run for President. I think in his mind he honestly believes he could do and give the incumbent a good run for his money. I think he truly believes he could take what he’s done with Indiana over the past seven years and take it to the national level. Don’t forget, while most states are struggling to get by, Indiana’s big budget fight was what to with the extra surplus?
I think what’s stopping Daniels isn’t so much his wife, Cheri, but his daughters. The First Lady of Indiana had a good debut and could probably grow into the role of being FLOTUS. The children on the other hand are a different story. From my interaction with the Governor over the past few years, I can tell he’s very protective of his girls and would not do anything that he thought would turn their worlds upside down, which is something a Presidential run would definitely do.
So unless the kids buy in, a Mitch Daniels being half of the dream ticket will be just that, a dream.
Some of these Indiana school districts never cease to amaze me.
First, Indianapolis Public School Superintendent Eugene White basically flips the state the bird and says he’s going to ignore the law and ban any students who leave the district to go to charter schools or township schools from returning after the official count day for attendance. Never mind the fact that state law says you can’t deny a student who resides in your district the right to enroll, absent a a serious disciplinary issue. You would think a district that is going broke would want to find a better way to spend what little resources it has left.
And while we’re on the subject of schools, after losing the referendum last week, someone must have lifted up a few couches in Franklin Township and found more than $3 million dollars. The school district made the announcement the other day, saying it had worked out a deal with its teachers for concessions and a change in the school funding formula also brought in more dollars. It’s always interesting how people mysteriously “find” money that wasn’t there before, especially after crying poverty and bloody murder if the taxpayers don’t come up with more money.
And schools wonder why most people can’t stand them.
Back in January of 2007, I wrote that it was time to give Indianapolis Public Schools the “Barbaro” treatment. For those of you not familiar with horse racing, Barbaro was a world class Kentucky Derby race horse who broke his leg and had to be shot.
Here’s an excerpt…
Using the words of Superintendent Eugene White, the school district is failing. Students at the middle and high school level aren’t cutting the grade. The dropout rate is ridiculous. And any effort to bring more competition to the area is met with the staunchest opposition. So with all that, what’s a pundit to advocate? Give IPS the “Barbaro” treatment. Take it out and shoot it.
That may sound harsh, but sometimes you need to dish out tough love. The system is not working, by its own admission. And if something isn’t working you fix it. When you can’t fix it, get rid of it and get a new one. IPS can’t be fixed.
Fast forward more than four years later, what’s changed? Students are still failing, teachers are being fired, the State of Indiana has drafted plans to take over several failing schools enrollment is still declining and what’s Superintendent Eugene White’s response? Tell parents that if they take their kids out of IPS and to a neighborning school district, they can’t come back for a year.
Is that a threat or a reward? If you really wanted to do parents a favor you would ban them from ever coming back to IPS.
White is trying to stem declining enrollment, which I can sympathize with, but threatening people is no way to get them stay put, usually that’s a sign that you want them to leave.
Here’s a thought put out a quality product, stop whining about competition, engage in good customer service, and stop practicing education genocide and you’ll be amazed how your classrooms fill up.
Oh and by the way, I’ve been doing some checking and it looks like Dr. White is advocating breaking the law because you can’t deny a student enrollment absent no room or disciplinary issues.
Former Speaker of the U.S. House Newt Gingrich is expected to announce this week that he’s running for President. When I saw the news all I could wonder is which band would play at the Inaugural Ball, Hootie and the Blowfish, Toad the Wet Sprocket or Jesus Jones with EMF opening? The thought of a Gingrich Presidency is like watching the Macarena video. It might have been cool the first time around, but now all you think of is how silly it looks.
But the fact that Gingrich is a serious contender for the Presidency makes me wonder if America is ready for a Mitch Daniels type Presidency? Is America ready for a an intellectual grown up that will make it clean up its room, eat its vegetables, do its homework and go to bed? I’m not sure.
Recent polls show Americans have no desire to touch entitlements as a way to get spending under control. Republicans seem to be abandoning plans to address Medicare spending as part of any budget reform plan. And although we got Osama bin Laden, there are still tons of weapons systems this nation is spending money on that it can’t afford.
Does Daniels really want to be bothered with that?
Some of you may not like his record, but you have to give credit in his achievements of balancing a budget and turning a projected deficit into a billion dollar surplus, pushing massive education reform, cutting corporate taxes and forcing this state to live within its means and turning Indiana into the envy of just about every state in the Midwest. Daniels pulled a lot of that off by being tough and standing firm and telling Hoosiers what they needed to hear and not what they wanted to hear.
Will that same approach work with the broader American electorate? I’m not so sure. When more people would prefer to tax the wealthy as a way to solve our deficit problems as opposed to accept spending cuts across the board I really do worry?
But then again, if anyone could tell America that it’s time to straighten up and fly right, it would be Mitch Daniels. And my mother, but she wouldn’t want the job, she doesn’t have the patience.
There’s nothing like taking a few days off to rest and recharge. Of course, I did none of that, I spent most of the time getting caught up on all my other jobs. But apparently quite a few news event occurred while I was out. We all know what happened, so here’s my take on recent events.
Mike Pence finally unveiled what some called the worst kept secret in politics, that he’s running for Governor. I did manage to hear the call while I was on the road. Democrats tried to make a big deal that he announced from Washington and not Indiana. With a more formal announcement coming next month from Columbus, I honestly don’t think anyone will care. The bigger issue though is Pence, who is a great public speaker, seemed very mechanical in his delivery and a little too scripted. One of Pence’s big pluses is his oratory and if his handlers are going to start handicapping his public speaking, it could make his race more difficult than it needs to be. Also look for former State Representative Luke Messer and former U.S. Senate candidate Don Bates, Jr as possible contenders for Pence’s seat.
Speaking of running the AP is reporting that Joe Donnelly will run for the U.S. Senate. Donnelly believes State Treasurer Richard Mourdock will beat incumbent Dick Lugar which will make Republicans more vulnerable to a challenge next year. Mourdock’s camp has been winning straw polls at some county Lincoln Day Dinners, however any astute political observer knows to take those things with a high-blood pressure raising grain of salt.
And speaking of elections, I think President Barack Obama might have inadvertently given an endorsement Mayor Greg Ballard in this year’s Mayor’s race. During his visit to the Allison transmission plant on the west side, Obama said the Mayor was doing a “great job”. That same day Marion County Democratic Party Chairman Ed Treacy put out a statement calling the Mayor visionless. So is Ed calling the President a liar?
And speaking of President, we may have more insight this week as to whether Mitch Daniels will seek the highest office in the land? This Thursday is the Indiana GOP state dinner and the Governor’s wife Cheri Daniels is the keynote speaker. If he decides not to run, I know some people who like to see him run for office next door. While I was out of state Thursday having dinner with some high-ranking political friends in Illinois, their jaws dropped to the floor when I told them Indiana’s biggest budget problem was what to do when the state surplus hits more than 10 percent what’s in the bank; give it back to the taxpayers or shore up pension funds? I said the state’s doing both. They asked if Daniels could move across the border and run for Illinois Governor in 2014.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White returned to the news this past week with the release of the report done by former SOS Todd Rokita on whether White committed voter fraud. See, I can break the monotony, it just took a while. The report said while White did vote in the wrong place, the evidence was inconclusive as to show intent to commit fraud. White didn’t testify and no witnesses were called. A new hearing of the recount commission is scheduled in June. The only way this entire matter may be resolved is that White actually takes the stand, of course with a pending criminal case, that may not happen. I’ve embedded the relevant documents with my slideshare account which you can read off to the right.
And finally, this little tidbit. If the Indiana Tea Party movement is going to unseat Dick Lugar they might want to try winning municipal primaries. Brian Boyer, the wife of tea party leader Monica Boyer lost a primary for a Warsaw city council seat 65-35%; 135 votes to 70 votes. This apparently isn’t the family’s first political loss, Monica Boyer reportedly ran for school board last year and lost that race as well. I guess if you can’t win the little ones, go for the big ones.
And best wishes for a speedy recovery for Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry who is having open heart surgery. Although in good shape, Curry has a family history of heart trouble. Get well soon.
It’s nice to be back.
I’m still on “vacation” and not blogging about politics, but if I can’t take a second and wish a Happy Mother’s Day to the original Lovely Mrs. Shabazz, I’ve got some serious issues that need to be worked out.
And who knows with a little bit of luck I’ll be able to wish the current Lovely Mrs. Shabazz Happy Mother’s Day next year. Of course with my luck she’ll get me an iPad2. Which as long as either one is black, I’m cool with it. The regular posts will resume tomorrow.
Between a busy legislative session, municipal primary and the killing of Osama bin Laden, and teaching the equivalent of a full-time load this semester, I’m taking a few days off. Actually it’s more of a working vacation because I have to start tending to things that most of my day jobs have put on the back burner. Somehow I think most of you will survive without me.
There will of course be lots to talk about when I get back; Mike Pence’s gubernatorial announcement today at 10. The President’s visit tomorrow. Mitch Daniels possible Presidential run. The continued clueless leadership of Franklin Township Schools and so on and so on.
I’ll see you all on Monday.
