ILoveDogs

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I maybe wrong, but I think I remember hearing an interview with Mrvan talking about Section 8 and that a city should limit the amount of total S8 housing to only 5 or 10% and it shouldn't be in pockets of the city but spread out - only one or two S8 houses within a few mile radius. I may be wrong about Mrvan saying that, but the idea is a great one.

April 05, 2013 1:52 pm on Senate OKs limits on Calumet Twp. spending, gives Griffith chance to leave
Didn't you see in the article about the Board voting to close and elementary that she said she hadn't had a raise in 5 years? And when it was brought up that to help save money for the district, she side-stepped the suggestion that administrators in the district actually pay for their share of the health insurance premium rather than getting it for free? Everyone else must give except for those at the top is the way to go for those schools.

April 05, 2013 1:48 pm on Senate OKs limits on Calumet Twp. spending, gives Griffith chance to leave
"Does "politics" include teachers' unions trying to protect incompetent teachers? If so, I agree."

Any search on IDOE's website could have told you that there are steps in place, and always have been, to remove incompetent teachers. It is just up to your district's principals and administrators to go through the process of it. There have always been teacher evaluations - some very good and some beyond bad - but there has always been a way to remove ineffective teachers.

And the unions give teachers' rights but many things are for students, such as classroom size or drinking fountains; the temperature in the classroom or the length of lunch time.

Before you go on vilifying teachers and their unions, how about you spend a full day or week in a classroom. Or have time added to your work day without a single penny added to your paycheck. Or have a classroom filled 35 - 40 students and when it is your kid that falls through the cracks?

April 03, 2013 3:30 pm on RICH JAMES: Much of education reform is about politics, not kids
"What if we bused some of the Munster kids to Gary Schools and bused some of the Gary kids to Munster Schools?"

The Gary schools (and by our new laws - the teachers) would then be wonderful and the Munster schools in need of takeover (filled with bad teachers). The only thing not being added to this equation is the family and student. If you have a family that believes education is important, the kids will be better students. If you have a family that doesn't believe education is important, the kids won't be better students. You have tied a teacher's pay to ISTEP and ECA's. Want to see real change happen in your urban centers? Tie that score to a welfare check. Or a tax return (we can't discriminate against the poor). You assume that the kids' needs are being met. In Munster, they are. In Gary - not so much. Many kids come to school because they are fed, safe, and warm in the winter. The education part is just there. It takes much more than just a good school, good teachers, good rules and regulations in place. It requires that a parent be a parent. In your urban centers, you get the perpetuation of the poverty cycle.

April 03, 2013 3:22 pm on RICH JAMES: Much of education reform is about politics, not kids
There is a bill up in our legislature basically making it illegal to be a whistle-blower on CAFO's and how they are run.
http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2013&session=1&request=getBill&doctype=SB&docno=0373

For an easier read: http://www.indystar.com/article/20130212/NEWS05/130212009/Bill-takes-aim-undercover-videos-farm-conditions?gcheck=1

March 17, 2013 10:55 am on Fewer next-generation farmers grab the reins
Apparently you haven't kept up with the new laws. The state limited teachers' union rights in 2010. The only thing the teacher unions can bargain is salary and benefits, which is tied to state testing and the new teacher evaluation RISE. Ask around Lake and Porter County and find out many teachers have received even a penny more per pay check since 2010. The state cut $300 million from the education budget, twice. That "surplus" the state is sitting on, is not a surplus at all. And a great way for the state and schools to save money is to stop standardized testing. The state spent $49 MILLION on standardized tests last year. It is more than ISTEP, what about Acuity - which tells if the kids will pass or are ready to take ISTEP. Let's not forget about the ECA's or the I-READ 3. Care to guess what company makes all of these tests? Care to guess what company supports our Republican leaders? It is all a giant rat race that forces our kids to lose. Budget cuts affect everything. Everyone, from top to bottom, must give and sacrifice. But should the kids do it too? What are the kids losing? How heavy is the cost to the futures we are trying to educate? We are creating a generation that can make a choice from 4 possible answers; not a generation of creative, critical thinkers that can problem solve and think outside of the box. It is more than budget cuts, teachers unions, school boards, and closing schools. It so much more.

March 02, 2013 11:36 am on Lake Ridge Superintendent: Stand together to weather storm
Independent mind - I understand your point. However, it is the fact the when we give money to the charter schools, it is going to private corporations. Those corporations don't care about success, only dollars. Charters have the right to pick and choose, as do private schools. That is why private schools have this connotation of being better than public schools. The argument is about giving your tax dollars to private corporations for profit. Schools should not be for profit. And you're right, throwing money at schools - public, private, charter - won't do anything. Until accountability is placed on the students and parents, not just teachers, administrators, and school boards - there won't be much change.

February 16, 2013 11:22 am on House Democrats plan to force vote on Pence tax cut
They won't. There is too much money to be made by allowing the private corporations to create charter schools. Money in their own pockets, in their campaign funds, and dividends from the investments they have in those companies.

February 03, 2013 9:46 am on GUEST COMMENTARY: Public school funding is same old shell game
And it is because of scumbags like this, teachers who are this person for some of their students but are not sexual predators, are too afraid to be this for this students anymore. How dare he abuse that relationship. A teacher is for the student - their advocate, their cheerleader, their mentor - not a student's molester. It's a shame. And is it any wonder why teachers are so disrespected anymore? This is one of those things that makes me want cameras in the classrooms. But there are so many privacy issues to wrangle through, that I don't think it would happen, even though it could be a viable tool schools use. We have it day care centers...

January 26, 2013 1:03 pm on Fegely teacher accused of sending sexually oriented text messages to students