Elsewhere

Getting Serious About Education (retitled, Ind'pls Star, 8/30/06) - Indianapolis Public School's Superintendent Eugene White calls for every IPS employee to change their attitude, shift the district's culture and focus on excellence. To assist with this he has issued his 10 "culture imperatives"...
1. Children come first.
2. All employees are accountable for student achievement that meets or exceeds state standards.
3. All employees will demonstrate professionalism and integrity.
4. Student success is the only option.
5. Potential is discovered and nurtured.
6. Academic rigor is the norm.
7. Communication is clear, open and timely.
8. Students, parents, families and community members are essential partners.
9. Diversity is valued as demonstrated by culturally competent practices.
10. Facilities are safe, clean, secure and inviting. -- Source: IPS

Teachers Gave Out ISTEP Answers (Ind'pls Star, 10/11/06) - "Two South Bend teachers could be fired because they gave fourth-graders answers to an old version of the ISTEP-Plus as they prepared for this fall's mandatory state test..."

Marion Family Says Suspended Student Fought In Self-Defense (Ind'pls Star, 10/19/06) - BY KATIE PENCE, Marion Chronicle-Tribune

"FAIRMOUNT - Talks of policy revision at Madison-Grant High School continue after a 16-year-old who claims he punched a student in self-defense during an altercation was suspended for a day...'Apparently, if it doesn't last a week or two, it isn't considered bullying,' she said...she saw a video that documented the events; however, the video was later destroyed because of a computer error, school officials said..."

"About 200 FFA members braved cold, wet weather Thursday morning to help build three Habitat for Humanity houses in a forlorn neighborhood on Indianapolis' Eastside...Brandon Justice, 18, Fulton County in Northern Indiana, wrestled with a metal fence post. The post, lodged deep in the ground with concrete, stood in the way of new landscaping. Justice's job was to remove it. He and others dug around it several feet, then hammered on the mass with a sledgehammer, sending bits of concrete flying. They stood in mud, some without raincoats. 'This is nothing,' Justice said matter-of-factly. 'We have to do this kind of stuff on the farm all the time.' Justice and the others said solving such problems can be challenging, but it's part of the fun of farming. 'You're on your own; you have to do a lot of things yourself. You don't have people telling you what to do and how to do it,' said 17-year-old John Dively, who grew up on a farm in Fulton and plans on making a living there. 'It's nice and quiet, and there's privacy,' he said. That's how I want to live.'"

These Steps Can Lead To Fewer Dropouts (Ind'pls Star, bold added, 11/27/06)
Our position: More steps must be taken to reverse crisis of low educational achievement.

"Today, Suellen Reed, the state superintendent of public instruction, will provide the Education Roundtable with a new, more accurate statewide high school graduation rate. The acknowledgement that the old rate was grossly inflated comes too late to help more than 327,000 students who failed to graduate between 1986 and 2005. But providing accurate data to the public is an important first step in confronting Indiana's crisis of low educational achievement. Here are five suggestions for further tackling this critical threat to Indiana's economic future: ...Place greater importance on the value of education...Neither individuals nor the state as a whole will be able to compete effectively unless there's a cultural shift in the value placed on educational attainment...From the Statehouse to ordinary homes, the message that education is essential needs to be sent clearly and consistently..." (more)

Divided School Board Places Perry Township School Superintendent On Leave (1/11/07) - The Metropolitan School District of Perry Township is a suburban school district along the southern edge of Indianapolis. Its Superintendent was placed on Administrative Leave with pay, by a 4 to 3 vote, at the Board Meeting on November 13, 2006.

This situation is being brought to your attention for several reasons. First, as already indicated it was a close split vote. Secondly, the three Board members not supporting the motion apparently had no indication this was being brought to a vote until earlier on the same day the vote was taken. Thirdly, there appears to be much mixed feeling within that community regarding what and how the action was taken. Lastly, a member of that community created and administers a website, Citizens in Support of Dr. Williams, in hopes of shedding light on what was done and how it was done and to provide a forum for community reaction of which there has been considerable. Even though the website says "Support" it is publishing positive and negative reaction to what has taken place. The most recent postings on this website are here.

Perry Township School Board President Shares Reasons For Putting Superintendent On Administrative Leave (1/25/07) - Earlier this week a new website was launched which now includes comments by the School Board President, Susan Adams, as to why she supported putting their Superintendent on leave. She uses a chronological format leading to the action that was taken on November 13, 2006. Her comments may be found here.

Perry Township School Superintendent's Contract Bought Out For $470,000 (Ind'pls Star, 7/10/07) - "The Perry Township School Board voted Monday night to buy out the district's contract with embattled Superintendent H. Douglas Williams...The district will pay Williams $470,000 in cash and retirement benefits. Williams' contract was set to expire June 30, 2009..." (more)

School Chiefs Quietly Pad Pensions, Collect Perks: Benefits For A Few Top $1M More In Retirement Years (Ind'pls Star, 11/25/07) - "Decatur Township Schools Superintendent Donald H. Stinson has a base salary that would assure a pension of about $89,600 when he retires in a few years.

But his School Board has approved a series of perks and benefits that boost his official salary and thus ratchet up his pension payouts to $133,000 a year -- an incentive that would put an extra $1 million in his pocket over a 25-year retirement..." (more)

(The Indianapolis Star requested copies of superintendents' contracts in the 44 school districts in the Indy metro area. Each superintendents' base salary and the complete text of each contract as submitted is available here.)

Fishers Principal Suspended, Facing DUI Charges (Ind'pls Star, 1/4/08, updated 1/5/08) - "The Hamilton Southeastern School Board will meet next month to decide whether to fire Fishers High School Principal Scott Syverson, who was suspended with pay Friday...Assistant Principal Jason Urban was named acting principal by the board. Urban will meet with students Tuesday, the day classes resume after winter break, Raimondi said. 'He will discuss the events of the past two weeks and help the students understand the impact and consequences of decision-making and human frailty,' she said...Fishers police stopped Syverson at 1:10 a.m. Dec. 22 on 96th Street near Allisonville Road, but the officer decided not to arrest the administrator and to instead drive him home and bring his wife back to pick up Syverson’s car. A police video of the stop shows Syverson repeatedly asking officer Kevin Kobli to let him drive to his nearby Carmel home. The video also recorded Syverson’s failures of sobriety tests given by Kobli. In a breath test that measures blood alcohol, Syverson registered at 0.18, more than twice the 0.08 figure that is the threshold for drunken driving under Indiana law, police said. Kobli’s decision to take Syverson home after being told by Capt. Dave Dunbar to exercise discretion in the matter...Dunbar, an acquaintance of Syverson’s who had spoken with Kobli after the principal called him on his cell phone during the stop, is a longtime swim coach at Hamilton Southeastern High School and supervises school resource officers who work there and at Fishers High School..." (more) (The Star has done several extensive articles on this matter beginning with its first, published on Dec. 28. All article are available from the above link.)

'Freedom Writers' Book Could Cost Perry Twp. Teacher Her Job (Ind'pls Star, 1/24/08) - "...A Perry Meridian High School teacher’s attempt to follow the lessons in the popular movie 'Freedom Writers' has ended with her saying she was censored and the district trying to fire her for insubordination..." (more)

Superintendent Raimondi Dismissed; Severance Package Includes $266,000 Settlement (retitled, Ind'pls Star, 2/26/08) - "Superintendent Concetta Raimondi was among the people who were surprised to learn she was being dismissed, according to the leader of the School Board that officially fired her Monday in an emergency meeting.

The Hamilton Southeastern School Board six months ago gave its seven-year leader a 4 percent raise and a four-year contract extension...

...Board members said the dismissal has nothing to do with the police stop of Fishers High School Principal Scott Syverson in December.

...Former board members who hired Raimondi were stunned to learn of her firing Monday..." (more)

Raimondi Created Friction, Board Says (retitled, Ind'pls Star, 3/1/08) - "School administrators frustrated with ousted Superintendent Concetta Raimondi nearly staged a walkout that could have closed Hamilton Southeastern Schools this week, the board president said Thursday...The comments, made after a six-hour board executive session, were the first indication that deep divisions between Raimondi and her underlings in the central office led to her departure..." (more)

Indiana Interactive School Districts Stats Map (3/23/08) - This map allows you to get information about each school district without having to open additional windows. It's a little difficult to figure out how to use it, hover, several minutes of trial and error should have you on your way. Click here to try it.

Why Will Rochester Schools Offer Mandarin Chinese Next School Year? (Associated Press, 3/26/08) - Recently The Indianapolis Star published an AP article about what some feel will be the next global language: Mandarin Chinese. Although not written specifically as an explanation of Rochester's decision, it still suggests some of the reason for it. The article may be found here.

Property Tax Reform & School Funding Could Spur School Consolidation (retitled, Lafayette Journal & Courier, 8/22/08) - "Schools across Indiana began consolidating roughly 40 years ago, merging small community schools -- almost neighborhood-like high schools -- into larger schools...Adding motivation to consolidate is the way schools will be funded after the property tax restructuring earlier this year...Larger school corporations -- because of their size -- will receive more money, making it difficult for some small school districts to compete for funding or stretch their meager general fund portion into richer academic pursuits..." (more)

The Future Of Education? Teachers, Not Technology, Key To Success Of New Tech (Ft. Wayne JG, 4/6/09)
(This editorial, by Karen Francisco, was originally published March 29, 2009 in the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette and is republished here with permission.)

A 1998 article in Teacher magazine tagged it the “the future of American education, a school where the computer is king, where books, chalkboards, paper and pencils are all but things of the past.” More than a decade later, the New Tech High School model is showing up in Indiana, where Gov. Mitch Daniels said he wants to see it at all or most of the state’s high schools by the time he leaves office.

The model earned a boost in northeast Indiana last week. A quarter of a $20 million Lilly Endowment bequest was earmarked for the development of New Tech high schools with an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math. One hundred Fort Wayne freshmen will enter Wayne High School’s New Tech program in August.

Spend some time in a New Tech classroom and it’s easy to become convinced that it is, indeed, the future of education. Students are engaged, eager to show what they are learning and creating. They are self-confident and often decisive about education and career goals. When working with other students, they are on task, not distracted by personal conversations. At Rochester High School, now in its second year with the New Tech curriculum, suspensions are down by almost 70 percent, and attendance is up.

If it seems like a perfect solution, remember that veteran educators have seen the “future of American education” come and go many times: open classrooms, whole-language instruction, New Math, teachers as facilitators. School districts are littered with fads gone bust, often with huge public investment and few solid results.

And if New Tech high schools were the future of education, they would probably be the only option in Napa, Calif., where the first school opened in 1996. Instead, it’s one of only four high schools in the Napa Valley district. The others are comprehensive high schools not unlike most Indiana high schools. It’s not surprising that educators and business leaders who had the vision and determination to pilot the New Tech model would also be wise enough to recognize that one-size-fits-all was also the prescription that doomed the aforementioned fads.

All of which is not to say that the New Tech model doesn’t have components that should become models for all schools, particularly with regard to the role of teachers. In fact, one of the most encouraging changes in K-12 education these days is that teachers are increasingly recognizing that the old model of closing their classroom doors and shutting out the rest of the world isn’t the way to help students learn.

Classroom partners

Kimi Fellers, a physics teacher at Rochester’s Zebra New Tech High School, bluntly points out that teaching in a New Tech classroom isn’t for everyone.

“Teachers who like silence in the classroom aren’t going to like this,” she said. “Sometimes, there’s just a little too much ‘circus.’ ”

One morning last month, the “circus” atmosphere prompted her to move student desks from their usual clusters into two rows. Students worked at computer screens on a project exploring Newton’s laws of motion. They talked quietly as visitors toured the classroom, but the level of noise wasn’t disruptive.

Fellers is in her ninth year of teaching, her third at Rochester. She said the first year of the New Tech program was like starting over as a first-year teacher. But she said she likes the instructional approach, particularly the way students respond to it.

Her classroom is next to the school’s Project Lead the Way classroom, an introduction-to-engineering program that has students building boats from bicycle parts, among other things. Fellers’ physics lessons and the engineering projects dovetail nicely.

The New Tech model is project-based learning, but it succeeds with collaborative teaching.

“Think about most classrooms – there’s a door with a narrow strip of window and the teacher covers the glass with paper – that’s the very opposite of a New Tech classroom, which is open and has glass walls so you can observe the students working,” said Kirk Kemmish, president of the Northeast Indiana Corporate Council and unabashed enthusiast for New Tech schools. He has toured Napa’s original New Tech program and many of the schools in Indiana and other states.

Debra Howe, superintendent of Rochester Community Schools, said the old model was teachers as independent contractors. With New Tech, the model is one of collaborative learning and teamwork, she said.

A new approach

Rochester’s New Tech program has a healthy mix of both beginning and veteran teachers. For experienced teachers like Fellers, the initial transition is tough.

That’s why Fort Wayne Community Schools sought a waiver from provisions in its teachers’ union contract to staff the New Tech program at Wayne High School next fall. Liz Bryan, who is overseeing the program’s development, said she looked to hire teachers both from within and outside the district. She has so far selected four teachers, including a former FWCS teacher who had left to take a teaching job in a district that later rescinded its plans for a New Tech school.

“When we look at the qualities of the candidate, we want to look at the teamwork,” Bryan said. “We are really interested in looking at teachers who want to work with their peers.”

She said the New Tech Foundation also advised hiring teachers who have interests outside their core subject area – an English teacher active in environmental projects, for example. Teachers who are active outside of their schools are more likely to bring in community partners, a staple of the New Tech model.

Bryan said that in spite of the fact that high school redesign conversations have been under way in the district for some time, there are “a lot of skeptics” among the faculty.

That’s not surprising. Many experienced teachers have seen new ideas flame out over time. They also are reluctant to change teaching methods they’ve depended on for years. The transformation to a whole new way of teaching might be easier for beginning teachers.

Joe Nichols, chairman of the Department of Educational Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said the education program there places great emphasis on collaborative learning, the development of learning communities and other research-supported ideas like project-based learning.

“Schools and specific classrooms are becoming less isolated where it has become a team effort to support students, their learning and their behavior,” Nichols wrote in an e-mail. “Many of our classes are in the process of transition so that some are now being taught at K-12 school sites or at local venues (for example a science methods course may actually meet and be taught at Science Central rather than on campus, or a middle school methods course will be taught at one of our local middle school sites) where our students work on projects not only with students, but with the local experts (teachers) at these venues.”

With education schools preparing teachers for new ways of reaching students, classrooms over time will inevitably change. But it shouldn’t take a universal New Tech curriculum to force changes in instruction. For a smaller investment, school districts can begin training teachers in their own classrooms to adopt the New Tech methods that are proving most effective.

And teachers who are truly interested in helping their students succeed will break out of the outdated classroom lecture approach to reach every last one. Writing off unmotivated and disinterested students should no longer be acceptable.

Risa Herber, superintendent of Lakeland School Corp. in LaGrange, where a New Tech program is being explored, admitted some teachers have reservations about the changes.

“It unsettles teachers,” she said. “But teachers in northeast Indiana are up to the task. They will take the time to do it right. Teachers care about kids, and they will work hard to do well by them.”

2 Clinton Districts Ponder Joining Forces -- To An Extent (7/28/09)
(This article was original published by the Lafayette/West Lafayette Journal Courier on July 28, 2009.)

FRANKFORT -- Members of the Clinton Central and Clinton Prairie school corporations met Monday night to hear the results of a study that recommends the consolidation of some services in the two districts.

Led by the Indianapolis-based Educational Services Co., the five-month consolidation and shared services study was conducted by a 12-person team made up of members of both school corporations, including both superintendents.

The study provided seven recommendations to help cut costs and make better use of services in the next three years.

"This is more of a collaboration than a consolidation and the recommendations are set up to get some ideas started ... this school year," said Don Dyck of Educational Services. "Funds are tight and it may be difficult to begin, but we are looking at feasible places to start."

The recommendations included creating a common curriculum committee, using technology to create shared and distance learning possibilities, initiating a combined preschool program and combining administrative offices into one location with shared services.

Dyck said that some of the recommendations may be able to offer more services with the money these changes would save.

"When looking at the point about finding a combined administrative office, one of the currently used offices may be used as the new combined preschool," Dyck said.

The two districts initiated the study last year after the governor began pushing the consolidation of small school corporations. The two southern Clinton County school districts have about 1,000 students apiece.

The study was funded by a $25,000 Department of Education grant. A similar grant funded the White County Consolidation Study, released last August and involving the four school districts there.

Clinton Central Superintendent Phil Boley said that while the study is only the first step, he is "intrigued" by the idea of working with Clinton Prairie.

"The thing that motivates me more than anything is the creation of a preschool," said Boley. "Both boards still have to accept the report, so I imagine they will want time to discuss the next step."

Clinton Prairie Superintendent Charles Fink said he believes that both boards will want to take a look at the recommendations "sooner rather than later."

Fink added that keeping current jobs and the possible creation of new jobs is something both boards should keep in mind.

"America is built on jobs, and in public education we prepare people to get these jobs," he said. "This collaboration may or may not create some new opportunities."

"Distance learning may help them get used to some of the technology used in college and also as they get older and think about going back to school."

Indiana Announces 9% Of Adult Education Funds To Be Withheld (Russ Phillips, 10/16/09)

The Indiana Department Of Education announced on October 14th that nine percent of previously allocated funds for adult education programs during the summer/fall will be held in reserve, effective immediately, by the Adult Education Department of the Indiana Department of Education. In other words, dollars previously allocated for these programs will not be forthcoming as previously planned even though teachers have since been contracted and obligations must be met for these programs.

It is assumed that this is a direct result of the recession and less revenue received by the state than was anticipated. One wonders if this is the first of more such actions to occur in the coming weeks and months by the Department of Education.

Seventy-eight school systems or career centers have such programs and are affected by this action. Although Caston School Corporation is not among them the following are: Logansport Community School Corporation, Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, Plymouth Community School Corporation and North White School Corporation.

A School Superintendent Reflects On K-12 Funding Reductions And The Coming Years (retitled, Brett Boggs, 1/26/10)
(Superintendent Boggs titled his article, "Summary Of State Tuition Support Funding Reduction For 2010 And Beyond." The Rochester Sentinel included it in its January 22, 2010 print edition with the title, "Valley Faces State Fund Reduction." It is not included in its online edition. Bold type and highlighting have been added by the Webmaster.)

On December 28^th Governor Daniels announced funding for K-12 education would be reduced by $297 million in calendar year 2010 beginning with the January distribution. Recently the reduction was increased by an additional $1.4 million.

In comparing the total 2009 state tuition support for K-12 education with the NEW state tuition support total for 2010, there is a reduction in funding of approximately $189 million, a reduction of approximately 3%.

The problem is that Indiana’s school corporations built their 2010 budgets based on the actions of the 2009 General Assembly. These budgets were approved last fall with the assumption the state monies would flow accordingly to school corporations. Master contracts were negotiated and staffing decisions made based on the funding promised by the General Assembly.

In reality, Indiana’s school corporations will experience a reduction in state tuition support of 4.557% when compared to the 2010 formula calculation adopted by the 2009 General Assembly for every Indiana school corporation. For the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, that’s a reduction in funding of just less than $600,000.

A more important issue with this reduction is that it’s permanent. When the 2011 state tuition support formula is being developed for each school corporation, the starting point will be the previous year’s revenue. That amount will be the reduced 2010 formula calculation.

In order to get back to the proposed 2010 funding levels, the state would need to find $300 million of replacement revenue next year that the state’s revenue forecast does not anticipate. The Governor and the General Assembly have stated they will not raise state taxes in 2010 to make up for the loss of state revenue. Therefore, the reduction will impact 2011 and beyond. Unless state revenues increase, the 2010 cuts will be a K-12 school funding factor for the future.

A 4.557% reduction in state tuition support will have a significant impact on education in Indiana. Indiana’s schools have been operating on leaner budgets for several years due to rapidly increasing costs and declining enrollments in many areas of the state.

During the past two school years, the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation’s student enrollment has declined by almost 120 students. The majority of the decline in student enrollment has been at the high school level. As student enrollment declines there must also be a corresponding reduction in staffing. Every effort will be made to accomplish this reduction in staffing through retirements and natural attrition.

The good news is that the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation has operated in a fiscally conservative and responsible manner for many years. An unanticipated reduction in funding of almost $600,000 poses a significant challenge; however, Tippecanoe Valley is in a position to deal with such a reduction while continuing to provide quality educational services for our students. Dr. Kramer and I have been working diligently since the reduction was announced to find areas in which spending can be reduced without a negative impact on students and programs. We have asked our building administrators to hold discussions with their staff members to identify areas in which spending can be reduced. It is our intent to keep Tippecanoe Valley’s Board of School Trustees well informed of the progress made in making the necessary budget reductions.

The Death Of Local Control: School Officials Watch As State Role Grows (Editorial, Ft. Wayne JG, 5/9/10)
(This editorial, by Karen Francisco, was originally published in the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette on Sunday, May 2, 2010. Bold type and highlighting have been added by the Webmaster.)

A Republican lawmaker put out a news release at the end of this year’s legislative session boasting that lawmakers approved more local control and funding flexibility for schools.

In the wake of a $297 million reduction in education spending statewide, school districts struggle to cut costs without laying off teachers, eliminating programs or shuttering schools. But the minimal leeway they once enjoyed is gone – stripped along with the small percentage of local property tax levy they controlled and handed over to the state in exchange for an increase in the sales-tax rate.

“What local control?” quips Diana Showalter, superintendent of Manchester Community Schools. “When the state assumed control of the general fund, they took control of the major financial source for the schools. … When we can’t control our own destiny through the collection of property taxes, we are setting ourselves up for a difficult time.”

In the Manchester schools, it means coping with nearly $1 million in budget cuts by eliminating most classroom assistants and cutting custodial and library staff. Next year, the seventh- and eighth-grade classes will be moved to the high school so that a building can be renovated and, eventually, all students in grades 5 through 12 combined in two buildings on one campus.

“Regardless of what Dr. (Tony) Bennett or the governor may say, when you lose control of the money coming in and finances go south, that’s more than paper and pencils you have to cut,” she said of the state superintendent’s insistence that classroom instruction not be affected by the deep budget cuts.

When teacher salaries and benefits make up more than 90 percent of the general fund costs, there’s not much to trim that will result in savings of $1 million or more.

The State Board of Education issued a “Citizens’ Checklist” requiring districts to examine, among other things, outsourcing services, setting up pay-to-play programs for sports or eliminating extracurricular programs altogether.

It’s intended to protect teaching jobs and, in turn, preserve classroom instruction. But when one southern Indiana school district came up with a way to close four elementary schools while preserving all teaching positions and maintaining class sizes, Gov. Mitch Daniels lashed out at the district for not being “as serious about their academic responsibilities as they could be.”

John Ellis, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents, said the governor’s criticism of the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated Schools’ decision is unprecedented.

“Local school districts have never had a great deal of control, but now they are being second-guessed on the decisions they are required to make because of the state. I don’t think we’ve ever had a time when local decisions were being second-guessed,” he said.

Ron Felger, who has served on the Northwest Allen County Schools board for almost three decades, said he’s never seen local boards as hamstrung by state oversight.

Northwest Allen sent layoff notices to 24 teachers last week, hoping that salary and benefit concessions by the teachers union will allow them to call the teachers back in the fall.

Manchester and Northwest Allen are fortunate in that they face only financial control issues. For districts like Fort Wayne Community Schools and East Allen County Schools, an outright state takeover is threatened. Five schools in Allen County are among the 23 that fall under sanctions of the state’s Public Law 221 accountability requirements.

Superintendent Bennett has made no secret of his intentions to take over schools if they fail to meet improvement targets. That’s a major policy switch from the Indiana Department of Education. In 2007, the administrator for the state board of education said that taking over schools wasn’t the department’s intention.

“We don’t exactly have a state takeover statute,” Jeff Zaring told The Journal Gazette. He said the intent was for schools to retain local control, with the state getting more involved only if they continued to struggle.

“The best decisions are probably those that are made closest to the students and closest to the classroom,” Zaring said at the time.

But in an interview last month, Bennett said he has warned all the superintendents in the 10 targeted districts that they must decide who should run their schools.

“I want to provide whatever supports they need to address these things themselves,” Bennett said. “I know who I want to run (Fort Wayne Community Schools). I have a lot of confidence in Wendy Robinson. But I have to be blunt – I can’t say that in the other nine situations.”

Kim Preston, spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Education, said in an e-mail last week that the state is prepared to take over schools that “continuously struggle and consistently fail the students they are serving.”

“Think about the students sitting in those classrooms today,” she wrote. “They have no time to waste!”

Each of the 10 districts was required to submit an improvement plan to the state by last Friday (See “FWCS striving to keep it”).

Bennett said he hasn’t “developed a clear path” in how to run the schools. Since he took office, the department has eliminated more than 100 positions, including jobs held by experienced school administrators from throughout the state.

It has not been determined whether Cambridge Education will have a continuing role in the 23 schools.

If a remark from the governor is any indication, the state’s intent would appear to be a hand-off, not a takeover. Speaking to a class at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne last month, Daniels suggested that some Indiana school districts were unnecessarily laying off teachers and said that privatization would save money.

“They don’t need to cook their own food; they don’t need to operate their own buses,” he said. “If you can find it in the Yellow Pages, then maybe government shouldn’t be doing it.”

Taken to its inevitable conclusion, school management would be contracted out to a charter school or other educational management organization.

Ellis, of the state superintendents group, points out that the erosion of local control goes further than the Statehouse. The impetus for much of the state’s pressure on teachers unions, in fact, is coming from the U.S. Department of Education, where guidelines for millions of dollars in Race to the Top funds are tied to measures that would change the way teachers are hired and evaluated.

Ellis said there are indications those guidelines also will be applied in doling out federal funds that have long been left to the discretion of school districts – using Title I funds for students from poverty for preschool or remediation or after-school programs, for example.

Superintendent David Goodwin, a 20-year administrator at Steuben County Schools, said the biggest change in local control he’s seen in more than 40 years in education is control over curriculum, including what to teach and when. For example: A third-grade teacher who once taught a popular unit on dinosaurs could no longer do so when state standards dictated the topic be taught in fourth grade, he said.

“The whole accountability thing has changed that,” Goodwin said, noting that 48 states, including Indiana, have signed on to efforts to establish national school standards. “Maybe we’ll have national standards like we have state standards,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.”

With legislative and congressional races looming, voters must decide what role they want the federal and state government to have in their schools – keeping in mind that cutting the size of government is not the same as preserving local control.

(Karen Francisco has been an Indiana journalist since 1982 and an editorial writer at The Journal Gazette since 2000. She can be reached at 260-461-8206 or by e-mail, kfrancisco@jg.net.)

Eastern Howard Schools Dropping Tuition, Putting Up Billboard (IED, 5/22/10) - "Kokomo - ...starting in the 2010 to 2011 school year, there will be no tuition charged to out-of-district students who enroll in half-day kindergarten or grades 1 to 12 before the official student count day. Superintendent Tracy Caddell said if the students transfer before the count day, the school is already receiving money for them. He said any transfer student must be approved by the building principal. He said transfer tuition students are the only growth he anticipates in the near future. 'We have to market our school corporation,' he said, adding that the corporation is putting up a billboard on Ind. 22 to advertise. 'We think the billboard is worth the cost because if only one student registers, we will have met the cost of the advertisement,' he said..." (more)

Argos Schools Success Is No Secret (Plymouth Pilot News, 5/29/10)
(This article, by Rusty Nixon, was originally published in the Plymouth Pilot News on Friday, May 28, 2010. Bold type and highlighting have been added by the Webmaster.)

Lauck Officially Out As Superintendent, Severance Package Includes A $130,000 Buyout (Pharos-Tribune, 8/26/10)
(This article, by Kevin Lilly, was originally published in the Logansport Pharos-Tribune on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. Bold type and highlighting have been added by the Webmaster. The recommendation of extended contracts for administrators was approved earlier this month by a 4 to 1 vote by the Board of Caston School Corporation.)

LOGANSPORT — It’s official. Julie Lauck is no longer superintendent of the Logansport Community School Corporation.

On Monday, the board of trustees voted unanimously on the approval of Lauck’s severance package, which included a lump sum payment of $130,000.

During the meeting, board president Dave McClure said, “approval of this motion will end superintendent Lauck’s contract with Logansport Community School Corporation, effectively ending her employment here on mutually agreeable terms.”

The portion of those terms that can be discussed publicly by either Lauck or the board include the resignation and the buyout. After the meeting, McClure cited “philosophical differences” as the reason to sever ties with Lauck. Beyond that general statement, he could not provide further details due to terms of the agreement.

“I really cannot go into much detail about what necessitated this agreement,” McClure said.

He summed up the situation by saying, “it came down to disagreements about what she wanted to and what the school board wanted to do.”

McClure admitted that the “philosophical differences” came with a hefty price tag.

When asked how he would justify to taxpayers spending that much money to end the contract, McClure pointed out that Lauck had two more years remaining. With salary and benefits, that totaled nearly $180,000 annually.

“It is a lot of money. On the scale of things considering what the value of her contract was, we think that it was a reasonable situation for us to move in another direction,” McClure said.

Lauck, who did not attend the meeting, could not be reached for comment.

The resignation allows the school board to pursue a new direction for the corporation.

“Basically this will pave our way to look for a new superintendent that’s aligned with what the board is interested in from a management and leadership perspective,” McClure said.

The board will immediately begin the process of finding an interim superintendent by no later than Sept. 7. Potential candidates, McClure said, could come from within the school corporation or through an assistance service that specializes in finding candidates to fill temporary spots.

“Until an interim superintendent can be identified, a management plan has been put in place by the current administration to ensure the continued operation of the school corporation,” McClure said.

Since Aug. 12, Lauck’s last day on school grounds, curriculum director Michele Starkey took on managing the principals and the transportation department. Greg Korreckt, the school corporation’s treasurer, has been handling the additional tasks of maintenance and custodial services. Cyle Dibble, the corporation’s technology director, took on food services.

The board set a deadline of Jan. 3 for finding a new superintendent.

• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com.

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