This year education, labor, and budget issues have created a perfect storm for major problems not only in Indiana, but across the nation.
My number one goal is and always has been to provide the best possible educational opportunities for all of our children. I want to share with you my thoughts, and the efforts I have taken concerning the proposed legislation dealing with education reform.
I have spent time in after-school meetings with teachers who work in the Franklin, Clark-Pleasant, Greenwood, and Center Grove school districts. I‘ve also attended meetings with Johnson County superintendents, as well as several meetings with Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Bennett. Dr. Bennett accompanied me to a meeting with teachers recently held at Greenwood High School.
Together with other Johnson County legislators, we have conducted several town meetings over the past few weeks to obtain input from the public regarding the issue of education. Since the start of session, I have been receiving around 300 emails daily from constituents, sharing their thoughts for and against the pending legislation. I’ve spent long hours of study to have a thorough understanding of the education issues at hand.
I personally believe that the vast majority of public school teachers are good, dedicated people who want to do what’s best for our children. I have never said our teachers are performing poorly or that they are failing in their jobs. I think the exact opposite.
Today’s teachers are dealing with constant social and moral changes in each of their student’s environment. In addition, how we communicate as a society, as a family, and in a classroom is constantly changing—adding to the list of items that teachers have to adapt to while teaching.
Everywhere you look people are talking on their cell phones, texting, playing games, or accessing the Internet. These are huge changes to how teachers teach in a classroom and retain a student’s attention. Not to forget, teachers have no control over a child’s home life. They don’t know if their student’s are being told to do their homework, eat properly or get a sufficient amount of sleep.
But I also support enabling parents to choose the school that would best fit the needs of their individual students. After much research and visiting with teachers and interested parties, I feel we need to allow parents the right to choose. No one knows these children as well as their parents.
I do not believe that public schools are “bad”, but I do believe some children could benefit from alternative classrooms. This would also allow teachers more time to focus on other children in their classroom.
Our social environment in the United States has changed. Education needs have changed over the years. Broken families, single parent homes and less parental involvement in children’s education are all factors that affect our children. Add to these factors the rapidly changing technological knowledge required of our young graduates in order to become employed, and you can begin to see the extremely difficult problem we are facing today.
The future of our children depends on us offering every one of them the correct environment to learn. I view charter and private schools as an enhancement to public schools. Not every student can learn in a traditional classroom setting.
One only has to look at several Johnson County schools to see what choice means. Clark-Pleasant Academy is a great example of what can be accomplished for children having special learning needs. Over the last two years, 99 percent of these students have graduated from high school and many have furthered their education to attend college.
These are students who were previously performing below average in traditional school settings. This is a shining example of what can be done with creative choice education.
We also have Central Nine and Ivy Tech State College located in our county that both provide alternatives to “traditional” classroom instruction.
The biggest concern that teacher’s have voiced has been the loss of funding to their schools when funding follows the students. Education funding has consistently been a top priority for the legislature. Nearly half of the entire state budget, made up of $27.9 billion, goes to education funding. Other states are making drastic cuts to education, when Indiana is making none. We are asking that the money follow the student, not the institution, and that we allow Hoosier families an additional educational option for students. It is my belief that we will continue to have education as the number one funding priority.
It has been extremely difficult for me to arrive at the decisions I have made this year concerning education. It is a huge responsibility that I don’t take lightly. I truly believe that the legislature is doing what is in the best interests of our children.
