Indiana Daily Student
REGION
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016 idsnews.com
Editors Lyndsay Jones & Alyson Malinger region@idsnews.com
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District 61 candidates debate local issues By Melanie Metzman mmetzman@indiana.edu @melanie_metzman
Matt Pierce and Drew Ash, candidates for the Indiana State Representative District 61, debated income inequality, education, civil rights, the economy and the environment in a forum Tuesday night at the Monroe County Public Library. Rep. Matt Pierce, DBloomington, is running for re-election after first being elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2002. Drew Ash, an Independent, is a 21-year-old IU senior running for office because he said he believes the political system is broken. He said the two-party system does not work and should be replaced with a government system that represents all people, not just the wealthy and powerful. Ash said he will serve as a bridge between the two parties. The most important issues to him are campaign finance reform, the economy, education and the environment. Big money has no place in politics, he said. He said the state must address the issues by enacting strict campaign finance laws. Ash said he wants to create change in the criminal justice and education systems. The profit-driven prisons are not just, and the Indiana school systems are neglecting the students most in need by emphasizing standardized testing and the common core, he said. “Students should not be taught to the test,” Ash said.
Pierce agreed education is an area that particularly needs work. He would vote to eliminate the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus test and find a more inexpensive testing method. Pierce said the state should not rate teachers based on standardized testing scores. Pierce was also concerned with income inequality and said he will continue to work to increase the minimum wage to support the middle and working classes. The tax code should also be reworked to reduce the burden on working people, he said. “It’s important to support working-class Hoosiers,” Pierce said. Ash said it is unjust that full-time workers are living below the poverty line, therefore, a living wage should be enacted state-wide, Ash said. Income inequality is the major problem of our generation, so tax reform is vital, he said. Ash plans to replace the flat income tax with a progressive income tax, lower sales and corporate income tax rates, increase inheritance tax, re-implement the estate tax and increase the state gasoline tax. Ash said if he was elected, he will work to ensure that public funds are not misused, like they were with the I-69 highway. For civil rights, Pierce supports an anti-discrimination bill that adds sexual orientation and gender identity to anti-discrimination laws. “I best reflect the values of the community, which is why I should return to the state-
PHOTOS BY MATT RASNIC | IDS
house,” Pierce said. Chaim Julian, a Bloomington resident, said he found Ash to be well-meaning but Ash did not give him any reason to elect him over the more experienced Pierce. However, Ash remains optimistic. “Tonight I make it clear that I’m not satisfied with the current state of politics,” Ash said. This forum is the third part in the League of Women Voter’s forum series. The group is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages citizens to be informed and exercise their right to vote.
Top Drew Ash listens as opponent Matt Pierce responds to a question at the debate for District 61 State Representative. Bottom Local residents listen to the debate between Matt Pierce and Drew Ash, candidates for District 61 State Representative.
County school School improvement data released corporation talks tax referendum From IDS Reports
By Katelyn Haas haask@indiana.edu | @khaas96
Though the general election isn’t until Nov. 8, Monroe County school board members encouraged the community to get out the vote now. The Monroe County Community School Corporation school board meeting was called to order at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The meeting began with Tim Thrasher, director of business operations for MCCSC, addressing general funds, transportation, bus replacements, debt services and an upcoming referendum. The MCCSC submitted a proposed question June 29 to place an operating referendum on the ballot to continue a tax levy with a tax rate that is not to exceed $0.1150 per $100 of accessed value. A referendum is a public question placed on the ballot by a local unit. A 2010 referendum to supplement funding to MCCSC will expire in December 2016. The vote to renew this funding is included in the general election this November. The tax rate is projected to be $0.1193 if the referendum is passed, according to the referendum exempt operating fund on the MCCSC website. The tax rate is projected for 2017 at $0.1150. Indiana state law allows a maximum of seven years for receiving operating funds provided by a referendum. The MCCSC chose six years in order for the vote to continue the supplementation of funds for the district to coincide with the 2016 general election to avoid additional tax dollars to open and staff polls, according to the the Yes For MCCSC organization. Thrasher said the funding is anticipated to increase by 2.1 percent if the student account budget stays consistent with the 2015-16 account, though it is not finalized. Martha Street, president of the MCCSC board, said in her opening remarks the meeting would have a time for public comments. Milton Fisk, IU professor
Learn more Go to yesformccsc.org to donate or learn more information about the referendum. of philosophy and a member of South Central Indiana Jobs with Justice, said there is a generally positive response from the labor movement in Bloomington. “I’ve been going to various meetings for labor people and union people,” Fisk said. “I’m trying to get them to commit themselves to make sure they talk to their neighbors and fellow work people to say yes on the referendum.” He said he believes a vast majority of the community is in favor of the referendum. “Hopefully at some point in the future we’ll get things at the state level straightened out enough so we don’t have a jigsaw puzzle with the kinds of ways the schools are treated and mistreated,” Fisk said. Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, a candidate for District 4 MCCSC School Board seat and advocate for the referendum, said she encourages people to come out and help with phone calls and street work to campaign for the referendum. She said one of the main issues with gathering support for the referendum is knowledge. The meeting also addressed programs including the Fairview Elementary and Artful Learning-Performing Arts Academy initiative, ACT and SAT score increases, and voted on donations and contracts concerning all school levels. The board members also noted the approved various school locations Sept. 9. Lois Sabo-Skelton, an MCCSC board member, said there is nothing more important than focusing on children’s education. “We can’t take it for granted,” Skelton said. “There are still people who aren’t quite sure what the referendum is, but we do have a foundation in this community that you should feel good going out and spreading the word that education is the bottom line for our democracy and for this community and this state and this nation.”
The Indiana Department of Education’s Outreach Division of School Improvement released updated data Tuesday defending its claim that there’s been an improvement to the education of more than 108,000 Hoosier students. Glenda Ritz, Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction, released the updated data, which shows, since the creation of the Outreach Division, 193 schools have exited focus or priority status, according to the release. “When I took office, one of my top priorities was to
make sure the Department of Education delivered high-quality direct service to public schools,” Ritz said in the release. “I created our Outreach Division to do this work and to provide support and resources to all schools so that every student has access to a highquality education. I am incredibly proud of its work and the work of dedicated school leaders and educators across the state.” The Outreach Division focuses on helping lowerperforming schools exit state intervention and preventing others from needing state intervention. In the first year of the
program, 159 schools met the criteria to exit state intervention status. In the second year, while transitioning to more rigorous standards and assessments, an additional 34 schools exited this status, according to the release. An additional 76,000 students now attend schools that have demonstrated significant improvement and risen at least one designation within the school accountability system. The Department has 16 outreach coordinators that live throughout the state and work with all local schools to provide support
and professional development focused on school improvement. An informal survey by the department of focus and priority school principals showed that 98 percent of outreach coordinators met or exceeded expectations in supporting the school’s improvement efforts. Additionally, schools reported a 95 percent overall satisfaction rate of satisfied or very satisfied with the support provided by the department, according to the release from the Indiana Department of Education. Alyson Malinger
NO PARKING ON GAME DAY Vehicles not m moved o ed are subject to ticket ov ticketing tin ing and towing. For more information, informa mati t on, call 855-9848 or visit www.par www.parking.indiana.edu a king.indiana.edu
GO HOOSIERS! All vehicles must be removed from the Athletic Department parking lots north of 17th Street by 6 p.m. on the the day before all home football games. Any vehicle, with or without a permit may park in any CH space from 5 p.m. Friday until 11 p.m. Sunday.