In the last few years, many parents, grandparents, and everyday citizens have woken up to what has been happening with our educational system. Some have taken to attending and speaking up at school board meetings, electing persons who promise to legislate changes in our educational system, and even running for public office so that they can be the change agents.
Some strides have been made, but if we want to make meaningful changes to what our children learn and how they are prepared for their future, then we need more. Change can only come when we have a united front on the part of parents, teachers, legislators, and the citizenry at large.
In Indiana, we have seen our legislature fail to pass education reform bills that would help to improve the education of our children.
For example, bills were submitted on bringing back cursive writing in our curricula because cursive writing has been shown to help with retention and comprehension in all areas of study and to benefit children who are dyslexic. A bill that would have required a curricular materials advisory committee to comprise of at least 40 percent parents of students, giving parents more transparency on what was being taught, also failed to pass. All this while Indiana ILEARN proficiency scores for English Language Arts was 47.9 percent, Math was 47.8 percent and Science was 47.4 percent at the elementary school level*.
While Noblesville has a higher proficiency rating than the Indiana average, a close look at the level of proficiency in the school corporation shows that between 30 to 40 percent of our students are not demonstrating successful achievement of grade-level standards and expectations.
Soon we may have another means of fighting for our children’s education and future. A brave group of patriots has started a coalition they are calling Citizens Coalition for Legislature Accountability (CCLA).
This group looks to change the rules of how our legislature gives proposed bills a hearing and passage. They are working on gaining Hoosier support so that our legislators are coerced into making the changes to chamber rules that will add transparency to how bills are given a hearing, voted on, or killed.
These rule changes have the added benefit that they will give Hoosiers a record of whether their legislator is representing the values and interests of their constituents or not. Currently, the leader of this group is getting the word out by speaking to interested groups and so far, the response has been extremely positive.
In the next couple of weeks, there will be a website where leaders of groups and individuals can go to sign a petition letting our legislators know that We the People want these rules changed. With these rules changes, we can finally look forward to greater transparency in the legislation that is passed and having our legislators representing their constituents.
*inview.doe.in.gov/corporations/1030700000/proficiency
Coalition calls for legislative change
The REPORTER
Citizens’ Coalition for Legislature Accountability (CCLA) has prepared a white paper outline proposing Indiana legislature rule changes. According to the report, penned by CCLA CEO Dan Stock, the state legislature chamber rules allow for a concentration of power that CCLA and others find problematic.
Under the current system, a committee chairman chosen by the chamber leader can deny a bill a hearing in committee, thus preventing debate by elected officials long before the committee as a whole decides if the bill has enough merit to take the next step toward a full legislative vote.
The changes CCLA outlines in their white paper include having the committee chairs chosen by the committee as a whole and serving at the committee’s pleasure, instead of chairs being chosen by the chamber leader. In CCLA’s view, this would place more power in the hands of each committee as a whole and lessen the potential concentration of power in the hands of the one individual: the chamber leader.
CCLA also wants procedural objections to be subject to a recorded vote by the committee or chamber, depending on the level at which the objection takes place, to ensure there is a public record for the purpose of accountability of elected officials to the voting public.
There is a list of specific proposed rule changes for both the Indiana House and Senate available in the white paper itself, a two-page document you can read in its entirety at this link.
Lately, “parent’s rights” has been code for the right to make sure their children don’t learn to deal with diversity. I’m all for transparency, but I think the recent “parental” behavior at school board meetings is a disgrace.