Category: Indiana Writers Group

(For the use of the membership only) FOR ALL the pointed discussions about Indiana public education this past month, there were questions that went unaddressed — obvious questions, some would say. Everybody likes to talk about process, we learn, but nobody likes to talk about efficiency. What would happen, for example, if Indiana turned down…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. It is graduation season, and college seniors move from the hallowed halls of the university to the wider world and workplace. The ceremony itself includes a procession, numerous speeches, awarding each graduate a diploma, and an official confirmation of the degrees. It takes on a religious aura even in a secular…

by Andrea Neal Anyone who’s ever served on a committee can relate to the old laugh line that a committee is a group of people who keep minutes and waste hours. Such was not the case, however, in 1820, when 10 Hoosier men were named to a committee to find a new state capital. They…

by Sandra Stotsky, Ed.D. Writing in National Review Online, Rick Hess and Mike McShane of the American Enterprise Institute make the complaint that critics of Common Core have not come up with the next steps to “repeal and replace” for states that want to restore academic integrity to their K-12 curriculum in English-language arts and…

“I’m drowning here, and you’re describing the water.” — Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) in “As Good as It Gets” THERE IS a troublesome thought that occurs to Hoosiers of a certain age. They are the ones who lived through the agonizing reappraisals of the 1960s and 1970s, the narcissism that followed, the staged social sensitivity,…

by Richard Reinsch Nearly a year ago, Gov. Mike Pence called for the suspension of the implementation of the Common Core state standards. His appeal was predicated on the lack of pedagogical substance within the Common Core standards and Indiana’s subservient position to Washington that is required under its tutelage. It seems that Governor Pence…

“On a state level, I think it’s important that we find candidates and elect them who would be willing to call for a Convention of States, if need be. Because that is the tool the people have to rein in government.” — Sarah Palin, April 14, 2014 by Tyler Watts, Ph.D. The Indianapolis Star last…

by Cecil Bohanon, Ph.D. I am writing this article on an airplane to Las Vegas. I’ll be attending the annual conference of the Association of Private Enterprise Education with two of my colleagues and six of my students. We’ll share some of the work we have done in economics at Ball State University — and…

by Craig Ladwig At a small table at an Indianapolis club some years ago, an argument began — or perhaps more an intense discussion. It was between two strong personalities: Luke Kenley, the Noblesville businessman who would become chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, and Stephen Moore, an economist and frequent guest of our…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution brought us the federal income tax in 1913. A year later, the 1040 tax form was born. The 1040 had a modest debut but has grown impressively since. The original was so compact it was published on the front page of the New York…