Andrea Neal column for release Nov. 4 and thereafter690 words INDIANAPOLIS –- If one message stands out as defining Mitch Daniels and his quest to be governor, it was this: "Every garden needs weeding at least every 16 years." On Tuesday, Indiana voters weeded the garden, making Daniels the first Republican governor since Robert D. Orr’s term ended in 1988. As Daniels himself promised in his short and upbeat acceptance speech, big changes, "courageous decisions"…

Andrea Neal column for Oct. 19 and thereafter730 words Editors: This is the last of three columns focusing on specific issues in Indiana’s governor’s race. INDIANAPOLIS – By now, every Hoosier has heard the statistic. The average Indiana worker earns only 88 cents for every dollar earned by the average American. The challenge for Indiana’s next governor? Turn that statistic into a competitive advantage. After all, it doesn’t cost as much to do business here.…

Andrea Neal column for Oct. 12 and thereafter740 words Note to Editors: this is the second of three columns analyzing issues in the governor"s race. INDIANAPOLIS –- A bar graph on the Indiana Department of Education website tells better than words the state of Hoosier education: lagging. The graph shows 17 years’ worth of SAT scores, comparing Indiana’s average to the national average. In every year, our students scored below their national peers. Average is…

Andrea Neal column for Oct. 5 and thereafter720 words (Editors: This is the first of three columns focusing on issues in the governor’s race. The next two will concern education reform and capitalizing on Indiana as the crossroads of America). INDIANAPOLIS – The author Javier Salcedo said, "Bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible." In Indiana, we’ve experienced a more sobering truth: Bureaucracy is the art of making the illegal possible. Bureaucracy, not…

Andrea Neal column for Sept. 14 and thereafter740 words (Note to editors: This is the second in a two-part series).When the Southwest Sullivan School Corp. closed Graysville Elementary School in a cost-saving move, residents got mad. Then they got creative. Concerned citizens asked Ball State University to sponsor a charter school in their southwest Indiana town. Rural Community Academy opened its doors Aug. 17. with 90 students from kindergarten to grade six. The school is…

Andrea Neal column for Sept. 7 and thereafter740 words (Note to editors: This is the first of a two-part series. The second part looks at the Ball State charter school experience).INDIANAPOLIS – When the Indiana General Assembly passed a charter school law in 2001, it carved out a unique responsibility for one man: Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson. With a stroke of the governor’s pen, Peterson became the only mayor in the state — the only…

Andrea Neal column for Aug. 31 and thereafter740 words INDIANAPOLIS — In Indiana, the average teacher earns $44,966 a year. A low-level accountant gets $38,122. The average state employee receives $32,461. A part-time legislator, counting salary and expense stipends, makes $45,221. Such salary statistics may explain the typical Hoosier reaction to legislative pay raise proposals. "Say you’re kidding" is how the Lafayette Journal and Courier summed up its reaction to the latest one. When a…

Andrea Neal column for Nov. 30 and thereafter730 words INDIANAPOLIS – As lawmakers gear up for the 2005 session, they’d be wise to pick up the following self-help title: "Don’t Say Yes When You Want to Say No." As much as Republicans might like to use their new majority status to fund preferred budget items or pork barrel projects, the coming session must be an exercise in self-restraint. If the Indiana General Assembly is to…

Andrea Neal column for July 27 and thereafter710 words INDIANAPOLIS – As if parents of teen-agers didn’t have a hard enough time already, U.S. District Judge John Tinder has made things harder still. With his July 23 ruling striking down Indiana’s curfew law, Tinder stripped parents of a most powerful tool for getting kids home at a reasonable hour. In a 34-page decision preventing enforcement of the 11 p.m. weekday and 1 a.m. weekend curfews,…

Andrea Neal column for June 2 and thereafter710 words INDIANAPOLIS — It was the first day of the 2003-04 school year and my first day as a teacher. As I looked out at a blur of expectant faces, I wondered aloud how long it would take me to learn the names that went with them. My bigger worry, which I kept to myself, was whether I would like these students. For reasons that only mid-life…