Indiana Writers Group column for Sept. 5 and thereafter (Second of two columns assessing the progress of Indiana charter schools) 690 wordsBy Andrea Neal     INDIANAPOLIS — Charter schools are proving themselves where it counts: on the ISTEP test.  Now it’s time for Indiana lawmakers to reward them financially.     Overall, charter schools get about half the money other public schools receive. They don’t qualify for capital funds and can’t recover transportation expenses, which are big-ticket items…

How not to Stop Smoking: A Critique of Indiana’s “Quit 2 Win”Indiana Writers Group column for release Aug. 29 and thereafter Digital mug shot available on request 607 words   By Craig LadwigThe “Quit 2 Win” anti-smoking contest of the Indiana State Department of Health is up against a famous thought experiment, one that predicts it will produce more smokers not less — if in fact it has any effect at all.   Twenty-four years…

Indiana Writers Group column for Aug. 22 and thereafter 730 words Editors: This is the first of two columns assessing the progress of charter schools in Indiana. by Andrea Neal      INDIANAPOLIS – Five years into Indiana’s experience with charter schools, it’s hard to find any critics left. Waiting lists exist at many of the schools. Test scores are rising. And perhaps best of all, the reform has prompted a more competitive spirit in traditional public…

Editors: The following is a contrasting perspective to the joint statement on tax reform issued last week by the governor, the Senate president pro tem and the House majority leader. The author, whose conclusions challenge the leadership’s public interpretation of events leading up to this summer’s tax protests, is an independent financial consultant to Indiana local government. Indiana Writers Group column for Aug. 15 and thereafter 490 words at op-ed cutBy Paul Speer In shifting…

For release Aug. 1 and thereafter 603 words By Ryan Cummins Actions by state government have certainly added to the complicated, arbitrary and capricious nature of the property-tax system in Indiana. And there is much the state can do to fix this situation. The responsibility, however, must begin and end with your neighbors holding local elected office. Speaking as a local elected council member in Indiana with eight years of experience in the job, I…

Editors: The author was active in the tax protests earlier this month in Indianapolis. For release July 25 and thereafter 580 words By Andrew Horning Before citizens got mad over their tax bills, few politicians tried to do what was right. The protests on the governor’s lawn and elsewhere only awakened them to the problems they’d created. Now these law-breaking lawmakers would like us to think of them as heroes coming to our rescue. But…

For immediate release                                                                                    623 words By Craig Ladwig What good that can be said about Indiana’s economy was not in the governor’s press releases last week. It is in our geographic good fortune to be surrounded by some of the highest-taxing, biggest-spending, most anti-business states in the nation. Now for the bad news: Indiana government, even during the recent Republican years, has become the enemy of economic growth, the enemy of its citizenry. Dr.…

For immediate release                                                                                    623 words By Eric Schansberg Hundreds of protestors in front of the governor’s residence — twice in one week . . . people afraid to receive their property tax bills — and then often angry when they look at them . . . property owners concerned about short-term tax bills and long-term property values.   A system of taxation that is perpetually tweaked by legislators and often viewed as unjust by…

Indiana Writers Group column for immediate release 740 words By Andrea Neal     Two years ago, after the last disastrous round of reassessment, Indiana lawmakers promised to cap rising property taxes. Most Hoosier taxpayers thought that they had.     A 2006 law established a limit — 2 percent — on the percentage of a home’s value you could be forced to pay in property taxes. If your home were worth $100,000, your bill wouldn’t exceed $2,000. If…