For release May 11 and thereafter (665 words) School Superintendent Tony Bennett wasn’t exaggerating when he declared, “From top to bottom, it’s a new world for Indiana schools.” Even textbooks won’t look the same. House Bill 1429, which passed the House 80-11 and the Senate 40-9, didn’t get the attention that went to vouchers, charter schools or teacher performance pay. But it has potential to change the way teachers teach and students learn. For starters,…

For release May 4 and thereafter (511 words) It will take years for scholars to fully understand the extent and severity of the 2007-2009 recession. For certain, though, children being raised by parents unable to find work earning income sufficient for a family’s needs will carry long-term psychological effects. Until now, such household catastrophes were believed preventable when two adult parents were willing and able to self-insure against job and income loss. Regarding this concern,…

Senate Bill 575, the first of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ education-reform measures to get his signature, may end up being the most transformative. It’s all in the hands of Indiana schools. The law limits collective bargaining with teacher unions to salaries and wage-related items. This will empower 310 schools — their boards, superintendents and principals — to initiate changes that previously required union approval, whether in the school calendar, the daily schedule or even the structure…

Well, he’s back. Jerry Brown, after a stint as mayor of the City of Oakland, is once again governor of California. This time, however, the ultra-liberal governor has something to teach Indiana. For this is a different Jerry Brown; now he’s attempting to cut $1.7 billion from the state budget to correct a deficit that threatens to crush his state. How does one “trim” more than a billion dollars from a budget that was supposedly…

“The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people and especially of government always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended.” — the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Before lawmakers put finishing touches on any private-school voucher bill, they should consider the law of unintended consequences. Opponents of vouchers worry that they’ll lead to excessive entanglement of church with state. Proponents should worry about excessive involvement of state in private…

There is an intense argument under way in the letters columns of Indiana newspapers between the head of the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) and a GOP state senator. One side thinks the other side’s estimate of the cost of teacher unionization is too high. The two sides, though, are not equally credible. The position of the senator is straightforward and politically courageous, i.e., a powerful private entity, the teachers union, is destructive and should…

Considering the Democratic histrionics that have stymied the 2011 legislature, you could hardly blame Republicans if they used the reapportionment process to stick it to the opposition. For the public’s sake, let’s hope they don’t. There are only two things that lawmakers absolutely must accomplish before adjourning for the year. One is to pass a budget. The other is to draw congressional and state legislative districts to reflect the latest census data. None of the…

A family has come on hard times. Both mom and dad are unemployed. Although the mortgage is paid-up (for now) and there is enough food in the pantry to last to the end of the month, two service disconnections are scheduled for today. The first is for a cable television bill of $88 and the second for a natural gas bill of $102. The unemployment checks are coming in 10 days but only $122 is…