Indiana Writers Group column for Oct. 10 or thereafter 730 words By Andrea Neal     If Gov. Mitch Daniels wants schools to open closer to Labor Day, he needs to enlist Hoosier parents for support. In other states that have rebelled against ever-earlier August start dates, parents have been the key lobbying group.      In announcing the move of the ISTEP test from fall to spring, Daniels expressed hope that schools would “start at a more natural…

Indiana Writers Group column for release Oct. 3 and thereafter 650 words By Ron Reinking, CPA The coffee group in my hometown read the news two ways. Despite heavy municipal subsidy there was only one bidder on a downtown hotel project. Either the city fashioned its incentive package to fit a specific developer or the other developers judged the project economically and politically infeasible, as one pointedly said in his letter to the city. (1)…

Reauthorizing NCLB May Be Exercise in FutilityIndiana Writers Group column for Sept. 26 and thereafter 715 words By Andrea Neal     When the President’s chief education policy upsets both Reagan-style conservatives and the teachers’ union, he’s got a problem. That problem brought Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to Indianapolis last week on a bus tour to promote reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.     Spellings is trying valiantly to convince the country that NCLB is working…

Indiana Writers Group column For release Sept. 19 and thereafter 672 words Color digital mug shot available on request By Craig Ladwig Oops, we missed it again, the anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. So we’ll have to stretch a bit and use as our peg the governor’s call for a more accurate county assessment of taxable property. No, stick with us and you’ll see that all of this has to do with…

Indiana Writers Group column For release Sept. 12 and thereafter 667 words (with optional cut) Color digital mug shot available on request By John Tatom It is true that Indiana is among those states that has had a major foreclosure problem. And it is true that the Indiana foreclosure rate is likely to climb to historical levels in association with a national explosion several years ago of subprime loans. It is not true, however, that…

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…