Comments on Advance Indiana™: Has Ballard Changed His Tune On Charter Schools?

Adv. Ind., you make some pretty broad attacks agai...

2007-12-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

Adv. Ind., you make some pretty broad attacks agaist charter schools that I don't think you can back up. In particular, if you look at information from the state Dept. of Ed., you'll see that students who go to charters are usually scoring below the IPS average on ISTEP when they first go to the charters. But then many of the charters in Indy show really significant gains over time. So it's not accurate to say that charter schools -- at least the ones in Indianapolis -- are taking the best students from IPS. In fact, it's usually students who are not performing well who move to charters.

And Ballard always said he supported charter schools.

I'm not sure what your complaint about charters is -- schools don't exist for adults, they exist for kids. If parents think their kid can get a better education at a charter, why should they be forced to stay in IPS with its 50% graduation rate?

"This blog, once intelligent, thoughtful, insightf...

2007-12-03T12:56:00.000-05:00

"This blog, once intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, and provocative at the same time has devolved into a nest of kooks and malcontents led by a demagogue. You squandered something very valuable, Gary. What a shame."

Then why are you hear reading and commenting on what I have to say? If it isn't a Democratic partisan attacking me, it's a Republican partisan. Some people simply have no tolerance for independent, free-thinking persons.

This blog, once intelligent, thoughtful, insightfu...

2007-12-03T12:18:00.000-05:00

This blog, once intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, and provocative at the same time has devolved into a nest of kooks and malcontents led by a demagogue. You squandered something very valuable, Gary. What a shame.

10:09 is clearly a LEO, no offense, but a LEO's an...

2007-12-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

10:09 is clearly a LEO, no offense, but a LEO's answer to everything is to hit it.

God love 'em, and all that, of course.

anon 8:47Hi Wilson!

2007-12-03T09:39:00.000-05:00

anon 8:47

Hi Wilson!

Wow, 10:09...that took an ugly turn.No need to wis...

2007-12-03T08:03:00.000-05:00

Wow, 10:09...that took an ugly turn.

No need to wish him rotting in hell. He's got the earthly equivalent now--obscurity. For people like Ron, being ignored is more punishment than hell itself.

I'm actually holding out hope that he can finally come to peace with himself. We all deserve that.

Especially Ron.

All you needed to remind us was that Ron Gibson wa...

2007-12-02T22:09:00.000-05:00

All you needed to remind us was that Ron Gibson was the poster child for charter schools. Poor Ron, lost that job and then lost the election. It is enough to drive a man to drink and cause him to get violent after a few drinks...OOOPs too late for that, he has already done that......Ron Gibson, may you rot in hell.

Sign me, another disappointed Ballard supporter!!Y...

2007-12-02T21:39:00.000-05:00

Sign me,
another disappointed Ballard supporter!!
Your typing sux worse than mine!

Thats all I'll say on this issue!

Ernie: I didn't support Ballard, but I do expect ...

2007-12-02T21:18:00.000-05:00

Ernie: I didn't support Ballard, but I do expect the man to follow through on what he said.

It appears, through this blog, and the Ch.6 debate, that he might actually have placed his feet firmly on both sides of this touchy issue. He still deserves the benefit of the doubt, but I appreciate Gary pointing out his, uh...inconsistencies (?)

The Gordon St. Angelo insert was hilarious. He's been at Marquette Manor for years. The Friedman Foundation also espoouses trickle-down economics. How Reaganistic. That worked SO well.

Most township schools need tinkering, but not fixing, to be blunt. Bil, your daughter moved from one of the best township systems in the midwest, whose high school's college prep program is nationally recognized.

It's not the college-bound kids who need the help. They rise to the top wherever they are. It's the non-college kids: for them, and sadly, too many others, Charter Schools are a cruel class-envy joke.

IPS is a sinking hole that is bleeding cash. Until they close about half the schools, they can't even see the top of the water line, let alone work on grad rates, violence, etc.

Until we take control of our schools from the menial superintendents, whose job is apparently padding their retirements, and let them know who's boss, things won't get better.

Charter Schools only make the problem worse for the masses. Some, about half statistically, are better than their traditional public counterparts.

This insane attitude of separating kids and allowing some priveledged few to be even better educated, is class envy to the max.

If you ever doubt the true success of charter schools--just remember, until recently, one of their chief paid apologists was Ron Gibson.

And on pitiful truism, I rest my case.

Semper Fi?

2007-12-02T21:09:00.000-05:00

Semper Fi?

Gary, you should check up on how Ballard dumped .....

2007-12-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

Gary, you should check up on how Ballard dumped ...>>> we going to suffer before Greg takes office?

Who is the spouse of the crony?

I. too. was a supporter of Ballard who is now disappointed. The "lets see what happens" and "just give him time" is getting old.
I know most of thepeople on his transition team, they are BART supporters who turned toward the winner, in order to keep their positions. It's too latenow, Greg. You have already failed as Mayor!

Yes, Wilson! It's a little early to whisper FLIP-FLOP, but you will soon. Probably in about a year! Right now we're STILL happy that Bart is leaving. You'll be able to say "Told-You-So" soon enough!

Abdul, you should stick with your IndyU (propaganda spreading, IMPD almost served a search warrant on my computer, CCC is giving some officers their back pay but I won't tell you the proposal number)Blog! Get in line with Tom John, John Cochran, Kyle Webber, and the rest of the "PICK ME!!!! PICK ME!!!!" crowd and get your special assignment!

Ballard may have HAD honor, but he lost it when he won. For a Marine to lose his honor, is to no longer be a Marine! He is now an EX-Marine! He is no better than Bart Peterson.
Ballard has already forgotten the people who elected him.
He has forgotten those who volunteered for him.
He has forgotten those who believed in him while he was in an uphill battle.
He has forgotten those who delivered countless signs, made hundreds of phone calls, walked for miles, and talked to complete, un-attentive strangers! All in an effort to get a change in city government!
Mr. (1 term) Mayor Ballard! You have failed as a Myor, and you haven't even taken office.

Sign me,
another disappointed Ballard supporter!!

Gary I agree with Abdul, I heard the same message....

2007-12-02T20:44:00.000-05:00

Gary I agree with Abdul, I heard the same message.
I too have talked to Ballard. We discussed crime, taxes and education. He has been very open about all. What do you expect Ballard to do? Disband the charter schools? The system appears to work.
He isn't in office yet.
Can you wait until he has some power before you crucify him? Ballard needs time to adjust to the position. Will he make mistakes? Yes. Will he be honest and correct those mistakes? I believe so.
This is beginning to sound like sour grapes. He can't appoint everyone who supported him to the transition team.
If you crave a position, apply. If you don’t want a job then give him his time. Soon enough we will know how he will serve.
What happened to the support?

This is your best post of the year Gary. This issu...

2007-12-02T20:32:00.000-05:00

This is your best post of the year Gary. This issue of Charter Schools is quite problematic for IPS and the kids it serves. Mayor Peterson's support of charter schools was an outrage. You are right to raise this alarm. Thank you.

Gary: Not all charter schools in the area cater t...

2007-12-02T20:24:00.000-05:00

Gary: Not all charter schools in the area cater to high achievers. I have a learning disabled child who started attending a charter this year because of their alternative learning style and small classroom size. Bil Browning was correct about the mega schools and the problems inherent with humongous class sizes.

Public schools need to change with the times. They need to break these schools down into smaller units with emphasis on various subsets; i.e. gifted and talented, learning disabled, special ed, unruly, etc. This is what charter schools are providing on a small scale, parental choice. And this was one area I saw Bart Peterson make a difference.

Look for Abdul to get some appointment in this adm...

2007-12-02T19:08:00.000-05:00

Look for Abdul to get some appointment in this administration for being the official mouthpiece and "explaining" what Ballard really meant.

Keep the pressuse on them, Gary. Abdul, how much i...

2007-12-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

Keep the pressuse on them, Gary. Abdul, how much is Tom John paying you to be his lapdog?

From Ballard's website:"What do parents want most ...

2007-12-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

From Ballard's website:

"What do parents want most for their children? What is the surest ticket out of poverty? A good education. The Mayor touts charter schools as a savior for education, and while he deserves credit for using his authority to open these schools, this leaves tens of thousands of school children in Indianapolis public schools and township schools without all that they need to thrive and succeed. How can we have economic development if we don’t have enough educated workers? Would you move your company to Indianapolis if there weren’t enough educated workers?"

"I will propose a public-nonprofit partnership to complement the schools, not replace them. Any marketing expert can tell you that niches are becoming more prominent and this is exactly what we need to do in education. Different kids need different help. Educationally-oriented nonprofits usually operate separately, but we can form a coalition of them with help from the United Way and the Central Indiana Community Foundation. We can unify these educationally-oriented nonprofits and give each child or group of children the extra help they need. This can be after school, at home, or in any other necessary setting. In addition to the aforementioned nonprofits, the faith community would greatly welcome such an approach."

"You might say, “The mayor isn’t responsible for education.” Isn’t that the point? He could use his influence to get this done if he wanted to yet, our current Mayor chooses not to."

He clearly criticized Peterson for focusing on charter schools and wanted to return the focus to fixing our existing public schools rather than replacing them with charter schools.

Abdul,I know what he told me and what he had on hi...

2007-12-02T16:57:00.000-05:00

Abdul,

I know what he told me and what he had on his website. I didn't even bring up the subject of education in my interview with him. He brought it up. There is a contradiction, and I stand by what I wrote. I also heard him say
with my own ears that he would use the bully pulpit of the mayor's office to fight for a repeal of the property tax. You may have already forgotten this, but he said at one time early in the summer before the property tax fiaso hit that he would support the COIT increase for public safety. I criticized him on my blog for his position, and later he abandoned that position and decided he opposed it. The person who told him to say he supported the COIT increase was probably the same person who told him to propose the construction of a
new judicial center. If he hadn't reversed that position, the masses would have never rallied behind him the way they did. He's already abandoned his support for the repeal of the property tax in favor of something like Daniels is proposing, which is a bit ironic given that Daniels did not support Ballard's election and the property tax crisis was the major impetus behind Ballard's election. I'm not on anyone's payroll but my own. I simply call them as I see them.

Just so you all know, Ballard has never changed hi...

2007-12-02T16:44:00.000-05:00

Just so you all know, Ballard has never changed his tune on charter schools. He said during the second Mayoral debate on RTV 6 that he wanted to create more charter schools and change the education model to fit the 21st century. That's the position he's always held. And even Dr. White acknowledges that IPS needs to step up to compete with charter and private schools.

You people make me sick. Just because the man says...

2007-12-02T15:38:00.000-05:00

You people make me sick. Just because the man says he thinks charter schools are a good thing doesn't mean he's bailing on IPS. It hasn't even been a month since the election and you're already turning on him. As much as you've supported him, you obviously did not get to know him well enough to know his character. Ballard is loyal and to infer he obtained his military promotions in any way other than through high performance and commitment is akin to taking Bart's tack and saying he doesn't have enough experience to do the job. Ballard will choose people he trusts, who will be loyal to him, and who he feels will get the job done the way he wants it done. Maybe he didn't choose who you think he should because they didn't fit that bill. (For instance, you, Advance Indiana, certainly don't fit the "loyal" part.) Ballard is his own man. He may be choosing people you think are inappropriate but he will take the opinions he wants from them and then make his own decisions. Don't expect to like all of them. But since you worked so hard to get him elected, at least allow some time for the larger picture of what he is working toward to become more clear before you start bashing him.

Bil, you prove my point. People who can afford it ...

2007-12-02T15:10:00.000-05:00

Bil, you prove my point. People who can afford it send their kids to the parochial schools in Indianapolis. The charter schools cherry pick the cream of the crop and leave IPS with some of the worst, at-risk students with which to try and educate. IPS is sitting on a huge infrastructure it is struggling to maintain while its attendance declines and its state supported dollars get eroded by charter schools, which are operating on a different playing field than IPS. They aren't restricted by curriculum and hiring policies which hamstring IPS. At the same time, government keeps extending tax abatements and TIF districts at the expense of IPS' tax base. That leaves IPS dependent on fewer homeowners to shoulder the property tax burden and causes the politicians like Bart Peterson who helped contribute to the problem blame IPS.

And how do charters help IPS or any of the other p...

2007-12-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

And how do charters help IPS or any of the other public schools that are supposed to educate the vast majority of the populace. Until we focus on ways to improve the existing schools (maybe first by allowing anyone to attend any school in the county (transportation on their dime - schools need to get out of the transportation business)), we should not be creating another bureaucracy (charter school system) and increasing the number of schools.

As for Ballard, it is very clear, as indicated in this post that the same government sucking leeches are influencing Ballard for the worst, because they are afraid that their lucrative contracts and fees will disappear. If Ballard would talk to apolitical city workers, he would find many ways to save money and he would understand who has the best interests of the city at heart.

I have to say... As a parent of a child in the ch...

2007-12-02T13:08:00.000-05:00

I have to say... As a parent of a child in the charter school system (she went to IPS last year), I'm all in favor of the new schools.

At IPS she was lost in the crowd. She got straight As and brought home no homework. We'd moved from Washington Township into IPS that year and her standard quote was "We learned all of this last year. It's nothing new."

This year, she gets B's and she's having to work for them. The academic quality is much higher. Her class size went from huge to 20 or less. The teachers talk to each other and follow students throughout the year instead of "only in my class."

They really work with the kids on everything from behavior problems to homework and how it all relates.

I hated sending her to IPS - it was a hell hole of drugs, gangs, and sexing up kids waaaay to young to be "sexy" without any academic success to even attempt to balance out the negatives.

Count me as a fan of the charters.

Gary, I used to read this blog daily, but you got ...

2007-12-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

Gary, I used to read this blog daily, but you got off on personal tangents and I bailed.

However, you have proven over the long run that you are against bad govenment, and I commend you for that.

IndyU has turned out to be a partisian tool, and that makes me fell like a tool for reading IndyU. Abdul and Ike should really come clean, or at least pull the plug.

It is watchdogs that we need, not lapdogs. Keep up the good work.

Is it too early to whisper FLIP-FLOP ?

2007-12-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

Is it too early to whisper FLIP-FLOP ?