Recent editorials published in Indiana newspapers
The (Munster) Times. January 11, 2018
Martinez continues overdue jail cleanup
Placing qualified employees over patronage hiring and paying wages commensurate with attracting talent are two key areas in which Lake County government has long needed to improve.
Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr., just four months into an abbreviated term, appears to be doing his best to lead the way.
This time, it's in an area of the Lake County Jail that is central to compliance with federal mandates.
Martinez recently notified the Lake County Council that at least four jail mental health counselors lacked the proper credentials, under federal guidelines, for such personnel. Proper, qualified mental health care has been a point of contention in the county's compliance with U.S. Department of Justice mandates.
In particular, Martinez said the four workers lacked the proper health care licenses, and one employee also may be without other needed certifications, Martinez told The Times Wednesday.
But those four workers have each been paid a salary of $54,550 per year - a wage he said is commensurate with fully qualified employees. It's one of many problems Martinez inherited from the scandal-plagued previous administration of disgraced former Sheriff John Buncich.
Martinez should be lauded for tackling the problems and attempting to make them right.
On Tuesday, at the sheriff's behest, the Lake County Council voted to reduce the salaries of each of the four mental health workers by $10,000 each. As an incentive to become certified, those employees can return to their previous salaries once they achieve the necessary credentials.
The sheriff also said he discovered another jail mental health counselor who possessed all of the certifications but was being paid $38,639 year - nearly $16,000 less than the less qualified employees.
The council, again under Martinez's guidance, voted to increase that employee's salary by $10,000 Tuesday.
These recent actions by Martinez follow measures to eliminate unauthorized ranks that were driving up jail officers' overtime and firing former jail warden Ed Davies, who had a past misdemeanor theft conviction and who Martinez said didn't meet federal qualifications for jail administrators.
Making sure taxpayers are getting their best possible value from the workers on the public rolls should be an essential function of any elected leader.
Offering incentives to boost quality and fairly compensating qualified employees also is key to the best performance.
Martinez continues to act on these tenets of good government long absent from some levels of Region local government.
___
The (Bloomington) Herald-Times. January 11, 2018
Protection of children must be state priority
The Department of Child Services has been in the news lately, and not in a good way. Gov. Eric Holcomb used part of his State of the State speech Tuesday to acknowledge that fact, and to say strongly that he will work to make sure the agency is doing all it can for children.
"I'll state right now: There's no one who cares more about Hoosier children than I do, and I'll do whatever is necessary to ensure the success of our agency and its mission," he said during his speech.
The issue boils down to the proposition that state government has an obligation to do everything it can to ensure the safety of children, especially those living in homes where they are abused and/or neglected. Many people who work with these children every day have said the state is falling short of this important obligation.
Former DCS Director Mary Beth Bonaventura submitted her resignation in December with a strong letter of condemnation that said cuts to DCS funding and services were putting children at risk. The letter said continuing with policies coming from Holcomb's office "all but ensure children will die."
Children have been the innocent victims of the opioid epidemic that has enveloped the state. The number of children coming into contact with the court system in Monroe County is rising rapidly, according to the number of children assigned to the Monroe County Court Appointed Special Advocates program. Director Kristin Bishay told the Bloomington Rotary Club Tuesday, the same day as Holcomb's address, that the opioid epidemic "is severely affecting our children" and that 98 percent of cases being referred to CASA involve a parent who has an addiction. That's up from 60 to 70 percent just a couple years ago.
She said the service industry around the state is imploding. Asked if the state system is broken, she said simply: "Yes."
That's the view from the ground.
Holcomb further said "we'll be transparent and we'll provide you with progress reports."
Hoosiers will be watching.
___
South Bend Tribune. January 10, 2018
Indiana legislature no place for pandering stunts
Saying that NFL protests don't "sit right with me," an Indiana legislator has authored a bill that takes a stand against players who kneel.
Rep. Milo Smith, R-Columbus, said his bill would allow Indianapolis Colts fans who feel disrespected by the kneeling to ask for a refund during the first quarter.
"To me when they take a knee during the national anthem, it's not respecting the national anthem or our country," Smith said. "Our government isn't perfect, but it's still the best country in the world and I think we need to be respectful of it."
The bill is reminiscent of another ill-advised piece of legislation that made headlines a few months back. State Rep. Jim Lucas' bill would require professional journalists to be licensed by state police.
Lucas, R-Seymour, wanted to drive home a point about his signature issue: gun rights.
"If you're OK licensing my Second Amendment right, what's wrong with licensing your First Amendment right?" he said.
Well, plenty, but Lucas isn't really looking to open a reasonable debate about the First Amendment. Nor is Smith trying to do anything other than stir up the masses.
Jane Henegar, the executive director of ACLU Indiana, has weighed in on Smith's bill, telling the Indianapolis Star that it could violate the Constitution.
"In effect by passing the law, government would be weighing in ... and fining political speech by the Indianapolis Colts," Henegar said. "It seems like the worst thing that could happen is government weighing in and trying to control in any direction the political speech of private actors."
But the constitutionality of his proposal was likely the last thing on Smith's mind when he came up with the idea. Smith is clearly trying to exploit a polarizing situation by drafting a bill he knows may never see the light of day but will further stoke controversy.
This publicity-seeking, pandering stunt isn't what our lawmakers should be focusing on during this year's abbreviated session. This is hardly the first time that a lawmaker has drafted a wrongheaded bill, mostly for show. But in light of other pressing issues - most notably a crisis at the Department of Child Services that affects young lives - such proposals are particularly ridiculous.
___
The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette. January 12, 2018
Flaws consistent amid state board changes
"It's not working, and it's not good for education in Indiana," said Senate President Pro Tem David Long when a 2015 bill was filed by his Republican caucus to change the composition of the Indiana State Board of Education and the selection method for its chairman.
Three years to the week, a state board reshaped by that legislation and led by a Republican state superintendent appeared just as dysfunctional and discordant as it did under a Democratic superintendent. The source of the friction also was unchanged: Another back-door attempt to adopt policy without the input of educators and parents.
Could it be the problem is not with the members but the administration of the board? And if Long and other lawmakers were worried about the effects of the board on Indiana schools three years ago, shouldn't they be concerned today?
Some history:
The State Board of Education, with the state schools chief as its chairman, operated as a functioning panel for many years, notably during the peaceful and productive 12-year-period when Republican Superintendent Suellen Reed served alongside Democratic Govs. Evan Bayh, Frank O'Bannon and Joe Kernan.
The working relationship became more tense when Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels was elected in 2004, but Reed stepped out of the way in 2008 for the governor's hand-picked candidate, Tony Bennett, who worked hand in hand with Daniels to pass the state's voucher law and the A-F school-grading system.
The drama began in 2013, after Democrat Glenda Ritz defeated Bennett at the polls and differences surfaced among Gov. Mike Pence, the state superintendent and the board, whose members all were appointed by the governor.
In response, legislative leaders quietly slipped a provision in the 2013 state budget bill, shifting $3 million from the Department of Education, overseen by Ritz, to the State Board of Education. In addition, Pence issued an executive order creating a new bureaucracy, the Center for Education and Career Innovation. It was to be supported by the State Board of Education's new appropriation.
The spending sleight-of-hand was done so quietly that Sen. Dennis Kruse, chairman of the Senate Education and Career Development Committee, missed it.
"Did we pass that in a law?" he asked when told of the funding switch. "Where did they get that appropriation?"
The 18-member Center for Education and Career Innovation worked so openly to undermine Ritz that public outrage began to build. Under pressure, Pence dissolved the agency in late 2014, but the State Board of Education simply picked up the mantle. Its staff grew from two members to 10, with an 11th employee added just last week. Josh Gillespie, director of external affairs for the state board, said the new hire fills a fellowship position paid for out of state funds. Leadership for Educational Equity, an organization of the reform-minded Teach for America corps, facilitated the hire, according to Gillespie.
The growing State Board of Education staff plays a major role in the increasingly uncomfortable board meetings, including Wednesday's contentious session in which members were asked to approve changes to the A-F school grade formula that will give additional weight to standardized test scores. Board member Gordon Hendry tried to table the proposal, which apparently was passed among board members for review and discussion in a series of emails.
"Some of this language didn't receive proper discussion before being drafted," he said. "I would like a little more transparency in this process."
But the process shouldn't have surprised Hendry or anyone else. It's the same one that prompted a costly lawsuit against the Center for Education and Career Innovation in 2014. The agency agreed to pay legal costs for the public education advocates who filed the suit, without acknowledging it violated Indiana open meetings law in coordinating email correspondence among State Board of Education members.
Yes, there is dysfunction within the State Board of Education. If Long and other Indiana lawmakers want it to end once and for all, they should look past the state superintendent and board members to see who is causing it. Policymaking in the dark is bad for education.
_____