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Recent editorials published in Indiana newspapers

The (Munster) Times. October 14, 2016

Bicentennial torch reminds us of room to grow.

The passing of the symbolic bicentennial torch through our Region reminds us of the enduring legacy of the Hoosier state.

It also should be a call to action to build off an incredible foundation established in Indiana's first 200 years.

A look back at some of our state's most important historical benchmarks is nothing short of remarkable.

Indiana was a mere 50 years old - infancy by state age standards - when our nation fell into the depths of Civil War.

Its governor, a divided Legislature and, most importantly, Hoosier citizens, answered its nation's call to save the Union in spades.

More than 200,000 Indiana men, many of them hardworking farmers and frontiersmen, joined the ranks of the Union Army, most of them through volunteer Hoosier regiments, throughout America's bloodiest war. It was the second-highest rate of participation by any state during the war.

Hoosiers helped win the war and vanquish slavery.

In the generations following the Civil War, hard-working Hoosiers built the state into a manufacturing powerhouse - a culture responsible for our state's modern status as a top U.S. manufacturer.

Hoosier patriotism continued to help carry the day through two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and more modern conflicts in the Middle East.

Today, our state has become a bastion of government fiscal responsibility with a prudently established cash reserve and one of the most business-friendly environments in the country.

But we can't stop here.

Long-term infrastructure plans - particularly for state roads and bridges - continue to elude us, jeopardizing development to our full potential.

A heavy trough of social issues in recent years have defined political priorities in some of the state's highest government offices.

We must continue to come together for projects and initiatives that grow our future, not allow us to remain stagnant or divided along ideological lines.

Perhaps another torch will pass through our Region at the culmination of the next 200 years, ignited by the unity of a Hoosier state that continues to conquer our most pressing challenges.

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South Bend Tribune. October 13, 2016

Facing the dilemma under the bridge.

An untenable situation has developed among dozens of homeless living in tents amid the exhaust fumes and rusting steel beams under the railroad viaduct on South Main Street.

What started out as a few men and women sleeping under the viaduct has grown into a genuine encampment in recent months, raising issues of public health and safety. Well-meaning community activists with legitimate concerns about the plight of local homeless have sought to help.

Plastic bags stuffed with dirty clothes and trash have been replaced with plastic storage containers and red and gray nylon tents. They've been served buffets on card tables and carry-out pizzas.

People are urinating and defecating anywhere they can't be seen. There is drinking, vomiting and at least one instance when a man wandered out into traffic.

The issue is being monitored by city officials, police and those with experience in dealing with the homeless. For now, the encampment has remained largely untouched because of ongoing road construction under the city's Smart Streets programs. But what happens when the road work is complete and two-way traffic begins flowing under the bridge?

Local activists are working to secure zoning for a group home for individuals who don't qualify for existing housing programs because of addiction, mental illness or both.

There also is another plan to develop a supportive housing project on the former Oliver School site, across from Ignition Park. But that won't be completed for at least another year - maybe longer. The complex is expected to house as many as 32 individuals suffering from addiction or mental illness in a supportive environment that would include counseling and job training. But not all the homeless will be taking part in the housing project.

Add to that the approach of colder weather and the significant financial investments local businesses are making in the area around Four Winds Field - the city's Renaissance District - and you begin to see the quandary that's developing.

Homelessness is not new to our community and turning a blind eye won't make it go away. Any long-term solution will take a communitywide effort involving the city administration, police, social service agencies, local businesses and neighbors. It's time to start the tough work of finding an answer for the people under the bridge, and time to start asking some tough questions about our city's social conscience.

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Kokomo Tribune. October 14, 2016

A setback with ISTEP.

Not a single area school corporation was happy about the spring 2015 ISTEP results released this past January.

Changes made to the state exams pushed back grading, McGraw-Hill Education CTB President Ellen Haley told the State Board of Education in August of last year. State lawmakers killed ISTEP seven months ago because of such problems with test administration and technology.

Wednesday we learned legislators anticipate a long delay before introducing ISTEP's replacement test.

ISTEP replacement study committee chairwoman Nicole Fama told her members Tuesday they won't be able to recommend a new standardized test for the 2017-18 school year, The Associated Press reported. Senate Education Committee chairman Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, said the Legislature likely will have to require schools to use ISTEP for "a few more years."

In an op-ed we published in February 2015, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz assured readers she remains "a proponent for strong teacher and school accountability," but she has "concerns regarding school and teacher accountability based upon these new assessments."

She should. Just 53.5 percent of Hoosier students passed both the math and English/language arts sections of ISTEP in the spring of 2015.

For our money, the real measuring stick for a school or teacher is not the overall passing percentage on an exam such as ISTEP, but how individual students are performing on the test compared to how they performed a year ago.

It's good to know whether more students passed the test than passed it last year, but the real measure of success should be whether individual students are making progress.

Those at the top of the scale should be climbing ever higher, and those at the bottom should be inching closer to the passing rate.

The goal of our public education system, after all, is to make certain every student gains the knowledge needed to achieve his or her potential.

Focusing only on the passing rates of standardized tests such as ISTEP can lead educators to concentrate on students near the threshold, pushing as many as possible over the top.

What we need instead is to focus on every student, to make sure that, truly, no child is left behind.

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The (Bloomington) Herald-Times. October 12, 2016

Motivation for protest solid, not blocked street.

Good reasons exist nationwide for the kind of statements demonstrators in Monday night's Black Lives Matter rally in Bloomington wanted to make. There have been too many questionable killings of black men and women by police officers. Acts of discrimination and violence against minorities deserve to be protested.

Many messages spoken at the Sample Gates came from the heart and described experiences that should not occur and issues that need to be corrected.

Demonstrators will likely say escalating their words to direct actions are effective in getting their message to a wider audience. That may be true, and that's what they did. More people are familiar with the protest because the group shut down a busy city street for 30 minutes.

But the action could have endangered someone driving to the hospital. It could have delayed a parent from picking up a child or children. It will lose the protesters empathy from people who might have been allies, and harden the stances of people who already don't want to hear their message. It was a divisive tactic.

It's especially difficult to understand the protesters' action in a community that generally embraces the points being made by the protest. In general, police in Bloomington are thoughtful and understanding as they do their best to serve and protect. The decision made by police brass to stand down rather than shut down the protest blocking a public street was an example of their patience.

While those who were delayed on the street might not agree, the decision not to engage made sense. It helped keep a lid on a potentially incendiary situation.

As it was, the protest broke up without injury and with little property damage. A motorist who first stopped, then rolled his car into the crowd of protesters, had his windshield smashed and a liquid thrown on him. He has filed a police report, and hopefully an investigation into that will go forward. The person who broke the windshield should be charged and prosecuted.

Next time might be different, but this time the hands-off approach was the better decision than risking an escalation.

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