Guest Columnist: O'Bannon: empty promises

This fall, one of the most dominant issues facing voters will be education, from the national to the state level.\nIn Indiana, our education system needs reform if we are to continue into the 21st century on an even playing field with other states. These past four years of Gov. Frank O'Bannon's leadership have dealt a tremendous blow to our state's educational potential. Education in Indiana is undergoing a crisis that has been neglected for far too long.\nDavid McIntosh, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, is our best hope for leadership to fix our state education system.\nO'Bannon's Broken Promises\nFrank O'Bannon started off his campaign in 1996 with a litany of promises about education. He promised to start charter school initiatives, move forward the kindergarten enrollment date, begin state funding for full-day kindergarten and create better standards for I-STEP testing, just to name a few of his proposals.\nThese promises are not new. Other states already had these programs years before O'Bannon promised them. So while other states had been expanding these programs, Indiana was just starting to contemplate their inception.\nNow, four years later, things are still the same. What a surprise.\nNot only does Indiana lack charter schools, an early kindergarten date, a full-day kindergarten program and better standards for I-STEP; the state ranks 43rd in the nation for SAT scores and 47th in the percentage of adults who hold college degrees.\nIndiana is also facing a serious challenge dubbed the "brain drain," as students who earn college degrees here go out of state for employment. Considering the fact that Indiana has relatively few high-tech jobs, it's no wonder graduates are leaving.\nNew Leadership is Needed\nIf we elect David McIntosh as our next governor, we'll see many new changes in education.\nIn his "Kids First" plan for education, McIntosh details his vision for education in the 21st century. This includes tax credits for teachers' professional development, replacing I-STEP with a one-day exam, changing the kindergarten enrollment date, providing full-day kindergarten and approving charter schools.\nSince Indiana still lacks these programs, we must start with them if we want to take Indiana in the right direction. Once we have a good system in place for education, more high-tech jobs will start to flow into the state. Right now, Indiana is 46th in the nation for high-tech job growth and the only state in the nation that actually recorded a net loss in high-tech jobs between 1993-1998.\nStudies consistently show full-day kindergarten helps in a child's early development more than a half-day program. Since O'Bannon hasn't found a way to get this going, many of the local school districts that choose full-day kindergarten have had to shell out the extra money to cover the cost, which they should not have to do.\nPerhaps the most innovative program in education right now is charter schools. Charter schools are public schools designed and operated by teachers, parents and community leaders. They are different from traditional public schools because they do not have to adhere to the same regulations. They are becoming common elsewhere, but again, this is something to which Indiana never caught on.\nInstead of the promised higher standards for I-STEP, we got the Graduation Qualifying Exam, a test for high school sophomores; it tests their proficiencies based on a 9th grade level. Students must take the test to graduate, and if they fail, they are allowed five more opportunities. It is still controversial and resulted in more than 50 percent of 10th graders failing it the first time around. This shows changes in early education must be made.\nThere is a clear difference between O'Bannon and McIntosh. O'Bannon was given the chance to lead in true education reform before the 21st century was upon us. Now, we are left with a stagnant system that never was reformed and that needs help now more than ever. \nMcIntosh can deliver. He has already done so many times in Congress. With these programs in place, Indiana can be well on its way to making sure every child gets the best education possible.