Indiana education crossroads

Indiana is at a crossroads with the upcoming November election. Who we elect will determine whether our public system of education will be supported and enhanced, or dismantled and destroyed.

We have had a perfect storm in Indiana of “reforms” put in place by our state superintendent Tony Bennett, Gov. Mitch Daniels and the legislators who support them. 

Vouchers suck public tax money from our general education fund and hand it directly to private schools. 

The shortage in our school budgets offers perfect opportunities for charter schools and “virtual” online schools to expand, leaving children in a cyber world with human teachers only part of the time. 

Instead of using standardized tests as a gauge to see what children’s needs are, test scores are being used to label as “failures” our children, teachers, schools and, if Bennett is re-elected, whole school districts.

Tests have become the tool with which Bennett and other politicians manipulate the public and give their tax dollars to special interests. There is $46 million spent on testing annually that could be used to reduce class size, increase professional development of teachers and provide supplies and programs for kids. 

Attaching high stakes to this has created a “teach to the test” syndrome and our state superintendent sees nothing wrong with this. 

He said the content of those tests are what “we” want them to know. I wholeheartedly disagree.

If we are to encourage great citizenship, children have to have free time to interact and learn social skills and conflict resolution. If we want children to grow up to work together on making our country strong, we have to be encouraging cooperation, not cut-throat, panicky competition. 

If we want innovation and creativity, children need time for hands-on projects, outside time and field trips. They need to explore. If we want them to grow up and become passionate about a subject, they have to follow their own interests to find what moves them, to be exposed to the rich world we share. 

Instead, our current state leadership envisions a generation of people who know the correct answer to fill in on a bubble test and comply with its monopoly on the “truth.”
The business model does not belong in education. The bottom line of a business is profit. The bottom line of schools is children and the teachers who inspire them and care for them. 

Creativity, passion, empathy and problem solving cannot be measured by a standardized test.

Learning is a complex human activity and its evaluation should be far more complex than simple test scores.

We decided as a country that a free, public education was essential to our democracy. 

In Indiana, it is a child’s constitutional right. 

Children are the thoughtful, engaged citizens of tomorrow. Don’t sell their future to the highest bidder. Your democracy depends on it.

Vote for Glenda Ritz for superintendent, John Gregg for governor and be sure your representatives are pro-public education.

Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer
Bloomington, Ind.
Mother of four children in public schools/university and
advocate for public education