Daniels was a public school success story

A stunning record at North Central High School in Indianapolis propelled Gov. Mitch Daniels into the Ivy League. But he seems to have failed when it comes to remembering that lesson.

He graduated from Princeton and then worked for former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., back when reasonable people were allowed in Congress. He earned a law degree from Georgetown.

He’s lived the life every young political junkie dreams of, and it all started with a public education in Indiana.

When he decided to devote his second term as governor to reforming education, he had every right to.

Keep in mind that Daniels truly is a beacon of moderation in the modern political sea of extremist sharks.

He’s a Republican that’s more loved by Democrats than by the Tea Party. No one I know swears or throws things when they hear his name. He doesn’t typically offend people.

However, when he reformed public education by slashing more than $100 million from institutions of higher education in the midst of skyrocketing tuition rates, he offended people.

When he instituted a voucher program that funneled money out of public schools so a handful of students could go to private schools, he offended even more people.

When he limited the rights of public school teachers to collectively bargain about any aspect of public education besides their salaries, he offended basically everyone that was left.

Compare public education to a hospital. As the costs of health care increases, funds are bleeding out.

There is even more money lost so select patients that can be transferred to superior private clinics.

Finally, the ability of doctors to treat their patients as they see fit is curtailed.
The education legacy Daniels is so proud of is so abhorred by teachers that the co-architect of the plan, Superintendent Tony Bennett, was ousted in last November’s election.

Bennet’s downfall was largely due to a grassroots campaign fueled by public school teachers. This despite the thousands of dollars he received from out of state campaign donations.

On the other hand, Daniels was appointed president of Purdue University. At least it’s not us.

This is not a sermon about how the future of our country and the global economy depends on public education of our youth.

It’s also not a liberal sound bite about how the government’s primary responsibility is to ensure the next generation is prepared to handle the mess that gets left behind.

It is just a reminder that our public education system, which is inarguably responsible for much of the American innovation of the last two centuries, is being gutted and trampled by those for whom it did the most good.

Daniels might have been public education’s dream child. Now he’s its
nightmare.

­— sreddiga@indiana.edu