Vic’s Statehouse Notes #312 – February 16, 2018

Dear Friends,

Plans are ready! Come to the “Celebration of Public Education” this Monday!

Here is your chance to stand up for public education! Come to the Statehouse on Presidents’ Day!

On February 19, 2018, you along with your friends, family and colleagues are invited to a “Celebration of Public Education”.

Visit displays of public education programs throughout the day.

Lunch is available courtesy of ISTA at 12:30 (reservations required at http://bit.ly/IndyRally2018).

Speakers begin at 2:00 pm in the South Atrium.

These are difficult times for public education, an institution that has undergirded our democracy for 180 years:

• Those who would privatize public education hold power at both the federal and state levels. We must protect our public schools!

• Further efforts to expand vouchers can be expected next year in Indiana in the budget session.

• Efforts are expected after the 2018 elections to give public money directly to parents without accountability or oversight, a concept which goes by the deceptive phrase “Education Savings Accounts.”

With your support, these attacks can be turned back.

Public education has been under attack for a long time. For an even longer time, public education has been a tremendous cornerstone for progress in Indiana.

It’s time to celebrate and support public education!

Public officials in the Statehouse need to put a higher priority on PUBLIC education. Only constituents and voters can get them to do that. That’s where we need your presence in the Statehouse. I hope to see you there!

Event Partners

The Indiana PTA has added their name to the event partners since my previous listing!

Here is the list of event partners to date:

AFT Indiana

American Association of University Women

Concerned Clergy

Indiana Coalition for Public Education

Indiana Parent Teacher Association (PTA)

Indiana Student Education Association

Indiana State Teachers Association

ISTA-Retired

Indiana Urban Schools Association

IPS Community Coalition

Indiana Small & Rural Schools Association

Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education (NEIFPE)

Rev. Dr. Charles Luke, a strong advocate for public education representing Pastors for Texas Children and a former school superintendent, will be a special guest speaker at the rally.

I hope to see you as we celebrate public education!

A rally flyer you can share with friends and colleagues is attached.

Bring friends! Bring posters!

Thank you for actively supporting public education in Indiana!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!

ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand is again representing ICPE in the new budget session which began on January 3, 2017. We need your memberships and your support to continue his work. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!

Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.

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