DANIELS: The children won big in this year’s General Assembly
Something extraordinary happened in this year’s legislative session. But it might not be what you think.
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MACALLISTER: Better ways for higher education to measure itself
Mitch Daniels made an almost iconoclastic observation about evaluating the value of a college (or university) education. He implied that the arbiter of its value is not reflected necessarily in grade point average or the number of Ph.D’s matriculating but in the degree of success students achieve as they find a career and then how quickly they advance in their chosen vocation.
KRULL: Teachers are only part of ‘education reform’ equation
Some things are just hard to measure.That’s the real message of the teacher evaluations the Indiana Department of Education released this month. Twenty-five percent of Hoosier teachers were rated highly effective and another 61 percent as effective. Less than half a percent were deemed “ineffective.”
FROEHLE: A bright silver lining from the teacher evaluations
After the educational community waited months for results to be released, the Department of Education made public its grades on teacher effectiveness in the 2012-2013 school year. Only 2 percent were rated “needs improvement” and even fewer—less than half of 1 percent—were “ineffective.”
BECK: Committee might dent the sexual assault epidemic
I hope you will join me in observing Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is marked each April across our country.
VAUGHN: Turner stink should be cleansed from Statehouse
Now that April has arrived, it’s time for spring cleaning. Let’s hope the growing stink surrounding state Rep. Eric Turner prompts the General Assembly to begin a cleanup of its own.
BARLOW: Does Donnelly listen to Hoosiers or to Pelosi?
I get it. I understand why Democrats voted for the Affordable Care Act. I understand party loyalty and I understand that going against your party on such a key piece of legislation would be extremely difficult.
SHEPARD: Protect working class with better panhandling ordinance
A recent settlement between the city of Indianapolis and the Indiana ACLU over enforcement of the present ordinance about panhandling has put the question of writing a new ordinance back on the table.
RASMUSSEN: Politics now minus-sum game where everyone loses
“A simple recipe for violence: promise a lot, deliver a little. Lead people to believe they will be much better off, but let there be no dramatic improvement.” The brilliant political scientist Aaron Wildavsky wrote these words in 1968 while America was engulfed in race riots and anti-war protests. Sadly, his words from long ago eerily describe the politics of 21st-century America.
GARRISON: Planned Parenthood’s latest subsidized exploit
So I am preparing for the show one recent morning when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a story at Breitbart.com about a new PR campaign being launched by Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. The subject? Bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism for “active teens.”
KETZENBERGER: It isn’t about the destination; it’s about the quest
When I was a kid with a tank full of cheap gas and nothing but time on my hands, I’d drive all over the countryside trying to get lost.
MADISON: Hoosiers, the American Dream, and ‘jest a bein’ rich’
Indiana was for a century and a half the heartland of the American Dream. Pioneers bought land cheaply, built log cabins, grew corn, and soon acquired iron stoves and store-bought clothing.
DOWD: Already worn to exhaustion by Hillary’s campaign
Oy. By the time the Bushes and Clintons are finished, they are going to make the Tudors and the Plantagenets look like pikers. Barack Obama will turn out to be the interim guy who provided a tepid respite while Hillary and Jeb geared up to go at it.
MASSON: New slogan destined for ‘Wander Indiana’ infamy
The Indiana Office of Tourism Development has announced that “Honest to Goodness Indiana” is the new slogan with which it will attempt to promote the state to tourists. IBJ reported that slogan was the product of a panel of 30 individuals within the travel, tourism and hospitality industries, government leaders, and representatives from both the public and private sectors as well as a development process including input from nearly 8,000 consumers.
LANOSGA: Run government like a business? Which business?
Which is better: business or government? Before you answer, consider two cases.
PARR: Taxes, budget surpluses and dueling ideologies
For some time now, there has been a concerted effort—primarily by Republicans—to tackle tax reform. Essentially, the plan is to lower rates for all Americans and close loopholes, doing so in a revenue-neutral manner.
BOEHM: Airport is shortsighted location for justice center
Like almost everyone familiar with the Marion County courts, I applaud Mayor Ballard’s proposal to address the long-recognized need for a judicial center. The proposal would leave the civil courts in the City-County Building but consolidate the criminal courts and their associated agencies in one complex.
WESTERHAUS-RENFROW: Crime undermines Indy’s many advancements
In his recent State of the City address, Mayor Ballard expanded on a familiar theme of making Indianapolis a more livable city, one that can build on its unique amenities to attract middle- and upper-income residents back into Marion County and even the old city limits.
SPALDING: Take the transit money while the fed’s hand is open
Every time I see an IndyGo story, I brace myself for the good, the bad and the oh-so ugly.
TAFT: Indianapolis vacant housing at critical crossroads
Neighborhood and local government leaders in Indianapolis increasingly face a dilemma: Let tax-foreclosed houses sit vacant or enable their acquisition by large, scattered-site rental investors.