The Indiana State Teachers Association contributes massive amounts of campaign dollars to sympathetic state lawmakers, and it seems to be getting its money’s worth. Unfortunately, Indiana taxpayers and school children are the ones left short-changed.

     The state’s largest teachers union is rallying behind legislation known as “ISTA’s Bill,” an effort to kill the charter school movement in Indiana.

     ISTA’s bill is sponsored by state Rep. Greg Porter, (D-Indianapolis) who has pocketed at least $33,055 in donations from teachers union PACs since 2000. The bill’s co-sponsor, Dave Cheatham (D-North Vernon), collected $65,000 from the same sources since 2005. IPACE, the ISTA’s political wing, is by far their biggest contributor.

     ISTA Interim Executive Director Ann Clarke spelled out the union’s political motives in an internal memo to members this week.

     “For ISTA, the important bill that must be enacted by the House next week is HB 1367, ISTA’s bill, sponsored by Representative Greg Porter,” Clarke wrote.

     The alternative to ISTA’s bill, Clarke said, would be bad for union business.

     “ISTA is also fighting SB 309, Senator (Luke) Kenley’s bill, which would require that school districts negotiate freezes in school employee salaries and benefits as a condition for receiving the authority to transfer money between school fund accounts.”

     Apparently, the ISTA would much rather stifle parents’ choice on where to send their kids to school then contribute to resolving the state’s education crisis.

     ISTA’s bill aims to severely limit the creation of new charter schools, delay the school scholarship tax credit and virtual charter school pilot program, forbid for-profit charter schools, allow up to 5 percent of a school’s capital project fund to be used to pay utility and insurance costs, and repeal this year’s scholarship tax credits.

     Indiana House Democrats voted unanimously Monday in favor of ISTA’s Bill. It is expected to have a second reading this week, and be up for a vote next Tuesday, sources said.

     But every Republican present on the House floor opposed the measure because the “provisions could potentially make Indiana ineligible for the federal ‘Race to the Top’ performance grants,” according to the House Republican Web site.

     Destroying Indiana’s shot at RTTT money would be the cherry on top for the ISTA. The union spent months diligently working behind the scenes to obstruct the state’s bid for up to $250 million in RTTT funds, because school reforms tied to the money go against ISTA interests.

     Lawmakers also contend that ISTA’s bill discourages important K-2 diagnostic testing and grade 3-8 acuity tests designed to ensure students don’t fall behind. It also allows schools to discontinue tests that prepare students for the SAT and qualify them for national merit scholarships.

     “These tests are critical to helping students, teachers and Hoosier families. House Republicans proposed other ways to help schools find funding during these difficult economic times but discouraging testing, innovation, and reform is not the way to go,” said state Rep. Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis).

     The Education Action Group Foundation (ISTAexposed.com) agrees. 

     “ISTA’s bill is clear evidence that the union has no real interest in improving education in Indiana,” said Steve Gunn, EAGF communications director. “Taxpayers deserve to know who’s in the union’s pocket.

     “You’d have to wonder as a taxpayer what motivates Reps. Porter and Cheatham- campaign contributions or their constituents’’ best interest.”

     ISTA’s bill, the scandal surrounding its insurance trust, and staunch opposition to any sort of pay cut for teachers demonstrates its real motive- protecting the status-quo and leaching money from the public coffers.

     A citizens’ checklist developed by the Indiana Board of Education will help school corporations and local residents identify logical ideas for spending cuts that won’t impact the quality of classroom instruction.

     The checklist, released earlier this month, doesn’t pull any punches, and forces corporations to reconsider long-coveted line items like teachers’ automatic raises and exorbitant employee benefit packages.

     In essence, the list explores realistic measures administrators can take to keep their teachers employed, while maintaining an effective, stable education system in Indiana.

     That’s more than we can say for the cost saving ideas recently floated by the Indiana State Teachers Association, which seems more geared toward preserving union perks than keeping its members in front of students.

     At the top of the union’s list is a private school tax credit that allows parents to find the best school for their kids. The ISTA also hopes to eliminate funds for a virtual charter school pilot program. The union’s other suggestions involve moving money set aside for capital projects to the operating fund, encouraging school corporations to spend emergency money, and reducing “non-instructional” expenses.

     ISTA President Nate Schnellenberger told the Indy Star that the recommendations provide “a common-sense approach to dealing with the crisis that faces both public schools and the Indiana economy overall.”

     Those are nifty ideas, Nate, and they certainly avoid controversial suggestions, like freezing teachers’ automatic raises or asking educators to contribute to their health care.

     But we tend side with IDOE spokesman Cam Savage, who told the Star that the tax credit, a form of voucher program, and the virtual charter school serves students who need them. Eliminating those programs would save relatively little money at the expense of improving educational quality. It’s just a bad idea.

     EAGF does, however, agree with Schnellenberger that “non-instructional” expenses should be cut, especially budget items that have virtually no bearing on classroom learning. They include bloated benefit costs, release time for union officials, teachers’ paid time off to attend union conferences, or special sick day incentive programs that cost corporations large sums.

     It’s obvious that corporations can and should trim around the edges as much as possible, but the fact remains that labor expenses consume three-quarters of a typical school budget. We believe it makes “common sense” to start cutting there. Freezing automatic teacher raises would be a good start, and would likely save many corporations millions.

     We realize that managing a budget isn’t the ISTA’s strong point. The union’s own budget deficit and scandal surrounding its insurance wing has made that perfectly clear.

     We just hope the ISTA will acknowledge those faults soon, and leave the money managing to the IDOE and individual corporations that are making an honest effort to look at real solutions to Indiana’s school funding crisis.

     Indiana State Superintendent Tony Bennett released a list this week of more than 320 school corporations and public charter schools that signed on to participate in the state’s “Race to the Top.”

     That means that roughly 90 percent of Indiana’s school corporations have agreed to effective education reform in exchange for their share of up to $250 million, if the state is chosen for the highly competitive federal grants.

     The interest in the program “clearly illustrates Indiana is a reform-ready state,” Bennett said in a statement.

     Not everybody, though, is excited about moving in “Fast Forward,” which is the name of Indiana’s Race to the Top initiative. Many Indiana State Teachers Association officials have either refused to sign their corporation’s agreement or attempted to water it down by adding conditions to their endorsement.

     Currently, state officials are holding the details of their RTTT plan close to their chest until January 19, the deadline for states to apply for federal funds.

     But we do know Indiana will adopt new K-12 standards in 2010, as well as methods for evaluating students to help them better transition into college or the workforce; develop a comprehensive statewide data system to track teachers, student progress, and other useful information; set up a fair and transparent system to evaluate educators based mostly on student growth; and devise ways for the state to ensure improvement of chronically failing schools.

     From what we can tell, tangible changes are already underway, including progress with the data system, changes that help non-traditional teachers transition to the classroom, and new teacher license requirements that ensure educators are well versed in the subjects they teach.

     These are changes crucial for the betterment of Indiana’s school system.    

     But nearly a third, or about 100, of the school applications turned into the state lacked signatures from the ISTA’s local leaders.

      Ideally, the applications would include a signature from the corporation’s superintendent, school board president, and local union president.

     Some believe ISTA’s obstruction is because school corporations “are not required to bargain” with the union over Fast Forward reforms, said Julie Slavens, staff attorney with the Indiana School Board Association.

     “They want to be at the table and control everything school corporations do with regard to the Race to the Top” money, Slavens said.

     Apparently, the ISTA isn’t too keen on the idea of linking student performance to teacher evaluation, a cornerstone of the state’s plan.

     “They are holding the (agreements) over the corporation’s head,” Slavens said.

     Some union officials took their opposition a step farther.

     In an ISTA document titled Essentials for ISTA Local Presidents #2 dated Dec. 21, the union encouraged local representatives to attempt to trick corporations into signing a union-contrived “memorandum of agreement.”

     That document, and there are several versions, “provides the framework for locals which … want to do what is necessary to secure the possibility of the school corporation receiving RTTT funds, while at the same time protecting your contract, securing an agreement on the local’s right to withdraw, and securing advance agreement on a sunset provision should funding be discontinued.”

     In other words, it’s an attempt by the ISTA to control RTTT reforms and money.

     “The union wants to be able to veto what the (school) board does,” Slavens said.

     It remains unclear how many school corporations fell for the scheme. We’ve heard that the agreements were pushed on districts in the southern part of the state, as well as areas like Gary and Elkhart, which could desperately use the federal funds.

     “If they have called in and asked us, we say don’t sign it,” Slavens said of the union document. “I have heard that some have, but I don’t know what version they signed.”

    We at the Education Action Group Foundation applaud the hard work of state officials and appreciate the tough decisions facing Indiana’s school corporations. Their signatures show many corporations are committed to these long-overdue reforms.

     We’re just discouraged that not everyone is motivated to that end. Indiana’s school children and taxpayers deserve better from the ISTA. Unfortunately, to this point the union has served as more of a road block for reforms than a role model for the teachers it represents.

Here are the corporations whose union presidents refused to endorse its agreement:

Randolph Southern School Corporation
Linton-Stockton School Corporation
Wes-Del Community Schools
West Washington School Corporation
School Town of Highland
East Chicago Urban Enterprise
Nettle Creek School Corporation
Southwestern-Jefferson County School Corporation
Central Noble Community School Corporation
Yorktown Community Schools
Decatur County Community Schools
South Harrison Community Schools
Shelby Eastern Schools
Rossville Consolidated School Corporation
Jay School Corporation
Southeast Fountain School Corporation
Hanover Community School Corporation
River Forest Community School Corporation
South Newton School Corporation
Southwestern Consolidated Schools Shelby County
Cannelton City Schools
East Gibson Community Schools
Greencastle Community School Corporation
Cloverdale Community Schools
Dr. Robert H Faulkner Academy
Vincennes Community School Corporation
MSD of North Posey County Schools
Shelbyville Central Schools
Crawfordsville Community Schools
Crawford County Community School Corporation
Lake Ridge Schools
Brownstown Central Community School Corporation
Zionsville Community Schools
South Montgomery Community School Corporation
Rochester Community School Corporation
West Noble School Corporation
Cass Township Schools
Bloomfield School District
Northeast Dubois County School Corporation
North Knox School Corporation
Northeastern Wayne School Corporation
North Newton School Corporation
Monroe-Gregg School District
Whitley County Consolidated Schools
Taylor Community School Corporation
South Knox School Corporation
Twin Lakes School Corporation
Scott County District 2
Medora Community School Corporation
Cowan Community School Corporation
Indiana School for the Blind & Visually Impaired
Salem Community Schools
Union School Corporation
Milan Community Schools
Mitchell Community Schools
MSD of Martinsville Schools
Tri-County School Corporation
C A Bear Memorial School Corporation
Benton Community School Corporation
North Putnam Community School Corporation
North Daviess Community Schools
New Prairie United School Corporation
Delaware Community School Corporation
MSD Southwest Allen County
Community Schools of Frankfort
MSD of Shakamak Schools
Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson United School Corporation
Greater Jasper Consolidated Schools
North Spencer County Community School Corporation
Frontier School Corporation
White River Valley School District
East Washington School Corporation
MSD Washington Township
Pike County School Corporation
Triton School Corporation
Western Boone School Corporation
Washington Community Schools
New Community School
Northwestern School Corporation
South Putnam School Corporation
Richmond Community Schools
North Harrison Community Schools
Lawrenceburg Community School Corporation
Southwest Parke Community School Corporation
Lanesville Community School Corporation
Eastern Greene Schools
Greenfield Central School Corporation
Tippecanoe School Corporation
Kankakee Valley School Corporation
Lebanon Community School Corporation
Center Grove Community School Corporation
West Clark Community Schools
Union County College Corner Joint School District
New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated Schools
Madison Consolidated Schools
South Spencer County School Corporation
Clinton Central School Corporation
Carmel Clay Schools
MSD of Lawrence

     A teachers union grievance filed in Jasper over two extra work days scheduled for the 2010-11 school year is further evidence of the ISTA’s unwillingness to help schools get through the education funding crisis.

     The Jasper Classroom Teachers Association, a local subsidiary of the ISTA, balked when the school board adopted a calendar last month that requires teachers to work the full 183 days that their salary is based on.

     Teachers in Jasper have traditionally worked only 181 of the 183 days called for in their collective bargaining agreement, JCTA President Nikki Roberts told the Washington Times-Herald.  And the union obviously wants to keep it that way.

     Last month the union issued a letter of protest over the new school calendar to Jasper Superintendent Jerrill Vandeventen, then filed formal grievance paperwork.  The union is currently trying to arrange a hearing on the matter in front of the school board.

     By our calculations, it costs the corporation at least $50,000 to employ teachers for the two days. That might not be much in the pricey world of school finance, but every penny counts in the wake of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ announcement that $300 million in state school aid is about to be eliminated.

     School board President Nancy Habig told the Times-Herald that the corporation simply can’t justify paying teachers for days they don’t work, particularly in the face of the impending budget cuts.

     It’s difficult to refute Habig’s common-sense argument, yet the ISTA is giving it a shot.

     We dug for a reason behind the union’s gripe and this is the best we could find: Teachers were not required to work the two days in the past, so they shouldn’t have to now. Weak.

     We think it’s sad that the ISTA remains so detached from the financial realities hitting Indiana’s school corporations. The sooner the union catches on the better.

     In the meantime, fleecing a school corporation for money that teachers aren’t entitled to is a serious step in the wrong direction.

     We at the Education Action Group Foundation found it interesting that Journal Gazette writer Karen Francisco made such nasty comments about us in her Jan. 7 blog.

     Ms. Francisco never attempted to contact us prior to publication. She was obviously not interested in reporting both sides of the story.

     If Ms. Francisco wants to enlighten her readers about an organization, she should do a bit more than a quick Google search. By attacking without researching, she left the distinct impression that she’s an automatic ISTA apologist camouflaged in reporter clothing.

     We’re wondering if Ms. Francisco has written nasty blogs about the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Indiana Secretary of State’s office. Those agencies are currently investigating ISTA for possible criminal activities. Does that make them “union bashers, pure and simple,” just like us?

     Here’s the part of the story Ms. Francisco didn’t write.

     The Education Action Group Foundation is a small non-profit organization based in Muskegon, Michigan. For the past 2 ½ years, we have turned the spotlight on the negative agenda and nasty tactics of the Michigan Education Association, one of the most politically powerful teachers unions in the nation.

     With a staff of three, working on a shoestring budget, we brought attention to the MEA’s habit of ripping off schools through its own insurance company, starting ugly recall campaigns against honest school board members who don’t vote the union way, paying numerous  top union executives six figures while running up a $124 million debt, and shamelessly trying to block Michigan’s “Race to the Top” education reform effort.

     None of these issues were investigated by the media until we publicized them. Now our work is regularly reported by newspapers and other media outlets across Michigan.

     We’ve worked hard and received a lot of positive feedback from taxpayers, including many school employees who belong to the MEA. Last year several prominent Indiana residents, interested in reforming public education, asked us if we would replicate our work in the Hoosier state. We happily agreed, and we’re just getting started.

     We are dedicated to helping public schools improve, so they can adequately prepare youngsters for the challenges of the new century. That forces us to confront teachers unions, which automatically oppose any reform proposal that might bring accountability to the classroom.

     In that respect, we’re really doing nothing more than President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are doing with their “Race to the Top” initiative.

     In her blog, Ms. Francisco mentioned that we do not identify our private donors. We have that policy because teachers unions are notorious for trying to intimidate political opponents  – even going so far as leaving animal carcasses in mailboxes – and we refuse to expose our donors to such abuse.

     Besides, if the information we provide the public is true, does it matter who we are, where we’re from or who our sponsors happen to be?

     Ms. Francisco also suggested that we’re preparing to “smear” Indiana teachers with “innuendo.”  We have never attacked, or even mentioned, any individual teachers in good standing. We know Michigan has thousands of terrific teachers, and we’re sure Indiana can say the same.

     The problem is with their corrupt and unscrupulous unions. We want to help free teachers from these organizations of ill repute, so they can be the true individual professionals they were trained to be.

     Ms. Francisco should be aware that she’s not heard the end of us. We’re learning more about ISTA every day, and we’re going to do our best to help Indiana residents better understand the self-serving, anti-reform agenda of their state’s teachers union.

     Indiana schools could become safer through proposed legislation that targets loopholes that allow problematic teachers to remain in the classroom.

     The legislation, expected to be introduced in coming weeks, likely will require school corporations to disclose past problems during reference checks, and eliminate the practice of keeping incomplete personnel files that leave new employers in the dark.

     Unfortunately, leaders of the Indiana State Teachers Association seem more concerned about what the changes might mean for existing labor contracts than they are for the safety of Indiana school children.

     “ISTA has always supported having teachers that are convicted of misconduct removed from students,” ISTA President Nate Schnellenberger told the Indy Star. “But we probably would have issues if it is overriding local agreements.”

     Of course you would, Nate. Considering your union’s ugly legacy of defending the worst, we would expect no less.

     But the issue here isn’t convicted criminals. It’s the bad apples that slip through the system, only to move on to abuse other kids in different schools, which is sometimes made possible by the very union contracts that Schnellenberger  is so worried about.

     For example:

     Perry Township school officials were under no obligation to notify the state when colleagues reported that teacher Thomas E. Cripe struck a mentally disabled student in the face on several occasions in 2008. Nor was the state aware of prior, similar allegations against Cripe.

     Because Cripe resigned and wasn’t fired, state law permitted the school corporation to keep records of the incidents from the public and future employers, according to the Star.

     This is one of many troubling examples.

     Last year, Indiana adopted more stringent rules for handling educator misconduct, and if the number of licenses revoked is any indication, it was an improvement.

     But more can and should be done.

     Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, state Rep. Brian Bosma and Sen. James Merritt believe school corporations should fully disclose disciplinary records, keep reports of misconduct in a teacher’s permanent file, suspend teachers without pay when there is evidence of misconduct, report misconduct to the state whether or not it plans to fire the teacher, and impose penalties for administrators who don’t report educator misconduct.

     Many of these measures already exist in other states and are necessary for the welfare of Indiana’s children. That message seems to be lost on union leadership that’s still hell bent on protecting the rotten apples.