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Elsie Corrine Smith
(Obituary ~ 02/26/11)
Elsie Corrine Smith, 76, of Bloomfield, passed away at 8:00 a.m. Saturday, February 26, 2011 at Greene County General Hospital. Born January 25, 1935 in Greene County, she was the daughter of Homer Frederick and Lena Ray (Flynn) Pilk. She was a homemaker and a member of the Bloomfield First Christian Church...
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William "Bill" Long
(Obituary ~ 02/26/11)
William Willian "Bill" Long, 77, of Dugger, passed away at 12:15AM Saturday February 26, 2011 at Miller's Merry Manor in Sullivan. He was born in Clay Co., Indiana April 13, 1933 the son, of William Long and Cornelia Willian Long. William was Army Veteran, retired from Crane Ammo Depot, a member of the Dugger American Legion and the Church of Christ in Dugger...
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Students back teachers in educational rally Saturday
(Local News ~ 02/26/11)
Several Greene County students got a firsthand lesson in lobbying for change Saturday, speaking in support of teachers who question whether educational reforms could harm Indiana schools. During the noontime rally on the county courthouse's northern steps, White River Valley senior Sara Wines, 18, addressed the crowd...
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Ubelhor, teachers trade words over proposed educational reforms
(Local News ~ 02/26/11)
BLOOMFIELD -- Linton-Stockton Elementary School special needs teacher Leslie Cooprider had a simple challenge for District 64 State Rep. Matt Ubelhor on Saturday: Come see her classroom. "I'd like to see you, Monday morning, in my classroom," said Cooprider, who's taught for five years. "I want you to see what I do."...
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Panthers defeat Bulldogs in regular-season finale
(High School Sports ~ 02/26/11)
In the final game of the regular season for both teams, host Riverton Parke defeated Union (Dugger) 75-41 in a non-conference high school boys basketball game at Mecca Saturday night. The Bulldogs, who fell behind 17-7 after the opening eight minutes and 36-15 at the half, slipped to 3-18...
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UPDATED with video: County educators rally to protest proposed education reform laws
(Local News ~ 02/26/11)
Around 250 gathered on the Greene County Courthouse on Saturday to protest what they believe is radical education reform that will harm Indiana schools. They also hoped to educate the citizenry about some predicted effects of the proposed new laws. "I'm sure a lot of people don't understand what these could mean," said Bloomfield teacher David Harshman. "We need our parents involved, we need everyone involved. This has an impact on all of us." The crowd, composed of teachers, administrators, students and supporters, brandished signs reading "I love my school" and "My students are my special interest." Attendees listened to an hour of speeches, talk often punctuated by honking horns from passing cars and trucks in a show of support. While the demonstration was organized by Bloomfield Teachers Association President Ben Helms, speakers ultimately encompassed all five Greene County school corporations. "It's nice to see we can all come together for something besides basketball," Helms said, then asked "Why are we here?" A chant of "Save our schools" often repeated through the day, rose up in response. Ultimately, protesters hope the message will inform the community about the bills, and convince more people to contact their lawmakers opposing an array of proposed changes which have sharply divided the General Assembly. While Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels has found support for an array of educational legislation among the GOP lawmakers who are the majority in both houses, the measures have proven so divisive Democrat legislators left the session, caucusing in Illinois in an effort to halt the bills' passage. Locally, educators fear the effects many believe lawmakers haven't accounted for yet, including House Bill 1002, allowing expansion of charter schools. Bloomfield Superintendent Dan Sichting repeated the concerns he'd stated to his school board about the potential costs schools already strapped for funding could face. Listing a long list of school successes where Indiana leads the nation in academic successes, Sichting said those lawmakers who seek to cut public school funding have misrepresented its achievements, noting Indiana has, in the past two decades, increased graduation rates, SAT and ACT scores, and honors diplomas well above the national average. That includes an overall graduation rate of 81 percent and an attendance rate averaging 96.1 percent in 2008. "We don't see that we're failing. We don't see a decline, " he said. "They shouldn't use public education as a scapegoat." Proposed laws include new regulations which, while establishing charter schools, order public schools to either transport charter school students residing in their district to those schools, or else give those students a percentage of transportation costs. "Students living in the Eastern Greene or Bloomfield School Districts would have to be transported to Jasonville, or by the same token, students living in Linton or Jasonville could have to be transported to a charter school in Little Cincinnati." Should that occur, Sichting said school systems may have little choice but to cover those transport costs in a budget already strained by increasing fuel prices which are nearing $4 per gallon, or else reduce bus routes. That means more students walk to school, or else rely more on parents to transport the kids. "What do you think that will do for attendance rates?" The fiscal analysis legislators have done also doesn't account for many home-schooled students who could re-enter public, private or charter schools, Sichting said. Another worry educators expressed about charter schools stems from House Bill 102, which would allow charter schools to expand while imposing differing standards for educators in those schools. Only half of a charter school's teachers, for example, would need to be licensed, a standard all public school teachers must meet. The charter schools can also fail to meet state standards for three years while operating for a profit, while public schools which fail to meet state standards could come under state control. That, said Eastern Greene Teachers Association President Jeff Goodwin, means sacrificing local control of a public school system 190 years old, which began with oversight by the township trustees whom Daniels also seeks to eliminate. "Public schools are the bedrock of democracy," Goodwin said. "Why are we letting our elected officials try to destroy it?" The new measures, proposed by first-term Indiana Education Superintendent Tony Bennett, also strike some teachers as a conflict of interest. Many noted Bennett's wife Tina Bennett was school improvement and new schools development consultant for the Indiana Public Charter Schools Association until her resignation last week amid the controversy. Had charter schools progressed and expanded, Tina Bennett's work would have, too. Merit-based pay, with 51 percent of a teacher's evaluation based upon student performance on the ISTEP tests, also concern educators, as do proposed caps on teachers' maximum salaries. That, educators say, makes a master's degree and decades of experience essentially worthless, eliminating pay for seasoned teachers. "Something to consider: It costs around $50,000 or more each year for the state to keep a prisoner," said Marsha Bedwell, a first-grade teacher at Lyons Elementary School. "What the state would pay for a prisoner is more than what the state wants to make the maximum teacher's salary -- $40,000 -- per year. Who's worth more?' Speakers also said the next step beyond Saturday's rally is encouraging everyone to learn about the bills, and contact their lawmakers, encouraging them to vote down the changes. "I ask you all to analyze the impact this will have on your sons, your daughters, your grandsons and granddaughters," Sichting said. "I hope that any changes we see made don't result in a generation of lost children."
Stories from Saturday, February 26, 2011
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