School choice measure passes Indiana House
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett discusses the merits of education reform legislation during a March 30 school choice rally at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis. Bennett is surrounded by charter school students from across the state. (Photos by Charles J. Schisla)
By Brigid Curtis Ayer
“School choice now! School choice now! School choice now!”
This chant, which echoed throughout the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, was generated by a crowd estimated at 800 people—some of whom were school children—during a March 30 rally.
Hours after the gathering, House lawmakers passed the school scholarship bill, House Bill 1003, by a 56-42 vote, which allows eligible families to use public dollars to attend a private school of their choice. The Indiana Catholic Conference supports the bill.
During his address to participants at the rally, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said, “In all the time I spent coaching basketball, I have never enjoyed this time of year as much as I am enjoying this year when we turn around education.
“Frequently, when I travel around the state I get this question,” Bennett said. “ ‘Tony Bennett, you are the superintendent of public instruction. Why do you support charter schools, private schools [and] home schools if you are the superintendent of public schools?’
“I want you to have this answer galvanized in your heart,” Bennett said. “I want you to look at the children standing all around me, and all the children standing up above in the balcony and all around you in this room. Ladies and gentleman, my public is these children. Your public is these children. Our future is these children.”
Speaker of the House Brian Bosma,
R-Indianapolis, said, “This is about our constitutional obligation to give every student the most educational opportunities that they can receive. This legislation is about options. We are going to see it though until the job is done.”
Sen. Earline Rodgers, D-Gary, agreed.
“As a former teacher, I can never get away from asking questions,” Rodgers said, “What takes time, pressure and heat?”
The crowd responded, “A diamond.”
Rodgers then drew an analogy between a diamond and charter schools.
“It will take time, pressure and heat for charter schools to show their beauty,” she said. “There’s a lot of pressure for schools to achieve. I think that they [charter schools] can withstand the pressure and heat, and contribute to the development of children so that they can compete in the global economy.”
Michelle Rhee, the former chancellor of public schools in Washington, D.C., also attended the rally.
“We have the opportunity in Indiana today for this state to be leading the charge for education reform. We cannot make this issue about partisan politics,” she said. “We have a Republican governor and a Democrat president who support school choice. I’m a Democrat.”
Rhee, who is the founder and chief executive officer of Students First, an education reform advocacy group, said she was not a supporter of school choice until she was responsible for 25,000 students in the Washington, D.C., school system.
The former chancellor said she had mothers coming to her every day asking for a choice.
“I was sending my own children to a private school because I could,” she said.
But for those who could not afford it, Rhee said, “Who am I, as chancellor of public schools, to deny these children a $7,500 voucher so they could go to the school of their choice? I could not look these mothers and their children in the eye and tell them, ‘Give it five years for the school to improve.’
“Children can’t vote or contribute to campaigns so they are voiceless,” Rhee said.
She said that when these Indiana lawmakers take heat back in their districts for going against the status quo of the education establishment, they should remember they are representing “the next generation of constituents and voters.”
Gov. Mitch Daniels addressed the crowd on a big-screen television.
“We have a tremendous opportunity to move public education forward,” the governor said. “We want to ensure a top quality teacher in every classroom. We want to increase the number of charter schools that are bringing great innovations to the classroom. We want to move in and turn around schools that are the worst performing.
“I want to thank you so profoundly for coming to show your support for our kids and their futures. The special interest groups who oppose any change of any kind do not represent, thank goodness, the majority of Hoosiers, and they certainly do not represent the interests of children.”
Sen. David C. Long, R-Fort Wayne, noted the striking difference between this rally and previous rallies this year.
“It’s so nice to see a crowd ‘for something’ rather than ‘against everything,’ ” he said.
“Good education is the key to success. The goal of the education reform legislation is to give our kids the educational opportunities that each of our kids need,” said Long, who is the president pro tempore of the Senate. “Tell your neighbors that the education reform work we are doing here is very important. It is not against public teachers, but for giving children the best educational fit for them.”
House Bill 1003 now moves to the Senate for further consideration.
(Brigid Curtis Ayer is a correspondent for The Criterion. For more information on the Indiana Catholic Conference and an update of the status of its priority bills, log on to its website at www.indianacc.org.) †
