Right up until the last few days before the election, I expected the biggest issue for Hoosier voters to be the choice of our next U.S. senator. Boy, was I wrong!
State Superintendent Tony Bennett’s definitive loss to Glenda Ritz completely surprised me and a lot of other voters. For me, the surprise was a pleasant one. I have made no secret of my dissatisfaction with Dr. Bennett, and I have written several columns opposing his attempts to change our schools — both public and nonpublic.
Storm clouds are appearing over the capitol, and a long, drawn-out struggle is a distinct possibility.
I have never met Glenda Ritz, but I have read her campaign literature, and I did vote for her. It seems obvious that most Indiana educators and a lot of other Hoosiers did too. However, Gov.-elect Pence and other Republican leaders are already minimizing the significance of her election.
When they insist that Bennett’s changes are absolute, that the State Board of Education can obstruct Ritz, and that they might remove the superintendent’s position from the ballot, a battle looms on the horizon.
I plan to discuss the coming conflict in future columns. Yet, conflict is not inevitable. Charles Layne asked some very good questions in his letter to the Kokomo Tribune Nov. 14. Even its title is one of them. “What’s wrong with being able to read?” cuts right to the heart of the matter.
Before anybody marches into the fray, Mr. Layne’s questions deserve to be answered. “What’s wrong with being able to read?” Absolutely nothing! The importance of literacy is one of the few things that Hoosiers of every political persuasion can agree to.
“Is there a need for more illiteracy?” Of course not! The ability to read was always important, and it became indispensible long ago.
The knowledge and skills that we need to thrive now and in the future keep changing. We must change with them if we want to remain employed. Some employers offer retraining on-site. Others depend on institutions like Ivy Tech to retrain their work force. And the unemployed have the greatest need of all to keep learning.
Unfortunately, many people who teach adults know what to teach but not how to teach it. Much of what adults need to learn they must teach themselves. They can’t teach themselves if they can’t read.
Employers want results, (usually money). Workers who can’t produce those results don’t last long.
“Is it improper to ensure that third-graders demonstrate that they know how to read in order to progress in the public school system?” It depends on how we try to ensure it. I don’t think retaining a third-grader because of a poor test score ensures anything except disaster. To do that to an 8- or 9-year-old child can be devastating, traumatic and downright cruel!
As Margaret Brown stated in her letter to the Kokomo Tribune Nov. 23, the final decision about retaining a child belongs to the parents. I think it should belong to them. Many elementary schools are like small towns where everybody knows everybody else’s business! A child who repeats a grade must often endure the teasing and ridicule of other students. Does that encourage or discourage the child?
Merely repeating the third-grade learning experiences is simply redoing what didn’t work before. Allow the child to go on to fourth grade, but provide intensified remediation using fresh, new (and different!) learning experiences.
Mark Heinig Jr. of Kokomo is a retired Indiana teacher and principal. Contact him at markjr1708@gmail.com.
Opinion
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One exam shouldn’t determine 3rd-grade redo
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May 18, 2013: Cheers & Jeers
Commissioner earns respect of inmates
Kyle Stacy sends this Cheer for Howard County Commissioner Paul Wyman:
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House of Burgess: The revolution will be printed
Another major milestone in the history of 3D printing was reached earlier this month when Cody Wilson, director of the nonprofit Defense Distributed, announced he had conducted the first-ever successful test firing of a completely 3D-printed gun in (where else?) Texas. Wilson then uploaded the plans online. These files were then downloaded over 100,000 times over the next 48 hours. That was, until the State Department intervened.
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Hayden: From good to great in education
On the campaign trail last year and early into his administration, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said repeatedly that his goal as governor would be to take Indiana from “good to great.”
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Mom’s simple advice still presents a valuable challenge
Most moms don’t base their advice on scientific research. Instead, their words of wisdom come from a greater source — the heart, where they store and process life experiences. Unfortunately, some folks don’t receive the gift of maternal guidance, for various reasons.
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Wolfsie: Making bird calls
One afternoon in 2011, my friend Eric spent a couple of hours over lunch explaining Twitter to me and I thought I understood it all, but as you’ll see from my first few tweets, I wasn’t very confident: “Is anyone getting this?”
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Letter to the Editor: May 13, 2013
Good people wouldn’t do this to their neighbors. This common refrain is being heard over eastern Howard County where industrial development is planned for our farmland in the form of massive wind turbines.
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Vasicek: Mother’s Day stresses
For two hours, the lady sitting next to another airplane passenger boasted about her grandchildren, producing a barrage of photographs. She finally realized that she had been talking the whole time, so she tried to make amends:
“Oh, I am sorry! I have monopolized the conversation. I will listen to you now. So please tell me: what do you think of my grandchildren?” -
Letters to the Editor: May 12, 2013
How fortunate, that after years of trying to bring top-notch wind energy companies to Tipton County, this great choice is here for us — just at the right time. Tipton County badly needs the revenue from clean wind farm companies.
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Cheers & Jeers: May 12, 2013
“A big cheer goes out to Kokomo for those who parked along the route to cheer on the bikes and to the riders who participated in the 11th Annual Ride For The Troops on Sunday, April 28. Despite the rain, we had a excellent turnout of 457 bikes!"
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Day: Sports as I see it
Most of us have times when we want to vent our anger about things that happen for no good reason whatsoever and there are some who just don’t give a darn about what changes we have each day. Take me for example. There are things going on every year in sports where we are the ones who buy the tickets, yet we have no say about what’s happening
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May 18, 2013: Cheers & Jeers
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