V20, N12 Thursday Oct. 23, 2014 Bosma makes ethics judgment call House Speaker will seek more financial Speaker disclosure, backs prescribed Brian Bosma meth ingredients, a new discusses ethics, education funding formula educa- tion and By BRIAN A. HOWEY budget INDIANAPOLIS – While House Speaker Brian priorities Bosma is calling for expanded financial disclosure rules when he in the wake of the conflict of interest surrounding State met with Rep. Eric Turner, he had a blunt message for all legisla- HPI on tors during a Howey Politics Monday. Indiana interview on Monday. (HPI “Everyone has con- Photo by flicts,” Bosma said. “That Brian A. comes with both a parttime Howey) and fulltime legislature. We have to have elected officials to have the good judgment about when they should not that matter. Just not voting on it isn’t enough. If you’re be involved in a decision. We rely on good judgment with not voting behind the scene in a reduction of a license or that regard. We apparently need to institutionalize some a change in school standards for teachers that results in a good judgment as well.” substantial profit to you personally in a business deal, run Bosma continued, “A legislator with a substantial and personal interest in a matter shouldn’t be involved Continued on page 3 in public or private advocacy at the General Assembly on Pre-K and accountability By DAVE KITCHELL LOGANSPORT – We may never know the reasons why Gov. Mike Pence pulled the plug on an application for $80 million in funding. What we do know is that Indiana and one other state were reportedly positioned “Liberal media bias is alive and to receive the funding for pre-kin- dergarten programs in the state. well in Indiana. But I still have It may not go down as a political confidence in my voters, many of setback for Pence or the Indiana General Assembly, but it certainly whom like the media less than I will go down as a setback for education. do.” There’s been great debate - State Sen. Mike Delph, in this country about how we all need to get children prepared to tweeting after refusing to learn when they enter school for talk to WTHR-TV the first time. But this latest set- Page 2 back for pre-kindergarten funding in be prepared to enter school. But while the state is like what Mark Twain once all children are afforded a chance to said about the weather: “Everybody go to school, not all at-risk children always talks about it, but nobody ever are afforded a chance to be in Head does anything about it.” Start classrooms. We may not be able to Why is this so alarming? do anything about the weather, but The answer is that when can’t somebody do something about President Johnson’s “Great Society” pre-kindergarten funding. This is not programs were rolled out as an at- a Republican-only problem. Both par- tack in the “war on poverty,” much is a non-partisan newslet- ties can share equally in failing at-risk of the perception then was that the ter based in Indianapolis and children at the earliest levels. programs would help the poor in Nashville, Ind. It was founded I can only speculate that the South and in major metropolitan in 1994 in Fort Wayne. the reason the state took a pass on areas. But since then, poverty has funding this time is that it may have steadily inched, despite some fits and It is published by provided federal funding in the short- starts, higher. That means there are WWWHowey Media, LLC term, but would have stuck Indiana more at-risk children who can use a 405 Massachusetts Ave., with the bill in the long-term picture. head start and a Head Start class- Suite 300 Indianapolis, IN If that’s the case, then there are those room, but not enough commitment 46204 somewhere who are asking whether from the federal government. Today, it’s more prudent to invest in children Head Start programs are needed as or to invest in more remediation, more much in places like rural Indiana as Brian A. Howey, Publisher prisons, more unemployment funds anywhere else. Yet the educational Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington and more welfare and public assis- focus is on later years when children Jack E. Howey, Editor tance programs later. take standardized tests and schools Mary Lou Howey, Editor There’s a much-used saying are graded on various criteria, includ- that goes like this: “Give a man a fish, ing graduation rates. Maureen Hayden, Statehouse and he eats for a day. Teach a man to Lost in this debate is the Matthew Butler, Daily Wire fish and he eats for a lifetime.” whole idea of cause and effect and In one respect, the same why American students pale in com- Subscriptions can be said for pre-kindergarten parison to those in other industrialized HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 programs, particularly with regard to nations. It’s sad to say that we prob- reading. Read a story to a child then ably care more about beating other in- HPI Weekly, $350 and they’re happy for a day. Teach a dustrialized countries in the Olympics Ray Volpe, Account Manager child to read and read well and they’ll more than we care about just compet- 317.602.3620 have a lifetime of happiness. ing with them in the classroom, but email: [email protected] It may be somewhat altru- it’s probably true. istic, but the fact of the matter is that If state leaders from both the consensus of educational theory parties really want to do something to Contact HPI is that children have to learn to read make 21st Century Hoosier students www.howeypolitics.com by the third grade. They learn to read the best and brightest they can be, [email protected] by the third grade, but from that point fully funding Head Start for all at- Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 forward, they read to learn. That’s risk children at the minimum would Washington: 202.256.5822 why third grade reading scores are go a long way to making this state such an important numbers game. the state of enlightenment that the Business Office: 317.602.3620 It’s also important to note that Indiana state flag was designed to when children go hungry in this coun- inspire. That may not fully fund pre- © 2014, Howey Politics Indiana. try, there is federal money available kindergarten programs, but thousands All rights reserved. Photocopy- to feed them. But when children are of parents, including me, have already ing, Internet forwarding, fax- starved for learning the basics they sent their children to pre-schools. For need, the money isn’t there. some parents and families, pre-school ing or reproducing in any form, This is particularly alarming is a luxury, but for others, it’s really a whole or part, is a violation of when you consider the waiting list for necessity. federal law without permission Indiana Head Start programs. Since its Whether anyone will really do from the publisher. inception in the mid-1960s, Head Start anything about it this time remains to has helped pre-school at-risk children be seen. v Page 3 Bosma: It usually happens a week after the ses- Bosma, from page 1 sion. I look at staff and say, “Now we have to start work- ing on next session’s agenda.” They are always polite, but away.” I’m sure eyes roll and they say, “The Boss is on it again.” I His remarks on the Turner situation were just part literally start thinking about it just as soon as the General of the conversation centered around the House Republican Assembly ends. I consider what’s next. We’ve got through agenda last week which addressed the biennial budget, a variety of iterations on how we get there. We’ve had a education funding, ethics and public safety. dozen of these under our belt. It usually starts with our Bosma called for a reworking of the school funding staff. They are policy oriented. We talk about what the big formula after rural and suburban school corporations found issues are, what the big problems are. We start with prob- per-student funding either static or dropping. lems, and then we start working on solutions or policies. He said he would personally support legal meth- We vet both the problems and the proposed solutions with amphetamine ingredients to be our leadership team and hone prescribed by doctors. the list down. My team knows And he expressed I don’t like more than five. surprise at Gov. Mike Pence’s Sometimes it’s been three. We decision to reject $80 million always send a short question- in Pre-K funding, saying at one naire to our caucus members point, “I’m not certain I would during the summer and I ask have made the same decision. them what the three biggest Our team has advocated pre- issues are for the General school funding for a number of Assembly, and the three big- sessions.” gest ones for them person- In an hour-long con- ally. Eventually we’ll take it to versation with Howey Politics caucus. The caucus will see it Indiana’s Brian Howey and and have the opportunity to Matthew Butler, Bosma added comment on it. We usually see that he will make revamping recurring themes, whether it’s the school funding formula a right to work, budget issues, priority.