V20, N25 Thursday, March 12, 2015 Rogers sizes up Indy terror targets Former House Intel chairman says U.S. in for a long slog vs. ISIS, China cyber attacks By BRIAN A. HOWEY And MATTHEW BUTLER INDIANAPOLIS – On the February day President Obama spoke at Ivy Tech, a Bosnian man was arrested on the Ronald Reagan Park- way in Plainfield and detained on terror-related charges of funneling money and guns to ISIS fighters in the Middle East. Last weekend, ISIS al- legedly hacked into several Indianapolis websites, prompting a Homeland Security investigation. And Internet hackers in China exposed the personal information of 80 million Americans when Anthem servers were encroached. Mike Rogers, former U.S. House Intel- ligence Committee chairman, said in an exclusive interview with Howey Politics Indiana on Wednes- Former House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers at Loughmiller’s Pub with the day that Hoosiers are not immune to the war on famed “Kitchen Debate” photo featuring Nixon and Khrushchev. Rogers was in terror and could, in fact, end up on the front lines. Indianapolis meeting with state and elected officials on terrorism in the U.S. and In a conversation at Loughmiller’s Pub under the huddled with Gov. Mike Pence at the Statehouse. (HPI Photo by Brian A. Howey) Continued on page 3 Crunching school formula By LARRY DeBOER WEST LAFAYETTE – The good folks at the Indiana Department of Education sent me some school finance numbers to play with. School finance is a big topic in the Indiana General Assembly this year, so this is a good time to do some number crunching. “I’m really sad. I was really Here’s number crunch one. In fiscal year 2015 – that’s hoping it was a Republican.” July 2014-June 2015 – the state - Sydney Leathers, the will distribute almost $6.6 billion to public school corporations and Southern Indiana woman charter schools. State aid was $6.2 billion in calendar year 2012 who outed State Rep. Justin (it was switched to fiscal years in Moed, exposing his sexual 2013), so that’s an increase of 5.1 percent in two and a half years. interests on TheDirty.com. Consumer price index inflation was about 3.4 percent Page 2 during that period, so there’s been a proposal this year continues in that small increase in what state aid can direction. The range in state aid from buy. Inflation is expected to be about top to bottom is smaller than it was. 2 percent per year during the next This is a tough issue for legislators. biennium. Will aid increase enough to Once total aid is established, add- match? The increase in state aid will ing aid to one school district means be one of the most closely watched subtracting aid from another. That can numbers in the debate over the next make for sharp debate. budget. And number crunch three. Now for number crunch There are 289 public school districts is a non-partisan newslet- two. There’s quite a range in per pupil and 76 charter schools on the Depart- ter based in Indianapolis and aid among the school districts. The 10 ment of Education’s list in 2015. The Nashville, Ind. It was founded highest districts average $7,940 per number of public school districts has in 1994 in Fort Wayne. pupil; the 10 lowest districts average decreased by two since 2012. Rock- $5,667. That’s a difference of $2,272. ville and Turkey Run consolidated their It is published by The range has narrowed though. Two finances into North Central Parke, and WWWHowey Media, LLC and a half years ago the difference North Posey absorbed the New Har- 405 Massachusetts Ave., between the 10 highest and 10 lowest mony district. The number of charter Suite 300 Indianapolis, IN was $2,494. schools has increased by 10 since 46204 Of the $6.6 billion total in 2012. Charter enrollment grew from 2015, $4.6 billion is basic tuition sup- 28,000 to 34,000. That’s 3.5 percent port, $1.2 billion is a complexity grant of total enrollment of 988,000. Public Brian A. Howey, Publisher and the remaining $830 million is dis- school enrollment has fallen by about Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington tributed for honors, special education, 10,000. Jack E. Howey, Editor vocational and full-day kindergarten Charters also receive 3.5 Mary Lou Howey, Editor grants. The school funding formula percent of total state aid, and that passed by the legislature in 2013 put amount is up from 3 percent in 2012, Maureen Hayden, Statehouse basic tuition support for fiscal 2015 at mostly because of the increase in Matthew Butler, Daily Wire $4,587 per pupil. More than half of all charter enrollment. Measured this Mark Curry, advertising districts get exactly that in basic aid. way, it appears that the share of The variations among dis- charters in total state aid is growing Subscriptions tricts are due mostly to the complex- slowly. Measured another way, the ity grant. This formula tries to take increase is more significant. Between HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 account of the extra cost of educat- 2012-2015, state aid increased by HPI Weekly, $350 ing children from less-advantaged $319 million. Of that amount, char- Ray Volpe, Account Manager families. Aid per pupil is scaled ters received $47 million, which is 317.602.3620 upward based on the number of kids 15 percent of the total increase. The email: [email protected] whose families qualify for free text- allocation of funds among public and books. charter schools will be another con- That’s the main reason why, tentious issue. Contact HPI for example, the Indianapolis, Cannel- How much more money will www.howeypolitics.com ton and East Chicago school districts the budget deliver to K-12 educa- [email protected] receive more state money per pupil, tion? Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 and the Carmel-Clay, Sunman-Dear- How will it be distributed born and Lake Central districts receive among rich and poor districts, grow- Washington: 202.256.5822 less. ing and declining districts, and rural, Business Office: 317.602.3620 How much more will dis- suburban, and urban districts? How tricts with many lower-income families much of the state aid total will charter © 2015, Howey Politics Indiana. receive per pupil? The answer is in schools receive? By the end of April All rights reserved. Photocopy- the details of the formula. Increase we’ll have the answer, and more num- the complexity grant relative to basic bers to crunch! v ing, Internet forwarding, fax- tuition support and the formula will tilt ing or reproducing in any form, more toward lower-income districts. DeBoer is professor of agricul- whole or part, is a violation of Increase tuition support and the for- tural economics at Purdue Uni- federal law without permission mula will tilt less. Lately it’s been tilt- versity. from the publisher. ing less, and the latest school formula Page 3 both Republicans and Democrats, both parties are hav- Terror, from page 1 ing this, ‘Let’s pull back from the world, it’s too hard and complicated.’ But because of that, nation states - Russian, famed photo of Vice President Nixon debating Soviet China, Iran - are going to step in to fill the void. That’s not leader Khrushchev, Rogers was asked if the Cold War now good for economic prosperity at home and it’s not good seemed like the good old days. “Now they can touch you for our national security. When ISIS can attack an arts with a keyboard from 5,000 miles away or call you on the center cyberwise in Indianapolis, when the Chinese send a phone and tell you to kill a guard at the Capitol building,” human spy here to steal Dow Agro secrets and send them the Michigan Republican said. back to China, Indianapolis should be as much engaged Aware of the ISIS website hacks in Indianapolis, as the state of Indiana on national security issues as any Rogers observed, “They did one of other states. They are not immune the art websites. They are looking for here. opportunities. If something caught “If we don’t get the their eye on the Internet, they’ll put it national security posture right, on their target list. Maybe there was then all the other stuff we’ll never an event, maybe something in the get right,” he continued. “It’s the press, maybe something drew their peace-through-strength message. eye, but something clearly allowed We’re trying to get the engage- them to get there. Once they were ment message through. It’s not there, they found an opportunity to military adventurism.” get beyond their firewall and take Just blocks from Lough- over the site. That’s a victory for miller’s, a huge NCAA bracket them. They can strike in the Midwest, adorns the eastern facade of the they can strike in New York, in Los JW Marriott Hotel and the Final Angeles. This is part of a true terror Four will be played two blocks campaign. That’s what makes them away. There are two stadiums, so dangerous.” critical fiber optic trunk lines, major Since leaving Congress in interstate and rail lines, and Lilly’s December, Rogers has formed the insulin manufacturing facility, all Americans for Peace, Prosperity and within a couple of square miles. Security organization that will brief For these reasons, Indiana offi- the 2016 Republican presidential cials must take seriously the terror candidates and voters designed to threats from abroad.