"The Official Portrait of Miss InDiana"

"The Official Portrait of Miss InDiana"
aka "Miss Victory"

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

State Rep. Candidate Ed Angleton and HFFT recommend "VOTE NO" to IPS referendum

Ed Angleton is our endorsed candidate for State Representative District 100. He is a former democrat and is a Lilly scientist. He lives downtown in Cottage Home, which is a small neighborhood just east of Lockerbie neighorhood. He's VERY involved in his community and volunteers countless hours already. He knows the problems and has solutions. And right now Ed is hopping mad about the the IPS school referendum which has the nerve to ask us to borrow MORE money from the bond banks (which causes higher property tax) for the failing IPS.

Angleton recommends that we vote "NO" to the Indianapolis Public Schools referendum.

IPS is one of the worst performing schools in the country. We're right up there with Detroit, whose mayor recently was sentenced to prison. Its failure to perform leaves property owners in the IPS district, who are coughing up 52% of their property tax bills already to pay for our wretched and embarassing public schools, to pay tuitition to send our children to private schools.

IPS has some nerve to ask for more money. This time for air conditioning. Well guess what? I can read, write, do math, effectively engage my government for reform, and I went to public schools without air conditioning. During the 1970's energy crisis we had to wear gloves to class in the winter to stay warm all day. I learned and graduated. Go figure.

My former public school teacher, Miss Hinkle, started the Bright Star School in Kenya. Those kids BEG to go to school, for they value education and see that it is their only chance to get ahead. That's because they aren't living fat off entitlement programs that reward failure.

Miss Hinkle's Kenyan kids learn in sweltering heat without air conditioning and with barely enough supplies. Trust me, buying IPS building improvements is not going to cause IPS graduation rates to rise. And THAT is what taxpayers want for their money...educated children who don't fail and who graduate!

But for few exceptions, IPS is an expensive failure. It needs to be dismantled, not given more money.

There are unused schools in Washington township right now that have air conditioning. And there are citizens that want to move some of those kids in the IPS tax district to Washington Township so they can go to those schools instead. Unlike IPS, Washington Township excels at teaching, graduates most of its students and can use those closed schools with air conditioning.

Property owners and parents need to be lobbying to get IPS kids moved into these unused schools in Washington Township instead of asking to borrow more money from the bond banks to throw at a failure that shows no sign of improvement.

And as an aside, one of my best friends sends her daughter to the new Herron High School and is raving about it. It is not a fancy school at all, but the education her daughter receives is tremendous and her daughter loves it. Herron High School, located on 16th street and Talbott, is not an IPS school. It is one of our charter schools.

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