As Indiana’s legislative session gets underway, there is (as usual) plenty to criticize. (Senate Bill 100 –which ThinkProgress has dubbed “The most anti-LGBT LGBT Rights Bill Ever”–probably tops the list. See their analysis of the bill or Doug Masson’s if you want to understand why), but it’s certainly not the only item on that list.
In the interests of balance, however, it’s worth noting that the news is not all negative.
Speaker Brian Bosma has introduced a really good bill, one that will actually support public education in Indiana. (Given the beating that public education has taken at the hands of Indiana’s Administration and legislature the past few years, this is a really positive change.)
The idea is to incentivize young people to go into education; the Next Generation Hoosier Educator Scholarship program promises to give Indiana’s top high school students an opportunity to earn a full scholarship to any accredited in-state school of education, so long as they spend five years teaching in an Indiana classroom after graduation.
The five-year commitment is based upon research suggesting that, after five years, a new teacher is “hooked”–likely to remain in the profession for the long haul.
Although it is very early in the process, the indications are that the bill–or at least the general approach–enjoys widespread, bipartisan support.
Wouldn’t it be great if the upcoming session of the General Assembly turned out to be one in which Republican and Democratic lawmakers worked together on this and other measures to address the actual problems Indiana faces, rather than yet another iteration of the culture wars that have dominated past sessions? (Just the thought makes me tingly all over…)
Good for you, Speaker Bosma!
Now, can you bury S.B. 100? Somewhere deep?
Pete:
Your 1:57 is literally a stupid response. Your shopworn demand for “evidence?” is shrill and annoying. You could do a comedy skit as an annoying guy in the office. One guy says to another “I read that article about Manning in the Post.” You then pop up out of nowhere and say “Evidence!?”
If you live in America, you can look up your public employee salaries and get the “Evidence!!!!” that’s public record and well known.
As we have no idea where you live, we can’t provide you with the link you could get off Google in a few seconds.
Do you live in America? By America, I mean the USA.
Nancy, I didn’t attack you personally at all. I disagreed with some of your ideas. In fact, you did attack me but I never take such things personally so have at it if it makes you feel better.
The starting salaries for teachers where we live in NY are 2X Indiana’s, so Gopper is right, it’s hard to relate to Indiana’s problem.
It would be great if everything we all buy was cheaper and our income was higher. And fossil fuels didn’t create global warming and ISIS was into playing soccer and not terrorism.
Whining about any and all of those may or may not be cathartic but it never changes a thing.
Gopper, you’re a conservative so nobody ever expects solutions or evidence from you.
I don’t know about Nancy’s politics. Expecting evidence and solutions from her may well be reasonable.
Pete, give it up. It’s old. It’s tired.
I provide a ceaseless train of new directions and solutions to problems, and you respond with the sophomoric “evidence!?” and “solutions.” It’s a cheap trick and a pathetic game you’re playing.
Everyone is onto it.
You’re the one who makes empty ethereal ramblings.
Gopper, I keep asking and you keep ignoring: what do conservatives even stand for? You offer no solutions, only empty whining. I don’t see that ever changing.
Sheila, it’s certainly time for Bosma to do something good for the people. ( Although I wouldn’t be surprised if by the time it got out of committee it included a ban on PP in Indiana.)