Legislative News

Previous Reports: Legislative Archive

Education wrap up:

The Indianapolis Star had eight-day series of editorials and sponsored a town hall meeting on the drop-out rate in our school system. Below is the final article summing up the series and May 24th public meeting.

It is, perhaps, time for a discussion of adequacy of education in Indiana and a new funding system. As I understand the State Constitution it requires the state to fund adequate public education.

We know that the two school systems with the highest Complexity Indexes are Indianapolis and Gary. (see the State's Complexity index below) This index is a contorted way of gaining extra funding for schools whose constituents are disadvantaged more than average.

Glance over the index and you will see it is meant to increase funding to schools which have:

1. Districts with a high number of non-high school graduates at age 25.
2. Districts with high numbers of students who qualify for the ‘free lunch' program.
3. Districts with high numbers of students who are limited in English proficiency.
4. Districts with high numbers of students who come from single parent households.
5. Districts with high numbers of students whose family income is below the poverty level.

The two school systems, Gary and Indianapolis, with the highest scores on the complexity index have seen their budgets cut over $17 and $20 million for next year. Looking at it from a economic viewpoint, I would think that we are almost certainly increasing the dropout rate through these cuts, as funding for ‘special needs' programs will be cut.

The frustration of the parents expressed in the Star article will only be more intense next year. Property Taxes cannot fund school systems when cities have a high percentage of land and buildings (for whatever reason) not paying property taxes. This fact is becoming a hardship on all school systems in older urban areas. You cannot increase property taxes enough to overcome for property not paying taxes in older urban areas.

New and expanding communities with high property values are building new modern schools using the same funding system.

This old funding mechanism does not work without the state elected officials taking responsibility for statewide adequacy of education. It's time to make the public discussion focus on ways to make funding our public school system more effective.

Sparks fly at dropout forum
Audience rails at education system they say penalizes minorities

By Staci Hupp staci.hupp@indystar.com

May 25, 2005

The Indianapolis Star put the state's high school dropout problem into words and pictures last week. On Tuesday, the faces of Indiana's dropout reality turned up at an emotional town hall meeting that drew about 200 people to Ben Davis High School.

The faces were those of mothers who are angry at an education system they say threw their sons and daughters off track with uncaring teachers, unfair standardized tests and a bias against minority students.

They were grandmothers who read in The Star editorial board's eight-day series that black students drop out at a higher rate than other children.

"I would like to know the reason why but really feel that the graduation test is the main reason," said Ernestine Burnett, whose granddaughter failed the state's graduation qualifying exam. "I don't think all of it should depend on one test."

The Star's report noted that three in 10 Hoosiers leave high school without a diploma. About 100,000 students have quit this decade, a figure masked by the state's calculation of a 90 percent graduation rate.

The implications stretch far beyond dropouts, who often float between dead-end jobs or end up in prison. Dropouts also drag down the state's economy and become a financial drain on taxpayers, who pick up the cost of government services, observers say.

Community and state leaders sat in the high school auditorium with an ear open for solutions.

They didn't get many.

Instead, outbursts from the audience drowned out what began as a Star-sponsored panel discussion involving teachers, educators and advocates, with written questions from spectators. One woman hoisted a sign that said: "Special education is Indiana's school pipeline to prison."

"The curriculum is designed for European Caucasians," said Abdul Karim Mujihad, 49, a salesman whose two daughters go to Ben Davis. "They use the word 'minority.' When these children graduate and go into the real world, they're still the minority. We are not minorities. We are equal to you."

The complaints focused on the plight of minority children in urban school districts, such as Indianapolis Public Schools. The dropout rate at IPS is about 28 percent -- far worse than would seem to be the case, given the 90 percent graduation rate the district has reported to state leaders.

A School Board meeting kept IPS Superintendent Duncan Pat Pritchett from attending Tuesday night's forum.

But students and teachers had ideas, from recruiting more minority teachers to starting classes later than 7 a.m.

"We need some teachers from the 'hood," said Reda Stewart, a student at Pacers Academy. "We got these preppy teachers from the country. We need some teachers who have an understanding of what it's like to be poor, what it's like to have no food."

Stephanie Patterson, an IPS teacher, blamed her counterparts for caring more about their paychecks than about whether students are graduating.

"Children need adults because of the inspiration and emotional support that is communicated to them," said Patterson, a panelist at the forum. "Otherwise, they could be educated by video and remote control."

The only state official on Tuesday's panel defended efforts to improve education in Indiana, including a tougher diploma program and a bill to raise the dropout age to 18. Stan Jones, the state's higher education commissioner, reminded angry audience members that progress requires working together.

"I don't know why we're having this conversation about why this is everybody's fault," he said.

"This problem is so big and so overwhelming that what we need to talk about is solutions. When tonight is over, then what happens?" Jones asked.

"The biggest risk that we face after The Star's series is that we will go back to doing what we've done every day."

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050525/NEWS01/505250473&SearchID=73209443624082

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Complexity Index:

The complexity index is determined according to the following criteria and is the sum of the following five calculations plus 1:

1. The greater of zero (0) or the percentage of the school corporation's population 25 years of age with less than a 12th grade education, multiplied by the result of dividing $870 by $4,350 ($970 divided by $4,368 for 2005). The 2000 federal census data are used for this variable.

2. The greater of zero (0) or the percentage of the school corporation's students eligible for free lunch in the 2002-03 school year as reported to the Department of Education, multiplied by the result of dividing $1,100 by $4,350 ($1,200 divided by $4,368 for 2005). The 2002-03 school year data are also used for

the 2005 calculation.

3. The greater of zero (0) or the percentage of the school corporation's students classified as Limited English Proficient in the 2002-03 school year as reported to the Department of Education, multiplied by the result of dividing $310 by $4,350 ($430 divided by $4,368 for 2005). The 2002-03 school year data are

also used for the 2005 calculation.

4. The greater of zero (0) or the percentage of families in the school corporation with a single parent, multiplied by the result of dividing $440 by $4,350 ($530 divided by $4,368 for 2005). The 2000 federal census data are used for this variable.

5. The greater of zero (0) or the percentage of families in the school corporation with children less than 18 years of age that have a family income below the poverty level, multiplied by the result of dividing $220 by $4,350 ($330 divided by $4,368 for 2005). The 2000 federal census data are used for this variable.

If the sum of the above five (5) steps is greater than 1.25, it is adjusted by adding to it the result of:

Multiplying the percentage of school corporation's students eligible for free lunch in 2002-03 by the result of $150 divided by $4,350 for 2004 ($4,368 is the divisor for 2005); and,
Multiplying the percentage of families in the school corporation with children less than 18 years of age and who have a family income below the poverty level, based on the 2002 census, by the result of $150 divided by $4,350 for 2004 ($4,368 for 2005).

A charter school that is in its second or later year of operation in either 2004 or 2005 uses the Complexity Index of the school corporation in which it is located to compute total Target Revenue. However, the Campagna Academy Charter School Complexity Index is the weighted average of the indices determined for the school corporations in which students who attend Campagna have legal settlement.

Privatization of Prison food service

While campaigning, Mitch Daniels promised that state contracts would be awarded to Hoosier companies. Yet this week his office announced that a $258 million contract to provide prison meals has been awarded to the Philadelphia-based ARAMARK Corp.

The commissioner of the Indiana Department of Correction is pleased to be saving $11.5 million through the four year contract with this non-Indiana vendor. The contract specifies an option of up to three 2-year renewals.

Aramark, who provides food service internationally, will create some of these savings by supplying prison meals for .99 cents, down from the current cost of $1.41.

But where does the real saving come from? The company will be allowed to use inmate labor rather than State Employees to prepare and serve the food. The cost to Aramark for this labor is only .40 cents a day.

You will note that the Commissioner of the DOC will do "everything in his power' to insure the staff of 336 state employees currently employed in prison food service is able to find a job somewhere.

Numerous complaints against Aramark have been made from prison systems that have contracted their services; a Google search of ‘Aramark poor service' will show about 16,000 articles. Most notably, complaints have been made in both Florida and Texas. The Governor's former boss, President Bush, has close personal ties to Texas and his brother Jeb is Governor of Florida.

The horror stories range from serving rotten food, poor service and a general abusive attitude toward prisoners and employees. One observer wrote "Aramark represents capitalism in its crudest form. Such companies have us where they'd like everybody- forbidden trade unions, denied all employment rights, punished for not working hard enough, locked in a cell at night, ready to work again the next day, with profit sucked out of us in every possible way."

Not surprisingly Aramark has denied these allegations.

Another way Aramark saves money is that workers who supervise the prisoners preparing, serving and clean up do so without guards present. From a wife of a former Aramark worker in a prison:

"One officer told my husband that Aramark has to pay for an officer to be present. One of the reasons for outsourcing food service was to allow officers to be policing elsewhere."

Governor Daniels may well think this is "a step forward in balancing Indiana's budget and protecting Hoosier taxpayers".

Hoosier taxpayers should note these complaints against Aramark and consider the ethics of spending their tax dollars on such a questionable program.

An organization called Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty have presented complaints from Death Row Inmates to Governor Bush's office, however both the Governor's office and representatives for Aramark have denied receiving any complaints.

Indianapolis Star

Prisons go to the 99-cent menu
Turning kitchens over to company will save nearly $12 million a year, Daniels says.

By Mary Beth Schneider

mary.beth.schneider@indystar.com

May 18, 2005

Indiana is chopping the cost of state prison meals from $1.41 to 99 cents by letting a private company run the kitchens -- a recipe to save the state nearly $12 million per year, Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday.

The 10-year, $258 million contract to Philadelphia-based ARAMARK Corp. is the first in an expected series of announcements moving state services from the public sector to the private.

"You can count on there being competitive sourcing of any activity that looks like a chance to save money for taxpayers," Daniels said.

But, he added, don't call it privatization.

"I don't use the word 'privatization' because that suggests a bias or a prejudgment to the private side winning. I'm indifferent who wins so long as the taxpayer wins," he said. "The taxpayer won big today."

Daniels said no other announcement of a state service being moved to the private sector is imminent.

ARAMARK already provides food service to jails in three Indiana counties -- Vanderburgh, Hendricks and Marion. The company won the Marion County Jail contract in January 2004.

ARAMARK also provides food service at state prisons in Florida, Kansas, New Mexico and Kentucky, the state where Department of Correction Commissioner J. David Donahue last worked before taking the Indiana post in January.

As proof that current state employees aren't cut out, Daniels also announced that state employees at the Logansport State Hospital won the contract to continue providing food service to that facility and an adjacent juvenile correctional center.

Those employees, Daniels said, put together a proposal that will save the state up to $1 million a year, cutting the food cost of a patient's meal to $1.30 from $1.75. They will earn bonuses, he said, if the savings grow.

Daniels and Donahue said neither quality nor nutritional value will be sacrificed. And, they said, the ARAMARK contract won't necessarily result in DOC employees losing their jobs.

Donahue said the DOC has 336 food service employees. ARAMARK will use 298 people to staff the food operation in Indiana's 30 correctional facilities starting July 1.

State employees will be given priority in filling those positions. The remainder will be offered positions elsewhere in the Department of Correction, Donahue said.

"The employees they hire will be Hoosiers," Daniels said of ARAMARK.

Wages will depend, Donahue said, on the local economy of each correctional facility. The department and ARAMARK will begin meetings today in each facility to determine salaries and benefits. Currently, a food service worker makes about $24,000 annually, Donahue said.

He said ARAMARK will use prison kitchens and employ inmates, providing job training that will help them stay out of prison once they are freed. The company will achieve savings because of its purchasing power, Donahue said, and by better controlling inventories.

Daniels called this "a step forward in balancing Indiana's budget and protecting Hoosier taxpayers."

Nation's Restaurant News, March 1, 2004

PHILADELPHIA -- Aramark denied a Dallas-area newspaper report that claimed the food management firm has been serving substandard and unsafe food to inmates at jails in Tarrant County, Texas.

According to an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Tarrant County commissioners alleged that there were several problems with foodservice at four Tarrant County jails, including serving food that is past its expiration date and food that is not cooked or stored at proper temperatures.

"We have satisfied our contract obligations, and we'll continue to do that," said Aramark spokeswoman Debbie Albert. She added that the company would not make any other comment until after executives had seen documentation from the county outlining the alleged problems. At a meeting Feb. 17, commissioners voted to send a letter to Aramark, giving the company 30 days to correct the issues.

Last December Aramark won a $3.3 million contract to provide foodservice for 3,500 inmates at four Tarrant County jails. The losing bidder, Mid-State Services, would become the foodservice provider should the county cancel Aramark's contract.

Links to other articles:

Confessions of a Ex-Aramark Food Service Supervisor's Wife about his prison experience: ARAMARK: Ex-Food Service Supervisor's Wife:
http://www.angelfire.com/fl3/starke/aramarkwife.html

Press release: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty:
FADP: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
http://www.fadp.org/pressrel99.html

Article by Mark Barnsley, Segregation Unit, Armley Prison, Leeds, England Aramark: http://www.revolutionarycommunist.org.uk/Fb9Aramark.htm

University of Houston: Aramark's poor service, high prices imply lack of business skills http://www.stp.uh.edu/vol63/25/OpEd3/2593097/2593097.html