During the 2014 legislative session, we transferred up to $400 million to go towards major state highway projects. Since session ended however, I have received numerous phone calls and emails from people concerned not with the drivability of our roads but rather the amount of trash on the sides of our highways.

This trash has only been made more visible by the arrival of spring weather and with that, the melting of snow. Because I have heard from so many people regarding this, I did a bit of research, and today, I want to share with you the state’s efforts to clean up Indiana’s highways and byways.

On April 5, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) kicked off their annual Trash Bash. This will run through April 27 and coincides with National Earth Day in order to raise awareness of litter. These efforts will be carried out by INDOT maintenance crews, Indiana Department of Correction offender crews as well as Adopt-A-Highway volunteers.

Last year alone, participants collected more than 20,678 bags of trash from alongside 3,400 miles of Indiana roadways. They also collected 1,256 cubic yards of loose debris which included some interesting items, including an electric meter, laptop, horse whip and even some cash!

Not only is this a great program because it cleans up our state and makes it look even more beautiful, but I think this is a great opportunity for offenders to contribute positively to society even while they are still serving time. This will teach a work ethic and sense of community that will hopefully stay with them long after they have completed their time.

In light of the increased number of crews cleaning the roadside, I think it is appropriate that this week is also Work Zone Awareness Week. In 2012, more than 50 people were killed in job-related traffic accidents. Slow-downs on the highway can be frustrating, especially after a long day at work when you really just want to get home, but it is important to remember that these individuals, whether they are picking up trash or repairing the road, are people’s family members. If that were my family member or yours, we would want people to slow down, use caution and consider their safety, so it is important that we do the same for others.

While offenders are one of the main groups that will be participating, there are still many things that you and I can do to keep Indiana’s highways clean. For example, INDOT suggests carrying a trash bag in your car so that you always have somewhere to put trash and aren’t tempted to just throw it out the window. If you see that someone else has illegally dumped their garbage, you can also report the area to your local transportation, public works or conservation office.

If you would like to learn more about the Trash Bash, please visit http://www.in.gov/indot/2596.htm.

Officials take action???

The soil erosion issue on the Dan Buck development off of Felstead road has been an issue for over six months and neighbors have been complaining since the start that proper erosion measures have not been followed. According to documents obtained from the County engineer’s office, these violations have been documented as far back as October of 2013. Recently the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) issued a citation and suddenly the Vanderburgh County Commissioners went out and talked to the developer. So the obvious question is why has it taken the County Commissioners so long to get involved? Were the Commissioners listening to the people?

First let’s review the Vanderburgh County ordinance regarding erosion control. Ordinance 15.44 is the county ordinance in force to regulate this type of activity and the policy is as follows:

15.44.020 Policy.

It is the policy of the Board of Commissioners of Vanderburgh County to require that erosion and sediment control measures be employed prior to any land disturbing activities to prevent off-site damage due to erosion and sedimentation of drainage ditches, storm sewers, ponds, lakes, streets or other property, public and private, due to the change in land use or rerouting of surface water.

Based on the policy, the responsibility of the Board of Commissioners to require compliance to this ordinance. So if a developer is in violation of this ordinance, what are the required actions to be taken by the Board of Commissioners? The following is paragraph 6 of the ordinance dealing with enforcement.

15.44.060 Enforcement, violations, penalties.

6.    If, after the second site inspection continued non-compliance is determined, the Vanderburgh County Building Commissioner will issue a non-compliance citation to the property owner. The civil penalty for the first citation will be no less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and no more than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00).

The obvious question to the Board of Commissioners is, if the developer has been in violation since October of 2013 and has been sited at least six times between October 2013 and April 2014, why has the County not followed the required enforcement procedures in the ordinance and issued a fine to the developer? This is a question not only for the current president of the Board of Commissioners Joe Kiefer,  but more importantly to the 2013 president of the board of Commissioners Marsha Abell who was president when these violations first occurred in October of 2013.

In the interest of open government and the rule of law in the county, the citizens of Vanderburgh County deserve answers as to why this ordinance was not enforced. The people are waiting for an answer.

Staff report TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – State education officials have released draft academic standards for grades K-12 that combine elements of Common Core, previous Indiana guidelines and recommendations from outside organizations.

The proposed standards – available online at http://www.in.gov/sboe/2505.htm – will be considered by the state’s Education Roundtable next week and then the State Board of Education on April 28.

State law requires the board to approve new standards before July 1 for use during the 2014-15 school year. That gives board members virtually no time for changes.

“This was a process led by our Hoosier experts and educators to develop standards for Indiana that were informed by the voices of Hoosier educators from around the state, as well as national evaluators, but ultimately it was up to the Indiana experts on our College and Career Ready panel to recommend the proposed academic standards for our schools and our students,” said Claire Fiddian-Green, co-director for the Center for Education and Career Innovation.

If approved, the guidelines will replace the controversial Common Core standards the State Board of Education adopted in 2010 and had been phasing in. Common Core is a set of standards originally written by officials from several states but adopted by the administration of President Barack Obama.

The General Assembly paused the Common Core implementation last year – in part out of concern about letting experts outside Indiana dictate the state’s educational guidelines – and ordered the board to reconsider. Then this year, lawmakers voted to ban Common Core.

“As the first state to withdraw from Common Core, Indiana had a unique responsibility to create new, high standards in an open and serious process that would serve our children and strengthen our schools,” Pence said in a statement. “Because of the hard work of our educators and parents, Indiana is leading the way on state academic standards that will challenge our students, guide our teachers, and give parents the confidence that our Indiana standards reflect the high expectations Hoosiers have for all our schools.”

Since then, panels of K-12 teachers, higher education faculty and subject matter experts have been crafting the new standards. The goal was to create what education officials call “college and career ready” standards, which are necessary for Indiana to continue to receive federal funding under the No Child Left Behind Law.

“We want Indiana to have the absolute best academic standards – standards that properly position students for college and career. We are cautiously optimistic that the standards ultimately decided on by the state board will meet the mark,” said Kevin Brinegar, president of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Education officials say the groups borrowed from Common Core as well as Indiana’s previous standards, recommendations from education groups and guidelines from other states. The panels used a blind evaluation process for narrowing and choosing the standards.

“To ensure this process was focused on our students, we relied on more than 2,000 Hoosiers—teachers, administrators and parents—who joined us for evaluation sessions and shared their input online. Every Hoosier also should be grateful to the more than 100 teachers from across the state who participated in the drafting process,” Pence said. “They, along with experts in higher education and business, spent more than 6,000 hours to develop standards that will be both unique to Indiana and will prepare our students for success in college and the workplace.”

“We’ve really just been focused on what are the learning outcomes and objectives that each student needs to know by content area by grade level, so that when they graduate high school they are actually prepared for the next step in their life, whether that’s college or a career,” Fiddian-Green said.

The standards guide the K-12 curriculum. They are considered “learning outcomes” and specify “what students should know by content area and by grade level,” education officials said.

“The body of knowledge that are in the standards, I don’t feel like they are great shifts. There are changes in some of the rigor and in some of the specific skills at a great level, but in my opinion this is the work that teachers are really good at doing and so this will not cause a huge transition,” said Danielle Shockey, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction at the DOE.

Education officials hope the instructors’ reaction to the new set of regulations will be positive.

“We have worked really hard basically to clarify where standards were unclear, to make sure that everything was aligned very well across grade levels so that if you go from kindergarten to first grade and beyond, the teachers that get the incoming class of students say, ‘Yes, this child is prepared for what I’m teaching in my grade level,’” Fiddian-Green said.

Once new standards are approved, state Superintendent Glenda Ritz will lead an effort to develop new tests that measure achievement against the standards. Those tests will replace the current ISTEP exams.

The process for creating the standards began last fall and eventually involved more than 150 educators, higher education experts and business leaders. The state received more than 2,000 public comments, conducted three public hearings, and received feedback from 10 national evaluators.

Also, the newly established College and Career Ready Panel brought together subject matter experts from the higher education community as well as business and industry representatives to review the proposed drafts.

“A big part of this process that has never happened in the past is having the College and Career Panel look at this from an after-twelve perspective. Meaning looking backwards from twelfth to first grade to say, ‘If our students graduate with this skill set, are they going to enter into the workforce or to a college classroom prepared?’’’ Shockey said.