Governor Daniels set to cut more

Indy Star Article here

You know when Governor Kernan's revenue estimates came in low it was Candidate Daniels who commented " They are not bad people just bad at governing".

Mr. Governor does the same quote apply to your people? I know the economy is tough and it's not easy but you made the comment and it's now your team that can't forecast.

So now good hard working state employee's will get a pay freeze or laid off. But hey those so called high performers like Mitch Roob will get a increse and a bonus....remember his $50k increase from FSSA to Economic Development. Hmmm...

How about we cancel the contracts of all the high paid consultants that this administration relies on????


Peace Dude...

IDEA and Article 7

Attended an update class on the law yesterday. Was good for a refresher and some updated ideas and rulings I was not aware of.

Did you all know that IDEA will start it's reauthorization in Congress again next year? With all the talk about failing schools and the blame always headed toward special education what should we expect?

Are we willing to roll up our sleeves and get to work to make the law stronger?

More to come.

Peace Dude...

Hmmm, Now what....

Hello Everyone.

It has been way to long since I posted on The Tales. I have been facebooking quite a bit of late and has taken me away from my blog. Sorry about that.

I am trying to decide a direction to take the tales....politics, disability issues, Healthcare or all just stuff.......


More to come as soon as I figure out what I want to talk and rant about...

Peace dude

Erik Sean Nelson should be Fired.....

Here is the article written by Mr. Nelson.

Erik Sean Nelson Article about Sarah Palin and the Retardation Platform

And now....


Erik Sean Nelson's wimpy apology

I read The Huffington Post quite often and if Ms Huffington does not take a stand on this and fire this goof ball right away then I will try my best to become a big headache to their company.

Fire him and make a donation to The Arc of The United States and The National Down Syndrome Society and let's get back to what is important.

This guy's lame excuse was he was trying to be funny......well my old line for years has been....there are a 100,000 comedians out of work and this dumb ass thinks he is funny......

Give me a break.....

Peace Dude.

The we need $14 million family.

Guess now that they have sent all thier kids to private school they now need $14 million to take care of thier daughter with Down syndrome.....give me a break.



Click here and read page 6

Peace Dude.

Sometimes people just need smacked in the head!

Rare prenatal testing case raises ethical questions

by Aimee Green, The Oregonian
Saturday June 13, 2009, 9:45 PM
In the months before their daughter was born in 2007, Deborah and Ariel Levy worried the baby might have Down syndrome.
They say a doctor at the Legacy Center for Maternal-Fetal Medicine assured them that a sample of tissue taken from the placenta early in the pregnancy ruled out the developmental disability, despite the results of later testing that showed the fetus might have it.
But within days of the birth of their daughter, the Southwest Portland couple learned the baby did have Down syndrome. Had they known, they say, they would have terminated the pregnancy. Now they're suing in Multnomah County Circuit Court, seeking more than $14 million to cover the costs of raising her and providing education, medical care, and speech and physical therapy for their daughter, who turned 2 this month. The suit also seeks money to cover her life-long living expenses.

READ ENTIRE STORY HERE

I will be very interested in your thoughts on this case folks. I for one think these people and their attorney are a joke.

Peace Dude.

WoofStock

We headed out yesterday to a fund raiser for the Hamilton County Humane Society called WoofStock. It was held at Deer Creek Amphitheater which I still call it instead of referring to it by it's corporate sponsorship name. WoofStock was a blast and I hope they raised alot of money for the cause.

Nash and Seger sure had a great time.

Peace Dude.

Inclusion.....it does work!

Just had a chance to see a great web site with a kick butt ad campaign. To bad it's from Canada and not from here. Maybe if we could ever get all the national disability organizations on the same page we could come up with a campaign like this here in the US.

Please click on the link below and check out the site. You will like it.

No Excuses


Peace Dude!

I think The Indy Star has been reading this blog!

May 10, 2009


A call to action to improve school performance


State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett calls the situation facing Indiana's schools urgent. He has ample reason to be alarmed.

When the state last week issued its annual rankings of public schools, nearly half of them landed either on academic probation or the watch list, the two lowest ratings. Two-thirds of school districts were cited for poor performance.

Many educators bristle at the federal government's rating system, largely pegged to standardized test scores. The state model, they say, better reflects reality. Yet, this year the two ranking systems produced similar results.

Bennett, who took office in January, described the poor ratings as a "call to action,'' not just for teachers and students, but for the entire state.

Yet, educators haven't been exactly sipping coffee in the break room while their students slip out the backdoor. Nor have government, business and community leaders ignored the challenges facing schools across the state.

Taxpayers continue to pour tremendous resources into the educational system -- K-12 education is the largest single recipient of state dollars, and that doesn't take into account all of the federal and local tax money devoted to schools. And the pressure on teachers and students to improve has never been more intense.

Not all of the signs are discouraging. The graduation rate is increasing. More students are attaining at least base-level mastery of key skills.

But much more work remains, and Bennett is right when he insists that the entire state must push for better results.

What needs to change? To start, the adults in charge need to find a way to work together. That means cooling the more heated rhetoric, setting aside tired arguments that go nowhere and placing on hold agendas that don't directly contribute to better student achievement.

Hoosiers also need to re-evaluate their priorities. Sports consume outsized portions of money, time and attention in too many districts. Do high school football players really need to compete on artificial turf in multimillion-dollar stadiums? Are Olympic-size swimming pools necessary at a time when districts are eliminating teaching positions?

It's not that sports don't have a proper place in schools; athletics can contribute to an overall climate of excellence and achievement. But too often the pursuit of glory on the field or court has been allowed to push aside striving for excellence in the classroom.

Bennett and others also will have to battle a culture that historically has not placed enough emphasis on education. For decades, one of Indiana's greatest strengths, its manufacturing base, shielded Hoosiers from a growing reality: Without a solid education, workers are unlikely to earn enough money to sustain families.

As manufacturing has eroded, Indiana has been unable to create enough good jobs to keep wages from declining relative to other states. One result of that trend is that the gulf between well-educated workers and those with fewer skills is broadening. The most realistic way for Hoosiers to start catching up is to significantly deepen the skills of is work force. And that must come through better education, starting in early childhood and continuing through college.

Has progress been made? Yes. Is the current state of education acceptable? Not even close.

Urgency is indeed warranted, not just in every classroom but in every home in every community.

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