It's kind of hard to rescue the captive, the main theme of this blog, without understanding how a city, community or place contributes to the captive mind-set. Some would say that people are in captivity due to no fault of anyone else. This is an argument for another blog however. Since I work with the captive in Indianapolis, it is important to understand how this city works....It is important for all to understand the history and politics of their place of habitation.
Indianapolis is a weird sort of city. It was a superb host of Super Bowl XLVI. Yet all sorts of issues vital to growth and development remain…For instance, crime is a growth industry, kids can be disruptive while shooting up downtown landmarks, the Indianapolis Police Department says they have no more budget to pay their staff and key leaders are determined to take over the Indianapolis Public Schools.
While the City of Indianapolis cannot seem to improve IndyGo, the planning and execution of the Super Bowl did wonders for the image of Indianapolis. However, my lasting memory of this event is the estimated crowd of about 40 African-American and Latino residents stranded in the shivering cold, waiting on IndyGo buses. As it was becoming clear, the buses were not coming on that Sunday evening of the Super Bowl, the image of hospitality reserved for the Super Bowl patrons was clear: It seemed that every charter and school bus in the city was parked nearby, awaiting the beckoned call of those attending the game while the citizens went neglected. The IndyGo office was not available to answer any telephone call despite the $150-thousand federal transportation grant received to provide citizens with four days of free rides during this event.
And now the Mayor, the Governor and appointed friends are using their united muscle for a new agenda, the hostile takeover of the Indianapolis Public Schools. However, if a police department can overspend their budget in three months and a public transportation system ranks as one of the worst in the nation, what makes a mayor even begin to feel competent to handle the challenges of an urban system like the Indianapolis Public Schools? By the way, part of the take-over plan is that the Mayor should serve in a similar capacity as a superintendent. It is easy to create charter schools where all the good and intelligent students attend. However, education in urban systems involves entrenched social problems. I feel for the many urban principals that are regularly cussed out by parents, not much older than the students. Until these problems are solved, the highly qualified teacher being sought to solve these problems will remain unqualified. If the Mayor, Governor, Indianapolis Star and Mind Trust feel as if a hostile takeover of the Indianapolis Schools is the answer to the growth and development of the City of Indianapolis, I hope they fix these social problems by bringing all to the table for solutions, not just the politically correct appointees. After all, these problems in school spill over into communities in beautiful places like the downtown canal on warm weekend evenings.
Indianapolis is a weird sort of city. It was a superb host of Super Bowl XLVI. Yet all sorts of issues vital to growth and development remain…For instance, crime is a growth industry, kids can be disruptive while shooting up downtown landmarks, the Indianapolis Police Department says they have no more budget to pay their staff and key leaders are determined to take over the Indianapolis Public Schools.
While the City of Indianapolis cannot seem to improve IndyGo, the planning and execution of the Super Bowl did wonders for the image of Indianapolis. However, my lasting memory of this event is the estimated crowd of about 40 African-American and Latino residents stranded in the shivering cold, waiting on IndyGo buses. As it was becoming clear, the buses were not coming on that Sunday evening of the Super Bowl, the image of hospitality reserved for the Super Bowl patrons was clear: It seemed that every charter and school bus in the city was parked nearby, awaiting the beckoned call of those attending the game while the citizens went neglected. The IndyGo office was not available to answer any telephone call despite the $150-thousand federal transportation grant received to provide citizens with four days of free rides during this event.
And now the Mayor, the Governor and appointed friends are using their united muscle for a new agenda, the hostile takeover of the Indianapolis Public Schools. However, if a police department can overspend their budget in three months and a public transportation system ranks as one of the worst in the nation, what makes a mayor even begin to feel competent to handle the challenges of an urban system like the Indianapolis Public Schools? By the way, part of the take-over plan is that the Mayor should serve in a similar capacity as a superintendent. It is easy to create charter schools where all the good and intelligent students attend. However, education in urban systems involves entrenched social problems. I feel for the many urban principals that are regularly cussed out by parents, not much older than the students. Until these problems are solved, the highly qualified teacher being sought to solve these problems will remain unqualified. If the Mayor, Governor, Indianapolis Star and Mind Trust feel as if a hostile takeover of the Indianapolis Schools is the answer to the growth and development of the City of Indianapolis, I hope they fix these social problems by bringing all to the table for solutions, not just the politically correct appointees. After all, these problems in school spill over into communities in beautiful places like the downtown canal on warm weekend evenings.
