Were Amos Brown an Indianapolis Public Schools student, his April 29, 2011, column in the Indianapolis Recorder would receive a grade of “F” due to his lack of research and misstatement of facts.
Instead, Mr. Brown is a columnist and a pundit who should understand the weight his words carry. If he wishes the community to consider him a trustworthy source of information, he should immediately apologize to the members of the IPS Board of School Commissioners for his blatant errors and write a corrected column that includes these facts to clarify any misperceptions held by readers:
n IPS has provided multiple opportunities for community members to understand and question the recent $20.7 million budget cuts. Along with three public meetings, community members were able to submit comments and concerns online to the board via the IPS web site. Board members were present at each public meeting, which Mr. Brown would have known had he attended any of the meetings.
n The School Board did not approve the budget on April 22, 2011, as reported by Mr. Brown in his column published seven days later. The School Board met on April 22 for a third public meeting on the budget. The board approved the budget cuts May 10 during a public meeting broadcast live on cable TV.
n Mr. Brown fails to point out that constituents may attend and share concerns at the six monthly sessions of the board: our briefing and action sessions, and our legislative, resource, education and policy committees.
n Regarding possible state intervention of IPS schools, the district has held public meetings at each affected school to meet with students, parents and community members. At these meetings, IPS has shared data on how the schools landed on the state’s takeover list, as well as improvements being made at each school.
n Regarding Mr. Brown’s published comments on the balanced calendar, IPS held five public meetings in October 2010 at Arlington, Broad Ripple, Manual, Northwest and Tech high schools to seek comment from parents, students, staff and community members. IPS also solicited feedback on the district’s web site before the School Board voted to adopt the new calendar on Nov. 23, 2010.
n Mr. Brown misinterprets Superintendent White’s directive to staff to forward inquiries from School Board members to his office as stifling communication between staff and the board. The point of the directive is to ensure clear communication to board members. This is a common expectation set by school leaders – ask superintendents in the townships.
It is Mr. Brown’s right to disagree with how the IPS School Board conducts its business; however, as a columnist and pundit, it is Mr. Brown’s obligation to accurately report the facts. The facts are this: IPS has been more transparent in providing the public with information regarding critical issues facing the district than Mr. Brown gives this elected board credit for in his column.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Gore, president
Marianna R. Zaphiriou, vice president
Mary E. Busch, secretary
Samantha Adair-White
Diane Arnold
Michael D. Brown
Andrea J. Roof
