Indianapolis Business Journal. March 8, 2024.
Editorial: Stripping access counselor’s authority harms public as well as press
It’s easy to think of the Office of the Indiana Public Access Counselor as an agency that serves the media. And yes, reporters and media organizations routinely turn to the state’s public access counselor for help in determining whether a public board, elected official or government office is following the state’s public access and open records laws.
But the public access counselor spends as much or probably more time answering questions from people who aren’t journalists—people in the public trying to get information from local governments or school boards, folks who have been denied access to meetings and elected officials trying to determine whether they are following the law.
The public access counselor’s goal is to make sure government is open to its constituents—the people who pay for it to exist and the people it’s set up to serve.
And so it’s a huge concern that the Indiana General Assembly is considering legislation that would reduce what little clout the public access counselor has now.
House Bill 1138—as amended by the Senate—would limit what the access counselor can use in producing non-binding advisory opinions. The last part of that sentence is key: These are non-binding advisory opinions. The public access counselor can’t order anyone to do anything.
Still, for the non-binding opinions, the legislation would require that the counselor consider only the “plain text” of the state’s public access laws and court opinions. It removes any ability for the access counselor to interpret those laws or opinions when they don’t speak directly to situations that crop up all the time, maybe because technology has changed or because lawmakers weren’t able to anticipate the type of records that might someday exist.
Currently, state law directs the access counselor to “interpret” the state’s open meeting and public records laws, which say they should be “liberally construed.” That’s because the goal is for government to be open.
The new language restricting the access counselor’s authority comes from state Sen. Aaron Freeman, the Indianapolis Republican who has also pushed to strip Indianapolis of its ability to make some decisions related to traffic rules and ban IndyGo from using dedicated bus lanes.
He said Public Access Counselor Luke Britt has “issued some opinions I vehemently disagree with.” And so, in addition to the language described above, Freeman also added a provision that makes it easier for a governor to fire the access counselor.
Under current law, the counselor is appointed for four years and can be fired only “for cause.” The amended legislation would change the law to say the counselor serves “at the pleasure of the governor.”
“That would strip the counselor’s insulation from political processes, leaving the appointee vulnerable to being dismissed after issuing opinions that powerful state leaders dislike,” the Indiana Capital Chronicle reports.
We agree. We urge lawmakers to reject these provisions, although by the time you read this, the bill could already have passed. If it has, we call on Gov. Eric Holcomb to veto it—not for journalists but for the public who deserves access to government.
___
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. March 8, 2024.
Editorial: Far from frivolous, Recess is something that needs to be cherished
As the Indiana General Assembly hurries toward the end of what was supposed to be a quiet session, the supermajority has once again changed the structure of education.
Senate Bill 1 attempts to address the literacy crisis by cracking down on third-grade student retention, adding additional tests and promoting summer school — just one year after schools were required to adopt Science of Reading strategies.
House Bill 1137 would allow students to receive faith-based education for up to two hours per week. Detractors wondered, among other things, where it would fit in an already-crammed schedule.
In the current educational landscape, where standardized testing, curriculum demands and academic pressures often dominate the discourse, the significance of recess is frequently overlooked.
“There’s this huge gap between what we know kids need and what we know is actually good for learning and how much we allot time for that,” William V. Massey, a professor at Oregon State University who studies the impacts of recess, told ABC News last summer.
Up to 40% of school districts nationwide have reduced or eliminated recess since the mid-2000s. In 2001, Chicago axed recess entirely for more class time in an attempt to boost test scores.
Yet, recess is not merely a break from the classroom routine but a fundamental aspect of a child’s holistic development.
Research shows recess is hardly a frivolous indulgence. Indeed, its importance is so fundamental that some state legislatures have created new guidelines.
Last year, California enacted a law defining recess as a 30-minute “period of time during the school day, separate and distinct from physical education courses and mealtimes … when pupils are given supervised and unstructured time for physical activity, play, organized games, or social engagement with peers.”
Furthermore, California will not allow administrators to dismiss recess as a punitive measure for bad behavior, much to the dismay of some educators.
Beginning in the 2006-07 school year, Indiana Code required that “the governing body of each school corporation shall provide daily physical activity for students in elementary school. The physical activity may include the use of recess.”
The application is open-ended. Fort Wayne Community Schools, for example, said it is committed to providing daily recess that encourages physical activity whenever possible, said Scott Murray, the district’s communications manager.
“These recess breaks are designed to include 20 minutes of supervised activity, ideally conducted outdoors,” he told The Journal Gazette. “Despite potential changes in state mandates and classroom schedules, our intention is to uphold our current recess practices to support the holistic development of our students.”
The most obvious counterargument is that organized sports do all of this. However, several studies show that sports participation is less common among children from lower-income homes.
A 2023 study published in BMC Public Health found that sports participation is consistently higher among socioeconomically advantaged individuals. However, group sports showed the lowest relative inequalities. There are sizable inequalities in racket, individual and specialty sports, such as golf, that people can continue to engage in as adults.
At its core, recess serves as a crucial outlet for addressing the growing concern of sedentary lifestyles among children. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded State of Childhood Obesity, Indiana ranks 19th best in the nation, with an obesity prevalence rate of just more than 15%. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, Hoosier adults 18-44 have an obesity prevalence rate of 36.5%, the sixth worst in the nation.
“I think the trend is pretty similar (for northeast Indiana),” Dr. Kanika Jaggi, a family medicine physician for Lutheran Health Network, told The Journal Gazette’s Maya Wilkins for a February story on pediatric obesity. “I am seeing more and more children, not just from toddler age but from infant age, that have obesity.”
Research indicates that recess plays a crucial role in enhancing children’s attentiveness in the classroom, in cognitive performance, and in reducing behavioral problems. A study conducted on fourth-grade students in Fort Worth, Texas, revealed that students who had 45 minutes of daily recess after returning to school following the COVID-19 lockdown had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol after three months compared to students who had 30 minutes of recess.
By recharging their mental batteries through physical activity and play, recess optimizes their capacity for learning and problem-solving.
Moreover, outdoor play stimulates creativity, imagination and curiosity, fostering a love for exploration and discovery that extends beyond the confines of the classroom walls.
Though the current session is ending, the Indiana General Assembly should actively delve into the science of recess as part of a summer study group. There’s evidence it can improve fitness, build social skills and enhance the classroom learning process. What’s not to like — and safeguard — there?
___
Jeffersonville News and Tribune. March 7, 2024.
Editorial: Governor should sign birth control bill
As we celebrate Women’s History Month in March, Hoosier women are certainly justified in questioning why their health has historically been an afterthought or a political tool for lawmakers.
Indiana’s maternal mortality rate has consistently been among the worst in the nation. With most forms of abortion banned in the state, it’s even more important that women and mothers are provided with excellent health care, safe contraceptives and wellness education.
Yet some with the power to make a difference still resist, even when common sense and data show their claims are misguided.
State Rep. Rita Fleming, D-Jeffersonville, a retired OB/GYN, has led efforts to protect mothers and to provide women with birth control access and education. Last year, a bill she sponsored allowing pharmacists to prescribe hormonal birth control was approved with bipartisan support.
This session, Fleming’s House Bill 1426 seeks to increase access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) for Medicaid recipients. The bill stalled after Republicans balked at the inclusion of intrauterine devices (IUD), falsely claiming that such contraceptives cause abortions. Republicans ultimately stripped that option from the bill in committee.
Some Democrats and health institutions such as the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology switched course and quit supporting the legislation as a result of the IUD removal.
Fleming, likely the only lawmaker voting on the bill who has delivered a baby, rightfully questioned the logic of both sides.
On Wednesday, after much debate, the bill was approved and heads to Gov. Eric Holcomb for consideration. He should sign it into law.
The bill is particularly aimed at providing options to mothers during the important postpartum period. Many lower income and young mothers never return for follow-up visits. This bill would require doctors to instruct their patients about contraceptive options during the critical hours after delivery before discharge – possibly the only time they’ll get the opportunity.
As Fleming points out in an op-ed, removing the requirement to discuss IUDs as a contraceptive option doesn’t mean hospitals can’t offer IUD implants.
In the same op-ed, she details her experiences in the delivery room and how IUDs aren’t always a good option for a mother.
She also responds to the lack of support from medical organizations including the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, pointing out that “It’s on your watch, for the past decades, that maternal and infant mortality has climbed, that more children are born addicted, that sexually transmitted diseases are affecting newborns in record numbers. Whatever you might be doing about those, it’s obviously not working.”
Opponents of the legislation, following the removal of IUDs from the language, have suggested that the bill really doesn’t accomplish much, and that medical providers “could” still tell mothers about contraceptive options without a new requirement.
We all know there’s a big difference between “could” and “will.”
We could do something this March to help mothers and women, especially those who are struggling financially or with addiction. If not, we will continue to see mothers dying during problematic pregnancies or, along with their newborns, battling health issues that could have been prevented.
END