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A new study scheduled to be released next week by the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute shows, on average, less than 50 percent of the staffing funds spent by Indiana schools actually go to classroom teachers.
In an interview with Indy Politics, IFPI Director Chris Watts says about 47 percent of staffing dollars actually go towards paying teachers, the rest is on administrative costs. That number is 57 percent, on average, for charter schools.
State lawmakers wrestled this session with how to increase teacher pay and a commission is looking at ways to address the issue in the long term.
You can hear Watts in the Leon-Tailored Audio segment above. It runs for about seven minutes.
On this edition of “Indiana Issues,” our political panel is back from summer break and ready to discuss the topics of the day.
The panel includes Republican Jennifer Hallowell, Democrat Adam Kirch, Libertarian Mark Rutherford and Eric Berman of WIBC Radio.
Indiana Issues is taped at the Edge Media Studios in downtown Indianapolis.
Here we go again. In what seems to be a never-ending quest to reward low-skilled labor and the failure to get a post-secondary education, we are having a discussion in this country about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
Congress, at least the House of Representatives, has voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Legislatures in New Jersey, Maryland and my home state of Illinois all voted to raise the minimum to $15 per hour, and several other states are on track to raise their minimum wages.
I have never been a big fan of the minimum wage, much less increasing it, because I believe there should be a price to pay for having no skills, no work ethic, and no post-secondary education.
No offense, but if you’re making minimum wage in a universe of record unemployment and worker shortages, and it’s not a temporary situation nor are you suffering from a severe physical or mental impairment, you’re the problem. You’re either lazy or an idiot. It’s just that simple.
Allow me to share some facts about the minimum wage. Less than 4 percent of the full-time workforce makes minimum wage. And out of that 4 percent, most minimum wage workers are under age 25. Most work in the service or food industry. Nearly half never finished high school, and about 30 percent only have a high school diploma, and about 68 percent are single.
Now let me throw you a curveball, mid-column.
If you want to immediately give minimum wage workers a raise, either eliminate or cut the payroll tax for any part-time employee making less than $15 per hour.
Right now, in your paycheck, about 15 percent is taken out to pay for Social Security and Medicare. You pick up half the tab or about 7.65 percent, and your employer picks up the other part.
By eliminating or reducing the payroll tax for part-time, low-income workers, we immediately put cash in their pocket.
So, if someone is making $10 per hour and working 25 hours a week, their monthly gross take-home pay is $1,000. Simply cutting the payroll tax in half for that low wage, part-time worker will yield an additional $76.50. That’s gas money, groceries, school supplies, etc. It may not seem like a lot to you, but it probably is to that individual. And if we eliminated the payroll tax altogether for that part-time worker, they would get an additional $153.00 a month. Also, the employer does not have to spend time, energy and resource collecting the tax, so those savings can also be used to increase employee wages.
Now, you probably have two questions. First, wouldn’t they make more at $15 per hour? Second, what about payments to Social Security and Medicaid? Yes, they would initially make more at $15 per hour. Our part-time worker would take in $1500 a month, however, because of the payroll tax, which is 15.3%, they’re only taking home $1270.50. You have to remember, when we raise minimum wages, particularly in a slow economy, hours tend to get cut. Under the payroll tax elimination/reduction, that is no longer a worry. And how much is job security worth?
On the second question, what about Social Security and Medicaid, that is where Uncle Sam would just have to toughen up a bit and learn to live within its means. Or it could close tax breaks and loopholes which have shifted the burden of tax collection to those who generally can least afford it.
Of course, there is room for flexibility; i.e., a smaller payroll tax cut, phasing in the reduction. I try to keep an open mind about these things. But if you really want to do low-wage workers a favor, instead of increasing the minimum wage, don’t take their money in the first place.
On this edition of the television version of Indiana Issues, our panel discusses the legacy of former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar, whether it is time to change the way we do municipal primaries in Indiana, how Pete Buttigieg is polling in Indiana and the effect of the President’s Chinese tariffs in the Hoosier state. Our panel includes libertarian writer Lindsay Marie, Democratic strategist Lindsay Shipps, Conservative podcaster April Gregory and Mary Beth Schneider of the Statehouse File.
Here’s the rundown…
Indiana Issues is taped at the Edge Media Studios in downtown Indianapolis.
Recent events in my hometown of Chicago have compelled me to rethink my skepticism when it comes to reparations.
On this edition of “Indiana Issues”, our political panel counts down the remaining weeks of the Indiana General Assembly, Pete Buttigieg’s Presidential aspirations, the GOP Senate version of the state budget and more.
Our panel includes Libertarian mark Rutherford, Democrat Kip Tew, Republican Joey Fox and Eric Berman of WIBC Radio.
Indiana Issues is taped at Edge Media Studios in downtown Indianapolis.
On this edition of the television version of Indiana Issues, our panel discusses the following state and national issues…
0:00 – Introduction
1:00 – Trump/Mueller Investigation
8:00 – Indiana House Bias Crimes Vote
15:30 – Curtis Hill Complaint
22:00 – Mayor Pete’s Polling
27:00 – Predictions & Prognostications
Our panel includes IBJ reporter Lindsey Erdody, Democratic lobbyist Lindsay Haake, Libertarian Lindsay Marie, and conservative radio talk show host Rob Kendall.
Indiana Issues is recorded live at the Edge Media Studios in downtown Indianapolis.
It’s a been a while since I’ve had the chance to sit down and talk with incumbent Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett.
Between the Indiana General Assembly, practicing law, teaching and helping a Chicago radio station with its coverage of the recent Chicago Mayoral primary, my schedule has been pretty full, so I haven’t had the chance to chat with Hogsett at either his various news conferences or other events.
That changed on Wednesday when I cleared my schedule so I could attend one the Mayor’s regular morning briefings with the Indianapolis news media.
The Mayor was under the weather due to fighting a flu bug, but he stuck it out and answered all our questions.
We talked crime, potholes and homelessness; three of the big issues facing the city right now.
My big takeaway is that while the city is making progress in those areas, I think city officials would agree with me that there is room for improvement; especially when it comes to explaining to the public why things are they way they are.
For examples, when it comes to potholes, the Department of Public Works has literally filled thousands of them, 85,000 of them since the first of the year and 65,000 since February.
Not bad.
But if you don’t feel like you may have noticed that in your neighborhood, that’s because the city’s priority is main streets and thoroughfares and residential streets come later. Also, if you live in a place that has a homeowners’ association, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s not the city’s job to fix your street, it’s your HOA. Sorry, but that’s how it is and someone should have told you. And individuals who take matters into their own hands to repair potholes run the risk of getting in trouble with the city.
In the crime universe, overall crime is actually down, at least when it comes to robberies and burglaries, by about 12 percent. However, when it comes to the city’s murder rate, we are pretty much on par with last year which was another record year. And since the administration ran on public safety, they get the blame as much as they would get the credit. What I wonder is that this city spends millions on crime prevention and has employed “peacekeepers” to help stem violence in neighborhoods, but I have to wonder how effective those efforts are if our murder rate doesn’t change.
With respect to the homeless and panhandlers issue, IMPD has done a really good job stepping up patrols on Monument Circle and working with downtown merchants, but once again, thousands of dollars have been to tackle homelessness and at the end of the day, it doesn’t seem to move much of a needle, which makes me wonder how effective these efforts are in the long run. I am skeptically optimistic about the new efforts to hire panhandlers to clean up downtown. I am all for putting these guys and gals to productive use, but I wonder about paying people to clean the mess that they are partially responsible for. However, I do have faith in Deputy Mayor Jeff Bennett to do his best effort to make this program work.
So what was my big takeaway from my most recent encounter, the city is doing okay, but it could be doing a lot better. I’ll be looking forward to my next sit down with his honor to see how things are going; hopefully, they will have improved.
As Indiana lawmakers move forward with bias crimes legislation, the big issue is whether there will be a “list” of classes specifically spelled out in the statute (i.e., race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) The original Senate Bill included an enumerated list of protected classes. And while that passed out of committee, the list was removed during the second reading amendment process for it to pass out the Chamber. The measure now goes to the House. Proponents say the list has to be there, others it’s not necessary.
Here’s a thought. Lawmakers may not need to include a list because one already exists.
Under Indiana Code 10-13-3-1, there is a definition of “bias crimes” as part of a reporting statute. Here it is.
IC 10-13-3-1 “Bias crime”
Sec. 1. As used in this chapter, “bias crime” means an offense in which the person who commits the offense knowingly or intentionally:
(1) selected the person who was injured; or
(2) damaged or otherwise affected property;
by the offense because of the color, creed, disability, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation of the injured person or of the owner or occupant of the affected property or because the injured person or owner or occupant of the affected property was associated with any other recognizable group or affiliation.
[Pre-2003 Recodification Citation: 5-2-5-1(2).]
As added by P.L.2-2003, SEC.4.
The only thing the “list” doesn’t include is gender and gender identity. We’ll get to that in just a second. But one of the big arguments proponents of bias crimes have against SB 12, as amended, is it doesn’t have an enumerated list. However, I would argue that the “list” in the reporting statute could actually help resolve that problem by just making a reference to it in the pending legislation. It is not uncommon for one part of a statute to refer to a provision in another statute.
Now back to the gender/gender identity issue. While gender is not listed in the reporting statute, several lawmakers I have spoken to say they would not have a problem including it in the reporting statute.
Now when it comes to “gender identity” this needle could be tougher to thread, but it can be done. There is a growing body of case law out there, particularly at the federal court of appeals level, that discrimination based on gender identity is a form of sex discrimination based on a SCOTUS decision in a case called Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins.
In Price Waterhouse, the plaintiff Ann Hopkins sued her employer over sex discrimination. Hopkins was denied a promotion due to “lack of conformity to stereotypes about how women should act and what they should look like.” One of her supervisors wrote that she should go to “charm school.” She was also told to “walk more femininely, talk more femininely, dress more femininely, wear make-up, have her hair styled, and wear jewelry.” Hopkins sued, and the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Court held “sex stereotyping as a form of sex discrimination finding that allegations of gender identity and transgender discrimination based on non-conformance with gender norms and outdated stereotypes necessarily involve sex discrimination.”
This line of thinking has been followed in the Second and Sixth Circuits, and there is a case pending in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. So the logic is if gender is included in the reporting statute, so is gender identity.
So if you look at the issue like this, Indiana has a list of protected classes, even if some people don’t want them. By the way, this list has been around for more than a decade. And for those who do want a list, you have one, it’s just not exactly where you want it to be, and it’s been there for more than a decade.
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is a big Gilbert & Sullivan fan and that title comes from the operetta “The Mikado.”
