Episode 57: Bottom of the Ballot Breakdown
Guests: Corinne Straight, Dr. Michael Shaffer
Complete show notes and more at https://scottaaronrogers.substack.com
https://www.tiktok.com/@corinnestraight
https://www.linkedin.com/in/docshaffer/
As I release this episode on Monday, October 21, we are just over two weeks from Election Day. Now, I’m a leftist and if you’re listening to this, it’s likely that you at least lean left. And as often as I complain about the Democratic Party, I still usually go into my polling place and vote for Democrats down the line because Republican policies are abjectly terrible. But voting straight ticket does not complete your ballot. Some at-large races require picking multiple candidates, and school board races are officially non-partisan. Also, Indiana has an unusual system for appointing and retaining State Supreme Court justices - this year Hoosier voters are asked whether they would like to retain three of these jurists, as well as two Federal Court of Appeals judges. Lastly, the 2024 Indiana ballot contains a referendum on amending the state’s constitution to remove the Superintendent of Public Instruction from the gubernatorial line of succession.
How should a good lefty vote when you can’t rely on a D next to someone’s name? Today, I’ve got two guests to help us figure this out. First, communications director and Hoosier TikToker Corinne Straight will help take us through the judicial retention questions and the constitutional referendum, then Dr. Michael Shaffer, a professor of educational leadership at Ball State and public education advocate, will tell us what to look for in school board races.
Cited in Straight Interview:
Like Corinne’s shirt? Buy it here: https://bluesiers.com/
How the Indiana Supreme Court works: https://indianacitizen.org/judicial-retention-qa-indiana-voters-will-decide-whether-to-keep-supreme-court-or-court-of-appeals-jurists-heres-how-that-works/
Declining IU Med School residencies: https://www.reddit.com/r/Indiana/comments/1crt64k/indiana_medical_senior_residency_applicants_fall/
Indiana poor maternal mortality rate: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2022/09/28/indianas-dismal-maternal-mortality-rate-increases/
Indiana Supreme Court abortion ruling: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2023/08/21/indiana-supreme-court-wont-rehear-near-total-abortion-ban-ruling-putting-law-back-in-effect/
Indiana Supreme Court voucher case: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/26/indiana-school-voucher-ruling/2021021/
Indiana’s embarrassingly-low voter turnout: https://fox59.com/news/politics/indiana-bar-foundation-civic-index-ranks-indiana-50-of-51-for-voter-turnout/
Hoosiers disapprove of abortion ban: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2024/06/24/hoosier-voters-oppose-strict-abortion-ban-new-poll-finds/
Braun votes against IVF protection: https://indems.org/press-release/braun-votes-against-ivf-protection-bill-endangers-affordability-and-access-for-hoosiers/
Republicans eliminate Superintendent of Public Instruction as elected office: https://wfhb.org/news-public-affairs/hoosiers-can-no-longer-vote-on-superintendent/
No citizen-led ballot initiatives in Indiana: https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/why-doesnt-indiana-have-citizen-led-ballot-initiatives
Cited in Shaffer Interview:
Who is ALEC? https://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed
Chaplains in schools bill: https://www.aclu-in.org/en/news/chaplain-offices-have-no-place-indiana-public-schools
Clergy and children - what could go wrong? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church_sex_abuse_cases_in_the_United_States
Release time for religious instruction: https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/law-now-lets-parent-decide-on-taking-kids-out-of-school-for-religious-ed.php
About LifeWise Academy:
https://respectpublicschools.com/
LifeWise and Project 2025: https://www.mediamatters.org/project-2025/two-project-2025-partners-are-promoting-lifewise-organization-reinstalling-bible
Moms For Liberty and Project 2025: https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/project-2025-has-ties-to-moms-for-liberty-calls-for-prosecution-of-teachers-and-librarians-218353221751
LifeWise in Fort Wayne area: https://www.facebook.com/LifeWiseSWAC/
Who is Purple for Parents? https://northernindianaatheists.com/activism/2022/3/1/the-hate-group-in-our-backyard-purple-for-parents
Why the right hates public schools: https://rethinkingschools.org/special-collections/why-the-right-hates-public-education/
Betsy DeVos’ activism in Indiana: https://www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2016/11/30/21099520/six-things-to-know-about-indiana-s-school-voucher-program-a-model-betsy-devos-could-support/
Vouchers racist history: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/racist-origins-private-school-vouchers/
Some districts closed their public schools rather than integrate: https://www.naacpldf.org/brown-vs-board/southern-manifesto-massive-resistance-brown
Meredith v. Pence: https://studicata.com/case-briefs/case/meredith-v-pence/
Mike Braun all-in on “school choice”: https://stateaffairs.com/indiana/elections/indiana-mike-braun-education/
Students put on their own play after school cancels it: https://indianapublicradio.org/news/2023/05/fort-wayne-school-cancels-lgbtq-themed-play-so-students-produce-it-themselves/
Shaffer’s book club for boys: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475863871/From-Pushups-to-Angel%E2%80%99s-Wings-Great-Things-Happen-When-Boys-Read
List of extreme school board candidates:
Allen County
Northwest Allen County Schools
Southwest Allen County Schools
Bartholomew County
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. - following candidates are running as a bloc
David Thiele - running as a Christian conservative in a non-partisan race; repeats “porn in school” talking point; associates with Rokita & Beckwith;
Samantha Ison - supports defunding public schools; “parental rights” talking point; associates with anti-trans activist Riley Gaines; “bring back basics” dog whistle
Tom Glick - book banner, “parental consent” talking point;
Dekalb County
Garrett-Keyser-Butler Community Schools
Mark Thrush - inserts partisan issue (abortion) into a school board race: “We need to put more Christian based programs back in the schools”
Elkhart County
Concord Community Schools
Stacy McDowell - affiliated with Purple for Parents extremist group; “grooming, pornography, and indoctrination” talking points
Goshen Community Schools
Hamilton County
Carmel Clay Schools- these two candidates are running as a bloc
Dina Ferchmin - anti-DEI talking point: “shame white children”
Robin Clark - both are partisans in a non-partisan race; supported by Carmel Excellence PAC - a Moms For Liberty spin-off; affiliated with Christian nationalist Micah Beckwith;
Noblesville Schools - these three candidates are running as a bloc
Alison Hanley - “social and political agendas” dog whistle;
Bradley Helvey - partisans in a non-partisan race
David Dawson - “conservative leadership”, uses dog whistle language “parents voice in child’s education”, “transparency”, questions district’s educational mission
Hamilton Southeastern School Corp. - the following three candidates are running as a bloc
Greg Lannan - dog whistle language: “education too politicized”, “gotten away from the basics”; more: “parental involvement”, “transparency”
John Stewart - “parental rights and education” dog whistle; touts endorsement from Oath Keeper & Nazi-sympathizer Scott Baldwin; frames school district as a business; known to associate with a known pedophile
Terry Tolle - partisan in non-partisan race; endorsed by Fishers One ultra-conservative group
Hancock County
Greenfield-Central Community Schools
Dan Brown - anti-masker;
Hendricks County
Avon Community Schools
Marina Nelson - partisan in a non-partisan race; associates with extremist groups Indy Defenders of Liberty West and Heritage Action of America.
Brownsburg Community School Corp.
Douglas Davies - anti-masker; “sexually explicit material” in schools dog whistle
Huntington County
Huntington County Community Schools
Curtis Ray Hines - implicated in a doping & sexual abuse scandal; look at the comments on this Facebook post
Kathy Shock-Swingle - partisan Trump supporter; uses “indoctrination” dog whistle; “keep men out of women’s sports” anti-trans rhetoric
Jasper/Pulaski Counties
West Central School Corp.
Dennis Gutwein - supports LifeWise Academy taking students off campus for religious instruction during school hours; serves as a Baptist pastor
Johnson County
Center Grove Community School Corp.
Robbie Williams - extremist rhetoric: “put our schools back in the hands of parents”, “stand up for what our kids are being taught”, “time to get back to God, Family and Country”
Greenwood Community School Corp.
Peggy Daeger - has a Christian prayer on her campaign’s Facebook page; perpetuates the “CRT is taught in schools” falsehood
Sheila Martin - minor book-banning rhetoric
Kosciusko County
Warsaw Community Schools
Emerson Poort - mentions “conservative values in press release announcing candidacy; anti-masker
Lake County
School City of Hammond
Matthew Richardson - partisan in a non-partisan race;
Hanover Community School Corp. - these two are running as a bloc
Beth Martens - community member reports she has made blatant anti-trans comments
Nichole Lebeter - anti-mask; anti-vaccine; shares CRT in schools myth
Lake Central School Corp.
Tony Granata - partisan in a non-partisan race; inflammatory rhetoric; anti-woke, parents’ rights extremist language; anti-DEI; rails against teachers unions.
Mike “Mile” Kovacevic - book ban rhetoric, thinks schools need more books about Jesus; extremist language: “woke indoctrination”, anti-mask, anti-trans, “perverse” content in libraries, wants teachers to carry guns; uses MAGA branding on signage
Lake Ridge Schools
David Bacon - extremist rhetoric: “parents rights”, “Equity is a Marxist term”
LaPorte/St. Joseph Counties
New Prairie United School Corp.
Andrew Oake - wife Heather is chair of LaPorte County Moms For Liberty, who led a book banning crusade
Mike Yacullo - “family values” coded language; partisan in a non-partisan race
Lawrence County
Madison County
South Madison Community School Corp.
Melissa Krieg - “parental rights” dog whistle, made a stink about district’s gender transition plan
Morgan County
Martinsville Metropolitan School District
Ann Faudree - extremist rhetoric: “woke ideology”, “grooming”,
Noble County
East Noble School Corp.
Joel Lash - pushes anti-trans narrative; extremist language: “pornographic and sexualized literature”, “boys in girls sports”; member of Engage East Noble extremist group; “parents rights” dog whistle
John Klaassen - admin for Engage East Noble Facebook page; dog whistles: “harmful ideologies”, “separation of biological sexes”, “groomer” slur
Orange County
Paoli Community Schools
Christopher Mavronicles - partisan in a non-partisan race, “conservative”, “family values” dog whistle
Porter County
Duneland School Corp.
Noreen Legan - partisan in a non-partisan race: “conservative voice”, “parents rights” “American values” dog whistles;
Pulaski/Fulton Counties
Eastern Pulaski Community School Corp.
Jimmy Terry - posted this while running for school board in 2020
Shelby County
Southwestern Consolidated Schools
Jenn Burgert - “back to the basics” and “parental rights” coded language; associates with Christian nationalists; shares “government can control the weather” memes on personal page; seems to advocate for prayer and bibles in public schools
St. Joseph County
Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp.
Doug Chaffee - affiliated with Strengthen Our Schools Mishawaka “Parents Rights” organization; endorsed by extremist Indiana Family Action PAC; partisan in a non-partisan race; “conspiratorial and paranoid”; fired from Penn HS for sleeping with a subordinate; had a protective order levied against him after an attack on a young woman
Jim Garrett - also affiliated with SOS Mishawaka; went on multiple CRT rants in a board meeting;
Steuben County
Steuben County Metropolitan School District
Cory Archbold - partisan in a non-partisan race
Mark Ridenour - partisan in a non-partisan race
Becky Maggart - partisan in a non-partisan race
Fremont Community Schools
Brandi Berkhalter - partisan in a non-partisan race
James Burgoon - partisan in a non-partisan race
Zachary Burnau - partisan in a non-partisan race
Benjamin Roederer - partisan in a non-partisan race
Abby Probst - partisan in a non-partisan race; shared this on her personal Facebook page; lets her kid go out in public with that hat on
Hamilton Community Schools
Steuben/LaGrange Counties
Warrick County
Wells County
Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District
Peter Christopher Koiner - partisan in a non-partisan race; touts endorsement from Right To Life of NE Indiana in a race that has nothing to do with aborion; extremist rhetoric: anti-SEL, Christian nationalist; “force social issues on our kids” dog whistle
Norwell Community Schools
Jeremiah Tomlin - “lean on God’s word” inappropriate for a school board race; openly running as a Christian for a secular position; touts endorsement from Right to Life of NE Indiana in a non-partisan race;
Whitley County
Whitley County Consolidated Schools
Lisa Doehrman - “parental rights” dog whistle; book ban language “harmful materials” trope; supports defunding public education through vouchers; “voiced concerns about the indoctrinations of SEL, CRT & CSE including obscene books in the school libraries”
Scott Wise - partisan in a non-partisan race; “voiced concerns about the indoctrinations of SEL, CRT & CSE including obscene books in the school libraries”
Darren Lee Simmons - anti-CRT rant; supports teaching the Bible in public schools; personal Facebook page full of far-right content; voiced concerns about the indoctrinations of SEL, CRT & CSE including obscene books in the school libraries”
James Renbarger - pushed anti-CRT resolution;
HoosLeft on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/hoosleft
https://hoosleft.bsky.social
https://www.youtube.com/@hoosleft
https://www.tiktok.com/@hoosleft
https://www.instagram.com/scottrog78/
https://www.threads.net/@scottrog78
https://hoosier.social/@scottrog78
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Episode 57: Bottom of the Ballot Breakdown