Episode 65: The Grandest, High-flyin'est Red Flag
Dr. Michael Shaffer Breaks Down HB 1136, the Supermajority's Proposal To Liquidate Whole School Districts
Full show notes at https://hoosleft.us/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/docshaffer/
Welcome to the HoosLeft Podcast, a show about Indiana politics, history, and culture from the unapologetic perspective of the social democratic left. My name is Scott Aaron Rogers and I’m recording from Bloomington.
Last week, MADVoters’ Director of Advocacy - Kaitie Rector, gave us a high-level overview of the bills filed by Indiana lawmakers and up for debate in this 2025 session of the General Assembly. While Democrats, and even a few Republicans, put forward several pieces of quality legislation that will probably never see the light of day, the supermajority has mostly carried forward their “slate of hate” from prior years. With bills further limiting Hoosier women’s access to abortion care, erasing the already-blurred line between church and state, and giving Indianapolis more power to override local control, there are more red flags under the capitol dome than at a Chinese military parade.
And perhaps the grandest, high-flyin’est red flag of all is House Bill 1136. This abomination was authored - and I use that term very loosely - by District 7 Rep. Jake Teshka, and
“Provides that, if more than 50% of students who have legal settlement in a school corporation were enrolled in a school that is not operated by the school corporation on the 2024 fall average daily membership count date, the school corporation must be dissolved and all public schools of the school corporation must be transitioned to operating as charter schools. Establishes a new governing board, requirements, and procedures regarding the dissolution and reorganization of the applicable school corporations.”
In other words, this bill - if passed - would empower the state to liquidate entire school districts - locals and their democratically-elected boards be damned - and sell, or give away, the assets to charter school operators.
As written, this legislation would affect five school corporations - three tiny rural districts (Union Schools in Randolph County, Cannelton City Schools in Perry County and Tri-Township Consolidated Schools in LaPorte County) and two metropolitan (Gary Community Schools and Indianapolis Public Schools - the largest district in the state).
Though Indiana’s Republican supermajority has been hacking away at public education for the better part of two decades, this proposal marks a further escalation in their ongoing crusade - and Hoosiers in the affected communities are already voicing their opposition.
For all things public education, I turn to Dr. Michael Shaffer, who first visited with HoosLeft in October to tell us about the right-wing hate groups fielding and supporting school board candidates in the November election. Dr. Shaffer has been an administrator at every level over his 27-year administrative career and is currently an Associate Clinical Professor and Director of the Educational Specialist (EdS) and Educational Doctorate (EdD) programs in Administration and Supervision at the Department of Educational Leadership, Teachers College, Ball State University, where he has trained well over 1000 school principals. Dr. Shaffer teaches School Law, Special Ed Law, School Facilities, Central Office Administration, and Policy and Politics. He will help us understand this bill, its potential consequences, and the historical forces behind the school privatization movement.
Before we turn to the interview, I want to thank all of you for your support, especially those who have made the leap with a paid subscription. Your contributions have helped me make meaningful connections with fascinating people from all over Indiana, and beyond. We are building a network of Hoosiers dedicated to making this state, and its government, work for all of us, not just the elite few.
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Now here’s my interview with Dr. Michael Shaffer.
Cited in the Interview
HB 1136 in Full: https://legiscan.com/IN/text/HB1136/id/3037273
The affected districts: Indianapolis Public Schools, Gary Community Schools, Tri-Township Consolidated School Corp, Union School Corp, Cannelton City Schools
Intro to Neoliberalism: https://scalar.usc.edu/works/publiceducation/neoliberalism
What is ALEC? https://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/What_is_ALEC
New Orleans schools post-Katrina: https://theneworleanstribune.com/2022/11/18/how-many-more-years-of-a-failed-reform-must-orleans-parish-endure/
Gary Schools Emerge From State Takeover: https://indianapublicradio.org/news/2024/07/indiana-ends-seven-year-takeover-of-gary-community-school-corporation/
How “White Flight” Defunded Public Schools: https://www.proquest.com/openview/9149303806f13589f467a82f226c37ba/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750
Mitch Daniels Sold Vouchers as Social Justice: https://www.proquest.com/openview/9149303806f13589f467a82f226c37ba/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750
How Dr. Wendy Robinson Navigated Challenges at Fort Wayne Community Schools: https://www.aasa.org/resources/resource/nov16-profile
Indiana GOP History of Preempting Home Rule: https://indianacitizen.org/municipal-power-as-state-legislators-chip-away-at-local-government-initiatives-does-home-rule-still-matter/
Charter Schools Have Many Drawbacks: https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2022/11/10/four-ways-charter-schools-undermine-good-education-policy/
Indiana Charter SchoolsAre Public: https://ballotpedia.org/Charter_schools_in_Indiana
Privatized Profits, Socialized Losses: https://thedemlabs.org/2023/03/20/privatize-profits-and-socialize-losses-how-the-rich-do-it/
Great Summary of Imagine Schools’ Grift: http://btownerrant.com/2011/09/03/no-charter-school-left-behind-mitch-daniels-tony-bennett-and-dennis-bakke%E2%80%99s-imagine-schools/
How Michigan Used Financial Woes to Take Over Cities: http://btownerrant.com/2011/09/03/no-charter-school-left-behind-mitch-daniels-tony-bennett-and-dennis-bakke%E2%80%99s-imagine-schools/
What Happens When Out-of-State Charter Management Agencies Come to Town: https://www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2019/12/13/21055525/charter-schools-usa-loses-charter-bid-giving-ips-a-shot-at-reclaiming-takeover-schools/
IPS Pushes Back on HB 1136: https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indiana-house-bill-1136-ips-gary-union-cannelton-tri-township-charter-schools
Columbia City’s New High School: https://www.wane.com/news/back-to-school/take-a-look-inside-columbia-citys-new-high-school/
Braun Ran on Universal Vouchers: https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/indiana-legislature-mike-braun-2025-session-school-choice
Virtual Charter School Scam: https://www.chalkbeat.org/indiana/2024/01/23/virtual-charter-school-operators-indicted-for-alleged-enrollment-scam/
Reliance on Local Property Taxes Inherently Discriminatory: https://apps.urban.org/features/school-funding-do-poor-kids-get-fair-share/
How Indiana schools are funded: https://www.in.gov/doe/files/Public-School-Digest-2021-2023-final.pdf
Supporting Public Education is Good for Business: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2024/07/16/power-in-partnerships-why-teaming-up-with-local-schools-is-a-smart-business-move/#:~:text=Communities%20that%20offer%20safe%2C%20healthy,IT%20and%20other%20related%20fields.
The Racist Origins of “School Choice”: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/racist-origins-private-school-vouchers/
White Kids Benefit from Diversity, Too: https://sdnotebook.com/2021/02/17/new-research-benefits-for-white-students-in-integrated-schools/
Rules For Radicals: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/102748.Rules_for_Radicals
Network, “I’m mad as hell”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOSaVPX2yB8
Once again, that was Dr. Michael Shaffer, Professor in Department of Educational Leadership at Ball State University Teachers College.
The founders of this country championed public education before we even had a constitution. Four generations on, Ulysses S. Grant said, "the free school is the promoter of that intelligence which is to preserve us as a free nation.” Four generations after that, Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”
So why would anyone want to dismantle public education? It’s so cartoonishly evil that, when we point it out, a good chunk of the mainstream think’s we’re nuts! “You’re overacting, nobody can be that sinister,” they say. Well,
they can.
Now, I don’t think a group of men sit around in smoke-filled rooms twirling their mustaches pondering new, more cruel ways to disenfranchise children. As I see it, three distinct groups of zealots all see public education as an impediment to their vision for society, and our kids are pawns in their game. First, you have the libertarians, ultra-capitalists, and property rights absolutists. This group believes in the privatization of everything, and that nothing should be publicly-owned because that would be communism. The next group is the Christian nationalists, who believe the wall of church and state should not exist and that religious institutions should be responsible for education. The final group is the racists, who aren’t opposed to the idea of public education in theory, but are still upset about Brown v. Board of Education from 1954. That Supreme Court decision desegregated public schools and gravely wounded Jim Crow.
But, make no mistake, carried to its logical conclusion, the ongoing dismantling of public education will result in a “separate but equal” system not unlike that era. Of course, we’re much too sophisticated and refined for such overt discrimination these days, so ol’ Jim will get a glow-up and rebrand as Mr. James H. Crow III, Esquire. That’s why we’re seeing small rural districts being targeted right along with the big majority-minority school corporations in Gary and Indianapolis.
Black or white, urban or rural, the school privatizers don’t see us, the people, in color - they only see obstacles. Well, actually the racists definitely see color, but they’re a useful ally to those who would tear down public education - several Southern school districts shuttered entirely rather than integrate after Brown. They will definitely bite off their own nose to spite their face in service of your goal.
See, the one thing these disparate groups of public education opponents share is a hatred for democracy. Rule by tech oligarchs? Rule by religious authorities? Rule by white supremacy? Don’t nobody want that. None of these ideas are popular. None of these ideas poll well. None of these ideas can win democratically. So, if like FDR said, “the real safeguard of democracy […] is education,” and democracy stands opposed to your authoritarian, hierarchical worldview, you must destroy education first.
Because the wealth class sees us all the same way - as hurdles to be cleared - we also must come to see ourselves on the same team. Rural communities need good public schools. Big cities need good public schools. The suburbs need good public schools. And when public schools are dismantled, we lose more than buildings, we lose community.
Schools are the very fabric of our communities, places where children form lifelong friendships, where many busy parents find their only social connection, where entire neighborhoods find common ground. Tearing at that fabric doesn’t just hurt students, it hurts us all.
So, we need to recognize this legislation for what it is - an attack on democracy, on our communities, on our kids. Public schools are owned by us, by our neighbors, by our localities and governed through democratic processes. HB 1136 would strip that local control away and hand it to private entities that prioritize profit and power over pupils. This isn’t about improving education - it’s about consolidating wealth and social control at the expense of our children’s futures.
So, what do we do? We speak out - loudly and collectively. We educate ourselves and others. Talk to neighbors. Talk to teachers. Talk to other parents at your kid’s school, and make sure everyone knows what’s at stake. Then, I want you to call your state rep at 317-232-9600, and tell them, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore,” because that’s what this moment calls for.
Thanks again to my guest today, Dr. Michael Shaffer, and thank you for listening. If you can, head over to HoosLeft.US and help support this project with a paid subscription. Thats’s where you’ll find everything I publish, but you can also find me on Facebook, Bluesky, YouTube and TikTok at hoosleft and on most other social media sites at scottrog78. My DMs are open for feedback, tips, ideas, and concerns. You can also email me at scott@hoosleft.us. Forward the show to a friend and have them to forward it to another friend. Let’s keep building this project - and more democratic state. Until next time, this has been the HoosLeft podcast. I’m Scott Aaron Rogers. Love each other, Indiana.
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