Indiana’s political agenda continues to be discussed locally, and on Saturday morning area legislators held Third House public forums at the Goshen and Elkhart chambers of commerce.

About 20 labor picketers protested the controversial right-to-work legislation outside the Elkhart Chamber, while inside a congenial dialogue was taking place between concerned citizens and state lawmakers Sen. Carlin Yoder, R-Middlebury; Rep. Tim Neese, R-Elkhart; and Rep. Timothy Wesco, R-Osceola.

In Elkhart, discussion was brought forth about the feasibility of allocating some of the recently discovered $320 million in state funds that had been misplaced, and using that money for teacher’s pensions and unemployment trust funds. It was also mentioned that Hoosier Lottery and Indiana casino money could be used for education purposes, to which Kyle Hannon, the Elkhart Chamber vice president of public policy, added, “it was never designed for education. It’s too unstable.”

Earlier at the Goshen forum, which was attended by Rep. Wes Culver, R-Goshen; Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, and Yoder, it had been established by the senator that “we will have things wrapped up by Wednesday for the first half” of the session. “Lord willing, we’ll vote on it (right-to-work) on Wednesday, and be done with it. It should be a volatile few days, and we’ll get through it and be fine.”

Education has been receiving a lot of attention in the senate, Yoder said. A bill that would have made it a misdemeanor to “butcher the national anthem” was voted down recently. “There’s a big push to mandate the starting date for schools to the fourth Monday in August,” which would cut back on energy usage, he said. There was “a lot of controversy this last year when it came out that the public schools don’t have to teach cursive anymore,” said Yoder. “We have a bill that will mandate” that cursive be taught.

Another education issue, which was discussed by Culver and Yoder, involved changing to a two-a-year-count date of students, which “will make it a more fair process” than a once-a-year-count date as schools currently do in September, and which will determine how schools get funding based on students enrolled, according to Yoder.

Speaking about “so-called failing schools,” Yoder gave one example of a local school that is “over 50 percent minority” and run by a principal “that cares more about kids then any principal that I’ve ever met. He’s so passionate, and he’s doing everything he can, and the teachers appear to be in the same boat — really trying hard. So instead of trying to be punitive to a school like that, we need to somehow figure out a way to be supportive and to figure out solutions.

“One thing I’m real focussed on this year is DCS — Department of Child Services — I used to work at Bashor Children’s Home, and so this issue is pretty near to me,” said Yoder. “I’m a little concerned with the direction of DCS, and where they’re going, and I’m probably in opposition with the governor on this.” Yoder said that the state is trying to change the model so as to “go away from using providers, and using the Bashors of the world” and instead trying “to keep kids at home as much as possible.”

Yoder said that after his dealings with parents at Bashor he feels that “most of them don’t deserve to have their kids back in the house, and shouldn’t have their kids back in the house because of some of the things that are happening there, and so I think we need to be careful about shoving kids back home.”

Culver also addressed another bill that would initiate a statewide smoking ban covering restaurants and most bars. Secondhand smoke became an issue in the ensuing discussion, when it was questioned whether nonsmoking workers who work in establishments not covered by the ban have rights, too. Children who are in enclosed areas such as cars with the secondhand smoke of their parents was mentioned by Yoder as a deplorable situation.

Yoder then asked: “Is it government’s job to encourage people to make the right choices?”

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