Same school, different ratings

Just three weeks ago, the Indiana Department of Education announced results of the federal Adequate Yearly Progress measures for schools. On Wednesday, category placements under the state’s own accountability measure, Public Law 221, were released.

Hoosiers can be forgiven if they can’t keep it all straight. Provisions of the state’s law and the federal No Child Left Behind law make for interesting results. Garrett-Keyser-Butler Community Schools in DeKalb County, for example, was ranked in the exemplary category last year but fell three places to the academic watch category this year. Fort Wayne’s Washington Elementary School did not make AYP under No Child Left Behind, but the school is rated in the exemplary category under the state law.

Perhaps the state should add test-result comprehension skills to its academic standards and then test students to make sure they have mastered them.

Notre Dame activists using protest to feature fetus pictures

Anti-abortion activists have no qualms protesting President Obama’s May 17 commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame.

And they are using their right to free speech to advance their own aims, much to the dismay of some South Bend residents.

The South Bend Police Department has received dozens of calls from people upset by graphic images of aborted fetuses displayed to protest the president’s speech. Trucks displaying the images and airplanes carrying banners have been spotted around the community.

Troy Gebhardt told the South Bend Tribune he found the large pictures “absolutely appalling.”

If they appeared on TV, he could change the channel, he said, but there’s no way to avoid seeing them in traffic. Lynn Nemeth said her 3 1/2 -year-old granddaughter remarked on one of the signs when a truck pulled up next to her in traffic.

“It’s my issue – an adult issue,” she said. “It’s not meant for little kids to see.”

But police Capt. Phil Trent said there’s no law to prohibit the displays – they are protected by freedom of speech.