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  • Closure of California Federal Prison Was Poorly Planned, Judge Says in Ordering Further Monitoring

    Closure of California Federal Prison Was Poorly Planned, Judge Says in Ordering Further Monitoring

    LOS ANGELES (AP) — The plan to close a troubled prison in California where female inmates suffered sexual abuse by guards was “ill-conceived,” a judge said while ordering close monitoring and care of the incarcerated women who were moved to other federal facilities across the country.

    U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in Wednesday’s order that last month’s decision by the Bureau of Prisons, or BOP, to shut down FCI Dublin “created serious concerns” for the well being of more than 600 women who were transferred out.

    “Although it had as much time as needed to prepare, BOP’s operational plan for closure of FCI Dublin was ill-conceived and, like Swiss cheese, full of holes,” the judge wrote Wednesday.

    Gonzalez Rogers ordered the bureau to provide a weekly status update for each transfer to the judge, the special master and attorneys for the incarcerated women who are suing the bureau.

    In addition, federal officials must submit a monthly staffing report for each prison where the incarcerated women ended up, along with details of the mental health and medical health care the inmates are receiving.

    Late last month, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the BOP expressing concern over claims of a chaotic transfer process during which FCI Dublin inmates on buses and planes didn’t receive proper medical care and were reportedly subjected to “mistreatment, harassment, neglect, and abuse while in transit.”

    Gonzalez Rogers emphasized those concerns and said that “BOP ignored other operational issues” including the proper movement of inmates’ property.

    The BOP said Thursday that it doesn’t comment on matters pending before the court. However the bureau reiterated that its closure plan was carefully considered over months.

    “The process involved careful planning and coordination to ensure the safe transfer of women to other facilities, with special attention given to their unique programming, medical, and mental health requirements,” the BOP statement said. “We continue to expect that the women’s needs are addressed with compassion and respect, providing ongoing support as needed.”

    Gonzalez Rogers on Wednesday also denied a recent motion filed by the BOP questioning the authority of the special master. The judge scheduled a May 16 hearing on that issue.

    A 2021 Associated Press investigation exposed a “rape club” culture at the prison where a pattern of abuse and mismanagement went back years, even decades. The bureau repeatedly promised to improve the culture and environment — but the decision to shutter the facility represented an extraordinary acknowledgment that reform efforts have failed.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – May 2024

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  • Will Less Homework Stress Make California Students Happier?

    Will Less Homework Stress Make California Students Happier?

    This article was originally published in CalMatters.

    Some bills before California’s Legislature don’t come from passionate policy advocates, or from powerful interest groups.

    Sometimes, the inspiration comes from a family car ride.

    While campaigning two years ago, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo’s daughter, then nine, asked from the backseat what her mother could do if she won.


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    Schiavo answered that she’d be able to make laws. Then, her daughter Sofia asked her if she could make a law banning homework.

    “It was a kind of a joke,” the Santa Clarita Valley Democrat said in an interview, “though I’m sure she’d be happy if homework were banned.”

    Still, the conversation got Schiavo thinking, she said. And while Assembly Bill 2999 — which faces its first big test on Wednesday — is far from a ban on homework, it would require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop guidelines for K-12 students and would urge schools to be more intentional about “good,” or meaningful homework.

    Among other things, the guidelines should consider students’ physical health, how long assignments take and how effective they are. But the bill’s main concern is mental health and when homework adds stress to students’ daily lives.

    Homework’s impact on happiness is partly why Schiavo brought up the proposal last month during the first meeting of the Legislature’s select committee on happiness, led by former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.

    “This feeling of loneliness and disconnection — I know when my kid is not feeling connected,” Schiavo, a member of the happiness committee, told CalMatters. “It’s when she’s alone in her room (doing homework), not playing with her cousin, not having dinner with her family.”

    The bill analysis cites a survey of 15,000 California high schoolers from Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. It found that 45% said homework was a major source of stress and that 52% considered most assignments to be busywork.

    The organization also reported in 2020 that students with higher workloads reported “symptoms of exhaustion and lower rates of sleep,” but that spending more time on homework did not necessarily lead to higher test scores.

    Homework’s potential to also widen inequities is why Casey Cuny supports the measure. An English and mythology teacher at Valencia High School and 2024’s California Teacher of the Year, Cuny says language barriers, unreliable home internet, family responsibilities or other outside factors may contribute to a student falling behind on homework.

    “I never want a kid’s grade to be low because they have divorced parents and their book was at their dad’s house when they were spending the weekend at mom’s house,” said Cuny, who plans to attend a press conference Wednesday to promote the bill.

    In addition, as technology makes it easier for students to cheat — using artificial technology or chat threads to lift answers, for example — Schiavo says that the educators she has spoken to indicate they’re moving towards more in-class assignments.

    Cuny agrees that an emphasis on classwork does help to rein in cheating and allows him to give students immediate feedback. “I feel that I should teach them what I need to teach them when I’m with them in the room,” he said.

    The bill says the local homework policies should have input from teachers, parents, school counselors, social workers and students; be distributed at the beginning of every school year; and be reevaluated every five years.

    The Assembly Committee on Education is expected to hear the bill Wednesday. Schiavo says she has received bipartisan support and so far, no official opposition or support is listed in the bill analysis.

    The measure’s provision for parental input may lead to disagreements given the recent culture war disputes between Democratic officials and parental rights groups backed by some Republican lawmakers. 

    Because homework is such a big issue, “I’m sure there will be lively (school) board meetings,” Schiavo said.

    Nevertheless, she says she hopes the proposal will overhaul the discussion around homework and mental health. The bill is especially pertinent now that the state is also poised to cut spending on mental health services for children with the passage of Proposition 1.

    Schiavo said the mother of a student with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder told her that the child’s struggle to finish homework has raised issues inside the house, as well as with the school’s principal and teachers.

    “And I’m just like, it’s sixth grade!” Schaivo said. “What’s going on?”

    Update: The Assembly education committee on April 24 approved an amended version of the bill that softens some requirements and gives districts until the 2027-28 school year.

    This story was originally posted on CalMatters.

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  • Secret Service agent assigned to Kamala Harris hospitalized after exhibiting “distressing behavior,” officials say

    Secret Service agent assigned to Kamala Harris hospitalized after exhibiting “distressing behavior,” officials say

    Washington — A U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris exhibited “distressing behavior” Monday morning at Joint Base Andrews and was hospitalized, authorities said. Harris was not present at the airbase at the time.

    In a statement provided to CBS News, the U.S. Secret Service said that at about 9 a.m. local time Monday, the agent “began displaying behavior their colleagues found distressing. The agent was removed from their assignment while medical personnel were summoned.”

    Two sources briefed on the situation told CBS News the agent spouted gibberish, was speaking incoherently and provoked another officer physically.

    According to sources, the agent in question pushed the special agent in charge while they were near the lounge of Joint Base Andrews.

    Harris was at the Naval Observatory at the time, USSS said, and the incident had “no impact on her departure from Joint Base Andrews.” Sources said it occurred about one hour before Harris arrived at the airbase for a flight to Wisconsin.

    The agent was immediately handcuffed and detained by other Secret Service agents who intervened, sources said, and ambulances were called to the scene.

    After an initial medical evaluation, the agent were admitted to a hospital, sources said. There was no indication of substance use at this time, they added.

    The USSS remains in a temporary holding pattern until further information becomes available, the sources said. After the agent receives additional medical attention and further evaluation, it will be determined if they can return to work. An internal review will be conducted and the USSS will assess if the agent’s top secret security clearance will be removed for medical or disciplinary reasons, sources explained.

    The sources also disclosed that, at this time, this is being treated as a medical incident and not a disciplinary matter, given the nature of the clear mental health challenges exhibited by the agent. 

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  • In governor run, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch hopes voters will choose experience over politics

    In governor run, Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch hopes voters will choose experience over politics

    Editor’s note: This is part of a series of profiles on each of the six Republican candidates for governor. Read our profiles on Mike Braun, Brad Chambers, Curtis Hill, Jamie Reitenour and Eric Doden.

    It seemed the Boone County residents had mostly exhausted their questions about the LEAP district and what’s happening to their farmland, which was the subject of the listening session Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch held last week at the county fairgrounds.

    One county councilor decided to change the subject.

    “Axe the tax,” Kevin Van Horn said, repeating Crouch’s slogan for her campaign promise to eliminate the state income tax, prompting a knowing grin from Crouch. “Let’s assume for a moment that you become the governor.”

    “I like that assumption,” Crouch said, prompting laughter from the crowd of 60 or so.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks with constituents, Thursday, April 4, 2024, during a listening session about the LEAP District at the Witham Pavilion at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.
    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks with constituents, Thursday, April 4, 2024, during a listening session about the LEAP District at the Witham Pavilion at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.

    “How are you going to convince the legislature that this is what needs to be done, but more importantly, where are the dollars going to come from to compensate that loss from the money that’s coming in right now?”

    Crouch beamed.

    It’s been the headline-grabber of her campaign and the butt of snide remarks on the debate stage, with her five opponents accusing her of merely propagating a gimmick. (Crouch shrugs at all that ― jokes on them, she says, they’re giving her free advertising.)

    But to Crouch, it’s a real idea, and in the Boone County pavilion, she takes four whole minutes to explain the logic and the facts and figures behind the execution ― far too long for the debate stage or an ad.

    She remains steadfast it can be done in a gradual way, through a combination of shrinking the size of government, spurring economic growth and putting excess reserves toward it, though experts are skeptical an elimination of a tax that makes up a third of state tax revenue won’t result in increasing some other tax or cutting services. Plus, she can’t do it without the support of the General Assembly, which means some candidates have accused her of making promises she can’t keep in an effort to win votes.

    Indiana governor candidate Q&A: Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch on the issues

    Nonetheless, this is the Suzanne Crouch that her supporters want more people to see, but that doesn’t fit as neatly onto those quippy debate stages and airtime. They say she has the encyclopedic recall of a county-level public official who would rather not bother with the fanfare of politics. If the job of governor were won purely off the merits of training through the ranks of local and state government and having the most endorsements from the public servants in those jobs ― 165 at latest count ― the job would be hers.

    But this is politics. Experience in government isn’t everything, and there are five other people who want the job: U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, who polling says is the frontrunner; former Secretary of Commerce Brad Chambers; Fort Wayne entrepreneur Eric Doden, former Attorney General Curtis Hill and Indianapolis mother Jamie Reitenour.

    Crouch is the one with the strongest attachment to the Gov. Eric Holcomb administration, which could be a liability in a Republican primary. Far gone are the days when the person in the No. 2 position is the heir apparent. Even as she struggles with her ties to his administration the people closest to Holcomb have largely opted to support someone else: Chambers. Holcomb has yet to make an endorsement in the race.

    But she also has the most credibility in the mental health conversation, having spoken publicly in great detail about her family members’ struggles with suicide and addiction.

    Van Horn was an undecided voter. But two things swayed him that day: Mental health is also a priority for him, and Crouch held eye contact with him during her entire four-minute answer to his question.

    “She looked me straight in the eye, she answered the question, and she’s got my vote,” he said afterward.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, shakes hands with county councilor Kevin Van Horn, Thursday, April 4, 2024, during a listening session about the LEAP District at the Witham Pavilion at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, shakes hands with county councilor Kevin Van Horn, Thursday, April 4, 2024, during a listening session about the LEAP District at the Witham Pavilion at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, shakes hands with county councilor Kevin Van Horn, Thursday, April 4, 2024, during a listening session about the LEAP District at the Witham Pavilion at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.

    ‘All I ever wanted to do was local government’

    A county auditor is the record keeper, the financial overseer, the conduit for all county business. It’s not glamourous or even that high-profile, but it’s the job 34-year-old Crouch wanted in 1986.

    She had had some accounting experience, as the bookkeeper for her family’s construction company, and proximity to politics, as executive administrator of the Vanderburgh County Republican Central Committee and the southwest Indiana campaign director for Sen. Richard Lugar. The seat had been a Democratic stronghold for more than 30 years, and her opponent was the sitting chief deputy auditor. She knocked on more than 40,000 doors, pregnant, the Evansville Courier and Press reported. Then she lost by about one percentage point.

    A headshot of Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch when she first ran for Vanderburgh County Auditor in 1986 against Democratic opponent Sam Humphrey, printed in the Evansville Courier and Press on Oct. 15, 1986.A headshot of Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch when she first ran for Vanderburgh County Auditor in 1986 against Democratic opponent Sam Humphrey, printed in the Evansville Courier and Press on Oct. 15, 1986.

    A headshot of Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch when she first ran for Vanderburgh County Auditor in 1986 against Democratic opponent Sam Humphrey, printed in the Evansville Courier and Press on Oct. 15, 1986.

    So she tried again in 1994. Again she faced a Democratic opponent who was chief deputy auditor; this time, she bested him by 12 percentage points and was part of a Republican wave sweeping county department heads.

    Crouch said recently she had never aspired beyond county commissioner, which she would become after two terms as auditor. She describes her trajectory as a series of happenstance requests: She hadn’t thought about being state representative until Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, called asking her to run for Becker’s old House seat. When former Gov. Mike Pence asked her step into the state auditor role to fill a vacancy, she initially said no, but Pence asked her to take the weekend to think about it. And then Holcomb tapped her as his lieutenant governor, she thought, “well, okay, this is what I’m doing.”

    “All I ever wanted to do was local government,” she said. “I’m a big believer God puts us in places for a reason; what’s meant to be is meant to be.”

    Auditor is not the kind of job that makes many headlines. What the newspapers did note were her efforts to put county commissioner meeting minutes and video online for the first time; later, as commissioner, her meetings would be televised for the first time.

    What might not have made the headlines as much was her reputation behind the scenes. Friends like Marsha Abell, who also served as county clerk at the time Crouch was auditor, say she didn’t play favorites and meant business when it was time for business. She led the county through the Y2K transition methodically and calmly, Abell said, pulling the books apart to scrap a couple grand here and a couple grand there to pay for new computer systems.

    “I never had her not knowing where something was in that budget,” Abell said. “She was always prepared.”

    Indiana governor’s race: Candidates have raised more than $18M. Here’s who has raised the most.

    Colleagues across the aisle, too, considered her a deep researcher who thought things through.

    “I feel she always developed insightful and intelligent responses when reaching her decisions,” Democratic county commissioner Mike Goebel wrote in an email.

    Bill Nix, who served with her as a commissioner for one year, credits Crouch with the idea to build a bike path near Burdette Park, a county-owned park on the edge of Evansville ― a no-brainer idea these days but less in vogue back then.

    Indiana Sen. Vaneta Becker talks with fellow senators after closing out the first legislative session of the year Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.Indiana Sen. Vaneta Becker talks with fellow senators after closing out the first legislative session of the year Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.

    Indiana Sen. Vaneta Becker talks with fellow senators after closing out the first legislative session of the year Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.

    When Becker decided to leave her House seat to run for the state Senate, she called Crouch. Crouch had proven herself a “go-getter,” Becker said, especially when, as county party chair in the early 90s, Crouch helped Becker fundraise heavily and garner 47% of the vote against an incumbent mayor. (Crouch’s fundraising skills persist: her gubernatorial campaign, with the support of Republican kingmaker Bob Grand, has been keeping up with her independently wealthy opponents. In March, for example, the campaign raised more than $1 million in one week.)

    But it took some convincing.

    “When I called her,” Becker recalled, “she said ‘Just tell me this: Is it as political as it is at the local level?’ I said, ‘You haven’t seen anything yet.’”

    Going public on mental health

    Even as a state representative for eight years, Crouch’s legacy was local, and chiefly in the areas she’s now well-known for: mental health and health care in general.

    As vice chair on the House Ways and Means committee, Crouch secured funding for the IU School of Medicine to build its own regional facility in Evansville. Earlier in her tenure, she pushed for funding in the state budget to provide grants to organizations, like Youth First in Evansville, to embed behavioral health professionals in schools in an effort to prevent substance abuse and mental health issues.

    “I think she was an early adopter of making this a priority,” said president and CEO Parri Black, while making clear that Youth First does not support or endorse any candidates.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, takes a tour of the Indiana United Methodist Children's Home on Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Lebanon, Indiana.Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, takes a tour of the Indiana United Methodist Children's Home on Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Lebanon, Indiana.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, takes a tour of the Indiana United Methodist Children’s Home on Thursday, April 4, 2024, in Lebanon, Indiana.

    This was the mid-2000s, well before Crouch went public about her own family’s history.

    Her mother experienced bouts of depression and anxiety all of Crouch’s life. Crouch’s sister, Nancy, died by suicide in her early 20s after a silent struggle with depression. Her brother, Larry, died more recently after a lifelong struggle with alcohol addiction. Her daughter, Courtney, lives with bipolar disorder.

    The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated a mental health crisis, particularly among young people. As lieutenant governor, it seemed like the right time to use her platform to encourage more conversation and more solutions, she said. The first time she spoke publicly about her family ― she thinks it might have been a Zoom talk with employees in the Division of Mental Health and Addiction ― it felt awkward, a little scary, and a little painful.

    “It wasn’t that I was ever ashamed or embarrassed of my family. It just, you know, didn’t ever feel like it was anything that was important to talk about,” she said. “But then during COVID when I saw how we were all being affected, I thought, well maybe if I talk about it, that gives other people permission to talk about it.”

    This would become a hallmark of her time as lieutenant governor. In 2021, she formed the Indiana Mental Health Roundtable, a coalition of the biggest names in health and business that seeks to amplify efforts around the state to reduce stigma and increase access.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch talks about mental health during a press conference Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 where Gov. Eric Holcomb presented his 2022 agenda at the Indiana Government Center South in Indianapolis.Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch talks about mental health during a press conference Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 where Gov. Eric Holcomb presented his 2022 agenda at the Indiana Government Center South in Indianapolis.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch talks about mental health during a press conference Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 where Gov. Eric Holcomb presented his 2022 agenda at the Indiana Government Center South in Indianapolis.

    In an unusual move, in 2023, Crouch testified during a hearing on Senate Bill 1, the session’s marquee mental health bill that Holcomb eventually signed into law alongside a $100 million appropriation in the budget. The law enables the state’s community health centers to broaden their services so they can qualify for federal funding and be able to provide crisis response teams when people call the 988 suicide hotline.

    In March, Crouch aired a new TV ad in which she mentions Nancy’s battle.

    “I think it takes a lot to wear all that so publicly,” said Lloyd Winnecke, the former Evansville mayor and a friend of Crouch’s. “Arguably no one else has used a platform to this extent.”

    Does Holcomb help or hurt?

    Covid brought Crouch another challenge: an association with a Holcomb administration that many populist Republicans are now condemning as an example of extreme government overreach, citing emergency shutdowns and mask mandates.

    Besides her “axe the tax” platform, this is the main source of jabs from her opponents.

    “The lieutenant governor wants to not talk about the past,” Hill said in his closing statements at the first gubernatorial debate. “Well we know why: because she’s tied to the past. The past of a failed administration.”

    Gov. Eric Holcomb watches Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch cheer after announcing I-69 will be finished in 2024 connecting Indianapolis to Evansville on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, during the State of the State address at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.Gov. Eric Holcomb watches Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch cheer after announcing I-69 will be finished in 2024 connecting Indianapolis to Evansville on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, during the State of the State address at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.

    Gov. Eric Holcomb watches Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch cheer after announcing I-69 will be finished in 2024 connecting Indianapolis to Evansville on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, during the State of the State address at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.

    Generally speaking, Holcomb is still popular. In the latest Hoosier Survey from Ball State University’s Bowen Center for Public Affairs, his approval rating was about 61% among respondents who identify as a “strong Republican,” and 51% among those who “lean Republican.” And that doesn’t include about a quarter of respondents who don’t even know who Holcomb is.

    But Crouch is competing for those more moderate, Holcomb-supporting Republicans with at least one other candidate ― Chambers ― and there may not be enough of those voters to go around, said Chad Kinsella, director of the Bowen Center.

    Crouch started out by walking a fine line, distancing herself somewhat from the actions of the Holcomb administration without being too harsh, given that she was there, too. That schism has only grown wider, though.

    Last summer, her digs were more subtle: While her opponents attacked the LEAP Innovation District in Boone County as a concept, Crouch didn’t take it that far ― her criticism has been about the lack of transparency felt by local elected officials.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, right, listens as Gov. Eric Holcomb speaks about his 2022 agenda Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 at the Indiana Government Center South in Indianapolis.Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, right, listens as Gov. Eric Holcomb speaks about his 2022 agenda Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 at the Indiana Government Center South in Indianapolis.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, right, listens as Gov. Eric Holcomb speaks about his 2022 agenda Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 at the Indiana Government Center South in Indianapolis.

    During this year’s legislative session, she took an openly oppositional stance to an executive agency, the Family and Social Services Administration, over its handling of the $1 billion Medicaid forecast miscalculation that resulted in cost cuts that impacted families caring for medically complex children. Holcomb, meanwhile, has been defending FSSA, as Crouch repeatedly calls for audits.

    And on the debate stage, pledging like the rest of her opponents to never again hand down mask mandates and to have health experts “on tap, not on top,” Crouch has made her critiques more direct.

    “We can’t go back and change what happened, but I’ve learned from the mistakes of our top executive,” she said at the first debate, without actually naming Holcomb. Asked at a later debate how she’d grade Holcomb’s two terms, she gave him an A for the state’s favorable business environment and a C for his response to COVID-19. Like many other Republicans, she didn’t publicly share any opposition to Holcomb’s emergency order back then.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch delivers her opening remarks as Republican gubernatorial candidates gather, Monday, March 11, 2024, at The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Ind., to debate one another.Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch delivers her opening remarks as Republican gubernatorial candidates gather, Monday, March 11, 2024, at The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Ind., to debate one another.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch delivers her opening remarks as Republican gubernatorial candidates gather, Monday, March 11, 2024, at The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Ind., to debate one another.

    Unsurprisingly, Crouch prefers to shift the focus onto her own actions as lieutenant governor: Her overseeing Indiana’s expansion of rural broadband; her collaboration with the General Assembly to transition the Indiana Destination Development corporation from a state agency to a quasi-government agency like the IEDC ― a move enabling the attraction of private dollars to tourism and marketing efforts; her advocacy for legislation emerging from recommendations from the Intellectual Developmental Disability Task Force she chairs.

    “I can’t change what is and what has been; all I can do is move forward,” Crouch said. “And all I can do is tell people what I have done, and when I am gonna do, for them. And it’ll be what it’ll be at the end of the day.”

    The chromosome in the room

    When Crouch first ran for county auditor, reporters duly noted the fact that she was pregnant, requiring Crouch to answer for the concern that her impending childbirth wouldn’t impact her public duties.

    Gender was a topic, too, when Crouch actually became county auditor, because in that election, women outnumbered male department heads for the first time.

    “At the polls, I don’t think gender plays a role in people’s decision-making process,” Crouch told the Evansville Courier and Press in 1994. “People just look at the candidates running for office and their qualifications.”

    This is still her mantra today, and it’s the thinking of other women who support her.

    “We don’t want to elect her because she’s a woman. That’s not the idea,” said Elaine Bedel, CEO of the Indiana Destination Development Corporation. “We want the best person for the job, and it just so happens that the best person for the job is a woman.”

    Qualified women in Indiana have historically struggled to gain the backing of the party establishment for gubernatorial runs, from either party. The most recent example was Susan Brooks, a sitting U.S. representative who wanted to replace Mike Pence when he was tapped for Donald Trump’s ticket. But Pence’s pick was Holcomb, a party official who had never held public office. Party delegates chose Holcomb over Brooks by one vote.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks with constituents, Thursday, April 4, 2024, during a listening session about the LEAP District at the Witham Pavilion at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks with constituents, Thursday, April 4, 2024, during a listening session about the LEAP District at the Witham Pavilion at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.

    Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch, an Indiana Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks with constituents, Thursday, April 4, 2024, during a listening session about the LEAP District at the Witham Pavilion at the Boone County Fairgrounds in Lebanon, Indiana.

    On stage with her competition, Crouch doesn’t play identity politics. She keeps it tongue-in-cheek, sometimes making a joke about the one physical characteristic that makes her different from the others: her red glasses.

    At most, she hopes her gender enables her to be a role model for young girls.

    “I want to be that kind of person that people look up to and young girls look up to and say, ‘You know what, I can do it, and you know what? Her family’s not perfect, but that’s okay,’” she said. “And so the gender thing… I’ve been told by my pollster, it’s not an issue in races.

    “I guess we’ll see,” she laughed.

    About Suzanne Crouch

    Age: 72

    Home: Evansville

    Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Purdue University.

    Family: Husband, Larry Downs, and daughter Courtney.

    Previous experience: Indiana lieutenant governor 2017-present; Indiana State Auditor 2013-16; Indiana state representative 2005-13; Vanderburgh County commissioner 2002-05; Vanderburgh County auditor 1994-2002.

    Support from outside groups: Indiana Right to Life PAC, Carpenters Local 1005, National Rifle Association A Rating (Questionnaire)

    Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on Twitter@kayla_dwyer17.

    This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Suzanne Crouch may be the most qualified for governor. Will it matter?



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  • Teacher Staffing, AI, Mental Health Top Ed Issues

    Teacher Staffing, AI, Mental Health Top Ed Issues

    A common set of problems are keeping education leaders up at night: Will there be enough teachers to staff America’s schools? Can artificial intelligence enhance learning without deepening inequality? How can educators address the mental health crisis among young people? None of these have easy answers.

    New data confirm that these issues are top of mind for school leaders, and that education innovators are working to find solutions. The Canopy project, an ongoing national study of schools that focus on designing student-centered and equitable learning environments — and challenge assumptions about what school must be — just updated its database with survey results from 189 innovative schools.

    In the survey, most participants agreed that teacher workforce issues, AI and the mental health crisis will shape the future of education. They are also working on solutions — but are concerned about having adequate resources to sustain those efforts.


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    School leaders selected teacher workforce issues as the top factor that they think will transform the education sector. While some respondents said they have struggled to recruit teachers in general, they particularly have trouble finding those with skills geared to working with non-traditional instructional models. A leader from Bostonia Global, a charter school that’s part of Cajon Valley Unified School District in California, wrote that credentialing programs need to “shift to meet the needs of our current and future workforce.” The school’s competency-based instructional model requires teachers to implement an individualized approach, not just teach the same content at the same pace to a classroom of 30 kids.

    Canopy’s survey data show that many schools are innovating to solve these workforce-related issues: 65% reported they implement some form of flexible or alternative staffing model. For example, the Center for Advanced Research and Technology, a high school that enrolls students from two partner districts in California, brings in industry professionals to work alongside teachers. Several Canopy schools foster collaboration, using staffing models such as Opportunity Culture, which provides mentorship, opportunities for small-group teaching and professional development.

    Artificial intelligence was the second most-selected driver of change. School leaders’ responses showed they want to harness its potential while staying attentive to issues of access, privacy and equity. Only 7% of Canopy school leaders said they have a policy in place governing students’ use of generative AI, but 38% said they’re developing one. Despite the shortage of formal policy, experimentation appeared abundant.

    Howard Middle School for Math and Science, based at Howard University, said the school’s policy is to use AI “to enhance educational outcomes, personalize learning experiences and streamline administrative tasks, while ensuring the safety, privacy and well-being of all students and staff. Anastasis Academy, an independent microschool in Colorado, wrote, “We have trained a GPT on our model, our writings and our curriculum to help personalize learning.”

    The mental health crisis claimed the third spot on the list of factors that school leaders believe will transform K-12 education. Four in five leaders reported that their schools are already integrating social and emotional learning into all subject areas and student activities, making it one of the practices most commonly implemented across Canopy schools this year. Additionally, two-thirds of schools surveyed provide mental health services to students, either directly or through a partner like a community-based health organization, and just under half said they support adult wellness, too.

    Some responses pointed to an even bigger problem beyond students’ acute mental health needs: battling despair about what the future may hold. One leader wrote, “Students are developing an increasing sense of hopelessness about the world beyond school.” Many lower- and middle-income young people, he said, feel that social mobility is “not possible for them.”

    Related

    Challenging 5 Big Assumptions About Education: How 232 Schools Are Innovating

    Many schools are working toward solutions that combat that sense of hopelessness. As in previous years of Canopy surveys, most schools reported designing solutions to meet marginalized students’ needs. At BuildUp Community School in Alabama, the school’s mostly Black and economically disadvantaged students split their time between classrooms and work-based learning in construction and real estate, revitalizing their communities and paving a path to homeownership. And 5280 High School, in Colorado, helps students recovering from addiction to reengage in their education and explore their passions in a setting that prioritizes mental health.

    A majority of leaders worried about their ability to sustain resources in the coming years. Of those, the top concerns were the availability of local public, private and philanthropic funding. Over a third of those with concerns also said they worried about staffing shortages, inflation and the expiration of federal stimulus funding.

    A few leaders pointed out that inadequate funding will not just make it harder to keep the lights on — it will stunt the development of innovative ideas to solve the enormous challenges ahead. Indeed, recent reporting shows reduced philanthropic investment in broader systemic change in the sector.Funding shortfalls in many districts and states will also mean even basic education services may lack adequate resources, making it harder for leaders to defend funding for higher-risk innovation efforts.

    Too often, the scale of K-12 sector problems lead education leaders, policymakers and funders to bemoan a lack of bold solutions or flock to attractive but still-theoretical ideas that fail in the implementation stage. School-level innovation efforts are worth watching because they show unconventional ideas in the process of becoming reality — and some may hint at what success can look like. Canopy schools are prime examples of this, whether it’s a New York City charter school accelerating student learning and well-being through summer programming or a North Carolina district school achieving high growth rates with an innovative staffing approach.

    The Canopy project will release a full research report later this year. For now, the headlines from this year’s survey should prompt education leaders, policymakers and funders to take note of schools, like those in Canopy’s national dataset, that are working toward bold and unconventional solutions.

    Indeed, one answer to what will drive K-12 transformation in the coming years is that it will arise from innovation not just in ed tech companies and think tanks, but in the nation’s schools.

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  • State ‘red flag’ law can keep guns from mentally ill. But Broward shooting shows its holes

    State ‘red flag’ law can keep guns from mentally ill. But Broward shooting shows its holes

    The man who shot and wounded a police officer in a Fort Lauderdale hotel room on Thursday had a history of arrests and mental health problems severe enough that police invoked Florida’s touted ‘red flag’ law to take his guns away two years ago. But that was only temporary.

    Karl Chludinsky got them back last year — with no additional psychological screening required. And, armed and likely unstable, he was found dead after exchanging fire with police who burst through a barricaded door to confront him. The fatal encounter, which shut down traffic for hours as dozens of officers swarmed a hotel filled with tourists and spring breakers, was just the latest example of the limits of a Florida gun control law often cited as a national model.

    READ MORE: Man who shot Fort Lauderdale cop had history of abuse, mental health issues: sources

    Passed just three weeks after the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre that left 17 dead and 17 others severely injured, the state’s “red flag” law — even six years later — continues to be viewed as a potential blueprint by some other states. Two years ago, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a vocal critic of lax gun laws since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre that took 26 lives, told ABC News that the law in Florida — adopted in a state with Republican political leadership —is “a signal of what’s possible.”

    For the first time in Florida, the law tied the right to possess or own a weapon to mental health and spelled out the legal steps to take guns away under certain circumstances. Specifically, it provided police a path to ask a judge to bar anyone who might be considered a potential threat from possessing or purchasing firearms. That’s exactly what Margate Police did two years ago with Chludinsky after, records show, his mother and then-girlfriend found him with a gun in his mouth and called police.

    Baker Act used in 2022

    Chludinsky’s then-girlfriend and mother were so worried about his state of mind in January of 2022 that they took him to a behavioral health center. Margate police records show that the center’s director contacted police and had him committed involuntarily under the Baker Act. Family members said he’d been violent and hallucinating.

    Diagnosed with “unspecified psychosis and schizophrenia,” Margate police were then granted what is known as a temporary “risk protection order” by a judge under Florida’s red flag law, That allowed them to seize two handguns and a shotgun. When the order expired 15 months later, Chludinsky — as is permitted under the law — was allowed to retrieve the weapons. No additional or new mental health screening was required.

    Though it now appears Chludinsky remained deeply troubled, Margate Police spokesman Lt. Michael Druzbik said Friday they agency did all it could do. The law doesn’t require them to get clearance from a doctor before returning weapons.

    “I just thank God that he didn’t harm anybody else and the officer obviously [doesn’t have] life-threatening, serious injuries because that would have been terrible,” he said.

    Fort Lauderdale Police have not yet said whether the 46-year-old took his own life or was killed by gunfire from officers who broke into the Holiday Inn Express. Police had rushed to the hotel off the busy 17th Street Causeway because Chludinsky had allegedly called 911 and reported he had murdered a woman on a nearby roadway., a claim that police had not yet verified. Before he was killed, police said Chludinsky opened fire on a Fort Lauderdale police officer, who is expected to recover.

    A Fort Lauderdale police officer was shot by a suspect near the Holiday Inn Express on Southeast 17th St. on Thursday morning, March 21, 2024. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

    A Fort Lauderdale police officer was shot by a suspect near the Holiday Inn Express on Southeast 17th St. on Thursday morning, March 21, 2024. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

    Chludisnky’s case and others underline that while the state’s “red flag” law focuses on mental health, it goes only so far. Under the law, police can seize weapons from anyone involuntarily committed — as Chludinsky was — with a judge’s order, which generally lasts anywhere from several weeks to a year.

    But after the order expires and that person to retrieve weapons, the local law enforcement agency is only required to notify the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which must then conduct a criminal background check. If no crimes have been committed during the period, the law states that the guns must be given back.

    ‘It’s nothing but a feel-good measure’

    “It’s not fool-proof,” said Miramar Police Chief Delrish Moss, a former police chief in Missouri, which has no red flag laws. “While it’s a good step, there’s still the potential for something to happen.”

    Even some gun rights advocates find glaring holes in the law. Sean Caranna, founder of Florida Carry, says the risk protection orders issued by judges under the law are band-aids on a bigger problem. His group, which advocates for Second Amendment rights, has lobbied Tallahassee for increased funding for mental health.

    “It’s nothing but a feel-good measure. Someone that dangerous should not be allowed back in society. I wouldn’t let this person near pool chemicals or a car, let alone have a gun,” said Caranna. “Until we start locking up bad people and getting treatment and true community control for people who are insane, things won’t change.”

    State Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Democrat whose district covers coastal MIami-Dade and Broward, said the latest shooting underlines that more than a criminal background check should be called to assure the safe return of firearms.

    “When we’re dealing with mental health, a simple criminal background check is not enough to ensure that the return of a person’s firearms is safe, either for that person’s own self or the public,” he said. “We need to make sure the courts are looking at mental health and substance abuse, and that they are doing so before a risk protection order expires.”

    State records show Chludinsky’s problems were lengthy. He had been arrested a number of times since 2006. Most of the charges were for illegal drugs and traffic violations. He’s also had six domestic violence complaints filed against him, ranging from sexual assault to battery. His ex-wife told the Miami Herald that he long struggled with drug and mental health problems.

    It remained unclear Friday whether weapons Margate police returned to Chludinsky were used in the hotel shootout or if he had acquired new ones since.

    A Fort Lauderdale police officer was shot near the Holiday Inn Express Fort Lauderdale Cruise Airport on Southeast 17th Street on Thursday morning, March 21, 2024. Bullet holes can be seen in the window above the pool deck at the hotel. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)A Fort Lauderdale police officer was shot near the Holiday Inn Express Fort Lauderdale Cruise Airport on Southeast 17th Street on Thursday morning, March 21, 2024. Bullet holes can be seen in the window above the pool deck at the hotel. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

    A Fort Lauderdale police officer was shot near the Holiday Inn Express Fort Lauderdale Cruise Airport on Southeast 17th Street on Thursday morning, March 21, 2024. Bullet holes can be seen in the window above the pool deck at the hotel. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel)

    Parkland shooting led to law

    The risk protection order provision was just one piece of a much larger gun reform package signed into Florida law just three weeks after the Feb. 14, 2018 Parkland high school massacre. The bill also included about $400 million for school security and mental health resources. The age for owning a rifle or shotgun gun was raised to 21 and a three-day waiting period to purchase rifles was put in place. This year, a proposal passed by the Florida House to drop the age back to 18, failed.

    The law has been used thousands of times since it was implemented and a number of studies have shown it has cut down suicide rates and domestic murders. Still, it has holes. That was abundantly clear in the case of suspected Miami serial killer Willie Maceo, who had his weapons seized by law enforcement a year before he became the suspect in a string of murders.

    Miami Police records show that more than a year before he caught the agency’s attention, his parents called 911 and said their bipolar son was acting strangely inside their Kendall home. They told police he had refused to take medication and rambled on about conspiracies while repeatedly racking the slide of his Glock 9mm pistol. After a psychiatric evaluation, a judge gave police permission to seize Maceo’s Glock.

    Eighteen months after Maceo retrieved the Glock, Miami Police say it was used to shoot two homeless men in Wynwood, one of whom died. Current court records show Maceo, who had no previous criminal history, is awaiting trial for only one of the murders.

    The alleged murders and Maceo’s arrest made national headlines. But it also clearly illustrated the difficulties police have in trying to pre-empt grievous crimes, even with “red flag” laws in place.

    Fred Guttenberg, who’s been outspoken about the dangers of gun violence since his 14-year-old daughter Jaime Guttenberg was killed in the Parkland shooting, said even though Florida has some of the “better” gun laws in the country, more work can be done. On Saturday, coincidentally, Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to visit the long shuttered school building, which has finally been scheduled for demolition. Her office says gun safety will be one of her topics.

    “Doing everything we can to get weapons back to the people as soon as possible is a mistake,” Guttenberg said. “We can’t ignore the reality that we’ve armed so many people to the point that we have to get weapons away from dangerous people.”

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