Recently the “powers that be” have been touting a plan for replacing Hammond High School. Presenting a plan, seeking public input, and then making a decision is fine and the way it should be done, but not in Hammond.
Here they are determined that the school will be built according to this plan, public opinion be damned.
One of the things that really bother me about the sales pitch is that the new building is being presented as a cure for all that ails Hammond High. One “fact” casually tossed around is that there is a study that shows new buildings increase test scores by 18%. Yet the professional bureaucrats ignore the evidence presented in their own system. All of the construction that has been done in the schools hasn’t raised test scores in Hammond one iota.
Do we really need architectural award-winning monuments to the power of bureaucracy? Or would a “plain jane” building work just as well, and cost less?
One of the real problems in the School City of Hammond is leadership, or more precisely, the lack of leadership. The current professional bureaucrats seem to spend more time trying to minimize their failures than they do trying to find solutions. The tenure of the current chief bureaucrat has been an unmitigated disaster for the SCH and our children. Seemingly the attitude is one of minimal expectations. A child from a low-income, or a non-english speaking home isn’t expected to do well, so no effort is expended to get the child to excel, just get him to the minimum seems to be the game plan.
It is time to do a nationwide search for a new head of the Hammond schools, one that will not be happy with minor tweaks of the status-quo, but will restore a sense of high expectations.
Let's dump the insider bureaucrats and find some real leadership.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Having your cake...and eating it too?
First, let me apologize for the length between posts. Contrary to the gloom and doom economic tales the transportation segment of the economy is alive and well; and keeping me busy 6 (or more) days a week.
Oh, where to start...
In the March 9 issue of the Times is a story about the Gary airport and how it is all the fault of the EJ&E railroad that the airport hasn't "taken off." But lets' talk about the article for a minute. First there's this quote " "The FAA says its illegal," Davis said last week as he drove his pickup truck out to the tracks. "It's been grandfathered in, but they say it has to go."" Let's be clear about this, the FAA has not authority over railroads. Yes, it's true that if a railroad tried to build new tracks that close to a runway the project would be shot down. But these tracks have been here since, as the article does point out, "before the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk" How is poor placement of an airport the fault of the railroad?
Next the article says that the tracks effectively shorten the 7000 foot runway by approximately 1000 feet. That would make the runway about 6000 feet long. Midway Airports' longest runway is only 6522 feet long. Somehow I doubt that the runway length is the sole determining factor of regional airlines avoiding Gary like the plague.
After an article full of doom and gloom the article briefly mentions a $5million dollar investment by the Gary Jet Center in a new hangar. If Mr. Davis truly believed that it was all doom and gloom why did he put $5million at such risk?
It seems more like a pr ploy intended to pressure the railroads to hurry up and submit to a plan that may not be in their own business interest in order to further the business interest of Mr. Davis.
When will people realize the first problem with the Gary airport is the name? And then you have someone running it that wants it to lose money, nevermind his own golden parachute.
Kinda makes me wish I was living in there reality.
Oh, where to start...
In the March 9 issue of the Times is a story about the Gary airport and how it is all the fault of the EJ&E railroad that the airport hasn't "taken off." But lets' talk about the article for a minute. First there's this quote " "The FAA says its illegal," Davis said last week as he drove his pickup truck out to the tracks. "It's been grandfathered in, but they say it has to go."" Let's be clear about this, the FAA has not authority over railroads. Yes, it's true that if a railroad tried to build new tracks that close to a runway the project would be shot down. But these tracks have been here since, as the article does point out, "before the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk" How is poor placement of an airport the fault of the railroad?
Next the article says that the tracks effectively shorten the 7000 foot runway by approximately 1000 feet. That would make the runway about 6000 feet long. Midway Airports' longest runway is only 6522 feet long. Somehow I doubt that the runway length is the sole determining factor of regional airlines avoiding Gary like the plague.
After an article full of doom and gloom the article briefly mentions a $5million dollar investment by the Gary Jet Center in a new hangar. If Mr. Davis truly believed that it was all doom and gloom why did he put $5million at such risk?
It seems more like a pr ploy intended to pressure the railroads to hurry up and submit to a plan that may not be in their own business interest in order to further the business interest of Mr. Davis.
When will people realize the first problem with the Gary airport is the name? And then you have someone running it that wants it to lose money, nevermind his own golden parachute.
Kinda makes me wish I was living in there reality.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Has Hammond missed the boat...again?
Well, after sniffing around some I believe that Hammond has missed the boat on a viable intermodal rail yard. Oh, I'm not saying one can't (or won't) be built; but if it is it'll be a johnny-come-lately effort that won't have nearly as much of an economic impact as is hoped....Kinda like Cabela's.
Here's a tidbit from the Chicago Tribune:
"Eight years later, plans are in the works for a second massive intermodal and industrial park on 850 acres of farmland in Crete, and similar projects are being explored in Joliet, Beecher and Wilmington. But some are now asking: Is this the future we want?The independent Will County Center for Economic Development has begun studying the impact of these large pick-up and drop-off centers that can bring between a few hundred to a couple of thousand trains and semitrailer trucks a day. The goal, said center President John Greuling, is to better understand what life in Will County would be like if two, three or even four intermodal sites sprout up in the next few years."
So we have one, or more, sites being developed in Will County, one in LaPorte, and possibly one by the Port of Indiana. With the economy taking a breath like it is the railroads will be able to develop and implement plans to increase their effiency using the infrastructure that they have in place and that is being actively developed. Where does Hammond fit in? So far all we have seen is a letter of agreement with an equipment supplier and some preliminary site drawings. As far as we know nothing else is happening. No environmental surveys of the land, no estimates of property acquisition costs, no impact studies, nothing.
Hammond has missed out on the retail boom, the days of heavy industry are long gone, the casinos are feeling pressure. Have we missed the transportation boom too?
Here's a tidbit from the Chicago Tribune:
"Eight years later, plans are in the works for a second massive intermodal and industrial park on 850 acres of farmland in Crete, and similar projects are being explored in Joliet, Beecher and Wilmington. But some are now asking: Is this the future we want?The independent Will County Center for Economic Development has begun studying the impact of these large pick-up and drop-off centers that can bring between a few hundred to a couple of thousand trains and semitrailer trucks a day. The goal, said center President John Greuling, is to better understand what life in Will County would be like if two, three or even four intermodal sites sprout up in the next few years."
So we have one, or more, sites being developed in Will County, one in LaPorte, and possibly one by the Port of Indiana. With the economy taking a breath like it is the railroads will be able to develop and implement plans to increase their effiency using the infrastructure that they have in place and that is being actively developed. Where does Hammond fit in? So far all we have seen is a letter of agreement with an equipment supplier and some preliminary site drawings. As far as we know nothing else is happening. No environmental surveys of the land, no estimates of property acquisition costs, no impact studies, nothing.
Hammond has missed out on the retail boom, the days of heavy industry are long gone, the casinos are feeling pressure. Have we missed the transportation boom too?
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