Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 January 2001 — Page 3

FBIDAY, JANUARY 5, 2001

THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

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BRIEFS Continued from A1 to settle claims that it unfairly denied her federal funds for her adoptive son’s psychiatrists and tutors. Judy Fenner sought the financial help under the Adoption Assistance Program, which provides payments to adoptive parents of children with physical, emotional or mental disabilities. Fenner said the assistance never was offered to her when she adopted her son Mark in 1985. After learning of the benefits, she sought retroactive assistance through the Johnson County Office of Family and Children in April 1999. The office denied herclaim, saying Fenner’s son was no longer a minor and deeming her application untimely. An administrative law judge upheld Fenner’s appeal, but she still did not receive any money, so she sued the state last August. Charlene Crowell, a spokeswortian for the Indiana attorney general’s office, said Fenner’s attorney agreed to settle the lawsuit Nov. 17. The money should go out in four to six weeks. The money is about 75 percent of what Fenner should have received for the years when her son was ages 6-18, said Fenner’s attorney, Andrew Woods of Franklin. Fenner said the adoption benefits would have been more helpful when her son, now 21, was growing up. “I had an awful time bringing him up,” said Fenner, who worked as a nurse’s aide. “I worked many 70-hour weeks just to make ends meet. If I had known about those benefits, I could have worked a lot less and spent a lot more time at home with my child.” Fenner and her husband, Dale, adopted Mark in 1985. He was a distant relative who had been abused, Fenner said, and he underwent years of counseling. Ttao dead and five shot in weekend shootings .JsAST.CJJICAGQ, bid. (AP)— Police are investigating a string of weekend shootings in which two men were killed and five others wounded in a span of less than three hours.

All the victims were young men, and several of the shootings occurred near the city’s Indiana Harbor section. “This is something,” said Joe De La Cruz, a spokesman for the East Chicago Police Department. “It’s undetermined if they are related. We’re asking anyone with information to call the detective bureau.” Ray Grant and Kal Gary, both 19, were shot shortly before 1:15 a.m. Sunday while waiting in a vehicle at a stop light. Shots were fired after a second vehicle pulled up to the dri ver’ s side of the car, De La Cruz said. Police did not release a motive for the attack. Five other men reported being shot within a few hours of the attack on Grant and Gary. None of those shootings were fatal. Some of the shootings happened near the scene of the fatal attack. All but one of the reports involved an assailant who drove by in a vehicle. Police are especially concerned because of the number of attacks in such a short time. “It wasn’t New Year’s. New Year’s Eve we didn’t have anything,” De La Cruz said. Proposed legislation would let schools choose exams VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — Indiana schools could choose to replace the state’s ISTEPexam with other standardized tests under legislation that may be considered in the upcoming session of the General Assembly. Rep. Ralph Ayres, RChesterton, is drafting a bill that would allow school districts to use other approved tests in addition to the ISTEP exam, or possibly in place of it. The ISTEP exam is currently administered to Indiana students in the third, sixth, eighth and 10th grades over a period of several days. An alternative exam could be given each year to better track progress over time, Ayres said. “The concept is if a school ... would like to test annually students who stay within that system, they could get a progression of

improvement wherever the child is at that point,” said Ayres, a teacher at Chesterton High School. “Maybe the staff would like to know how that child is progressing.” Some educators have criticized the ISTEPexam. Among their reasons is the length of time it takes to grade the tests and disUibute results. Students typically take the ISTEP in September and learn their scores between December and January. Other tests can be graded more quickly, Ayres said. Rik Ihssen, principal of Washington Township Elementary School, has suggested allowing use of exams written by the Northwest Evaluation Association. The NEA exams test achievement in math, reading and English in a three-hour format with results arriving three weeks later. The exams provide national percentile scores and an additional placement score that ranks each child’s achievement. “It basically measures your

progress through different levels. It’s actually measuring progress year to year,” Ihssen said. The East Porter County School Corp. is considering giving the NEA test each year in addition to ISTEP. “ISTEP itself, I think, is a pretty good test... The problem comes in the tinie it takes to score it. You’re basically throwing away half the year before you do anything about remediating,” Ihssen said. “The child is measuring improvement against himself. How are you going to do that when you test every two years?” Ayres’ bill is still in the early planning stages. The legislation could recommend trying alternative testing in a pilot program before expanding the concept statewide. “My idea is for the state to set up a pilot program and absorb the costs. It would give schools some options,” Ayres said. “I think the idea is good for discussion purposes.”

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HERITAGE

Continued from A1

tion until June 19,1863. She warned against waiting on a modem day Lincoln or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to resolve the problems our community faces and instead start taking action now or our children will perish. _ > “Don’t get lost between Emancipation Day and June 19th. Don’t get caught sleeping waiting on someone else. We must teach our children early they are the descendants of African kings and queens. We are our brothers and sisters keepers. We should all be good Samaritans,” said Freeman-Wilson. “Although we have reached heights our ancestors could only hope for, we are still in bondage. The three most pressing issues facing the black community today are violence, economic bondage and education.” "Our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters have declared war on us. Teach our children early to honor their ancestors and each other. Teach them nonviolent principles and that the majority rules,” said Freeman-Wilson. Instead of being owners, Afri-can-Americans are professional consumers stated Freeman-Wilson. Every year the Circle City Classic and Black Expo come to Indianapolis and African-Americans don’t own any of the hotels and very few of the car rental companies and oil Sunday we’re broke. “Our ancestors knew education is the key to freedom. We must hold our formal education system

accountable. Parents must be actively involved. Education does not stop at 3 p,m. Monday through Friday,” said Freeman-Wilson. Mattie Perry-Wright, who attended for the first time and moved to Indianapolis two years ago from Gary, Ind, came to hear FreemanWilson speak and believes there’s a need for more participation in the African-American community. “We’ve been set free in a way, but we’re still in bondage in a way. Our participation in our communities and churches and different parts of our lives are needed for our lives to be any better. Dr. King set the way for us, but it’s up to us to keep the torch burning.” T. DuBois Jackson, who regularly attended the service for years and stopped recently came back and enjoyed this year’s celebration. “It’s the best service I ever attended. It’s eloquent and sincere," said Jackson. Jackson only wished more young people were there because they need to know their history. Rev. Girton echoed Jackson’s statement. “It doesn’t seem significant to them (young people),” said Girton, noting that attendance as a whole is lower than i n prior years. “We used to fill that place. That'-s the tragedy. people take freedom for granted. We ought not forget the fight,” he said.

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Shouldn’t Dr. King’s legacy amount to more than a three-day weekend?

Achievement was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream. The dream he ultimately died for. Some people have made it. Lots haven’t. We still have a long way to go. So as you celebrate this holiday weekend, take some time to think about your goals. What would you like to achieve? How will you further your dream of achievement? And how can we help?

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