Indiana is one of 46 states that have adopted Common Core educational standards and today there was a rally at the Statehouse conducted by Common Core opponents. Rally organizers believe those standards have led to a loss of local control in public schools. “We found that we had adopted a set of national standards that were actually inferior to the ones Indiana already had,” said organizer Heather Crossin. “In fact, turns out Indiana had one of the top three sets of standards in the nation.”

The opponents support a bill authored by state Senator Scott Schneider that would eliminate Common Core requirements in Indiana. It was the subject of a committee hearing today. No vote will be taken until next week at the earliest.

State School Superintendent Glenda Ritz is not opposed to Common Core standards but believes there is a need to review them.

Sate Senator Scott Schneider’s TV ads have been on the air since the beginning of August and he hopes to stay on until November.  That’s unheard of in a race for state Senate and it tells you that Schneider is vulnerable.

Sen. Schneider is in his first term in the state Senate, a Republican in an area of Marion County that has elected Republicans for decades.  Yet the Republican party is spending big money for the ads.  “Well,” says Schneider, “it’s the only way I know to run a campaign, you know, 110 percent.”

But it also has something to do with the threat posed by local attorney and Democrat Tim DeLaney.  He’s the son of state Representative Ed DeLaney and former state Democratic Chairwoman and Indiana Week in Review panelist Ann DeLaney.  He’s well-known in the district.  “I’m obviously very proud of my family background,” says DeLaney.  “I don’t want to rely on it at all.  I’m my own man.  I have my own ideas.”

And one of his ideas is that Schneider has been been focused on fighting culture wars.  “Instead of talking about jobs and the economy and education,” says DeLaney, “he spent time laboring to get creationism taught in schools as science.”

Schneider sponsored a creationism bill that was unsuccessful but controversial.  “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with allowing students a full agenda of all different ideas of origins of life,” he says, “and yet we find the sort of anti-religious folks getting into a fervor about that.”  He says DeLaney is too liberal.

There may be more at stake here than just a seat in the State Senate.  It is one of a handful of races that could decide whether Republicans maintain a super majority in the state Senate.

Within the last hour the state Senate voted on a proposed ban on texting while driving passing it by a vote of 29 to 21. It’s the first time the full Senate has voted on a texting ban.

The proposal calls for a fine of up to $500 for violators. Texting while driving is already against the law for drivers under the age of 18 but only 3 citations have been issued statewide. Most of the debate came from Senators who are opposed to the ban. Sen. Brent Steele (R-Bedford) said, “This is one of those things that we’re trying to control something we have no business to do here.”

“Next are we gonna start doing outlawing using an I-pod if a few people have some accidents as a result of that?” asked Sen. Scott Schneider (R-Indianapolis.) Sen. Phil Boots (R-Crawfordsville) said, “In reality you cannot legislate responsibility.”

But the argument that carried the day came from Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle) who said, “It is unlike drinking a coke, adjusting the radio, changing a CD because it requires thought and action, manual dexterity at the same time.”

Differences between the House and Senate versions of the texting ban will still have to be worked but, for the first time, it now appears that a bill against texting while driving is sure to land on the governor’s desk.

State Senator Scott Schneider and state Representative Phil Hinkle will step up the opposition to the Wishard Hospital referendum this afternoon.

They plan a news conference in front of the new downtown library.  Look for them to suggest that Wishard could become a boondoggle on the level of the library construction.

On Indiana Week in Review I made a mistake today when I said that Scott Schneider had the support of Mayor Greg Ballard.  I know I was wrong, don’t write, please.

I know the Mayor supported Ryan Vaughn and Ann DeLaney corrected me.

I came back from vacation to tape the show and that was a vacation moment.

Republican Scott Schneider’s election tonight to replace Teresa Lubbers in the seat she vacated in the state Senate is a victory for the far right.

He joins a growing list of right wingers to replace moderate Republicans in the state Senate in recent years.  Mike Delph took over for Murray Clark, Greg Walker took over for Bob Garton, Brent Waltz replaced Larry Borst… you get the idea.

The Republicans hold a 33-to-17 majority in the Senate and will lose it, in all likliehood, only if they become too extreme.  They are headed that direction.