By Sheryl Swingley—
MUNCIE, IN—Two representatives of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education will be the guest speakers for a joint meeting of the Muncie Branch of the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters of Muncie-Delaware County.
The meeting is open to the public.
The meeting will start at 10 a.m. and wrap up no later than noon on Saturday, Jan. 25, at Motivate Our Minds Learning Center, 2023 E. Highland Ave., Muncie.
The topic of the discussion is “The State of Public Education in the 2025 Indiana Legislative Session.”
One bill to be discussed is HB1136. The bill seeks to give the state the authority to dissolve public school corporations and turn them into charters if more than 50% of students in a given district do not attend the traditional public schools in that area.
The first speaker is Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer, president of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education. She served as a member of the Monroe Community School Corp. School Board for eight years. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in social foundations of education from Eastern Michigan University.
The second speaker is Joel D. Hand, who is the attorney and lobbyist for ICPE. In Hand’s private practice, he has lobbied on behalf of the ICPE at the Indiana State House since 2011. He also handles K-12 special education due process matters, student discipline hearings and appeals, as well as hearings and appeals for suspension or revocation of teacher licenses.
Hand previously held an Indiana teacher’s license and worked for Dr. Suellen Reed, a former Indiana Department of Education superintendent of public instruction, as legal counsel and later as Reed’s director of legislative and governmental relations.
Questions about the meeting or how to join AAUW or the League of Women Voters may be directed to Sheryl Swingley, sswingley@bsu.edu. The only requirement to join AAUW is that the person has an associate degree.
