A current and former educator are competing in the Democratic primary for the opportunity to challenge State Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, in the November election.
While this is the first time that former educator and business owner Cynthia “Cinde” Wirth has run for political office, math teacher Dale Nowlin is making his third bid to be elected to the District 59 seat.
Nowlin, 66, lost the 2016 Democratic primary to Bob Pitman 54% to 46%. Six months later, incumbent Republican Milo Smith won a decisive victory over Pitman 61% to 39%.
Smith had already announced his political retirement when Nowlin defeated Mary Kohen 62% to 38% in the 2018 Democratic primary. But in November, Lauer defeated Nowlin 57% to 41%.
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Nowlin is chairman of math departments at Columbus North High and Northside Middle School, and formerly worked as adjunct faculty member at Indiana University, Bloomington in the School of Education. He has been with the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. since 1985 and has taught for more than two decades at North.
Nowlin has earned several teaching awards during his career, including the presidential award for excellence in science and mathematics teaching in 1992. In addition to teaching at North, Nowlin has served as the 12th grade teacher representative on the National Assessment Governing Board.
While Wirth has never held a political office, the 50-year-old says she has written legislation at the federal level. Wirth was one of 14 American teachers to be selected as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator, which allowed her to serve almost a year in Washington D.C. to work on congressional legislation concerning science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
A former high school biology and environmental science teacher, Wirth says she is seeking the office because current state lawmakers have policies in place that won’t allow Indiana to “get ahead.” For example, she says the General Assembly refuses to provide incentives to move away from fossil fuels and toward alternative energy sources.
The issues
While some businesses are expected to reopen within the next few weeks, Nowlin and Wirth are urging south central Indiana residents to trust medical experts, who say the novel coronavirus crisis is still too prevalent to begin dropping “stay-at-home” precautions.
Experts at the Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI predict Bartholomew County’s region will not experience a surge of COVID-19 cases until May 14. In response, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington recommends that south central Indiana residents wait until after May 25 to start efforts to revive the economy.
Although there is much debate, Nowlin said any person claiming that we have to choose between preserving lives or the economy is “creating a false dichotomy.”
“If we go back to work before we’re ready to take the necessary precautions, not only is it going to take lives, but it will also crush our economy,” Nowlin said.
Relaxing social distancing guidelines by sending people back to work prematurely may result in a second wave of COVID-19 cases, Wirth said.
“Is somebody’s business worth more than somebody’s life?,” she asked. “Is your business worth your life?”
There is little debate among those with friends or families who caught COVID-19, Wirth said.
“This is a topic that really hits home hard with them,” Wirth said. “But most won’t understand if the only impact they’ve felt is economic.”
Talking about education
As in his previous campaigns, Nowlin maintains that the Indiana General Assembly needs legislators who support public education. That is especially important now that Indiana’s ranking for education dropped by 12 places, he said.
“We make decisions not based on the best interests and needs of the people, but on the special interests that fund expensive campaigns,” Nowlin said.
On the subject of funding schools, Nowlin said he advocates a more steady source of income for education rather than property taxes. Current funding methods have become less sustainable and more volatile since state lawmakers instituted property tax caps in 2008, he said.
Those methods force educators to “engage in a battle every year to determine what will be sacrificed: personal finances, community or schools,” Nowlin said.
Wirth agrees with her primary opponent regarding the negative impact of the property tax caps. But she also maintains there have been changes made to funding formulas by state lawmakers that are also shortchanging public schools.
In regard to last November’s statehouse rally calling for teacher pay increases, Wirth said the timing of the demonstration was not right. State lawmakers only consider large budgetary matters, such as teacher raises, when they create a biennial budget.
“2000 has been a non-budget year,” Wirth said. “I think lawmakers should come back next year and address the pay issue with strong representation by the teachers.”
Health care
Democratic attempts to cut health care costs by allowing the importation of discount prescription drugs from Canada, as well as legalizing medicinal marijuana, have both been rejected by state Republicans.
In response, Indiana House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, said the GOP is only giving “lip service” to Hoosiers’ very real concerns about their health care costs.
Wirth said she agrees with GiaQuinta, adding that she’s concerned that one-third of all donations made on GoFundMe sites are to pay medical costs.
“The average person can’t afford significant health care,” Wirth said. “Even for many who have health insurance, it’s not enough.”
In terms of cannabis, Wirth said Indiana and Kentucky are the only states in our region that don’t recognize the benefits of medicinal marijuana, which she says has been proven to control many types of seizures.
“We’ve lost sight of the fact that the job of health care is to make everybody’s lives better,” Wirth said. “The days of using health care for lining peoples’ pocketbooks need to end.”
Nowlin said the high cost of health care was one of the most significant concerns expressed to him during his 2018 campaign.
While he says he doesn’t have all the answers, Nowlin says lawmakers need to take a realistic look at the need for affordable healthcare, and what we can do at the state level to address those concerns, he said.
On the issue of medical marijuana, Nowlin believes too many people are allowing their own ideology to override the data, which shows that medical marijuana has not created problems in states that allow it.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Dale Nowlin” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Age: 66
Party: Democrat
Previous offices sought: District 59 state representative in 2016 and 2018.
Occupation: Chairman of math departments at Columbus North High and Northside Middle School, formerly worked as adjunct faculty member at Indiana University, Bloomington in the School of Education.
Education: Graduated from Valparaiso High School; bachelor of science degree in mathematics and psychology from Alma College, Michigan, master’s degree in mathematics education from Michigan State University.
Professional honors and associations: Serves on the National Assessment Governing Board, a national education council. Winner of Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching. Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Princeton University. Has served as the president of the Indiana Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Community involvement: Steering Committee member for the Historic Downtown Neighborhood Alliance. Serves as elder and chairman of the Adult Education committee at First Presbyterian Church.
Family: Wife, Isabel, two sons, Joel Nowlin and Matthew (Sara) Nowlin, and one daughter, Elisabeth (Tim) McNinch and four grandchildren.
[sc:pullout-text-end][sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Cynthia Wirth ” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Party: Democrat
Age: 50
Previous offices sought: none
Occupations: Teacher, scientist and business owner. Formerly taught biology and environmental science at Columbus Signature Academy – New Tech High School. Also served as an assistant instructor at Indiana University, where she taught underwater diving, research, mapping and exploration courses. She and her husband own a small storage business on Columbus’ east side.
Education: Columbus North High School in 1987; bachelor’s degree from the University of Evansville in biology and Spanish in 1992; masters’s degree from Indiana University in anthropology and archaeology in 2009. Currently pursuing a doctorate in educational policy and STEM education at Ball State University.
Professional honors and associations: Served two years as as a distinguished educator legislative fellow to the U.S. House of Representatives; 2013 BCSC Mindy Lewis Above and Beyond Diversity Award. Received two National New Tech Network Project teaching honors and three Bartholomew Consolidated School Foundation innovative grants. Founding member of the Sustainable Furniture Council.
Community involvement: 1999 graduate of Leadership Bartholomew County; Columbus Service League; former vice president of the Downtown Merchants Association; board member of Historic Columbus Development and the Bartholomew County Historical Society: Friends of the Commons, Uncommon Cause, and Columbus Comprehensive Plan board member.
Family: Husband, Trent. Two adult children.
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