Teachers aren’t going away. They’re many in number. They have real concerns. They’re not going away.
Those should be three key takeaways for Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, the Legislature and Hoosier citizens as a whole as the state heads into the 2020 legislative session.
The thousands of teachers who swarmed Indianapolis and attended or engaged in discussions surrounding the Red for Ed Action Day in Indianapolis last month is proof positive our state’s educators are earnest in their demands for public education reform.
Holcomb clearly noted the existence of educators’ concerns Tuesday as he laid out his 2020 government agenda, including calling for the further study of more competitive teacher salaries, eliminating unfunded mandates for schools and legislation that would hold teachers harmless for the effects of the state’s new ILEARN standardized testing.
The governor has touted "record investment" in public education resulting from the 2019 legislative session, including $150 million in teacher pensions paid down by the state, freeing up funds for pay increases.
On Tuesday, Holcomb noted 300 Hoosier school corporations, special education cooperatives and vocational centers have raised teacher salaries this year as a result.
But for most educators, and many of their supporters, it’s not enough.
There’s no doubt the state has more to do in ensuring the most competitive salaries to attract the best teachers for our children.
But so do local school boards, which ultimately decide how to spend the resources of their local government bodies.
In direct response to these educator concerns, and for the state’s part, Holcomb is pledging continued support for a Next Level Teacher Compensation Commission, tasked with exploring long-term solutions to the teacher pay issue.
But the governor and other state leaders must be clear on an important point: Study commissions, summer study sessions and general lip service won’t satisfy the concerns of thousands of educators who demonstrated at the capitol last month.
More importantly, any action short of directly dealing with the problem won’t move the needle on quality education for our children and their future.
Only specific plans and actual execution of investment can do that.
