To the Editor:
I am writing for one purpose, and just to get one simple question answered. What is our Center Grove School Board planning to do to help retain our teachers?
Our state is in an education crisis. There are currently 1,552 certified teaching positions still open on the Indiana Department of Education website. According to data Center Grove has provided to the current school board candidates, last year Center Grove schools lost to retirement and resignations a total of 63 teachers. This is over 10% of the teachers in the district. During the exit interviews, 15 people reported they were leaving the profession entirely and we know there were 13 retirements. Many of the other 37 teachers left for other districts. I wonder how many students are impacted when 63 qualified teachers leave a school corporation?
My wife and I moved to Center Grove 45 years ago because of the excellent reputation of Center Grove Schools. My children attended Center Grove Schools for 12 years, have raised their children at Center Grove, and we still have two of our grandsons at Center Grove.
We have voted in every School Board election in the last 45 years. Somehow, I believe, we have voted in the wrong people over the last few years, and we now have a school board that is no longer interested in our students’ education.
As stated above, Center Grove lost 63 teachers last year, and have lost others as the school year has progressed. It is safe to assume, we have teachers currently seeking employment in other school districts and occupations with less stress and better salaries.
I am wondering how the School Board is proposing to replace those teachers when you cannot match or increase their salaries, and there are so many available positions throughout the state and in nearby districts?
There is a misconception that teachers get a lot of time off, do not actually work forty hours a week, and they get the summer off. This misconception is completely wrong, Center Grove teachers start their day off before the students get there, they stay long after the students leave, they take their homework home with them to grade papers, plan their lessons, and a lot of times are helping students during their lunches, recess, prep periods and after hours.
Teachers are a valuable asset to our Center Grove Community and the School Board is going to fail in keeping these assets if they cannot agree to a competitive salary. I am retired, and I am getting an 8.7% pay increase on my Social Security and my Military Compensation package due to the current inflation rate of over 8.7%. The compensation package they are offering the teachers will not even come close to covering the cost of living or the inflation we are all facing.
I hope the board will reconsider their offer and do what is necessary to not lose any more of these valuable assets. Continuing to replace experienced, highly qualified teachers with unlicensed individuals will cause our reputation as a great school system to go down very quickly.
Sincerely,
Danny Vancel
Greenwood
