Indiana Education Proposals - A Rebuttal

The Colosseum



The following was sent to me from one of my colleagues and addresses the issues facing teachers in the State of Indiana:

"If you value education, this letter is a must read. Written by Craig Blume, a former Pioneer School teacher and current ISTA representative, it lays out what is happening to k-12 education in Indiana and what is to come if we do not act now! He nails it on the head. Take two minutes and read it. It is worth it."

Current Issues for Public Education

As all of you know, public education and teachers are taking a real beating in the media and public arena. Superman movies, Oprah, NBC news, and the list goes on and on. Then you throw in a governor and superintendent of public instruction who are anything but complimentary towards teachers and it doesn’t take the proverbial brain surgeon to realize that YOU and YOUR CAREER are under attack. There are many issues being addressed in all of this, both at the national and state level. Not to lessen the importance of the national issues, but as the election looms on the horizon, it is clear that the state-wide issues are far more critical and immediate as they relate to the future of public education as we have known it for virtually our entire careers. I want to share with you just a few of these issues and information that we know to be true based on the actions and statements of our state leaders.

· Funding shortages (Fed $ replace State $) The governor has on two previous occasions used federal stimulus monies to replace state money allowing him to place money into the reserve account and somewhat bypass the intended use of those funds. We fully expect him to do something similar with the new Jobs Bill money. He also announced a $300 million dollar across the board cut just before Christmas last year, catching schools off guard and unable to make the necessary adjustments in their budgets in a manner that would not disrupt education. Many were forced to reduce staff and programs resulting in a total loss of approximately 2900 jobs state-wide. A majority of teachers and other school employees saw their salaries frozen and insurance costs being shifted away from the corporations and onto them. That $300 million dollar reduction will now be the new base as they build the next state budget with even more cuts being expected on top of that. Expect to hear very little about funding issues until AFTER the November elections and then you will hear all about revenue coming in under projections and how there is a need to make more cuts.

· Evaluation of teachers and principals based on student test scores. This issue is one of those coming at us from both the national and state level. The governor and superintendent of public instruction have consistently stated that teachers and principals must be held accountable and that student test scores should be the means to determine success (growth). Let me just say that I challenge you to produce any reputable research that shows that tests designed to assess what students have learned will also accurately measure the quality of a teacher. Nowhere in this discussion has there been a serious acknowledgment of the “baggage” our students are bringing to the classroom and the difficulty teachers have trying to remedy ills that start at home. Have you seen any legislation that will hold parents accountable for their role in the education of their children? I think not!

· Salaries of teachers and administrators based on test scores. This goes hand in hand with the evaluation and accountability issue, with the same rationale that is not backed up with any credible research. In fact, research is showing that merit pay does NOT result in better test scores (http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x12476.xml). So, as I understand this theory, if a doctor has a patient that dies, the doctor’s pay should be cut and his record would show a deficiency in his ability to care for patients successfully. His record would then be published in the paper for all to see (close to the obituaries, I bet). I certainly would not expect to hear an outcry such as “I did everything I could under the circumstances, but the patient was very ill when he arrived.” We know that would just be a silly excuse and a simple avoidance of accountability. How dare the doctor not take the blame for something beyond his control?

· Vouchers / Charter Schools. Ok, let’s get this out in front to start with. Tony Bennett’s wife is in charge of the Charter School program for the state of Indiana. Probably no need for any concerns about intent or bias with this issue. The current administration has made it abundantly clear that education should be based on competition and letting the free market system dictate what happens (give them a voucher and let them go to the “good” schools where the “good” teachers teach). If they determine that you are a poor teacher (using those pesky test scores and growth models) then they believe that information should be made public and allow parents to select only the teachers they wish for their children. Oh, and they should also be able to select a school for their child based on an A thru F scale. I have yet to see an explanation of what the logistics for that would look like.

· Legislative reforms that Supt. Bennett calls “rigorous teacher education standards” that would compel teachers to master the subjects they teach. My first reaction is one of insult. Do teachers REALLY not know the subjects they teach? During the 29 years I spent in the classroom I can not recall a single time when I was unsure WHAT to teach, but I recall clearly the challenge of HOW to teach my subject successfully during each and every class period. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly believe that teachers should and must have a command of their subject area, but I also believe that a “master teacher” is not a master of his/her subject but of HOW to teach that subject effectively.

· DOE revocation or suspension of teacher licenses based on accusations only. This is a lengthy story, but the short version is that the DOE (via an administrative judge who is an employee of the DOE) recently suspended the teaching license of a veteran special education teacher for two years based on accusations that had not and still have not been proven in a neutral court (guilty until proven innocent). I don’t know if this teacher is actually guilty or innocent of the charges, but I can tell you that I would feel much better as a teacher and citizen of the USA if she had been determined guilty BEFORE her license was suspended. If she is in fact guilty, let the courts do their job and THEN take the appropriate action regarding her license. I might add that the current administration tried unsuccessfully to get legislation passed last session that would in effect do the same thing to your teacher retirement; revoke your pension based only on an accusation of verbal or physical child abuse. It is really scary when one of the most sacred tenets of our judicial system (innocent until proven guilty) is being denied to teachers.

· Loss of collective bargaining rights if PL 217 repealed. In mid September, Tony Bennett delivered a speech to the State Policy Network in which he boldly stated that “they” planned to push the legislature to repeal Public Law 217, which is the law that gives teachers the right to collectively bargain, engage in discussion, and have a means of resolving contract disputes via a grievance procedure. He was absolutely clear about their intentions. I wanted to provide a link for you to listen to the speech in its entirety (hear it directly from the horse’s mouth so to speak) but I discovered that the video is not available and “the clip you are looking for has been removed.” As best I can determine after doing some snooping, Tony Bennett’s speech is the only one missing from the SPN Annual Meeting video archives. Hmm? (Here is the link in case you want to try yourself - http://www.livestream.com/newmediatvorg/video?clipId=flv_98c58576-c949-4346-af0d-f0c5343033c5) FYI – I sent Livestream an e-mail asking them for an explanation for the missing video clip but have not yet received their replyL

· Loss of seniority rights. In the same “unavailable clip” he also stated how terrible it was for good teachers to be laid off solely due to seniority while bad teachers were left in the classroom. Of course, in a world without seniority rights it would be “very unlikely” that money or personal issues would ever be used to determine who got laid off, so no need to worry about this if you are a top of the scale teacher who happens to have a school board member upset with you. Relax, you can always retire and draw your TRF pension. Oh, that reminds me, did I tell you that they are now discussing possible revisions to the TRF, including things like a “Rule of 95 or 100” and rewriting the formula that produces your pension amount? It must have slipped my mind.

· Loss of due process rights. What a nuisance and impediment to quality education when a principal actually has to have a reason to fire a teacher. It takes far too much time out of a day to spend time evaluating teachers, especially if you already know who is doing a good job. The current administration would really like to remove those protections the “nasty teachers union” has put into place to protect those terrible teachers from ever being fired. No mention yet of the role the local administration plays in the evaluation process of those “terrible” teachers who are lurking the halls of our schools.

· Freezing or the reduction of all salaries and benefits. We beat them to this one didn’t we? Teachers already “got it” and have made substantial sacrifices that the schools needed to protect programs from the chopping block and save countless jobs belonging to their colleagues. I am certain the thank you’s are coming, just be patient.

· State mandated health insurance. This one defies common sense. There are only a handful of schools in the state who currently pay as much for health insurance as the state plan now costs. Why would any school corporation move to a plan that costs more, provides lesser benefits, calls for more employee out-of-pocket expenses, and takes away their ability to make local decisions regarding their coverage? What the governor isn’t telling you is that he needs all of you healthy teachers to subsidize the unhealthy state employees who are racking up enormous claims and driving up premiums. If it’s all the same to you, Mr. Governor, we’ll pass and continue to work cooperatively with our local school corporations to continue offering our teachers the coverage they need and deserve.

· Declaring “no more room for excuses,” Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett has called on educators to stop clamoring for money and devote their energy to providing better service for their “customers”. This one really gets my dander up and as most of you know, I don’t have much dander to disturb. Give me an example of one of those excuses, Mr. Bennett, as I don’t recall hearing any in this neck of the woods. While you are at it, give me the name of one of those “clamoring” educators. We can’t seem to find any around here. All of the local contracts that got settled this past year were for ZERO % and some without an incremental raise for experience. Now the dander is rising. How dare you imply that our teachers are not “devoting their energy” to their classrooms. How dare you make such an insulting remark based on no first-hand knowledge. Do you REALLY know what time these folks arrive at school in the morning, what time they leave at night, how many hours are spent daily at the kitchen table preparing lesson plans and grading papers, and how many weekend hours are spent in classrooms? Do you really know or are you simply trying to make your light shine brighter by making someone else’s appear dimmer? How dare you. And now to my final point that I believe captures the essence of the problem with your view of public education. You use the word “customer” as if you are discussing a blue light sale at K-Mart. Excuse me, Mr. Bennett, but those “customers” happen to be real live human beings who are the children and grandchildren of more live human beings. They deserve far more from an elected state official whose job it is to promote and improve PUBLIC education. Your business model for education is not what is best for human beings.

· Let me close with a few thoughts. First, I am so very sorry that education has become a purely partisan issue in Indiana. It is a constitutionally guaranteed function of our state government, but has now sunk to the darkest pits of partisan politics. It’s not supposed to be about Democrats and Republicans; it’s supposed to be about educating our children. Shame on all of us for letting this happen to our children. We have the ability and responsibility to correct this, and our children’s future depends on us doing so. Because education has become partisan and because the current administration has clearly stated their intentions and plans for public education, I believe it is imperative that all teachers make sure they cast their votes in November for candidates who will honestly represent the wishes of the people and who will cast their votes for legislation that will truly benefit students over promoting the ideology of their party caucus. Don’t let yourself be sucked into a political battle that is far more likely going to benefit a hopeful presidential candidate’s political aspirations over the interests of our children. Please do what is right while you still have the chance!!

Political agendas can be scary things. Maybe if the legislators just took a moment to realize that the biggest thing wrong with public education is that it's open to the public. None of these kids check their problems at the door, they bring them to school every day. And now, at least at my school, everyone is "too busy" to get us what we need to teach. Three months wait for a purchase order for a couple of grinding wheels to come in? Really. Someone with some common sense is going to have to take the reins pretty soon or we're all doomed. I'm talking education at the local, state and federal levels. "They're all Bozos on this bus, buster."