NEIFPE: 2015 Year In Review

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Hey Taxpayers!

Shirley Deckard was one of our Everyday Advocates in October. She currently lives in Indianapolis, is a retired English/Psychology teacher and serves on the MSD Wayne Township School Board. She posted the following on her Facebook page. We've reprinted it with her permission.

Hey, Taxpayers!

Your property value probably took a nose-dive today and you paid to make this happen!

If your school district is one of many in Indiana that will receive a lowered grade based on a ridiculously flawed test, your property value WILL drop. People just don't want to buy houses in an area that has less than an "A" school system. Many realtors will not even show houses in a "C" or lower area, taking prospective buyers to the next closest "A" school.

And what's really funny? You paid for this fiasco!

You see, while you (and many, many more taxpayers) were not paying attention, your state legislators and Governor insisted that the children in your community take a cobbled together ISTEP test, based on the new standards which were also insisted upon, before the new standards were vetted/studied/thoroughly taught.

Then, the Governor/legislator-controlled State Board of Education set arbitrary "cut scores," based on scores that they already knew, to decide who passed the ISTEP, and who didn't. Now your district's school scores will be based on these scores. (There is a sliver of a chance that your school scores can go up...there is a "growth" factor in this equation. However, someone is going to have to figure out how each child's "growth" from a totally different score from the test taken a year ago compares to this year's new test! Care to decipher how that will be done, because it can't! You will pay for those manhours, too!)

Multiple millions of dollars have been poured into this mess, because our Governor and our Legislators want to perpetuate the lie that our public schools are failing. They do this even in the face of the only national test which scores state against state, the NAEP, which shows that Indiana almost at the top of the list, and one of the few states to show across-the-board growth!

Why are they spending your money so needlessly (recklessly?)

Because....because....because...they have been bought and paid for by hedgefunders, corporate big shots, and other very wealthy people who would love nothing better than to have Public Education fail. Then, they can all buy a part of privatized education for their portfolio!

When your school is run for a profit, don't expect to be paid back for all the tax money you have put into this racket...THEIR profit will be the only goal.

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Public Schools Work

We have been spotlighting Everyday Advocates since August. We are now planning to switch our focus to spotlight stories of public school successes.

Do you have a story to share?

Parents and students, you might want people to know about:

o a teacher who made an important impact in your schooling experience (or your child).
o a teacher who made a positive difference in your lives.

Teachers, how about:

o a particular student who succeeded.
o an event that’s particularly memorable or worth mentioning.
o a program which worked well.

We look forward to hearing from you so that we can highlight your story.

Please send it to us at neifpe@gmail.com.

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Everyday Advocates - Lynn Greenberg

Why is public education advocacy important to you?

For my kids, for all kids.

Public Education advocacy is important to me, because it’s not just about my 5 children, it’s about children in every home, teachers, and communities.

Public Education advocacy can be as grassroots as a few people around a kitchen table asking, “How can we do something?” to a national conference of advocates. There is a role for anyone who wants to help.

As an advocate, what accomplishment have you found most satisfying?

I am proud of what I was able to accomplish in my community. I couldn’t have done it without making so many friends and co-advocates. We came together and accomplished something great. We took back our community and our schools. After a 4+ year process, I am happy to say, we now have in place, a pro-public schools school board.

I find it so satisfying, when I know I can share my experience and help other parent groups looking to make a change or just make an impact in their community.

What are some of your frustrations or obstacles that you have met or overcome?

Apathy. Sometimes we are fighting alongside other advocates, thinking everyone is with us, but then we realize our everyday contacts; friends, co-workers, PTO friends, team parents, book club, and others, aren’t in the fight with us, but rather look to those of us, labeled advocates or activists, to fight for our schools.

What keeps you going?

When people who weren’t aware all of a sudden see the light, so to speak. I had to realized that as frustrated as the comment, “I had no idea” made me, I needed to welcome them to the fight, no matter when they joined. They are here now is what matters.

Knowing what can be accomplished, seeing our success in our community means it is possible everywhere.

What do you want parents to know about public education issues?

That issues of today will affect our children in the long term. Nothing moves quickly in education. If you have a kindergartner, the issues we are working on today may not be resolved until that child reaches high school.

There are issues that have an impact on your child, whether it’s a third grade reading guarantee, special education, high stakes testing, gifted identification, recess time, art, music, physical education.

How can parents get involved in advocating for public schools?

At a local level, start by attending your school board meetings, then go to people you see there and ask questions.

At a state level, find active advocacy groups, and read news articles, blogs from activists, attend meetings or conferences.

At a national level, read, watch the trends, find other activists, and attend a national conference.

As always, use social media to find your way to like-minded parents, teachers, and advocates.

Why are public schools important to everyone in a community?

Schools bind a community. They are the heart of the community. Schools bring so many different people together for a common cause; giving our children a future. Many families move into a community for the schools, it’s important that we continue to make sure our public schools are a place for all kids and families, with whom a community can grow.

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Vic’s Statehouse Notes #237 – November 24, 2015

Dear Friends,

Legislators came to the Statehouse last Tuesday (Nov. 17) for Organization Day.

The Speaker of the Republican House and the President Pro Tem of the Republican Senate who hold all the supermajority power talked about helping teachers and schools.

They left the Statehouse without doing so.

Continued uncertainty hangs over the dual crisis related to ISTEP+ tests:

1) Will teachers be punished in their performance bonuses for the lower scores of the transition to new ISTEP+ tests?

2) Will schools be punished in their school letter grades for the lower scores of the transition to new ISTEP+ tests?

The amazing contrast between how well Indiana students achieved in 2015 according to the National Assessment and how low Indiana students scored on the new, more difficult ISTEP+ test was clearly documented in my previous “Notes #236”. According to the National Assessment, known as “the nation’s report card”, Indiana students have never achieved better. Clearly students, teachers and schools are performing well. They do not deserve to be punished for the transition to new ISTEP+ tests which have produced such low pass rates that the uninformed might claim that Indiana students have never performed worse.

With NAEP as the best yard stick in the nation, it is clear that Indiana’s recalibration of the new ISTEP+ test should not negatively impact either teachers or schools. Without legislative action, however, the new test will negatively impact both.

Fewer teachers will get bonuses.

More schools will get D’s and F’s.

There was no legislative action to ease this crisis last Tuesday. While promises for action in January were made by the leaders of the Republican supermajority, the dual crisis remains, an apparent unwanted holiday burden given to the teachers and schools of Indiana by the Indiana General Assembly.

The Impact on Teacher Evaluations and Teacher Performance Bonuses

Senator Mark Stoops, a Democrat, pushed a plan before Organization Day to take action to beat what he said was a December 5th deadline so that teacher performance bonuses are not reduced because of the test transition.

Speaker Bosma instead will wait until January. As quoted in the Indianapolis Star (Nov. 18th), he said, “The House will take up decoupling ISTEP from teacher raises for a year as its first order of business when lawmakers return in 2016.”

Apparently, when Governor Pence said on October 27th that he was asking legislative leaders to fix the problem of teacher bonuses, Speaker Bosma decided that this issue was not a high enough priority for Organization Day action.

If Senator Stoops was correct about the December 5th deadline, questions abound:

• Will bonuses be figured and distributed based on the current law and the low test scores by December 5th?

• Then will they have to be refigured and redistributed based on the “January fix” that Speaker Bosma has promised?

Once again, an effort to help teachers was given no priority, and teachers were told to wait.

The Impact on School Letter Grades

Senator Lanane, the Senate Minority Leader, in his remarks on last Tuesday said that he was hoping Senator Stoops’ “hold harmless” proposal on school letter grades would be approved that day. He described it as a proposal whereby each school would keep the grade they received last year in this transition year except in cases where the new scores actually raised the grade.

Senator Long, leader of the Republican Senate, however, claimed “we have limitations on what we can do on A-F” because the “federal government has thrown handcuffs on us on this.” He has apparently ignored the fact that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan months ago gave the green light to a transition year for accountability when it became obvious that new testing programs would require such a move across the nation.

Speaker Bosma gave a lower priority to a fix for school letter grades. After promising a fix to teacher bonuses as the first order of business in January, he said that “potential revisions to school A-F accountability grades because of an anticipated drop in ISTEP scores will take more time to weigh,” as quoted in the Indianapolis Star (Nov. 18th).

Punishing schools for letter grades based on the lower passing rates of this unprecedented transition to a new test would be a travesty of justice, for three reasons:

1) The school letter grade formula to be used again this year is the same flawed formula pushed in place by Dr. Bennett in 2012 and voided by a displeased General Assembly in a law passed in April 2013. Despite the words of the 2013 law and the consensus that the current A-F system is deeply flawed, it is still in use for this one more round of school letter grades. That is just wrong.

One reason it was considered flawed was that it relied almost completely on the percent passing the test and gave only minor attention to year-to-year student growth. With the percentage passing falling precipitously this year as expected due to higher standards and a more difficult test, school letter grades are sure to drop as well, an artificial drop due to the reset of the test.

2) The Sheldrake-Grew report in 2013 reviewed Dr. Bennett’s actions on the A-F system and wrote on page 19: “For the 2012-13 school year and subsequent years until the new accountability system required by HEA 1427-2013 is implemented, state policymakers should consider not subjecting a school to state interventions described in IC 20-31-9-4 due to a sixth consecutive year of placement in the lowest category or designation of school performance. (p. 19)”

No school should be moved further on the state takeover list based on letter grades from this transition year. This is a second reason to hold schools harmless due to the reset of the test.

3) ISTEP+ pass rates have plummeted this year due to the more difficult tests despite the fact that NAEP tests have shown Indiana students to be performing better than ever. No independent observer would agree that it would be fair to apply the old A-F system under these unprecedented pass rate drops.

That’s three strikes against using this year’s ISTEP+ scores to give letter grades for schools.

Schools should not be punished for school letter grades this year. The General Assembly has made filing a lawsuit over such in injustice to schools very difficult. We are left with the need to persuade Governor Pence and all legislators that schools should not be punished just because the state wanted to reset to a much more difficult test.

Governor Pence visited Longfellow Elementary in Muncie on the same day as Organizational Day and was reported in the Star on Nov. 19th to have told teachers “not to take this year’s low ISTEP scores personally.” His press secretary later clarified his comment by saying: “The Governor was explaining to a dedicated third-grade teacher that we are in a transition year and that the decline in scores was fully anticipated.”

Third grade scores dropped from 80% to 61% passing math and from 83% to 71% passing English.

It is amazing that the Governor would acknowledge this transition year to teachers in this way without telling them that he will take strong action to press the General Assembly and the Governor’s members of the State Board of Education to make sure that the low ISTEP scores do not personally impact teachers or schools regarding performance bonuses or school letter grades. He should use his powers to protect teachers and schools during this crisis that he “fully anticipated.”

I urge you to share these points with your legislators or with all legislators at your earliest opportunity.

Thank you for your advocacy for public education!


Best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!

Vic Smith

“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!


ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand continues to represent ICPE and was present on Organizational Day. Our work in support of public education in the Statehouse goes on as we prepare for the short session beginning in January. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!


Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.

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Everyday Advocates - Julie Hyndman

Why is public education advocacy important to you?

I started out as a public school advocate as a parent many years ago. I served as president of the PTA where my children attended and then started working as an assistant in their school. It became abundantly clear how the public school was a welcome haven to many of these kids. They seemed to thrive with the opportunities offered to them. After two years, I returned to college to earn a degree in teaching. Through the PTA, and eventually onto FWEA/ISTA/NEA I have continuously worked for public school students and those that work to help them achieve.

As an advocate, what accomplishment have you found most satisfying?

Working with other educators across Indiana and the United States, to find solutions for issues similar to what we are experiencing gets me excited. Whether that means to promote research needed to improve our situations, or working with elected officials, the task is huge, but working together for a cause is exciting.

What are some of your frustrations or obstacles that you have met or overcome?

People need to be informed and VOTE! When I share information about what is happening to public schools, people are shocked. Too often, they have minimal knowledge about how their tax dollars are being spent. Unfortunately, we need to better educate our own teachers as well. That is a task our Association works towards daily. Too many people are unaware of the conditions facing our public school students and teachers. Even worse, they seriously don’t understand that it will affect them too!

What keeps you going?

The public school students and teachers that work so hard everyday, with little recognition of their hard work, are my real driving force.

What do you want parents to know about public education issues?

Parents need to know more about the tests their children take, and the impact it might have on their district and community. They need to know how their taxes are distributed around the state. They need to know how much of their taxes are shared with private interest groups.

How can parents get involved in advocating for public schools?

Parents need to be involved in their child’s school. They need to read, listen, and discuss with others about what is happening within our state. Attending PTA meetings, school board meetings, and becoming actively involved is vital. But the most important way to have a voice in this arena is to VOTE!!

What has been your experience in dealing with legislators?

I lobby with ISTA multiple times each year. Our association also attempts to introduce new educators to this process. It is sometimes difficult to get legislators to even come out and talk with us. It is incredibly disheartening to hear the lawmakers make statements that show they are not always well informed about what takes place in our classrooms, schools, or districts. I have been appalled by the actions of many Indiana legislators and their complete disregard for Supt. Glenda Ritz, who was overwhelmingly elected by the people of Indiana. Each time I meet a new candidate of either party, I hope for genuine interest to better our state and communities. Too often, I am disappointed with partisan politics that only benefit themselves.

I notice how the super-majority in our state regularly reach out to and visit private, charter, and parochial schools, ignoring the great work done in our urban district. They call it choice. I call it rewarding private interest groups, using our taxpayers dollars to enhance their individual cause. These entities do not have the same expectations or regulations put upon them that public schools must follow. And they certainly do not educate all children, with all needs.

Why are public schools important to everyone in a community?

Without great public schools, our communities will suffer. Unfortunately, every child of various demographics, will not be accepted or receive continuous service from nonpublic schools. How can society continue to prosper without educating all children to high standards? We cannot allow one individual to individual to fall between the cracks, or their community will suffer. Research has shown this to be true over and over again. Our future depends on the children of today!

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Everyday Advocates – Melanie Wright

Why is Public Education Important to you?

“Public education has always been a vital part of my life through my 28-year teaching career. As a young student, I observed the powerful effects of public school teachers who repeatedly reinforced confidence, knowledge, and a belief that we may have a positive influence on others through modeling examples. This foundation has been fundamental to my quality of life and one that I continue to share with students. Planting seeds is such a rewarding purpose; protecting the ability to do so has become a necessity.”

Why are public schools important to everyone in a community?

Public schools are the backbone of communities as they provide the center for educational experiences, community dinners, athletic competitions, and various events that bring people of all ages together. A communication network of important relationship forms from this effort. The sense of community drives the thought that we are all together, serving the needs of our youth and the area in which we live. Not only do we foster education, but also a network of people who are connected through their goals.

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Don’t Take It Personally...

By NEIFPE member Donna Roof.

So, Governor Pence, you recently told a teacher not to take the ISTEP results personally.

Well, actually, Governor…

When I see developmentally inappropriate education curriculum, I take it personally.

When I see students suffer from anxiety and other health issues due to pressure to pass high stakes tests, I take it personally.

When I see students subjected to an abundance of test prep, I take it personally.

When I see recess being cut to allow for more test prep time, I take it personally.

When I see children fearing they’ll be held back if they don’t pass a high stakes test, I take it personally.

When I see neighborhood schools being closed, I take it personally.

When I see fine arts classes and programs being cut to allow more time for test prep, I take it personally.

When I see students walking great distances on unsafe roads because there are no busses due to transportation cuts, I take it personally.

When I see no joy in learning and teaching due to the demands of tests, tests, and more tests, I take it personally.

When I see teachers with 40+ students in their classes, I take it personally.

When I see teachers without sufficient resources for their classroom, I take it personally.

When I see less funding for public schools, I take it personally.

When I see the outrageous amount of money being wasted on high stakes testing, I take it personally.

When I see children, teachers, schools, and districts labeled as failing due to test scores, I take it personally.

When I see more and more punitive measures assigned to public schools, I take it personally.

When I see highly effective teachers labeled otherwise due to test results tied to their evaluations, I take it personally.

When I see my Superintendent of Public Instruction being undermined, I take it personally.

When I see the lack of respect for public school teachers, I take it personally.

When I see individuals with no educational or teaching experience making decisions that affect students and teachers, I take it personally.

When I see teachers not being viewed as the experts of the classroom, I take it personally.

When I see all the harm being done to the teaching profession, I take it personally.

When you see that I am doing all that I can to ensure you are not re-elected, don’t take it personally.

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Vic’s Statehouse Notes #236 – November 12, 2015

Dear Friends,

This is a crucial moment in the history of education in Indiana. Three developments are colliding:

1) The 2015 National Assessment scores recently announced have shown that Indiana schools have never performed better.

2) The new, more difficult ISTEP+ tests have produced some of the lowest pass rates ever seen since annual comparisons began in 1997.

3) Governor Pence faces a crucial decision about whether to punish Indiana schools with low letter grades due to the drop in pass rates during this transition to a more rigorous test.

Three historic story lines have converged to put Governor Pence’s education policies and the future of our teachers and schools in crisis mode. Here are details about each story.

Story #1: Student achievement has reached historically high levels in 2015.

• According to the National Assessment of Educational Progressive, known as “the nation’s report card”, Indiana 4th and 8th graders have scored higher than ever in reading. The federal NAEP testing program first reported Indiana scores in 1992, and the 2015 results for Indiana are the best ever.

• In 2015, 75% of Indiana 4th graders passed the basic standard in reading, compared to 68% in the US as a whole. On the proficient standard, 40% passed compared to a US mark of 35%. In 8th grade, 80% passed the basic standard compared to 75% nationally, and 37% passed the proficient standard compared to the national mark of 33%.

• In math, the 2015 results for Indiana nearly matched the historically high marks set in 2013, and actually surpassed previous results on the proficient standard. On the basic standard, 89% of Indiana’s 4th graders passed compared to 81% in the US, and 50% passed the proficient standard compared to 39% nationally. In 8th grade, 77% passed the basic standard compared to the US mark of 70%, and 39% passed the proficient standard compared to 32%.

• These high marks have improved Indiana’s ranking among states to historic highs: 10th in 4th grade reading (up from 15th) and 16th in 8th grade reading (up from 27th). In math, 4th graders remain 4th in the nation and 8th graders are now 11th (up from 19th).

• The complete table showing all of Indiana’s NAEP results since 1990 can be seen in Table 6 in the attachment. It is worth a look and a moment of celebration for great work by our students and educators!

Story #2: The new ISTEP+ scores for 2014-15 show historically low passing rates due to the new cut scores just adopted for the more difficult ISTEP+ tests. Ironically, these historically low results come in the same month as the historically high results on the national NAEP exam.

• In English, pass rates approved by the State Board on October 28th plunged by an average of 15% for grade 3-8 from the previous year (2013-14) in a year that NAEP declared to be a superb year of achievement in Indiana.

• In math, pass rates dropped even more, by an average of 23% in grades 3-8 from the previous year.

• The State Board approved adjusting cut scores to compensate for those taking ISTEP+ online, which has been found to be more difficult than paper and pencil tests. These adjustments will bring pass rates up a bit, but the historic drop in pass rates remains clear.

• To get the full impact of the enormous and historic drop in pass rates in this transition, take a moment to examine the pass rates for each grade level in Tables 7 and 8 in the attachment, which show complete ISTEP results for each grade level going back to the first year, 1997. After reviewing these data, it is absolutely clear that this transition is unlike any year Indiana students and schools have ever experienced in this era of testing.

• The new ISTEP+ results must be treated as a new baseline and must not be compared to the previous year. Comparisons to the previous year are simply not fair. Since A-F grades include comparisons to the previous year, they would not be fair. Educators must make every effort to help the public and to help politicians understand this concept.

Story #3: With record setting high achievement on NAEP proving to all observers that the dip in ISTEP+ pass rates is due to a tougher new ISTEP+ test and not due to poor teaching or poor performance, Governor Pence has been put on the spot to reverse his opposition to a transition year “hold harmless” plan which would prevent penalties to teachers or to schools due to higher expectations and low pass rates.

• Under pressure to prevent these low pass rates from harming teachers, Governor Pence announced with great fanfare a letter on October 27th sent to the State Board of Education saying that at his request “legislation is being crafted to ensure that test results will not negatively impact teacher evaluations or performance bonuses this year.”

• His letter did not directly say that school letter grades would be protected in the same way. The Indianapolis Star reported on November 12th (page 3A): “The Republican governor also said this week his administration is exploring ways A-F accountability grades could be modified because of the scores.”

• Legislative leaders did not leap to quickly endorse the Governor’s plan for legislation. Indeed, some voucher-supporting legislative leaders wouldn’t mind seeing more schools get F’s because more students would then be eligible for private school vouchers in those F school attendance areas.

• Representative Behning, chair of the House Education Committee, said in the same November 12th article in the Star regarding the A-F system: “It would be my personal opinion that we don’t totally suspend it, but maybe we have a position of where we minimize the amount of fall (a school) could have if they had a fall.”

• State Superintendent Ritz has called for a “hold harmless” policy for over a year, but the Governor’s State Board of Education members control the policies. At one State Board meeting earlier this year, the Governor’s members curtly voted to take the subject off the agenda as the meeting opened to eliminate even a discussion of the problem.

• Months ago, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that a one year pause in accountability due to the increase rigor of tests would be understandable to federal officials.

• Dr. Gregory Cizek, a testing expert from North Caroline brought in by Representative Behning and Senator Kruse to the Interim Study Committee on Education on September 29, 2015 recommended that new tests should not used for accountability purposes for three years.

These three stories provide the context for three questions to be answered soon:

1) Will the General Assembly take action to protect teacher evaluations and teacher bonuses from the lower ISTEP+ passing scores, as the Governor has requested?

• Action could be taken as early as Organization Day on November 17th as recommended in a proposal by State Senator Mark Stoops, described in the November 12th Star article. He states that the “law requires the state to send performance pay to school districts before December 5.”

• Representative Behning, according to the same November 12th article, “plans to introduce a proposal that he feels is consistent with what Pence has outlined—but to expect it when the legislature returns in January.”

2) Will the General Assembly take action on Organization Day or in January to protect schools from sharply lower school letter grades based on the lower ISTEP+ passing scores, as the Governor has hinted but not directly requested?

• Many do not realize that the school letter grade formula to be used again this year is the same flawed formula pushed in place by Dr. Bennett in 2012 and theoretically voided by a displeased General Assembly in 2013.

• Despite the 2013 law and the consensus that the current A-F system is deeply flawed, it is still in use for this one more round of school letter grades.

• One reason it was considered flawed was that it relied almost completely on the percent passing the test and gave only minor attention to year-to-year student growth. With the percentage passing falling precipitously this year as expected due to higher standards and a more difficult test, school letter grades are sure to drop as well, an artificial drop due to the reset of the test.

3) Will the Governor change his mind and finally agree with State Superintendent Ritz that this year should be treated as a transition year in testing with no negative consequences either for teachers or for schools?

• For Statehouse posturing, there is no doubt that Governor Pence does not want to appear to be changing his mind to agree with State Superintendent Ritz on this.

• His October 27th statement has already shown that he has changed his mind enough to agree with her regarding protecting teacher evaluations and teacher bonuses. He apparently did not want individual teachers to blame him for their failure to get a bonus.

• If he doesn’t extend the same protection to school letter grades, he will be blamed for the low grades given to many schools and for helping private schools get more voucher students due to many schools receiving F’s for the first time. Under the voucher law, all students living in the attendance area of an F school, including those already enrolled in private schools, become eligible for a free voucher to attend private schools.

• If he does extend the same protection to school letter grades, he will be chided for waiting for a full year before seeing the light and agreeing with the State Superintendent.

The Governor has painted himself into a corner on school letter grades. Regardless of that and now that the huge drops in passing rates are clear, he should do the right thing and endorse a transition year plan which will not hurt schools with an artificially low letter grade in a year when the National Assessment has told us that Indiana students are achieving higher than they have ever achieved on the highly respected “nation’s report card.”

I urge all public school advocates to communicate with Governor Pence and with their legislators or with all legislators to say that transition year test scores should not penalize teachers in their performance bonuses and also should not penalize schools in their letter grades.

The status of both teachers and schools should be held harmless while new baseline test scores are reset.

Thank you for your advocacy for public education!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith


“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!


ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand continues to represent ICPE during the interim study committee meetings. Our work in support of public education in the Statehouse goes on as we prepare for the short session beginning in January. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!


Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.

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Everyday Advocates – Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer

Why Public Education Advocacy is Important to Me:

The way I see it, being a public education advocate means advocating not just for education, but for the Common Good and the health of our democracy as well.

In the current political climate, we’ve become so polarized around parties that we’ve lost sight of the common good. We’ve become so consumer-driven that we look at schools as products to be consumed instead of the social responsibility and service that they are. We’ve allowed the business mentality and narrative to permeate every part of our lives that we as a society look at schools in terms of what we the consumers will receive and what the cost-benefit in dollars is---and not what that cost-benefit analysis turns up in terms of human lives and the health of our society.

What I Have Found Satisfying and What Keeps Me Going:

The most satisfying thing for me is connecting with and learning from so many other concerned people in my own community as well as all across the country. There are thousands of us who are working to raise awareness on the issues and who are forming organizations very similar to our own here in Monroe County. When I make connections with other people from other communities through the speeches I’ve given or things I’ve written, it feels good to know that I’m in good company. The hope is that as we organize and grow, we will become a force for change.

What I Want Parents to Know:

As parents, we have a powerful voice. Educators are often maligned when they speak up (although I hope that won’t stop them!) as “defending the status quo.” Parents have power because we can’t be fired. The wealthy corporate education reformers, charter school operators, political action committees, think tanks, (and the politicians they buy) all consistently speak “for the kids” while attacking our public schools and teachers. I want parents to remember that we need to speak up while supporting our teachers. After all, our teachers’ working conditions are our kids’ learning conditions. We need to remember that it’s not just about our own children, but about all children. We have a responsibility to support great public schools for all children. Where there are problems, we need to work together to fix them.

How Parents Can Get Involved:

Pay attention and get involved in school board races—those are the local policymakers. But don’t forget the importance of good state legislators and the governor! The mandates from the statehouse are directly affecting our kids’ experiences in the classroom. Do you want less emphasis on testing? VOTE. Do you want money for smaller class sizes and certified music, art, P.E. and teacher librarians? VOTE.

We need parents who will join us in our letter writing, phone calling, and testifying at local and state board meetings. We need parents who will help us organize events to call attention to the attack on public education and teachers. We need parents… and others who care about this issue, to help us with the many projects we do to raise awareness and keep politicians’ feet to the fire.

We also need to be volunteering on campaigns. Indiana has a miserable voter turnout record. That means that we need to be getting in front of the voters as much and as best as we can. If we all did a little bit, the world would look a lot different.

Experience with Legislators

I have had a frustrating time with legislators. Early on in my experience with this advocacy work, I was told “You can’t change legislators’ minds, you have to change legislators.”

I think that, by and large, it is true. I have had arguments with legislators who have told me that I am a socialist for promoting public education. He said that it’s one of the Marxist tenets. These are people who promote the idea of individualism when it comes to the poor, but not when it comes to giving a hand-out to the wealthy or corporations, who get the tax cuts. They receive so much money from the organizations promoting the bleeding out of our tax dollars to private religious schools through “vouchers” or to charter schools that are run like businesses and make a healthy profit. We can’t afford a multi-tiered system of education: public schools for ALL kids, private schools who can exclude kids, and charters—a system run rampant with corruption.

I find that legislators are listening to their donors and not their constituents, which is another reason why we all need to get involved in elections. We need the money out of politics.

The purpose of public education is to give kids the skills, knowledge, and experiences they need to be citizens of a democracy. My inspiration is the John Dewey quote:

“What the best and wisest parent wants for his child, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely, and left unchecked, destroys our democracy.”

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Vic’s Statehouse Notes #235 – November 2, 2015

Dear Friends,

Did the Indiana General Assembly really think it would be right for Grace College and Theological Seminary, a private religious college in northern Indiana, to intervene controversially in the public education climate of Monroe County, 150 miles away, against the wishes of the Bloomington-Ellettsville community?

On January 19, 2011, just twelve days after ICPE was born, Joel Hand gave testimony for the first time on behalf of the Indiana Coalition for Public Education, opposing a bill to allow private colleges to authorize public charter schools.

He said that private colleges should not be authorizers of public charter schools because they are not accountable to public tax payers.He was joined by three other public school advocates including me in opposing this provision, but the General Assembly passed the bill anyway with the strong support of State Superintendent Tony Bennett.

Now four years later, the Seven Oaks charter school proposal that was turned down twice in 2014-15 by the Indiana Charter School Board could be given life by the privately appointed trustees of Grace College, of Winona Lake, Indiana, near Warsaw.

Should privately appointed trustees, living far away and not accountable in any way to public voters and taxpayers, have the power swoop in to commit public tax dollars to establish charter schools resisted by the local community and already turned down by the Indiana Charter School Board? I say no.

You can say no also in two ways:

1) Speak against the charter school proposal at the only public hearing on this charter school plan. It will be held on Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 5:30 to 7:00pm at the Holiday Inn Express, 117 S. Franklin Rd., near 3rd Street and 37 on the west side of Bloomington.

2) Let your own Senators and Representatives know that this power obviously undermines local control and the wishes of the local community to point where this law should be changed and the power to shop failed charter school proposals to private colleges should be reined in.

Meanwhile, the private trustees of Grace College should withdraw this proposal so as not to prompt a legislative initiative to end authorizer shopping for failed charter school proposals.

Authorizer Shopping

This charter school was reviewed by the Indiana Charter School Board in the fall of 2014 and rejected by the board, a rare event. The proposal was resubmitted to the same body in the spring of 2015 but was withdrawn without a vote after the ICSB staff recommended that it be declined a second time.

Then the same proposal was shopped to other authorizers, and Grace College got involved. Grace College sponsors two other charter schools, one in Dugger new this year and one in Fort Wayne with a two year track record of F in 2013 and F in 2014. Grace College gets 3% of the tuition for authorizing a charter school. Thus, for example, if the state tuition for a charter school is $6000 per student, Grace College would get a cut of $180 per student.

Is Grace College doing this for the money or are they out to make a name for themselves, and I would say, muddy their name with public school advocates across Indiana?

Documentation

In the first attachment to “Notes #235”, you can read for yourself the numerous problems found by the Indiana Charter School Board staff in their recommendation saying this proposal should be declined by the ICSB in the spring of 2015.

In the second attachment, Steve Hinnefeld of Bloomington has documented that no significant changes were made in the proposal before shopping it to Grace College. Steve has carefully detailed in a blog dated October 27, 2015 the shortcomings of the charter proposal, providing an excellent summary that need not be repeated by me. If you are not familiar with Steve’s work, he does a masterful job of analyzing public education issues, and I highly recommend his blog, entitled School Matters.

Local Opposition

For two years in a row, the leaders of the Monroe County Community School Corporation and the Richland- Bean Blossom School Corporation in Ellettsville have opposed this ideologically driven school proposal linked to an out-of-state charter school network based at Hillsdale College in Michigan. Judy DeMuth, superintendent of the Monroe County Schools, has written a strong letter objecting not only to the charter school but to the frustrating fact that the same proposal was turned down twice after a thorough review by the Indiana Charter School Board but was then revived controversially by shopping the proposal to Grace College.

The Indiana Coalition for Public Education – Monroe County has opposed this proposal for two years and is actively looking for public school advocates who will speak at the November 4th hearing. You can email them at icpe.mc@gmail.com for more information about speaking out against this proposal at the hearing.

If you don’t live close enough to get to Wednesday’s hearing, raise this issue with your own State Senator or your own member of the House of Representatives. This practice of authorizer shopping should stop.

If the Indiana Charter School Board rejects a proposal, it should not be shopped ad infinitum around the private colleges of Indiana. Ask the General Assembly to revisit and correct that part of the charter school law.

Private colleges should not have the power to commit public tax dollars to public charter schools without giving tax payers who want to hold the private officials accountable a recourse for their objections.

This practice muddles the lines between private and public authority and in this case between church and state, and it further fragments our local school communities and our society in general.

I hope you can attend the November 4th hearing or else communicate with your legislators about your opposition.

Thank you for your advocacy for public education!

Best wishes,

Vic Smith

“Vic’s Statehouse Notes” and ICPE received one of three Excellence in Media Awards presented by Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization of over 85,000 women educators in seventeen countries. The award was presented on July 30, 2014 during the Delta Kappa Gamma International Convention held in Indianapolis. Thank you Delta Kappa Gamma!


ICPE has worked since 2011 to promote public education in the Statehouse and oppose the privatization of schools. We need your membership to help support ICPE lobbying efforts. As of July 1st, the start of our new membership year, it is time for all ICPE members to renew their membership.

Our lobbyist Joel Hand continues to represent ICPE during the interim study committee meetings. Our work in support of public education in the Statehouse goes on as we prepare for the short session beginning in January. We welcome additional members and additional donations. We need your help and the help of your colleagues who support public education! Please pass the word!

Go to www.icpe2011.com for membership and renewal information and for full information on ICPE efforts on behalf of public education. Thanks!


Some readers have asked about my background in Indiana public schools. Thanks for asking! Here is a brief bio:

I am a lifelong Hoosier and began teaching in 1969. I served as a social studies teacher, curriculum developer, state research and evaluation consultant, state social studies consultant, district social studies supervisor, assistant principal, principal, educational association staff member, and adjunct university professor. I worked for Garrett-Keyser-Butler Schools, the Indiana University Social Studies Development Center, the Indiana Department of Education, the Indianapolis Public Schools, IUPUI, and the Indiana Urban Schools Association, from which I retired as Associate Director in 2009. I hold three degrees: B.A. in Ed., Ball State University, 1969; M.S. in Ed., Indiana University, 1972; and Ed.D., Indiana University, 1977, along with a Teacher’s Life License and a Superintendent’s License, 1998. In 2013 I was honored to receive a Distinguished Alumni Award from the IU School of Education, and in 2014 I was honored to be named to the Teacher Education Hall of Fame by the Association for Teacher Education – Indiana.

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Everyday Advocates – Mark Nash

As an advocate, what accomplishment have you found most satisfying?

I do think we are seeing the tide turning when it comes to what “reform” is really all about. I also enjoy being a part of the sites that shine a light on what “reform” is really about.

What are some of your frustrations or obstacles that you have met or overcome?

Too many people simply do not care. Supporters of “reform” have framed the discussion as a Republican vs. Democrat issue, when we can look around us to see that the attack on education is coming from both sides of the aisle. If a Republican says something, too many people are blindly following the statement without doing any research. Apathy, especially among fellow educators stands out though as THE most frustrating part.

What keeps you going?

My students! While in my room, in front of my classes, I can shut out the “noise”, or at least minimize it and still have an impact on the lives of these students. The fact is though, as each year passes, I learn more than I ever teach.

What do you want parents to know about public education issues?

I would like to see a higher level of parent engagement in the education of their children. Local control of schools is being eroded, and it is the parents of our students who can lead the fight against that.

How can parents get involved in advocating for public schools?

Talk to educators about what is happening; dig deeper into the laws that are being passed before they have too much of a negative impact on their children.

What has been your experience in dealing with legislators?

They are not listening. Time and time again, I see the same old sound bites about why they are doing what they do, when the sad reality is they are simply puppets for reformers like the Koch brothers and other interests. They simply refuse to even have a conversation about the damage they are causing.

Has your experience with legislators been good/bad? Has it helped?

It has been awful. I have been told by some they are listening, yet they are not. I was told in an email from Senator Kruse before the session a couple years ago that he was in favor of holding off on any more reforms until we can see the results and that he simply was not sure he had enough support in his own committee to hold any further reforms back. Since that time, he has voted for every reform that his committee has seen.

Why are public schools important to everyone in a community?

We all benefit from an educated population. Not only do property values increase from a good school system, the community itself benefits from seeing productive students enter the workforce in the community when they finish school.

Why is public education advocacy important to you?

Because we are headed down a road that is in the opposite direction of what needs to be done for our schools. The current system identifies winners and losers. Many will say closing failing schools is the answer; the fact is that students lose. There are no winners, except for a select few. The current system will have more and more students falling behind, making it much more difficult to be a productive and educated member of our society.

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Letters: How to choose a school for your child

NEIFPE member Susan Berry sent this letter to the editor. In it she gives a teachers point of view on choosing a school.

How to choose a school for your child

Published: October 30, 2015 8:01 AM

Choosing a school for your young child is one of the most important decisions you will make as a parent. This is a responsibility not to be taken lightly, and it’s best to not make a decision until you have visited at least one school in your area. Thanks to my experience as a retired teacher, a mom and a grandma, here are some questions to ask yourself during these school visits:

• Is the office staff friendly and welcoming? Is there a full-time school nurse?

• Is the library “kid-friendly” with lots of books, tables, small chairs and a computer?

• Do you see caring teachers who are attentive to all children?

• Are the children engaged — maybe at a desk or table or maybe working in a group on the floor? The classroom does not have to be quiet, but children should be on task.

• Is children’s work displayed?

• Are there computers in each classroom or in a computer lab?

• Are there music, art, and gym teachers? These classes are important (and may be eliminated during budget cuts), but be alarmed if the school doesn’t value these subjects.

• Do you see a play area with both playground equipment and grassy areas for outside play?

• Are the hallways and classrooms clean? Is the area outside the school clean, and is there space for drop-off and pickup?

• Can you picture your child — or even yourself — in this school setting? Does the environment feel secure yet stimulating?

No one can tell you the right school for your child. But as a parent you know the best fit for your young person and your family. Do not dismiss the idea of a public school until you have visited one. My bet is that your public school experience will be a welcome, pleasant surprise!

Susan Berry

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Everyday Advocates – Bertis Downs

Why is public education advocacy important to you?

Public education advocacy is important to me because I want our schools to be the best they can be for all of our kids— mine and everybody else’s. All children need quality schools which are the center of community, have active parental and community support, a dedicated, not-overly stressed-out corps of mostly experienced teachers, with reasonable class sizes, adequate facilities, and a rich and varied curriculum, as well as strong and effective leadership that makes all the parts work together for the good of every student, regardless of their needs or background. Politicians, sadly both D and R, tend to go for the “sounds good” easy answers, which are generally snake oil and do more to harm rather than strengthen our beleaguered public schools and the teachers and students striving within them.

Lately, I am heartened to see the local-that-is-national movement of parents and teachers and students and community leaders coming together to beat back the forces that would diminish and sell out our public schools and to do so with high- minded phrases like “Choice Cures All,” “No Child Left Behind” and “The Civil Rights Issue Of Our Time.”

If they need a slogan, they’d be better off with this one: Listen To Teachers! I can assure you that No Teacher Anywhere is asking for more standardized testing to help their children learn. No, what they are asking for is more support for their students to give them a decent opportunity to
learn.

#LSTNTOTCHRS.

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More Reactions to Teacher Shortage Hearing

A legislative committee met Monday, October 19, in Indianapolis to consider Indiana's looming teacher shortage. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports that "several education experts spoke" to the committee. Unfortunately, the marathon of "several education experts" took about 5 hours for their part of the meeting. Those teachers and supporters of public education who were waiting for "public input" were forced to wait until late into the evening. By that time many of the legislators had left. At the end of the meeting only six of the sixteen legislators were listening to the public.

Several NEIFPE members spent hours in Indianapolis waiting for their turn to speak before finally giving up and returning home. We have published statements from three NEIFPE members in, Testimony for Teacher Shortage Hearing.

The following is NEIFPE member Terry Springer's reaction to the Teacher Shortage Hearing.

I also attended the hearing on teacher shortages on Monday along with Anne Duff, Phyllis Bush, Kathy Candioto, Julie Hollingsworth, and Becky Hill. I really appreciate school board members taking time to attend. Here is my reaction to that hearing:

Never have the words “supply,” “demand” and “data” been repeated more at any one time and in any one place than at the hearing before the Interim Study Committee on Teacher Shortage on Monday, 10/19. The House of Representatives Chamber was packed: sixteen committee members, 40 or more people waiting to testify, representatives of the press, and other interested observers like me. I did not go to testify before this committee. I went to observe, learn, and support my friends and fellow public ed advocates who planned to testify.

After Sen. Kruse convened the meeting at 1:00, it quickly became clear that the agenda was frontloaded with “experts” in data collection. For nearly five hours, I listened as the “experts” presented data to show whether Indiana has a teacher shortage or not and the reasons it might if it does. With the exception of three speakers – Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz, Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers, and Angela Minnici of Center for Great Teachers and Leaders, the testimony was all about the numbers – supply and demand as if teachers are a commodity and as if education is an industry rather than an institution that is made up of and serves people – children to be exact. And as I listened to the data spew from the experts – some from outside Indiana and some calling for even more data – I wondered how some of those people came to be on the agenda. I assume the expert from Georgia didn’t just decide on his own to fly to Indiana and testify, nor the woman from Washington D.C. either. So who brought them and who paid their way? I also thought about the kids and teachers in classrooms around the state at that very moment who were doing school as usual in less than ideal learning situations. How quickly would this hearing affect any changes in the challenges they face?

To be fair, some committee member asked good critical questions. Hats off to Rep. Smith, Rep. Austin, Sen. Stoops, and Rep. Cook who asked pertinent questions to challenge the experts. But some members called for more data to be collected.

And so it went for nearly five hours. I waited to hear from the people truly engaged in the reality of the teacher shortage – parents, teachers, administrators, school board members. But these people were relegated to the end of the list and lumped together as a group under “public comments.” My companions and I had to leave before that testimony began. But some people did stay to testify after all the experts – after 6:00 and after most committee members had left the hearing. They had real stories to tell about the reality of teacher shortage and the reasons experienced and new teachers are leaving the profession and the reasons fewer people want to enter it. Hats off to FWCS Board Member, Julia Hollingsworth, to Rep. Ed Delaney and Rep. Melanie Wright, and to Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer and Jenny Robinson, parents from Bloomington for waiting more than six hours to testify and provide much needed perspective on teacher shortages. Unfortunately, most of their stories were not heard by a majority of the Committee.

This committee is scheduled to make recommendations about the teacher shortage. After Monday’s hearing, I have to question their ability to make well-reasoned recommendations.

We have a problem in Indiana. Our schools are in trouble thanks to reform legislation that is punitive and demoralizing for teachers, administrators, and students alike. Through their legislation, policy makers have made it clear that they do not trust teachers nor value teaching as a profession. They have made it clear that they do not see children as people but as products who can be trained to attain the same amount of knowledge and skill at the same time and to perform in the same way. Our children have become data points to measure not their individual growth and achievement but to evaluate the system created by reformers and profiteers. The number of teachers is now a data point as is the number of licenses issued and the number of students enrolled in teacher training programs.

Analyzing teacher shortage in terms of supply and demand will not solve the problem. Teachers are not commodities. If we want good, qualified teachers for our children, we have to pay them a decent salary, we have to show them respect and trust and treat them as professionals. We have to make the learning environment conducive to learning by eliminating the oppressive and punitive pressure of test performance and evaluation. Teacher shortage is but one of the consequences of ed reform in our state. Until we are ready to undo what has been done over the past decade, we will continue to face this problem. And at the end of the day, our children will suffer for our failure.

So while the Committee sits and hears hours of data from experts and considers recommendations, schools and our children experience the impact of teacher shortage every day right now.

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Testimony For Teacher Shortage Hearing

A legislative committee met yesterday in Indianapolis to consider Indiana's looming teacher shortage. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports that "several education experts spoke" to the committee. Unfortunately, the marathon of "several education experts" took about 5 hours for their part of the meeting. Those teachers and supporters of public education who were waiting for "public input" were forced to wait until late into the evening. By that time many of the legislators had left. At the end of the meeting only six of the sixteen legislators were listening to the public.

Several NEIFPE members spent hours in Indianapolis waiting for their turn to speak before finally giving up and returning home. Phyllis commented,

What happened at that hearing today was yet another abuse of power with regard to public education. This is looking like a diversionary tactic to go ahead and do whatever they've intended to do all along. Even though I expected to have to endure at least an hour or two of "expert" testimony, I am appalled that the expert testimony (many from out of state shills) lasted for over 5 hours.

Please remember this the next time you vote.

Below are the written testimonies of our NEIFPE members. A comment from State Superintendent Glenda Ritz is also included.

Testimony by Phyllis Bush

Public education is so important; that is why I keep driving to Indianapolis to testify about various and sundry education issues. Sometimes it seems futile, but I won't give up. If I don't speak out when I see the consequences of misguided educational policies that are so fundamentally wrong, then I am complicit in the damage done to public education. Having said that, I will continue to speak out against what seems to be a legislatively orchestrated attempt to destroy public education. I’m tenacious by nature, so I’m in to stay. I’m in until Public Education is made whole.

Given the current teacher scapegoat climate both in Indiana and in the nation, it doesn't take rocket science to figure out why there is a teacher shortage. When our legislators and policy makers continuously demean and disrespect teachers, is it any wonder that teachers are leaving the profession faster than rats leave a sinking ship? Is it any wonder that young teachers would not want to stay in a profession where there is little chance for a salary increase based on spurious and often inaccurate data? Is it any wonder that good teachers don’t want to continue spending a great share of their time preparing kids for tests and teaching to the test? Is it any wonder that they don’t want to carry out state mandates which they know are instructionally inappropriate?

If we are to look for the causes of this supposed teacher shortage, the finger should point directly at the feet of government officials in this state and across the nation who have scapegoated, demeaned, and devalued the teaching profession.

When people are belittled or told that they are worthless or inadequate, when the expectations are inappropriate and punitive, when the opportunities for expressing views are stifled, there is a toxic mixture of factors which border on abuse.

How many new teachers will be drawn to a profession where there is no respect, where there are few rights, and where they are viewed with the same lack of respect as minimum wage workers are?

Maybe this committee is asking the wrong questions.

Is there really a shortage of teachers or is it that teachers have fled the profession because of untenable working conditions?

Superintendent Glenda Ritz and her Blue Ribbon Commission have made a list of suggestions which target teacher retention and recruitment, and their list sounds much like what teachers have been asking for since the so-called reforms of Mitch Daniels and Tony Bennett. Our organization, the Northeast Indiana Friends of Public Education, is ready and willing to help by offering concrete suggestions.

Rather than discussing whether or not there is a teaching shortage, perhaps this committee needs to be discussing what is our legislature planning to do to repair the damage that has been done before it is too late?

Phyllis Bush

Testimony by Anne Duff

Testimony for Teacher Shortage Hearing

Good afternoon. My name is Anne Duff, and I have three children who attend our public schools. I am here today to speak to you, Senator Kruse and Representative Behning, to let you know how the causes for this teacher shortage affect my children and many other children in our public schools.

I know both of you believe in “choice” in one’s education, and you need to know we have chosen public education for our children. We want our children to be exposed to all kinds of children and cultures and there is no better place for that than a public school. Where else can my children see Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists work peacefully together? My children have seen those who live in poverty and in wealth, those from single parent homes, homes with 2 moms, those in abusive homes and those in nurturing homes. My children have been exposed to probably more than they will encounter in the “real world” and this was by design. We love our public schools, but you have made us feel like public schools is a “bad” choice due to your legislation that ultimately sets public schools up for failure.

How do this shortage and the causes of it affect my children? There are several ways. First, with a teacher shortage come long term subs who, frankly, did not choose teaching as their profession and should not be in the classroom. My daughter had a long term sub in her Advanced Algebra class. He told them he was an “engineer” so they thought that would be a good thing. By the end of the semester, we found out that he was a music engineer, and they made it to Chapter 2. My husband had to tutor my daughter so she would be ready for pre-calculus because this substitute fell way behind. Most students aren’t as fortunate and are probably struggling now in pre-calculus.

This overuse of testing has got to stop. I am tired of teachers having to teach to a grade-level test for fear of low test scores costing them their jobs. I already know how my children perform. I know they are good students, and I don’t need a test to tell me they are at grade level. Drilling them to death doesn’t do a lot for them except to make them hate the tests and ultimately hate school. The way you use these tests are not what they were meant for – grading our schools, evaluating our teachers. My children experience the stress these inappropriate uses have caused. This is not a good education…text anxiety, pressure to do well and punishment when you don’t. You are wasting my children’s time with too much testing. Their learning could be enriched with a number of other innovative opportunities instead of pointless memorization and punitive measures all for a test.

Your decision to reduce teachers’ collective bargaining to salary, insurance, and benefits has affected my children. Do you realize that our former teacher contract had a maximum number of students a teacher could have in a classroom? Now my children see classes with numbers in the 40s. Because this no longer can be negotiated and because the money has been dwindling from public schools, my choice leaves my children with classrooms with more than twice the recommended number of students per teacher. I didn’t ask for this for my children and neither did our teachers.

In addition, recess time is limited so kids barely can eat and hardly play. Teachers need a break and so do our kids, but we focus on tests. Teacher morale is low and my kids sense this. I am worried of the quality of teachers my children will get because you have watered down the requirements for becoming a teacher and demean the ones who remain by taking away their rights and basing their raises on a test my child must pass. You no longer value our teachers. They are teaching to the hope of the nation, our future, our next generation of leaders…you need to put more value on that – I want my children to have teachers who want to learn more about what they teach and how to teach it, yet there is no longer value for education, no incentive for a Master’s degree or value for years of experience in the profession.
​
These things need to change. The current conditions of the classroom and the teaching profession need to change. Please don’t put a Band-Aid fix on this by thinking a sign on bonus to a new teacher will help with the shortage. Fix the things that have made our current teachers quit and young adults seek professions other than teaching. I’m tired of worrying about the quality of teachers, the ridiculous demands from these tests, and whether or not my school will get enough funding to lower the student-teacher ratio. Please undo the harm you have done. Make our choice for our children the best choice as it once was. My kids deserve better. So does our community and the future of this state.

Anne Duff

Testimony by Donna Roof

Teacher Shortage Comment by NEIFPE Member Donna Roof

A few years ago when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I thought that fighting for my life would be the hardest battle I would ever face. Little did I know then what awaited my teaching profession. As a career teacher, I never ever in my wildest imagination dreamed I would be battling to save my profession.

People ask me what teaching is like these days, so I tell them what I know: There are times these days that being a teacher is more challenging, more stressful, more worrisome, more physically and emotionally draining, more frustrating than my being a cancer patient ever was.

So now we have a teacher shortage here in our state and across the nation. In as much as my lump didn’t just magically appear one day, neither did this teacher shortage. It has been insidiously growing for years, mostly undetected. However, ever since the Daniels/Bennett tenure, legislators, teachers, administrators, parents, grandparents, and concerned citizens who support public education have been speaking out against the many ill-advised, inappropriate, and punitive educational legislative policies. Many of them have come before you numerous times to speak or have emailed you and warned you of the bad educational policies and their deleterious effects on teachers, students, schools, and districts.


My list of reasons for why there is a teacher shortage would be similar to those of others addressing you today: Race to the Top, lack of respect for public school teachers, siphoning off of public school funds for vouchers, charters, developmentally inappropriate curriculum, loss of recess time, financial costs of testing, loss of instructional time for test prep, harmful consequences for teachers, students, and schools, removal of collective bargaining, teacher evaluations tied to student scores, merit pay, but you already know all the reasons.

With my cancer diagnosis I worked closely with my team of doctors, my cancer experts. I always felt as though my input mattered. Together we made sound decisions. Yet teachers who support public education are left out of the decision-making process when it comes to public education. Those educational experts who support public education and are valued by teachers are dismissed by those making legislation in favor of individuals with business savvy and big bucks but no expertise—no experience—in the classroom.

If you really want answers to why there is a teacher shortage, plan one of your committee meetings on a Saturday when teachers from across the state can be here to speak in person. Better yet, go to a school and be a teacher for at least a week.

Witness what your legislation has done. This teacher shortage is a Frankenstein of your own creation.

Although I am now nine years out from my breast cancer diagnosis, I will continue to raise awareness of it in hopes that more lives can be saved like mine was. If I don’t, the cancer wins. Additionally, I will continue to speak up, speak out, and speak truth about public education because it’s the right thing to do. For the students.

Thank you,

Donna Roof

From Glenda Ritz:

"Today, I testified in front of the Indiana General Assembly’s Interim Study Committee on Education to bring them up to speed on the great work that is being done by the Blue Ribbon Commission for the Recruitment and Retention of Excellent Educators.

"The Blue Ribbon Commission is continuing to develop a legislative agenda in addition to other strategies in the hope of bringing about long-term systematic change.

"The Commission has done great work – in fact, the members have been focused on strategies to make sure that we are able to meet the demand of what is needed in our classrooms.

"The goal of this work is to be proactive. We know we’ve always had shortage areas in our schools; however we are now starting to see a dip in the number of those entering the field of education. I am committed to ensuring that, as a state, we are headed in a good direction." -- Superintendent Ritz

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Visiting Our Public Schools

Two members of NEIFPE participated in Fort Wayne Community School's Principal for a Day activity.


Phyllis Bush, representing NEIFPE, visited Nebraska Elementary School. Here is the note she wrote to the Nebraska school principal, Jayson Balsley, after her visit.

Dear Mr. Balsley,

Thank you so much for hosting my visit to Nebraska School today. While I was prepared to see a typical "dog and pony show" that most schools show visitors, I was pleased to see the real operations of your school. While there are clear and high expectations throughout the building, the care and concern that the staff and students show one another is apparent.

I really enjoyed spending the day at Nebraska school. Thank you so much for being so warm and welcoming, and more importantly, thank you so much for all that you and your staff are doing for children. You are principal and an educator of whom FWCS can be justly proud. You and the Nebraska staff rock.

Thanks again,
Phyllis Bush

NEIFPE member Anne Duff, representing Fort Wayne Community Schools Board of School Trustees, visited Ward Education center and the Allen County Juvenile Center. She blogged about her experience in Principal For a Day.

An excerpt...

I went to Allen County Juvenile Center or “ACJC.” At the end of the day, Mr. Pruitt sent me an email and wrote, “I hope the tour of ACJC was what you were expecting.” Well, I guess it wasn’t. I wasn’t expecting to see young people wearing orange prison uniforms in classrooms. I wasn’t expecting to see a 9 year old who was waiting for a decision to be made about his placement or release after entering ACJC earlier that day. I was not expecting to see the garage door where the police cars enter with the arrested young person. I did not expect this to be the last place these children will see “the light of day” once they are booked until and the time they are released. I did not expect to see a 6’x8’ jail cell made for two inmates, bunk beds attached to the wall with a pillow/mattress foam combo.
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So, what was I expecting? I don’t know. I guess I was expecting it to be less harsh. I guess I wanted to believe we don’t need a “real” prison for our young people. I wasn’t expecting a “scared straight” experience. But there are positives from my visit. The teachers said they loved their jobs. ACJC is a state of the art facility. In addition to continuing one’s education, the young people are given other opportunities after “school” - chess club, Youth for Christ, addictions counseling, plus other wrap around services to make this program something that will give our young adults the skills to be better citizens once they are back home. These children are fortunate to be surrounded by caring adults. Hopefully they will be touched by one of them who will make a difference in their lives. That is what I expect.

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