Jennifer McCormick, the state superintendent of public instruction, addresses the media Tuesday at a statehouse press conference during Red For Ed, a teacher rally. CNHI News Indiana photo by Whitney Downard
INDIANAPOLIS — Thousands of teachers from across the state filled the Statehouse, chanting “Put Kids First” at legislators arriving for Organization Day, the start of the 2020 legislative session.
Teachers rallied for better pay, to be held harmless from poor test scores and against a professional development externship requiring 15 hours spent learning about their community’s workforce development needs.
“We have 15,000 educators and community supporters who are signed up for Red for Ed,” Jennifer McCormick, state superintendent of public instruction, said. “Today is a good day. Indiana kids deserve to have adequate and equitable funding.”
The event follows teacher strikes in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky and Arizona. With masses of teachers expected to take personal days Tuesday across Indiana, more than 100 schools closed or resorted to e-learning.
McCormick held a brief press conference inside the statehouse, while teachers cheered outside, to release her legislative agenda, broken down into three categories: student learning, student operations and school improvement.
“We are 50 out of 50 states in teacher (pay) increases since 2002, but yet we are a state that is sitting on a surplus of $400 million and reserves of $2.3 billion,” McCormick said. “We are not asking for the moon; we’re asking for what our students and our schools deserve to operate efficiently.”
McCormick, a former school superintendent, said leadership needed to quit blaming local districts for funding problems.
On Monday, House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said that the Legislature had passed record-breaking increases in education spending, but that administrative expense grew by 31% over the last decade.
“So we have adopted past record increases – in the last budget, record increases for education,” Bosma said. “It’s not getting to the teachers, and we’ve got to take additional steps to see to it that it does.”
McCormick pushed back against Bosma’s comments.
“It’s easy to shift the blame. … That’s not a new tactic. It’s easy to blame local superintendents and principals and school boards,” McCormick said. “You have to have pay coming from the statehouse. We can solve the issue locally, but we’re at the mercy (of the Statehouse).”
The average starting teacher’s salary in Indiana is $35,943, according to the National Education Association, below the national starting average of $39,249 and lower than most neighboring states.
“I have learned in this office that talk is easy, talk is cheap. Let’s see actions,” McCormick said. “I hope and I am encouraged that upstairs they say they are supporting educators. Let’s see it in action. We want to see the money.”
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