Gary Public Schools need more teachers; can the district find them?

In the nine years that GlenEva Dunham’s been president of the Gary Teachers Union, there has never been a teachers’ contract covering anything longer than a single school year — until now. 

A two-year contract for teachers within the Gary Community School Corporation was approved late last year, marking the first time in Dunham’s tenure as president that she and administrators won’t have to negotiate this fall. 

Approving the contract was a significant move for the district, which has struggled to attract educators over the years. And while some administrators feel the contract’s terms — including stipends and a raise — will help reel in new staff, others in the district aren’t sure increasing pay is the chief answer to its staffing shortage. 

Making up for what was lost 

Teachers and paraprofessionals both saw gains in the contract, each receiving a 2% increase in their salaries for the 2024-25 school year. Paraprofessionals also received a $2,500 stipend for their contributions during the 22-23 school year (they didn’t receive money in the contract for last year), along with $2,500 for the current year and $2,000 for next year. Teachers were also awarded stipends: $7,000 for the current year and $5,000 for the next year. 

When Mike Raisor, the district’s emergency manager, presented the contract to the Distressed Unit Appeal Board in November, he said it was “vitally important” for Gary schools to be competitive in order to recruit the best teachers. 

Many districts nationwide have long struggled to fill key teacher positions, and since the start of the pandemic four years ago, the problem has only worsened. Reasons for the shortage range from stress to low compensation, and districts with predominantly Black students have been among the most impacted by the issue. 

Right now, Gary public schools have almost 20 vacant full-time teaching positions for various subjects at the elementary, middle, and high schools.

Dunham chalks up many of the district’s challenges in attracting and retaining teachers to its yearslong state takeover. She said the frequent change in emergency managers along with the threat of school closures has turned teachers away. Not to mention the increase in charter schools that has created competition for jobs.

“We’re trying to make up for what we lost … and it’s hard to make that up,” she said. 

‘A point of pride’

To Dunham, money goes a long way in showing how meaningful teachers are to a district. For Gary public school teachers, the starting salary is $49,885, which will slightly increase with next year’s 2% raise. Capital B Gary analyzed average teacher salaries in 12 districts throughout Lake and Porter counties in 2023 and found the Gary Community School Corporation’s to be one of the highest at $68,725.

Dunham said Gary’s teachers earn a higher-than-average salary because they work more hours than most teachers. They have a seven-hour school day compared with the six-hour day that’s typical in other schools in the state. 

An extra hour of instruction was added across the district in 2021, which according to a GCSC presentation, led to a pay increase of $10,000 per teacher. Raisor wrote in an email to Capital B Gary that before the extension, “GCSC had one of, if not, the shortest instructional days in the state.” 

The increase in teachers’ salaries has helped the district recruit teachers for hard-to-fill positions and retain new and seasoned educators, Raisor wrote. He also highlighted that signing bonuses are offered for math, science, and special education teachers.

“Being able to compensate our teachers better than surrounding districts is a point of pride,” he wrote. 

Gary public schools experience a 5% annual attrition rate, according to information provided by the district. Out of about 319 teachers on staff, that’s an average of 16 leaving the district each year. Nationwide, the teacher attrition rate is 8% — both for those who change schools or leave the field altogether. 

Desiree Carver-Thomas, senior researcher and policy analyst at the Learning Policy Institute, thinks compensation is just one part of addressing the critical need for teachers. She pointed to research showing that teachers making higher pay are less likely to leave the field, but she emphasized that this relies on “holding everything else constant.” 

So, if districts are under-resourced and teachers aren’t well prepared to be in the classroom, particularly in urban school districts where teachers are more likely to have entered through an alternative certification pathway, even if compensation is higher, “that might not actually compensate for those other factors that also matter for retaining teachers,” she said. 

Gary public school teachers today face large class sizes, disciplinary issues, a lack of crucial resources like substitute teachers and social workers, and an absence of overall support from administrators, according to Dunham. Teachers who don’t feel supported by school leaders are twice as likely to leave the profession. 

To address some of these challenges, GCSC Deputy Manager Mavis Snelson said during February’s board meeting that the district is adding more time and incentives for teachers to receive professional development. Despite professional development being the most common strategy used in large and urban school districts to target staff satisfaction, research has not shown it to significantly improve teacher practice or student achievement. 

Snelson also said that the district would be “reporting out on recruitment in the next couple of months,” something that Dunham is curious about. 

“I don’t know how much recruiting we actually do. I think that’s always been a question,” said Dunham. 

In an email to Capital B Gary, the district’s methods were outlined as recruiting at college fairs, targeting student teachers training at a Gary public school, and “nimble programs.” 

Finding solutions

Jená Bellezza, a Gary resident and nonprofit consultant who served on Indiana’s Next Level Teacher Compensation Commission from 2019 to 2020, said she believes cultural issues within the district contribute to Gary public schools’ challenges in retaining and recruiting teachers. She questions the atmosphere cultivated throughout the district. 

“Are you providing an environment where teachers have that opportunity to expand and grow and to be contributory and be able to exert some type of leadership as opposed to just coming in and teaching the students?” she said. 

Solutions to decreasing teacher turnover and increasing the number of teachers entering the field have to be multifaceted, according to experts. Carver-Thomas said some districts around the country have seen success with teacher residency programs that help attract diverse teachers by removing some of the barriers that exist to enter the profession. Additionally, the programs prepare them to teach in high-need areas. 

Indianapolis Public Schools rolled out a residency program within its Proving What’s Possible initiative in 2022 to funnel more talent through the district, while states like Illinois have utilized Grow Your Own Teacher programs that develop educators from inside their communities. Carver-Thomas said programs like these have been making a difference, especially when it comes to supporting early-career teachers. 

With the Gary Community School Corporation’s financially distressed status ending on July 1 and management of the district turning over to a superintendent and appointed school board, Dunham has concerns about the sustainability of district-wide measures that have impacted teachers and increased their pay. 

But, she remains hopeful for the district she taught in for three decades and wants everyone in the city to dial in to improve it, not only for the teachers but for the students’ sake.