Seeing Red

INDIANAPOLIS — Several thousand teachers, including dozens from Jay County, surrounded the Indiana Statehouse on Tuesday to call for better pay and more respect from the Republican-dominated state government in a protest that closed more than half of the state’s school districts for the day.

The union-organized rally represented Indiana’s biggest such teacher protest amid a wave of educator activism across the country over the past two years.

Jay Classroom Teachers Association president Paul Szymczak estimated about 50 Jay County teachers were on hand for the rally. Jay School Corporation was one of about 150 districts statewide that canceled classes Tuesday because of the number of teachers who had requested the day off.

“It was amazing to see all the people there from across the state,” Szymczak said. “We knew that it was probably going to be something big but … you never really know what to expect until it happens.”

Teachers chanted, “Fund our schools,” and “Put kids first,” as they lined entrances to the Statehouse, many holding handmade signs with sayings such as, “Less Money on Testing, More Money on Students.” Teachers with marching band instruments played “We’re Not Gonna Take It” from the Statehouse steps.

Characterizing the major concerns of JCTA members, Szymczak noted the various new requirements that have been placed on teachers from the state level and the amount of standardized testing.

“The state mandates all of these things — do this, do this, do this, do this — but they don’t ever give us the resources to do it, or the time,” he said.

“Everything that they add to our plates takes away from actual teaching. That’s certainly frustrating.”

He also mentioned the need for funding both for teacher salaries and student programs, noting that Jay School Corporation has cut or will cut programs such as the alternative school at John Jay Center for Learning, team teaching at the middle school level and block scheduling in high school in order to save money.

Szymczak and Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley met with Rep. J.D. Prescott (R-Union City) in the statehouse Tuesday. Gulley was also able to meet with Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle). (See related story for the legislators’ response to issues raised by local teachers and the state union.)

Indiana State Teachers Association President Keith Gambill told the teachers who covered the Statehouse lawn that the Legislature should direct money from the state’s $2 billion in cash reserves toward helping schools.

“The crisis is now, and we need action now,” Gambill said to cheers from the crowd. “The issue is funding, and the state has the money.”

It came as legislators gathered for organizational meetings ahead of their 2020 session that starts in January. The unions said more than 15,000 people registered for the rally. Indiana State Police reported at least 5,000 people entered the Statehouse through public entrances, but the agency didn’t estimate how many total were on the grounds.

Gulley, who started his career in the classroom at JCHS, said he felt it was important that he be in attendance in support of the teachers who were also taking a personal day to be a part of the rally. He reiterated what he has said over the course of the last week about too many changes being foisted onto educators from the statehouse in recent years.

“I think we need to listen to what our teachers and educators are saying,” said Gulley. “I think we need to hit the pause button. We’ve seen six years of changes … We need to step back and just let it settle a bit.

“And I think there’s been too little listening to the teachers and the educators in our schools. It’s just sort of been handed to us in terms of policy.”

In addition to current educators, several Jay County High School graduates who are currently pursuing degrees in education also attended the rally.

Among that group was Gabby Kunkler, who said her concerns include teacher pay, funding for student programs and too much standardized testing. She added that she feels the Red for Ed movement reaches beyond current teachers and touches everyone, from parents who want the best for the children, to students who expect a quality education, to those who hope to have a career in the education field.

“That’s our future. That’s my future,” said Kunkler, a 2018 JCHS graduate who was that year’s Lilly Endowment Community Scholar and is now a student at Ball State University. “That’s what I’m working toward as a goal. So if there’s any way I can improve that, obviously I want to be a part of that and have a voice in it.”