Lafayette schools monitor Nov. 19 as list grows of districts closing for 'Red for Ed' rally

[Muda69]

33 minutes ago, gonzoron said:

All those parents who are clamoring for more home schooling now have their long awaited for chance. A day not dominated by hegemonious government schools. How about the parents take responsibility for the day instead of expecting the government to babysit their kids for them?

Sounds good to me.  A possible day to visit charter schools and explore other options.

 

[Guest]

21 hours ago, Irishman said:

Such a stupid comment. The law STILL requires 180 days for students genius. 

I will explain how the days are planned for us at KVSC.

11/19/19 school is closed/canceled/whatever anyone wants to call it for the political rally in Indianapolis.

We do NOT make that day up DURING the 1st semester.  So my students and I lose 1 instructional day during the 1st semester.

We make up the day on 2/14/20, in the 2nd semester (which was a scheduled day off).

Yes I agree w/ what my friend Irish is saying here about the 180 days, BUT the 180 days are not all created equal, which therein lies the issue for me.

[Guest]

18 hours ago, Muda69 said:

Sounds good to me.  A possible day to visit charter schools and explore other options.

 

I never thought of that Muda.  Thank you for sharing.  Great post.

[Muda69]

5 hours ago, DannEllenwood said:

I will explain how the days are planned for us at KVSC.

11/19/19 school is closed/canceled/whatever anyone wants to call it for the political rally in Indianapolis.

We do NOT make that day up DURING the 1st semester.  So my students and I lose 1 instructional day during the 1st semester.

We make up the day on 2/14/20, in the 2nd semester (which was a scheduled day off).

Yes I agree w/ what my friend Irish is saying here about the 180 days, BUT the 180 days are not all created equal, which therein lies the issue for me.

With children yet against being the pawns.  

 

[gonzoron]

39 minutes ago, Muda69 said:

With children yet against being the pawns.  

 

I'm against being a pawn also, and I'm an adult.

[Muda69]

More than 100 Indiana school districts are closing for Red for Ed Action Day: https://www.jconline.com/story/news/education/2019/11/14/why-indiana-schools-have-closed-red-ed-action-day-statehouse/4179467002/

Quote

More than 100 school districts will be closed Tuesday as teachers and public education supporters are expected to flood the Indiana Statehouse on the day lawmakers return to ceremonially begin the 2020 legislative session. 

More than 12,000 people – the majority of them teachers – have registered to attend the Indiana State Teachers Association’s Red for Ed Action Day. The state’s largest teacher’s union called on its members to take a personal day to lobby state lawmakers for better pay, among other things. 

So many teachers were requesting the day off that districts all across the state have closed or are calling for an “e-learning day,” where students stay home and get school assignments online. So far, 108 districts have closed. Others, still, are expected to make a decision in the coming days.

Nearly half a million kids will be out of school, representing more than 40% of the state's public school students.  

....

Half a million children not receiving their Indiana constitutional right to an education, all due to a political stunt orchestrated by a public section union.

 

[Muda69]

Why some Indiana school districts aren't closing for Red for Ed Action Day: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/education/2019/11/15/red-ed-action-day-nearly-200-districts-across-indiana-stay-open/4179424002/

Quote

While more than 100 school districts are closing their buildings on Tuesday for Red for Ed Action Day, roughly 170 more districts across the state will stay open. 

As of Thursday night, that includes local districts like Carmel Clay Schools, Westfield Washington Schools, Zionsville Community Schools and Perry Township Schools. 

District leaders in Carmel said they’re monitoring the number of teachers who’ve requested a personal day to calculate the number of staff absences against the number of available substitutes. A decision to close could still be made anytime before Nov. 19, according to the district. More than 100 teachers in that districtare expected attend the action day, according to the Carmel Teachers Association.

Meanwhile, in Zionsville and Westfield, classes are scheduled as usual. According to Zionsville Community Schools, more than 20 teachers will attend the action day. As of Thursday morning, a spokesperson for Westfield Washington Schools said all the teacher absences were covered with substitutes, but wasn't able to provide an exact number. 

Perry Township Schools said it will stay open in order to "avoid disruption to our students’ and families' schedules." Of the district's 1,018 teachers, 149 have requested the day off, with 121 designating their day off as a "personal day," according to a district spokesperson. 

"We stand in solidarity with all Indiana teachers who advocate in a respectful and civil manner," the district said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. 

The district said it is working to secure substitutes to cover classrooms and the day will be "business as usual" for students.

....

Sounds like there are at least few government school districts out there that are sticking to the principles/mandate/mission statement.

 

[Muda69]

I recently received a copy of the following email from the ISTA that apparently was sent to government school teachers throughout the state:

Quote

Red For Ed Action Day Priorities & Talking Points 
 
 
 
1) Invest budget surplus in teacher compensation 2) Hold students, teachers and communities harmless from I-LEARN 3) Repeal PGP/externship requirements 
 
TEACHER COMPENSATION Lawmakers must demonstrate a commitment to addressing teacher pay by using the state’s budget surplus to begin increasing base salaries for teachers. 
 
The lack of significant and sustainable investments in our schools over the past decade has placed Indiana behind neighboring states on funding levels and places us last in the nation in teacher salary growth. 
 
The state has accumulated a $2+ billion surplus and an additional $419 million surplus from last year’s budget. The legislature should use a portion of these funds to continue the work to make teacher pay competitive in the region. 
 
HARMLESS FROM I-LEARN Low I-LEARN scores don’t reflect the hard work Hoosier kids and teachers are doing in our classrooms. Test scores certainly shouldn’t determine how our communities are labeled by accountability grades. 
 
Legislators must hold schools and teachers harmless until educators feel confident in the system.  
 
Hold harmless should not only include letter grades for schools and teacher evaluations, but also for school intervention and state takeover of schools. The scores at this stage are questionable and should be used only as a benchmark - nothing more. 
 
REPEAL PGP/EXTERNSHIP REQUIREMENTS Changes under HEA 1002 require teachers in traditional public schools using a PGP for renewing their license to complete 15 of the 90 PGP points in one or more of a series of program options focused on career navigation or economic development – including corporate externships.  
 
As of July 1, 2019, over 50,000 of the approximately 60,000 teachers initiated their next license renewal so that the 15-credit requirement will not apply to them until their next re-licensure. 
 
This new requirement has placed an undue burden on teachers and is misplaced in its implementation. Relevancy of this requirement aside, real feasibility issues exist in many areas of the state to comply with the options listed in the law. The PGP licensure language in HEA 1002 should be repealed. 

Typical.  There has never been a pile of money that liberals, and now a growing number of conservatives, want to poach for fulfill their own agenda.  How much does the ISTA want to take, 25%, 50%, 75% of the current state reserves?  If this poaching happens and the next economic downturn/recession hits (and it is not a question of if but of when)  the state will have to significantly hike income and other taxes due to the state cash reserves being so depleted.  Then the government school teachers will be back to square one, their precious wage increase eaten up by new taxes, but now the rest of the wage earners in the state will have to also feel that pain due to their avarice.

 

 

[gonzoron]

1 minute ago, Muda69 said:

I recently received a copy of the following email from the ISTA that apparently was sent to government school teachers throughout the state:

I would have thought they'd already have you on their 'blocked' list.

[Muda69]

2 minutes ago, gonzoron said:

I would have thought they'd already have you on their 'blocked' list.

The ISTA did not send it to me.  An individual forwarded me the email they had received from the ISTA.  Sorry that I did not make that clear enough.

 

[gonzoron]