Statehouse IS A Sea Of Red At “Red For Ed” Rally

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Statehouse IS A Sea Of Red At “Red For Ed” Rally

 

By Brandon Barger

TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS—Hundreds of teachers, parents and their supporters descended on the Statehouse Tuesday with signs, banners, and chants demanding that lawmakers listen to them as they seek more funding for public schools, fewer standardized tests and better pay.

The grounds outside the Statehouse were a sea of red, crowded with people wearing Red for Ed T-shirts to greet returning lawmakers and others who have returned for one day to organize for the 2020 legislative session, which begins Jan. 6. In addition, to pay and funding issues, the protestors want legislators to repeal the new requirement that they work outside of school for 15 hours every five years to renew their teaching licenses.

Audrey Gower, a fifth-grade reading teacher from Hebron Elementary School in Evansville, made the long trek to the Statehouse not just for herself, but for her two daughters, who are first-year teachers.

“They will never make a decent living wage and that is important to me,” Gower said as she stood in the cold near the steps of the Statehouse surrounded by hundreds of other teachers.

Fourth-grade teachers Savannah Goss and Hannah Merk of Greater Clark County Schools in Jeffersonville both said they were at the rally because of their students and their co-workers.

“We need more funding, especially for school counselors,” Merk, who has been teaching for three years, said. She and Goss were up at 4:30 a.m. to make it to the Red for Ed rally.

More than 14,000 teachers, parents, and others had signed up to attend the Red for Ed rally, which features a full day of events, including time with some of the legislators to voice their concerns directly. House and Senate legislative leaders from both parents have pledged to address one of their issues—not punishing schools or teachers for low ILEARN test scores.

But additional funding for pay or other local services will face hurdles because House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, and Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, have said they will not open the budget for new spending.

Jennifer McCormick, superintendent of Public Instruction, held a press conference where she urged those gathered to take an interest in the 2020 election for governor. The top educator’s post will be appointed by whoever is elected governor next year.

“When this office becomes an appointed office, it becomes extremely important to pay attention to those who are running for governor and their message around public education,” McCormick said.

Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican running for a second term, was not at the Statehouse Tuesday. His office said he is attending a meeting of Republican governors in Florida, which had been scheduled before the Red for Ed rally.

His campaign committee sent out an email as the rally was taking place noting that Holcomb signed a budget that increased education funding.

FOOTNOTE: Brandon Barger is a reporter with TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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