ISTA Officials Plan for Around 10,000 People to Participate in Red for Ed Action Day

Posted on November 19, 2019
Author Jacque Ryan, WKVI

When Indiana Legislators gather in the State House today to prepare for the upcoming General Assembly, they will be met by thousands of Hoosier educators and supporters pushing for the children and education to be a priority.

The Indiana State Teachers Association has been preparing for the Red for Ed Action Day. In their plans, officials noted that they’re anticipating for there to be up to 10,000 people in attendance.

As previously reported, there are certain local schools that have canceled classes to account for the teachers who will be down in Indianapolis.

While there are a number of personal reasons why educators may be planning to attend, one item that the ISTA has stressed is that they want to address is asking legislators to invest budget surplus into teacher compensation.

At a previous North Judson-San Pierre School Board meeting, President Derrick Stalbaum provided a statement which offered some perspective about state funding for education.

He explained, “It’s true that our elected officials are putting more funds into education than ever before however an outrageous proportion of that money is being funneled from the public sector into the private and voucher school system.”

He continued, “In fact public schools are currently receiving less money now than they did 10 years ago and that’s not including any adjustments for inflation and yet we still educate over 90 percent of Hoosier children.”

This statement was offered during a hearing that was held prior to negotiations about teachers’ compensation at NJ-SP. Stalbaum mentioned that those details were acquired from information provided through State Superintendent Dr. Jennifer McCormick’s office.

In addition to compensation, the ISTA said their other main talking points for the Red for Ed Day of Action include holding schools and teachers harmless from the recent results of I-Learn test and repealing the Professional Growth Plan (PGP) and externship requirements associated with renewing teaching licenses.

State Superintendent Dr. Jennifer McCormick plans to welcome press outside her office within the Statehouse at 9:30 a.m. ET in order to discuss how her 2020 legislative priorities align with the historic 2019 Red for Ed Action Day.