I recently read a letter-to-the-editor in “The Daily Journal” that raised some real concerns about how people are looking at education reform. Nate Schellenberger, the President of the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA), was the author if this particular letter.
In his letter, Schellenberger claims that “these bills are not meant to improve our public schools, nor will they do so if passed. They are part of a political agenda that has little to do with helping Hoosier children and are far from reformative.”
As a legislator who has spent countless hours working on the education issue, I have to say, I couldn’t disagree more with this statement. It is unsettling that it has become a practice to cast disparities about issues, resort to name calling, and having little to no respect for the legislature and the governor.
Schellenberger claims our continuous efforts to strengthen education in Indiana are entirely political in nature. He says that a similar system in place in Washington D.C., that is spearheaded by Michelle Rhee, is a failure. Rhee is, in fact, a Democrat and the effort to revamp the schools in Washington D.C. is a bipartisan one, just like we are trying to do here in Indiana.
What I didn’t see in his letter were the findings of the exhaustive research that we have done on this issue. We have read study, after study comparing what other states are doing and what has or hasn’t worked. We have even met with the ISTA leadership. Every effort has been made to come to the best solution for our Hoosier students.
Schellenberger also explained how education is not a business, again I disagree. Education must be about the business of providing our young people with every educational opportunity possible so that they enter college or the workforce without the need for remediation and be competitive in a field of their choosing.
Let me be clear, the legislation we have introduced is not about teachers, unions or administration. It is about the students and assuring that they receive the best education possible, and are not cheated in the classroom.
Parents want their children to have every opportunity possible to obtain a better education than what they had. Education is key to making that possible. It seems that a majority of Schellenberger’s arguments center on money and funding.
Saying that, I’d like to mention that a the public school system in Newark, NJ spends $22,000 per pupil,double the national average, and only graduates half of its students. It needs to be stated that money isn’t the solution. Offering families the best education opportunity for their student is the solution, and that is what we are doing.
Last week I had the opportunity to see a wonderful performance by 150 first graders on the House floor. Their teacher used violins to teach them everything from music, to the alphabet, to math, and history. You could tell this teacher cared about her students, and was doing a wonderful job. Teachers with that kind of commitment should be rewarded for their efforts. They shouldn’t only be rewarded for their seniority.
Another uplifting story is that of Clark Pleasant Academy. Last year, 100 percent of their senior class graduated. We should be rewarding statistics like this and the teachers and the system that worked for these students and helped them graduate.
I want to be perfectly clear in saying that the education reform legislation is not about politics, union busting or hurting teachers. It is about offering the best education to our young Hoosiers. It is about assuring an education that will lead to better opportunities and better futures for all Indiana students.
If Schellenberger wishes to keep politics out of education, then perhaps he should cut back the millions in donations the Democratic Party receives from his organization. It is obvious that the end-game for him is some type of control within the Statehouse.
Rest assured that I will not be silenced or intimidated by letters or rhetoric. I may not always agree with everyone on every issue, but I do my best to make informed decisions. I do not take these issues lightly. I am here in the Statehouse working for the benefit of the students, not the unions or status quo systems.
