When Gov. Eric Holcomb proposed to eliminate textbook fees for all Indiana K-12 students, it was a welcome sign among parents and educators.
The Indiana Legislature followed on their leader’s call, enshrining free textbooks for all public and charter school students into state law.
It meant parents did not have to pay any book fees when their kids started school this year. It was a decision educators heralded as the right thing to do.
“I think it should have been done years ago,” Tipton Superintendent Ryan Glaze said in June. “I’ve always felt like charging for textbooks in Indiana has been unconstitutional, completely.”
The state penciled in $160 million into the budget to cover the cost of textbooks.
However, that $160 million split among all students in the state doesn’t cover the entire cost of textbooks. Schools have been on the hook to cover what the state doesn’t. For many school districts, it’s tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds.
Those costs are paid out of the same pot of money that pays teachers, creating conflict when it comes to teacher contracts, salaries and pay raises.
At least that’s the expectation as years go on.
WAIT AND SEE
All school corporations in the Tribune’s coverage area ratified contracts this fall with their teacher unions, ensuring pay raises for educators.
Most school administrators said the new textbook law wasn’t a factor in the negotiation process, but it’s expected to be in future contract years. That includes at Northwestern School Corporation, where teachers will see raises between 4% and 9% over the next two years.
“We may have to deal with it in the next round,” said Superintendent Kristen Bilkey.
Northwestern is one of a few area schools that implemented fees to offset the money lost due to free textbooks. The fees help soften the costs of other services schools provide to families such as the communication system that sends automated messages regarding inclement weather.
But the fees don’t cover the lost textbook money entirely, meaning schools are eating some of the losses.
They’re losses most schools chose to absorb this year, rather than let it take away from the amount of money that could go to teachers.
“In the future, it probably will come into play for all of us,” said Shane Matlock, president of the Kokomo Teachers Association. “We haven’t really experienced that yet.”
Kokomo teachers scored significant raises this fall ranging between $3,500 and $4,000.
Some educators question whether the state legislature will prevent schools from levying fees, like those at Northwestern, in the next General Assembly session.
Glaze told the Tribune they did consider the $40,000 to $60,000 expected shortfall when negotiating a new one-year deal with Tipton teachers.
“We did have to take that money out of the pot for salaries,” he said. If and when free textbooks impact a school corporation’s ability to pay teachers competitive wages will largely come down if the state allocates more to free textbooks.
“I do believe it will unless the state starts giving more money toward that,” said Scott Troyer, president of Northwestern Corporation Education Association.
DISCUSSIONS CONTINUE
The Indiana Legislature passed a new law this spring that eliminated certain topics school corporations had to discuss with teacher unions during bargaining.
Topics included class size, teacher-student ratio and student discipline. The new law states school districts “may” discuss these items but are not required to.
The law was decried as antiunion by legislators as it made its way through the legislative process.
Teacher union folks said their school corporation continued to bargain in good faith.
Matlock said Kokomo schools followed past practices. That was the general sense from other union leaders the Tribune spoke to.
“We got a lot of support from administration,” said Cole Allison, president of the Eastern Howard Classroom Teachers Association. “The focus was help teachers as much as we could.”
CONTRACT HIGHLIGHTS
Educators at all nine area schools will get raises.
Tri-Central Community Schools, the smallest school in the area, sports the highest starting pay at $46,250. The average raise for a teacher is 7.35%.
Peru Community Schools has the second highest at $45,000.
Taylor Community Schools teachers successfully bargained for benefits language that pay teachers for covering others on medical leave and paying teachers to prepare lesson plans prior to going on an extended leave.
Teachers who plan to go on maternity leave or long-term medical leave will be paid $200 per week of lesson plans they develop beforehand. If a teacher writes six weeks of lesson plans, for example, they’ll receive $1,200.
It’s a unique benefit among area schools, and possibly the state. Taylor school officials said they’re not aware of any other school district offering those benefits.
At Northwestern, teachers and administration agreed to eliminate two steps on the pay scale. This means teachers can reach a top salary in fewer years.
The quicker a teacher can make more money is beneficial for retirement as it is based on their highest average years salary.
“The fewer steps you have, the faster you can get to the top of the pay scale, and that’s good for teacher retention,” Troyer said.
Tipton teachers can get extra money for earning certificates and licenses. The stipends are meant to encourage teachers to get additional certifications, such as for teaching dual credit classes and science of reading.
Multilingual training is one of the areas teachers can receive a license for and comes with an additional $2,400. Glaze said the number of students needing teachers who can speak another language has increased to the point that more staff members need the licensure.
“Not only does that make the teacher well-rounded in their craft, but it also allows for more movement within the corporation when there are no applicants for open positions,” said Amy Cole, president of the Tipton Education Association.
School districts are required to spend 62% of education fund money — state funding based on student enrollment — on teacher salaries and benefits. School officials at every area school said they expect to hit this mark.
However, schools won’t know for sure until next summer once all funding is received. It’s also unclear what holds a school to the 62% requirement.
Multiple school officials told the Tribune there does not appear to be any consequence for not hitting 62%. Previously, when the requirement was 45% of funds be spent on teacher salaries only, schools could ask for a waiver from the state.
This waiver basically said the school couldn’t meet the mark for that year and what steps were being taken to achieve the threshold.
Most schools and teacher unions will be back at the negotiating table next year, as most contracts are only for this school year.
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