The state of education in Indiana:
State school superintendent Glenda Ritz, an advocate for teachers and public schools, is about to lose what little power she has as the only elected Democrat in a statewide office — although she handily defeated Republican state schools boss Tony Bennett, a true believer in just about everything Ritz might oppose.
The ISTEP test, the bane of teachers, parents and administrators and a scary experience for students, will take almost twice as long this year than last after the state dropped the already adopted national Common Core curriculum. That change in direction requires a new, more complex and much longer test. But now it appears that the governor has just thrown a wrench into the latest plan with an executive order shortening testing times, adding even more confusion.
Teachers are more and more discouraged. Pay is falling behind other states; teachers are getting little respect for work that requires great dedication and which is very hard; they are leaving the profession.
To many, the state’s official line on public education is one of disdain, with Republican Gov. Mike Pence pushing a charter school/vouchers agenda subsidized by tax money that otherwise would go to established public schools. That plays well to the Republican right in the year leading up to a presidential election, one in which the governor’s name is on the list of possible candidates.
Teachers are convinced that legislative leaders no longer even play the blame game when it comes to failing schools. They’ve already decided the bad guys are our public school teachers and the public school system. Teachers and many others feel lawmakers boneheadedly refuse to consider other possibilities — such as poverty, parents’ education levels, cultural starvation, to name just a few — and are hard at work convincing the public to shift its support to private, charter or religious schools.
Our bet is those Republican lawmakers with kids in public school (certainly there have to be at least a few) are sure their own kids’ teachers are great, though, and incredibly dedicated. It’s all those others who are lazy and don’t give a damn for the kids and who only do the job because of the six-hour day and nine-month work year.
To that end, the state has taken away the pay incentive for Indiana teachers to earn their master’s degrees, a deep and permanent cut in lifetime earning expectations. This in a profession already paid badly.
Grading of schools is degrading of the work of teachers and principals. Basing pay on performance, perhaps a good idea in itself, is a travesty when a single test, the ISTEP, weighs so heavily. And the list goes on.
The atmosphere described above is real, and it’s poisonous. It’s way past time our governor and legislators recognize that. Witch hunting by lawmakers is so desperately inappropriate as a means to help our children learn.
We should be able to expect more of our government than a display of middle-school bullying.
Discord and disdain will do nothing but drive our best away, perhaps the worst threat to our state’s future. Instead of a race to the top, our politicians are creating a race to the bottom.