Chesterton Tribune

 

 

Superintendent says 20 teachers to represent Duneland at 'Red for Ed' rally

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Duneland Schools Superintendent Dr. Chip Pettit released the following statement this morning on the Red for Ed Action Day event on Tuesday, Nov. 18.

The statement in full:

“School teachers and administrators from all over the state will converge at the State Capitol on Tuesday, Nov. 19, for Red for Ed Action Day. The Action Day is centered around the following three issues:

“The Indiana General Assembly should:

--Prioritize public school funding to benefit our students and improve teacher compensation.

--Hold students, teachers, and communities harmless from I-LEARN

--Repeal requirement that teachers volunteer 15 ‘externship’ hours for license renewal.

“In collaboration with our administrative team, 20 teachers were selected by the Duneland Teachers Association (DTA) to represent the school district at this event. In addition, Mr. McDermott (Assistant Superintendent) and I intend to travel to Indianapolis with our teacher contingent. In our discussions with DTA, we agreed that we would make every attempt to not close down Duneland Schools on Nov. 19.

“Public education in the State of Indiana has reached this critical juncture as a result of the state legislature’s decrease to public education funding from 68 percent of the state budget in 2010 to 63 percent in 2019, while at the same time, inflation has risen by 16 percent. We are very fortunate to live in a community that has supported public schools above this level of state funding. Your support of the General Fund referendum in May 2019 has allowed DSC to maintain high-level programming for the children in our community while offsetting inadequate funding from the state legislature.

“The Duneland School Corporation fully supports increased state funding for public education. We believe it is important to stay vocal and support this movement without negatively impacting our regularly scheduled school day(s). The Nov. 19 Red for Ed Rally is just the first phase in what will be a sustained effort to engage our state legislature and governor on public education policy and the inadequacies in public school funding.

“We must work together, with our faculty, staff, parents, and community members to communicate the reasons and goals of the Red for Ed movement, because in the end, it will take the support of all stakeholders throughout the state to affect real school policy change in Indianapolis. Ultimately, school funding changes will directly benefit our students, families and community.”

 

 

Posted 11/15/2019

 

 
 
 

 

 

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