INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -
A legislative study committee endorsed a series of steps Monday that would
whittle away at the authority of teachers unions while attempting to address
Indiana’s teacher shortage.
The recommendations
forwarded to the full Legislature by the education study committee called
for increasing educators’ pay, offering additional job training and
expanding mentorship programs. But they did not address key factors that
Democratic state schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz and her teachers union
supporters say are behind the 33 percent drop in the number of teacher
licenses issued since 2009.
“I’m really
disappointed they haven’t acknowledged that they are sorry for unintended
consequences from some of the bills they’ve passed,” said Indiana State
Teachers Association President Teresa Meredith, referring to education
overhaul measures that have been adopted by the Republican-dominated
Legislature in recent years, including standardized testing of students and
linking teacher pay raises to students’ test performance.
Republican
legislators have disputed those arguments, pointing to similar shortages in
other states that have not made the same education changes that Indiana has.
And on Monday they pressed on their own ideas to address the shortage while
ignoring calls by Democrats who sought a pause until a similar effort led by
Ritz releases its own conclusions.
“We’re getting
ahead of the game if we don’t know what their recommendations are,” said
Rep. Terri Jo Austin, D-Anderson.
One suggestion
Republicans made is further exploration of a new 401k-style plan retirement
plan for teachers, which they say offers more flexibility and could attract
recruits who may not want to work a full decade to become vested in the
teachers’ pension system.
Another measure
requests a bill that would allow individual teachers to independently
negotiate their own salaries in areas where there are teacher shortages. A
different recommendation called for salary increases for young teachers, but
bypassed those with seniority.
“If we’re serious
about trying to eliminate the shortage, we’re going to have to be willing to
look at salaries,” said Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis. “The salary for
starting teaching is too low.”
Unions worry the
retirement plan option and salary negotiations could weaken their position.
Not all of the
recommendations specifically addressed the teacher shortage. Others sought
to address ISTEP testing length and disability requirements.
A majority of
Republicans on the committee also rebuked Ritz by voting against a one-year
moratorium on penalizing teachers and schools for poor ISTEP scores, which
she has advocated for. Results from the 2015 ISTEP test, which determines
teacher pay and school rankings, have yet to be released following a series
of missteps by the company that administered the test.
Lawmakers can
choose to act on the committee’s recommendations when they convene in
January.