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House passes controversial teacher salary and pensions bill
02/04/2016

 

HB_1004_-_House.jpgThe House passed yet another divisive bill (HB 1004) that will damage the partnerships that teachers and administrators enjoy all over the state incorporating top-down administrative control of salary and wage issues. The final vote was 57 – 42.

 

Counter-productive policies, such as this do nothing to help Hoosier children or public education. We need your help as this bill is considered in the Senate.

 

The bill’s proponents contend that the teachers’ collective voice should be removed from certain teacher salary issues—primarily with regard to signing and retention bonuses.

 

Supporting HB 1004, Rep. Wendy McNamara (R – Mount Vernon), director of the Early College High School out of Evansville-Vanderburgh school district, said the bill would give superintendents flexibility to hire teachers for “hard-to-fill jobs.”

 

“Let’s face it, folks, not all jobs are created equal in teaching,” said Rep. McNamara.  "If sometimes you want to go into chemistry, for example, you might have to have a little bit extra expertise and extra knowledge than somebody teaching another course, like, let’s say physical education. I’m not trying to knock on physical education teachers, but I’m going to tell you there’s probably a little bit more expertise required in the education going into getting a license in chemistry.”

 

ISTA and its local Associations acknowledge that there are positions left open, because they are difficult to fill, and recognize the need for flexibility in handling them through bargaining across the state. These negotiations are successfully accomplished each year between local Associations and their districts. HB 1004 at its core demeans teachers by taking them out of these meaningful conversations.

 

In contrast, Rep. Melanie Wright (D – Daleville), an active teacher in public schools, said HB 1004 is just another example of lawmakers failing to support and respect teachers.

 

“If we make those salaries negotiable and outside collective bargaining, we will have salaries all over the place,” said Rep. Wright. “Our mid-level teachers will look for options to get out. They already are exhausted from all the mandates that have been put on them.”

 

In addition, Reps. Vernon Smith, David Niezgodski, Terri Austin and Greg Porter spoke out against the bill. We appreciate their voices in this important discussion.

 

Rep. Randy Truitt (R – West Lafayette), a co-author of the bill, spoke out against the bill’s divisive language during the floor debate. Rep. Truitt addressed the bill’s goal of bypassing the current method of school administrators working with local teachers.

 

After the debate, Rep. Truitt voted against the bill.

 

After many questions, the opposition forced the bill’s author, Rep. Bob Behning (R – Indianapolis) to acknowledge from the floor that the bill needed more work and Behning made verbal promises to change the bill in the Senate.

 

In response, Rep. Terri Austin (D – Anderson) noted that House members shouldn’t rely on the Senate.

 

“We’re our own body,” said Rep. Austin. “Putting your money on the Senate to fix something that impacts 70,000 teachers is bad policy.”

 

Advocates have sent hundreds of emails to legislators opposing this bill. Their impact was felt, and their efforts will continue to help ISTA make its case for kids and teachers throughout the legislative session.

 

ISTA will continue to work with members of the Senate Education Committee and provide updates as this bill progresses.