I was at the Indiana State Capital today discussing the detrimental affects of taking wages away from the majority of teachers in order to pay to a select few a higher salary.
IN House Bill 1004 directs school superintendents to do exactly that.
Collegiality, partnerships and morale will be compromised when administrators unilaterally offer higher salaries to a select few. Where will this additional compensation come from?
The pockets of the rest of the teaching staff.
HB 1004 will destabilize teacher morale and pit teacher against teacher.
While I was waiting to talk to a legislator today, I overheard Kokomo Representative Michael Karickhoff, a supporter of the bill, tell three of his constituents how good HB1004 would be.
Karickhoff reasoned, "HB1004 will give superintendents the flexibility to hire teachers that are hard to find, for example a chemistry teacher. After all, some teachers are more valuable than others."
This kind of thinking by Republicans at the Indiana General Assembly typifies a mindset that teachers are a dime a dozen.
Karickhoff and his cohorts think a high school chemistry teacher is more valuable than a 3rd grade classroom teacher? A kindergarten teacher? A 5th grade teacher? A music teacher? An middle school English teacher? Any teacher?
Here is the deal. Children are not constructed in homogeneous cohorts. Children are not blank slates.
All teachers contribute mightily to the intellectual development of the community of learners that exist within school settings. To compensate a few at the expense of all is immoral.
Professional educators see this policy initiative as a slap in the face.
Prospective teacher candidates will stay away in droves from the profession further exacerbating the teacher shortage.
Contact your Indiana Legislator today and tell them HB1004 pits teacher against teacher and will only worsen the Indiana teacher shortage : https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2014/legislators/
