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Hundreds of teachers rally against education bill at Statehouse

By Elizabeth DeSantis

Posted February 14, 2022

Hundreds of teachers, retired educators, parents and PTA members made the journey to Indianapolis last week to urge state senators to vote against a controversial education bill.

House Bill 1134 aims to give parents more control over school curriculum, particularly about how educators present topics like race, religion and politics. Critics argue the bill could limit teachers’ ability to address situations where a student is potentially in danger.

The lobbying effort isn’t the first time teachers have tried to make their voices heard on HB 1134. The Indiana State Teacher’s Association generated over 42,000 emails to state representatives to voice concerns about the bill, according to ISTA President Keith Gambill. The bill still passed in the state House in January in a 60-37 vote.

“Well, first and foremost, we believe that we've got to have honesty in education,” Gambill explained in an interview Friday. “And we have to have a way of making sure that we are able to present our content in an open and honest way to our students. We want to make sure that we are able to work with our students in times when they may be troubled as well.”

For some teachers, HB 1134 is just the final straw. Schools are facing shortages, just like other industries. There were 852 open jobs in the Indiana Department of Education as of Friday, with over 150,000 licensed educators statewide. Some teachers blame legislation like HB 1134 for the shortages.

“In the last 10 years, it has become increasingly difficult to be a teacher in Indiana,” says JJ Epperson, who’s been teaching high school Spanish at Harrison High School in Evansville for a decade. “There’ve been funding cuts and regulations, and it just feels like unnecessary legislation after unnecessary legislation after unnecessary regulation.

According to Epperson, teachers are working together to continue helping students despite larger class sizes and higher teacher absences because of COVID-19 infections. However, some are still feeling overwhelmed by higher expectations amid the shortages.

“We try to rally around each other, but it feels toxic to be a teacher, and when you have that negativity weighing on you all the time … it’s hard to get up out of bed and go to work,” Epperson said Saturday.

Schools are also offering more services to students than ever. Epperson says there are many students in her classes relying on the school to provide breakfast and lunch, and they don’t know where they will get dinner. But beside physical needs, Epperson says teachers provide their students the emotional support they need to stay healthy, and HB 1134 could threaten their ability to do that.

“We won’t be able to have conversations with kids who are in clear need,” she says. “Teachers are the ones who see students day after day after day. We are the ones who notice when they’re showing signs of depression. We are the ones who notice when they are just not themselves.”

HB 1134 does not provide additional funding to schools to help implement any of its new requirements, like committees to approve classroom materials. With resources already stretched thin statewide due to shortages, teachers also say implementing the law could be unrealistic.

“There are not very many parents that speak Spanish that are going to have time to be on a board like that,” Epperson says. “And is this committee paid? Is it not paid? If you were a parent, would you want to be tied to a committee for four years about school materials without pay?”

Teachers say they will continue to flood the Statehouse Monday through Thursday to testify and talk to representatives.