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Several Indiana schools, including Indianapolis Public Schools, announced closed buildings or an online learning day on Monday, a day of action for the state teachers union that will feature heavy pushback against a proposed property tax reform bill slashing funding for public schools.
The announcements from the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township and the Monroe County Community School Corp. on Friday come in the waning days of a legislative session that could carry a huge financial hit for school districts. The Senate Bill 1 property tax relief bill would decrease a significant revenue source for school districts, which would also have to share property tax revenue with charter schools.
The combined effects of both changes would cost school districts roughly $744 million over the next three years.
The Union School Corp.—which would also be dissolved under the same tax reform bill—also announced on Friday that it would cancel school on Monday and offered buses for students, staff, and parents to ride to the statehouse.
And on Sunday evening, IPS announced an asynchronous learning day on Monday, after the district previously insisted that it would not shift classes, in part because of the hardship it could create for families.
“We recognize that many staff members will be attending a Day of Action at the Indiana Statehouse on Monday, April 14, and we support the advocacy of our staff members, along with the advocacy demonstrated by so many of our families,” the district said in a statement Sunday night. “Despite our best efforts, we have not been able to identify enough staff coverage to feel confident in our ability to safely operate schools on Monday, April 14, while staff members are out.”
Because IPS has already used up its allowed asynchronous days for the school year, the district will add an additional in-person day to its school calendar. The last day of school for students will be May 23, and the last day for staff will be May 27, the district said.
“If your student attends an IPS Innovation school, please check with your student’s individual school for details regarding this issue,” the district said in its statement.
In a memo to families on Friday, the Union School Corp. also said it would make up the day off with an e-learning day on April 18.
“While MCCSC acknowledges the disruption this may cause for families, the urgency to advocate for public school funding has never been greater,” the Monroe County school corporation, which is estimated to lose roughly $17 million by 2028 under the latest version of the bill, said in a statement. “Tens of millions of dollars are at stake with proposed legislation, including Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 518. If passed, this legislation could have devastating consequences for public education across Indiana.”
The district said that administrators, teachers, and staff would attend the day of action.
In Pike Township, the district said there were 184 planned teacher absences on Monday, but did not indicate whether those were due to the union’s day of action. (The district had just over 700 teachers in 2023-24).
The district said in a statement that after-school tutoring would be canceled, but that the e-learning day would not impact other after-school activities.
Chalkbeat Indiana is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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Shocking and shameful, such an irresponsible and reckless bill from the Indiana Legislature.
Or show up to work to show that you show up when Law Makers don’t. These kids need to be in-school to learn, but also to eat and have a safe place to be during the day.
If anything, don’t teach, have a full day of recess, just like the poorly elected officials.
IPS has been well funded for a long time. What teachers unions seem to forget is little to no accountability for performance of students. Each year scores decrease for students and whether it is federal or state funding, every year the unions demand more money to support their poor results…
Now explain why every other district needs to be cut.
Waited on hold for about a minute to get the voicemail for Gov, so I could reject this. I don’t need a $300 tax break more than my school system needs that $300 to provide public education. If the net effect of the tax break is to force the schools to do more with less, I’m not interested.
So schools are closed because teachers walked off the job to attend a political rally. Looking forward to hearing from the usual suspects in Nate’s Flock who are always howling about education
Like the teachers don’t have enough time off already: maximum holidays, Christmas Break, Spring Break, 2 mos. off for summer. Now they get a paid day off to protest. The gross incompetents that run the Indianapolis Public Schools announce a day off for Monday ON SUNDAY NIGHT, forcing working parents to scramble at the last minute to find childcare, etc. How much productivity was lost in IN from parents having to call out sick today because the teachers want to protest on a day that they should be TEACHING?
Why do we have School Boards and Administrators when it’s obvious the teacher’s union is calling the shots?
Indiana Republicans have been in charge of education for two decades now and have you convinced the teachers are the problem, even though educational outcomes have done nothing but gotten worse the more and more legislators have decided that a RETIRED FLORIST should have more influence over education in this state than any trained educator.
Wouldn’t be a union if you’d pay educators what they’re worth.
I’m all for this push to tie salary to educational outcomes. Just first, make sure that the teachers can pick and choose the kids they get to educate. I mean, we let charter schools pick and choose who they take, why not teachers too?
I think we all know what would be the chain of events if teachers could pick and choose the kids they get to educate… While there are unquestionably less than stellar teachers, MANY, MANY parents are much less stellar. The largest part of the problem is in the homes.