Democracy sitting at a crossroads
To the editor:
1. The Founding Fathers repeatedly emphasized the separation of power between the church and the state. They believed in the necessity of each having their own identity. Religion is a more focused institution dealing with behavior and spiritual belief. In America every individual has the option of accepting religion. Religion promotes a better environment for a diversified country to work towards the common good. But the state and its governing power is a broader institution, defending the country and our freedom remains its top mandate. It also has the responsibility to govern in a fair and equitable way so that all of our institutions can remain stable.
2. But religion today is not relevant in the life of some Americans. Trying to intermingle parts of religion with the state’s obligations would violate the state’s mandate of equal rights for all. Religion and the state have had their differences in the past, but they have learned to co-exist in a peaceful manner.
3. But the Trump controlled Republican party decided that religion should become a more powerful influence. For the country to perform as our founders intended, both the church and state need to stay in their own lanes. Wherein since both of these institutions provide a stable force in keeping our democracy.
4. But the Republican Party has now moved further to the right. This has made the party less willing to negotiate on compromise with different opinions resulting in a stale Congress. This dysfunction in Congress is a negative force and must not continue. A recent poll: will America continue to be a democracy 25 years from today? 60% responded “no.”
Larry Shade, Columbus
‘Tough decisions to make’ if referendum doesn’t pass
To the editor:
I’ve had the honor of teaching in this school system for over 16 years. I’ve taught grades 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. I earned a master’s degree and am working on a second master’s. I have been grateful to live, have a job and send my children to school in beautiful Brown County, but as we approach this referendum vote, I do wonder what my future looks like here. Many other teachers find themselves in a similar situation as me.
I was hired in 2006, was married in 2007, had a baby in 2009, and was told in 2011 that I should begin work on my master’s degree if I wanted to be “grandfathered in” for the bump in pay that it would grant me. At the time, I was making around $34,000 a year. My plan had been to wait on starting my master’s until my child was a little older. However, teachers were notified in 2011 that due to new Indiana legislation, any movement on the salary scale — whether for higher education or years of experience — would be frozen due to a new state law that disallowed moving teachers up in pay without also evaluating their “effectiveness” based on evaluations and student achievement. In addition, districts had to prove that their salary scale would not create a budget deficit. I was 26 with a 2-year-old, hopes of a second child, $13,000 left to pay in college loans, and hopes of purchasing a home with more than 1.5 bedrooms. Yet, I began work on my master’s degree. The pay bump of $8,000 at that point in the salary schedule would be worth it and would help me pay tuition for graduate school.
Throughout the next five years, we were given stipends here and there, incremental changes to our base salary which definitely helped. I know the schools were trying to take care of us. Yet, as far as movement on the salary scale, we stayed the same. Brown County Schools was already dealing with a declining budget because of a 15-year trend of declining enrollment. Leaders were not able to build a teacher salary model that followed the state law and was financially sustainable. The game changer was when Brown County voters passed the referendum in 2016 (effective in 2017) allowing for more competitive teacher pay.
The series of legislative changes contributed to the way hiring happened throughout the state. Depending on a district’s financial situation, schools have flexibility in where a teacher is placed on the salary schedule. If I chose to leave Brown County and go to a district with a greater population, I could be looking at around a $20,000 raise. I know of four teachers just from my school who have had to make this difficult decision to leave a school they love.
As much as I would love to stay and teach in this county simply because I love it and am proud of it and believe in it, if this referendum does not pass, and if teacher movement and increases on the salary scale freeze again, my family will have some tough decisions to make. I’ll never make up the money that’s been lost due to that six-year freeze. At this point in my career I would have reached the top of the pay scale–about $15,000 more than I am making now. By the time I do reach the top of the pay scale (if a move occurs each year), I will have missed out on nearly $98,000 due to the pay freeze. Another freeze would be devastating to me and many others like me. By next August, I will have two master’s degrees and 17 years of teaching experience. In four years I’ll have my oldest going to college and my youngest beginning high school. Several like me were not yet parents or were young parents in 2011 and now we have kids heading to college within the next 10 years.
It is hard to find teachers right now. If we want to find good ones, we need to continue working on our salary schedule to attract new educators to our district and keep the ones we have. It is concerning to consider what Brown County schools would look like if we become a revolving door because we cannot pay to retain quality teachers.
Please vote “yes” on the Brown County Schools referendum question on Nov. 8. To learn more, please visit www.browncountyschools.com/referendum-2022.
Alyssa Stanley, Brown County
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