Lawrence Teachers Call Out State Legislature As They Seek Raises

Source: WISH-TV / other

LAWRENCE, Ind. — Teachers at school in Lawrence are hoping to shed some light on what they are having to deal with as their union negotiates a new contract with the school district.

Lawrence Township School teachers are seeking a pay raise across the board.

“We see discrepancies throughout the district when you compare us to other districts,” said Amanda Rose, who is co-president of the Lawrence Education Association. “Not just the donut districts around Lawrence Township but the donut districts around Marion County.”

They aren’t saying how much more they are seeking, but Rose said that it’s one of only a handful of things they can negotiate right now. She and others led a rally outside Lawrence Central High School on Tuesday hoping to relay some of the other issues they are dealing with that are outside of their control.

These things include class sizes. Rose told WISH-TV that the number of students per class is now averaging about 30 students, which can make things a bit difficult for teachers to create a good learning environment in the classroom.

Unfortunately, due to state laws passed by the legislature recently teachers cannot negotiate class size.

It’s for this reason that Rose said they do not intend to strike.

“We put our children first. We have no intention of doing a strike, we just want our community to know with an election coming up, where our community is,” Rose said. “It is not the district’s fault that we are in this situation, it’s mostly the state legislature’s fault.”

The good news for teachers in Lawrence is that the school district expects an overall funding increase of $3.8 million this year, and some of that money can be used for teacher salaries.