Big Indiana teacher protest didn't prompt funding action

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Several thousand teachers at a boisterous Statehouse rally put complaints about their treatment squarely in front of Indiana lawmakers as this year’s legislative session was about to start.

The Republicans who dominate state government say they’re giving educators more respect, pointing to a proposal that would end the mandatory use of student test results in teacher evaluations. The loud chants from teachers for improved school funding, however, didn’t result in any additional money as Republican lawmakers pushed through this year’s only planned spending bill even before the 10-week legislative session reached its midpoint this past week.

The school funding rebuff came as few teachers returned to the Statehouse since the November rally and several legislators said that few teachers had contacted them to talk about their concerns.

Neither the teachers unions that organized the rally nor any teachers testified during the budget committee hearings on the Republican-backed plan for spending $291 million in unexpected state tax revenue, which Democrats unsuccessfully tried to shift toward boosting the state’s stagnant teacher pay.

Republican Rep. Holli Sullivan of Evansville, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said she talked with one teacher from her district on the day of the rally and didn’t hear from more until two contacted her in late January for a meeting.

“I was kind of disappointed because I want to partner with them any way possible,” Sullivan said.

Gov. Eric Holcomb and other Republicans have maintained that their plan for using the extra state money toward paying cash for several college campus building projects will have more than $135 million in borrowing costs and free up more money in the future for school funding. They say that will also allow the...