opinion

Letter: Teachers should flee IPS

Mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be ... IPS teachers

In my very first year of teaching a veteran teacher told me to get some teaching experience in IPS and then run to another school district as soon as I could. IPS was a “sinking ship,” he said. He went on to say that I needed to get a new job before I was trapped.

I was seething with anger. He was a teacher and coach who the students loved, a man our principal appointed as a mentor, and one who most teachers looked up to. I saw him as a role model. However, on that day, I hated him. I thought: this guy is part of the problem. His cynicism told me that he was the one who needed to hang it up or move on. Thirteen years later, I see how accurate he was.

Young teachers: run from IPS. You and your family will be better off if you choose to work elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong, many of the students and athletes I have had the luxury of serving have transformed me in ways that rival my own children’s impact. The vast majority of kids are delightful and it is refreshing to work with them; they will go on and do great things and I feel blessed to witness their growth.

However, IPS has recently implemented a new code of conduct designed to reduce suspensions. Will it? Definitely. But at who’s expense? At Arsenal Tech, where I work, the consequences are dire. We have had many fights, at least two female teachers physically assaulted, countless teachers threatened or verbally abused, class sizes that are unmanageable, and the list goes on. ATHS is not an isolated case. These things are happening in many schools across the district. Most of those things are routine from year to year in IPS. Miraculously, though, this year I’m certain that our suspension data shows improvement from last year. How? Because students who are violating the rules are simply sent back to class. In extreme circumstances (assaulting a teacher) students are placed in an in-school suspension room for one day and then they are sent back to class. All of this is being done in the name of statistical improvement and at the expense of teachers’ and students’ wellness.

It’s not the students who are the problem. Not really. Instead, the problem is that the current climate across the district is so bad that our own police officers call IPS a “hug a thug” culture. The current climate is focused on PR moves that make the top administration look good at the expense of some very good students and people in the trenches. The current climate has created policies that force teachers to spend our time begging and pleading with 10% of our students while we neglect the other 90%.

And then there is the “raise” IPS has received so much praise for. Some teachers early in their careers are going to see a nice bump in pay, and they deserve it. However, I am a mid-career teacher, and I am going to earn $621 less this year than I did last year. Several of my colleagues have done the math, and they are going to see an extra $20 a paycheck. After five years without a raise, that’s laughable and insulting.

So, if you are an education major not far from entering the work force, please choose your place of employment very carefully. I know you are energetic, optimistic and eager to help right some of society’s ills by working in the place with the highest need. But remember this, some movements in history are known more for what they didn’t do instead of what they did do. Cesar Chavez’ voice echoed and industry changed because workers did not enter an unsafe working environment. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message was crystallized in a Supreme Court decision when people didn’t board buses that offered discriminatory treatment. Perhaps if young teachers took a moral stand and refused to work in an unhealthy atmosphere, top IPS officials might actually take a stand as well.

Mark Mendoza

Indianapolis