EDUCATION

MCS hires 40 teachers week before school starts

Seth Slabaugh
The Star Press

MUNCIE, Ind. — Muncie Community Schools hired 40 new  teachers on Wednesday, a week before the start of the 2017-18 school year.

Robert Warrner, Vice President of the Muncie Community School Board, discusses facilities issues during the May 23 work session at the Muncie Area Career Center. Warrner backs the idea of a referendum and two middle school proposal.

School board member Andy Warrner said the group includes some "very young," "excited" and diverse teachers.

During a school board meeting, Warrner also called reports about a supposed unprecedented loss of experienced teachers "over-exaggerated."

"I think it's been over-exaggerated the years' experience we've lost," he said. 

His review of teacher retirements and resignations during the 2016-17 school year "confirmed what I thought; many of the people who left us had zero years experience, or half a year or one year," he said.

According to Muncie Teachers Association President Pat Kennedy, 140 of the 408 teachers at MCS quit or retired in 2016-17 — a chaotic year that saw three elementary schools close, the state appoint an emergency manager to oversee the financially struggling school district, and teachers fend off district efforts to implement retroactive teacher pay cuts.

Kennedy also said 22 or so teaching positions remain to be filled.

"I don't know how anyone can look at the number of mid-career teachers leaving and say that is normal or usual," she told The Star Press. "I just don't know how they can do that. We've had 140 leave. That's unheard of."

 

Too many teachers who never thought about leaving MCS turned in their resignations "as the situation deteriorated; they felt they didn't have much choice," Kennedy said. "They needed stability for their families, and when they are threatened with the kinds of cuts they were threatened with, it became too much."

While a state-appointed fact finder ruled before April 1 in favor of the teachers in their contract dispute with the district, the school board appealed the decision and "waited the whole 30 days to file the appeal," Kennedy pointed out.

Then it took the Indiana Employment Relations Board until mid-June to have a hearing and deny the appeal, Kennedy noted. Some teachers "couldn't sit around and wait" for the outcome so they quit, she said.

Warrner called attention to a good job market for Indiana teachers.

A lot of the resignations at MCS, he said, were new teachers who are "mobile now," because "there are jobs out there, there are opportunities out there, and the youngest people are moving to get better jobs … In some cases we are replacing those people with people who have more experience, so we are actually gaining experience on some of those people."

Of the 40 new teachers the school board approved on Wednesday night, 13 are being paid a salary of $34,659, which means they have only a bachelor's degree and no experience, Kennedy said. Eleven others are starting out at salaries of less than $40,000, which means they have only a few years experience, she added.

Seven of the 15 new teachers approved at the July 11 board meeting also are starting out at $34,659, and four others are beginning at less than $40,000.

Of the 23 teacher resignations presented to the board at its July 11 meeting, two had one year of experience, and seven others had experience of two to four years. Eight others had experience ranging from 10 years to 18 years. 

At the June 12 board meeting, 20 teacher resignations were presented. Three of those had been with MCS for one year, and three others had been with the district from two to four years. Six others had been around between 10 years and 18 years.

Warrner also applauded the administration's efforts to improve faculty diversity.

"I think we've done a much better job with minorities and making our teachers more representative of our community in terms of income … not hiring people from the private colleges … hiring from public schools like Ball State," Warrner said. "I think we've made our faculty more representative of our student body …  I'm real excited to walk down the halls of some of our buildings and see teachers that are more reflective of our students."

Anny Pichardo, MCS spokesperson, told The Star Press: "The nice thing about the new staff coming in is they are already aware of the district's fiscal situation and they are eager to be 'part of the solution'. Many of the teachers we are hiring are bringing significant experience with them. We are confident that those teachers and the great and talented staff who have chosen to remain will provide our students a great education." 

Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.