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Dear Editor:
I am committed to funding our public education. I wish I could say the same of the supermajority currently in our state’s legislature. I also wish I could say that I was shocked when I read the letter threatening that school districts not offering in-person instruction will lose funding. However, having raised a family in Fishers, I already know our public schools are not represented in the Statehouse despite the fact that the Speaker of the House lives in this district. That was the first, but not the last, reason why I decided to run as the Democratic candidate for House District 37.
In a letter to school leaders, State Sen. Rodric Bray wrote: “Current state law stipulates that schools will receive 85% of the normal foundation funding for any students who receives at least half of his or her instruction virtually… Therefore, schools that don’t offer in-person instruction should plan on operating under the current funding policy.”
School leaders received that letter on Hamilton Southeastern’s first day of school. Keep in mind that just last month Gov. Eric Holcomb said schools that decided to implement virtual education would not lose funding. With that promise in mind, HSE school leaders worked with health officials. They looked at the data, the facts, and the scientific evidence and saw it would endanger teachers and students to have in-person instruction. Therefore, it was decided the safest way to reopen was in phases beginning with virtual learning. Now, HSE schools may lose over $18 million in funding!
Don’t get me wrong, I want my daughter to go to school, to see her friends, to achieve a hands-on learning experience. But more than that, I want her to be safe and healthy. I know that our school leaders made this difficult decision for her safety and well-being. The supermajority’s decision to hold our school’s already scarce funding as a bargaining chip to put students and teachers back in school before it is deemed safe to do so, is not made with my daughter’s safety and well-being in mind. It is not made with your family’s safety and well-being in mind.
Our traditional public school system, specifically the teachers that uphold its mission in educating all students, deserve to be funded. As administrators and teachers prepared tirelessly for the upcoming school year all throughout the summer, our leaders in the Statehouse did nothing to change the current funding. Instead, they waited until the first day of school to announce public schools will not receive funding if they remain virtual only.
So, no, I was not shocked to learn that once again our state leaders have failed to prioritize public education. Disappointed? Infuriated? Yes to both – and motivated more than ever to be in the Statehouse to represent you and your family. I am committed to funding our public education. When we put money into our public schools, we make sure our teachers get the pay they deserve and our children – every one of them, not just the select few – get the education they deserve.
I am committed to our teachers and our children and their futures. And I am the only candidate in this race committed to you.
Aimee Rivera Cole
Fishers
Democratic candidate for House District 37