What is Red for Ed Action Day? Here's why teachers are marching.

Half of Indiana’s public school students will be out of classrooms Tuesday while thousands of teachers from across the state rally at the Statehouse to demand better pay.

It’s an unprecedented move from Indiana’s teachers, who have spent the last several years watching their counterparts in other states and cities striking, walking out and marching their way toward higher salaries and better working and learning conditions.

Earlier this year, the Indiana State Teachers Association organized a rally that attracted several thousand teachers – but it was on a Saturday, so there were no disruptions to schools, students and families.

Live coverage: Thousands descend on Statehouse for Red for Ed Action Day

Organizers of Tuesday’s event said they’ve tried every other way to get their message across and still feel unheard. So, ISTA is holding the Red for Ed Action Day on Tuesday to coincide with the day lawmakers return to the Statehouse and kickoff the 2020 legislative session.

Still have questions? We’ve got answers.

What is Red for Ed?

Red for Ed stands for Red for Education. It’s a national movement that encourages teachers, families and communities to show their support for public education by wearing the color red,  which is why the teacher protests across the country over the last two years have generally been marked by masses of marchers in red t-shirts.

What day is Red for Ed?

Indiana’s Red for Ed Action Day is Tuesday, Nov. 19. It’s also Organization Day, the ceremonial start of the 2020 legislative session, when lawmakers return to the Statehouse and promote their legislative agendas.

Why are teachers marching?

ISTA has said it has three main goals for the action.

1. It wants an investment from the state in teacher pay.
2. It wants lawmakers to make good on a promise to hold schools and teachers harmless from state test scores, which dropped sharply when the state introduced the new ILEARN test in the spring.
3. It wants a new professional development requirement repealed.

See them all:Here are the school districts across Indiana closing

What's the issue with the new ILEARN test?

Scores, which are used in state letter grades, plummeted statewide with the administration of the new test. Lawmakers have said they’ll pass legislation to hold districts harmless, should their letter grades put them in danger of state intervention.

The scores are also used in teacher evaluations. The Indiana Department of Education has issued guidance to schools, allowing them to use the previous years scores in this year’s evaluations.

What's the new professional development requirement?

The new rules passed last year require teachers to log 15 hours of professional development related specifically to their community’s workforce needs — like available jobs and skills needed by local employers — before they can renew their teaching license. The move was widely panned by teachers, who rushed in droves to start license renewal before the new rules went into effect.

How much do teachers get paid?

This is a complicated question. It depends where that teacher works – and not just which region, city or district. Salaries can vary between schools in the same district. It also depends on how long they’ve been teaching and how effective they are, as measured by the state’s teacher evaluation system.

When we talk about how teachers in Indiana get paid, though, we generally start with two numbers: starting pay and average pay.

In Indiana, beginning teachers make an average of $35,943 per year. That figure is from the 2017-18 school year and could be slightly higher today. Some districts have raised pay for their teachers in the last year or so – either through state funding streams or, like in the case of Indianapolis Public Schools, with a local property tax increase.

Average pay for all teachers in Indiana was $50,614 in the 2017-18 school year.

That's significantly lower than surrounding states, a fact often cited by teachers and their advocates when pushing for better pay. A study released earlier this year found it would take over $650 million to bring average pay in Indiana up to the regional median, but that teachers would still be behind where they were in 2000, when adjusted for inflation.

How does Indiana teacher pay compare with other states?

There is some discrepancy here, depending on which source the data is coming from, but the National Education Association data has Indiana 36th in nation for average teacher pay using the 2017-18 figures. Indiana is 35th nationally for starting teacher pay, according to NEA.

For parents:Here's where to find child care when schools close

What do lawmakers have to do with teacher pay?

Schools districts get their budgets from the state, whose budget is set by lawmakers. About half of all state spending in on education, but many public school advocates say that it’s not enough money and it’s not distributed equitably. Lawmakers have suggested that schools should be spending more of the money they’re already receiving on teachers.

There were several teacher pay proposals floated during the last legislative session, when lawmakers were writing the state’s two-year budget, but they received little support from the Republican supermajority. Instead, lawmakers adopted a budget that increased general education spending by 2.5% each year, boosted a teacher stipend program and paid off a portion of schools’ pension debt to free up more dollars. Schools were encouraged to spend those savings on teachers but fell short of making any requirements.

What will students do during Red for Ed day?

Most students will have the day off class, similar to a snow day or professional development day, which schools usually schedule several of throughout the year. Some districts, like IPS, are swapping the day with a different professional development day or teacher work day scheduled for later in the year. The students will have a day off Tuesday, instead of a different day off they would have had later in the year.

In some of these cases, teachers and staff are expected to report to work or use a personal day to attend the event.

Everything you need to know:To attend (or avoid) Red for Ed Action Day

That’s the case in Hamilton Southeastern Schools, which converted Tuesday to a workday. Superintendent Allen Bourff said district leaders “salute and support our teachers for raising these concerns” and in many cases agree with the teachers. However, Bourff added, he didn’t want to eliminate the opportunity for staff not attending the action day to earn wages, so that’s why he chose to make it a workday.

In other cases, schools are calling for an “e-learning day” where students would do assignments from home. Of 130 districts that have closed for the event, 18 are turning it into an e-learning day.

What's happening Tuesday?

The Red for Ed march and rally will start on the south lawn of the Statehouse. The march will proceed around the campus before marchers move into the Statehouse in the afternoon. 

When: Tuesday, Nov. 19, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: Indiana Statehouse, 200 W. Washington St., Indianapolis

IndyStar education reporter MJ Slaby contributed to this story. 

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.