A Pike Township teacher sent this e-mail out today using school resources. Is this an appropriate use of school resources?

1. From: Julie Gossard
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2015 12:04 PM
To: Julie Gossard
Subject: URGENT! Please read thoroughly! Public Education, your Profession and livelihood are at stake!
Importance: High
Good Afternoon Pike Staff,
I have shared the following message with Superintendent Jones and wanted to share it with all staff
as well.
Public education in Indiana is being threatened as we know it. To say that this is unprecedented
would certainly be an understatement. This is a case where we are all working together 100% to save
Public Education as we currently know it! It should send you a strong impassioned message about the
dangers that not only teachers, school districts, children and all of public education are currently
facing. We cannot sit by passively this go round and use the wait and see approach like so many of us
did when political agendas and direct attacks on teachers and public education were being pushed
through aggressively by Daniels and Bennett.
I had the opportunity to be involved with an ISTA President to President’s Conference Call last
night. Local Presidents were all involved last night with Teresa Meredith our ISTA President.
Here are some very important things you need to know…
ISTA is fighting for you and the children. They have pulled eight Uni-Serv Directors to be lobbyists this
session. Nancy Guyott our Uni-Serv Director is working diligently and tirelessly on these blatant attacks
on Public Education.
ISTA is partnering with PTA, Indiana Superintendents, Indiana Principals, Indiana School Boards,
Indiana Coalition of Public Education and the NAACP in this blatant attack on Public Education.
Here are the bills that you need to contact your lawmakers about that will directly harm Public
Education, local school districts, parents, teachers, and the children: SB1, SB538, SB566, SB500, HB1486,
HB1609, HB1001. None of these bills as written will do anything to improve student learning or the
practice of teaching.
I won’t go into all of the specifics as you can read about it on the ISTA Webpage. But in a nutshell
here is what we are fighting:
* They want to transfer the authority from the Department of Education to the appointed State
Board of Education.
* They want to eliminate any and all union power by allowing any entity to represent teachers. The

2. state would have sole authority to cause re-elections at the local level.
* They still want to have teachers evaluations and teacher pay determined by student test
scores. The state would have the say on performance based pay incentives and who receives them
instead of the local school districts deciding. Arnie Duncan supports not basing a teachers pay on test
scores but Governor Pence does not. Any and all fund allocations would be non-bargainable.
* They want IEERB to expand their oversight as impartial arbitrators, judge, and jury. We already
have had firsthand experience with that and know that, that is not the case ultimately.
* They want to repeal the law about RIFing of teachers so that it no longer is from May 1st-July
1st. They want you to be able to be RIFed on any day of the year!
* They want to give Charter Schools 37% of the entire education budget. This would be a financial
windfall for Charter Schools. Data shows that 60% of all Charter Schools are rated a D or F and yet only
10% of Indiana Public Schools are rated D or F so that means that 90% of all Indiana Public Schools are
rated A’s or B’s!
* They want outside management and businesses to have complete power over public schools. You
would become an “At Will Employee” with no rights whatsoever!
Teachers across Indiana will be wearing red on Monday, February 16th. The theme is “Wear Red for
Public Ed!” ISTA would like for you to post pictures of your staff or grade levels on Facebook as well as
tweet with the hash tag #StandforPublicEd.
The Indiana Coalition of Public Education has invited all teachers to join them at the Statehouse on
Monday, February 16th at 2:00 for a Support Rally. It will last approximately two hours. I know we have
school that day but please share this important information with anyone that might attend.
This legislative session was supposed to be all about education yet none of the proposed bills in their
entirety help students, teachers, or school districts at all.
It is all about power, control, and anti-bargaining.
ISTA has a webpage with an Advocacy tab that you will want to visit to keep abreast of all the
potential harm that Indiana lawmakers want to get passed. They also have a Toolkit to help you have
your voice be heard.
ISTA has made it very easy for you to contact your representatives, senators, and Governor
Pence. They have already composed letters that all you have to do is submit them from your home e-
mails during non-contract time or on your duty free lunch. Already in less than a month’s time the
lawmakers have had over 40,000 e-mails inundate them. That does not include all of the phone calls or
face to face contacts with groups like PTA! Please make your voice be heard and do not be passive! This
is not solely about Glenda Ritz at all even though 1.3 million Hoosier voters elected her to office. There
are actions being taken as you know to remove her as our voice in education and diminish her role
significantly. If you were one of the 1.3 million Hoosier voters that cast your vote for Glenda then let
them know that it is unlawful for them to take the right that you exercised away from you as the voter!

3. I cannot stress enough to you how time sensitive these issues are. They get railroaded through very
quickly and the only thing that gives the lawmakers any pause whatsoever is when they hear from their
constituents.
Lastly, I have included Joe Lampert’s district e-mail for you to read below. If you have not been in the
educational field very long anyone that has will tell that this plea is unprecedented and is a matter of
urgency for all involved in Public Education. Please do not be passive or think that someone else will do
it for you! This has monumental and historical proportions and your voice must be heard now!
Thank you so very much for taking your time to let the lawmakers know that Public Education is
indeed the cornerstone of our democratic society! Who better to speak up for ourselves than the
professional individuals that are dedicated daily with helping children to be the best they can be! :)
Too many of us sat passively waiting and watching a few years ago and we absolutely cannot let
history repeat itself as we are still suffering the ramifications from the last go round!
Please Let Your Voice Be Heard Now,
Julie
Miss Julie Gossard
Second Grade Teacher
Past Pike Township Champion Teacher
P.C.T.A. President
M.S.D. of Pike Township
College Park Elementary School
2811 Barnard Street
Indianapolis, Indiana 46268