On Nov. 19, over 3,000 teachers from across the state will be heading to Indianapolis to attend “Organization Day,” a day in which legislature comes together with other lawmakers to discuss important issues and their upcoming session.

“On this day, legislators attend to get their offices, committee assignments, and can pass legislation if needed,” said Linda Fine, a teacher at Elkhart Memorial who is attending this event. “Most years, this day goes unnoticed, but educators are increasingly upset by the way the legislature has been treating public education and saw this day as an opportunity to be seen and heard.”

Teachers will be requesting three things from legislatures:

• to supply public education with more money from the budget surplus
• to take away the requirement that all teachers must complete 15 hours of externship to renew their teaching license
• to stop holding teachers accountable for student test scores

While in Indianapolis, educators will also engaging in other activities to raise awareness to the impact of budget cuts and how much work teachers actually put into education children. They will be doing a “grade-in,” bringing their ungraded papers with them to grade during a “sit-in” to illustrate just how much time teachers spend outside of the classroom working. 

“I hope I see at least ten thousand people standing together demonstrating that they care about public education in Indiana,” said Alex Holtz, teacher and head of the math department. “I also hope that our elected officials ask questions and interact with those of us who attend.” 

The day is meant to raise awareness and to bring change. Fine and Holtz will be just two of the thousands of teachers going to address this issue.

“I hope showing up with thousands of other like-minded people on the 19th gets the attention of our statewide elected officials and leads to positive outcomes for Elkhart’s kids and teachers,” said Holtz.

Due to the large number of teacher participating in the Red for Ed Action Day, Elkhart Community Schools will be closed on Nov. 19. Teachers and students will make the day up on February 14.