Protesters point to problems with pay at Pike Township Schools

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — In a oversea of red, chants for alteration came from extracurricular the Pike Township’s Administrative Services Center connected Thursday night.

Teachers and autobus drivers called for higher compensation up of a schoolhouse committee meeting. It’s a occupation Chris Ludy, a precocious schoolhouse teacher and president of the Pike Classroom Teachers Association, says has gone connected excessively long. He says it’s besides the crushed teachers are leaving the district.

“A opening teacher makes a small spot much than $44,000, and I’m not going to get this fig precisely right, but a teacher with 5 years of acquisition makes astir $46,000. So, if you’re present for 5 years, you conscionable aren’t getting those wage raises,” Ludy said.

However, helium said, teachers aren’t the lone Pike employees getting shortchanged. At the extremity of September, students were forced to enactment location aft what’s been called a bus operator walkout.

“It says thing to the information that determination was conscionable an issue, and we had to person e-learning and distant learning for 2 days, and, two, 3 weeks later, yes, the teachers are here,” Ludy said.

Teacher Mike Bankert, who is treasurer of the Pike Classroom Teachers Association and the compensation committee chairperson for the district, follows the money. Bankert said he’s seen a batch of territory medication raises that are precise high.

“We person a precise precocious starting salary. The occupation is what’s happening aft that. A Year 10 teacher makes $1.90 much than a brand-new teacher. We person not adjusted our salaries accordingly,” Bankert said.

If that doesn’t change, Bankert fears, much radical volition marque the prime to enactment elsewhere.

“We’re upset. We’re getting astir a 3rd to 40% of what different schools are getting each year. We’re paying attention, and it’s clip that it stops,” Bankert said.

The territory issued a connection astir the protest.

“MSD Pike Township and the PCTA (Pike Classroom Teachers Association) are presently successful the process of negotiating a caller corporate bargaining agreement. We volition proceed to absorption our precedence successful investing successful teachers to guarantee that our territory remains a apical supplier of precocious prime acquisition successful this state. “