GlenEva Dunham, 4th from left, and AFT members at a rally in the Indiana State House

Gary Teachers Union puzzled by mayor's move

Contributed By:The 411 News

I watched with great anticipation the first State of the City Address delivered by Mayor Jerome Prince. In Gary, it has been a custom to hear the State of the City address in January, following the election.

Mayor Prince announced that he has plans of creating a charter school in the city of Gary. I had heard rumors and rumblings and so the announcement was made and then it was official.

When I first starting receiving calls, texts and emails about this possibly taking place and being brought forward by the Mayor, I called him directly. I am the type of person that just believes in getting the facts. I inquired about the possibility of the Mayor having conversations with Purdue University about bringing yet another charter school to our city. The conversation ended with the Mayor saying that he would always do the best for his constituents in the city of Gary.

I am puzzled by this move. How is bringing another charter to Gary best for our city? As with almost every city in this great country, be it rural or urban, citizens pride themselves on having great public schools in their community. When families look to relocate, they inquire about the public school system not charters.

On November 3, 2020 the citizens of Gary voted to pass the operating referendum to better the Gary schools. During the process of campaigning and engaging community members on the idea of passing a referendum, I saw hope in our citizens. They were willing to help fund the Gary public schools to make them better for our children and our families.

Gary schools have been lacking the proper resources for many years. In a harshly detrimental move about a decade ago, Indiana Legislators changed how public schools are funded. As President of the State AFT, I get an up close and personal view of what the funding of Indiana schools has done to the public schools. This move hurt urban districts such as Gary.

Fortunately, State Senator Eddie Melton and the entire Northwest Indiana Delegation were instrumental in preventing a shutdown of our district. There were talks of sending our students to other districts in our area. We are thankful to our legislators for that. Our Northwest Indiana Delegation works hard to continue to secure a public school system in our city.

The Mayor, who was elected with 48% of the vote, should join 60% of voters and legislators who have taken a stand for our public schools in that fight to continue the support of our public schools.

Gary has many charter schools; it has the highest percentage of charter schools in the State of Indiana. The mayor of the city needs to support the public school system. The Mayor has shown prior interest in the charter schools with the formation of the Gary Bond Bank, where Thea Bowman Charter School benefitted from this endeavor.

Over 4500 students attend our public schools. These families have made a choice for the education of their children. The impact of another charter school in the city would be detrimental for the teachers and paraprofessionals that are members of AFT Local #4.

We are on the verge of bringing pride back to the city of Gary and the Gary Community School Corporation. We would urge the Mayor of the City of Gary to follow the will of the people and support the Gary Public Schools. The last thing the city of Gary needs is another charter school.

Story Posted:12/30/2020