With school starting Thursday, the Gary Community School Corp. still needs about 14 teachers, Superintendent Yvonne Stokes said Thursday.
Meanwhile, Gary Teachers Union leaders criticized a school board contract for an online Texas company to provide instruction with licensed teachers, in lieu of local union members with emergency teaching permits.
Gary Teachers Union President GlenEva Dunham told about 100 people at the forum that the hiring of Proximity online teachers represented “union busting” and she planned to file an unfair labor practice complaint against the district.
“We have a recognition clause that recognizes them as part of the union,” she said. “Because their license expired, their contract did not expire.”
Gary NAACP president Steve Mays told the audience that seven retired teachers have agreed to return.
“We should have started communication in May if we had a problem,” he said.
Last month, district officials said about one-third of its teacher roster of about 245 teachers worked under an emergency permit last year, meaning they didn’t hold a state teacher’s license.
They stressed the urgency of having licensed teachers familiar with the subject area and teaching methods working with students who struggle on high stakes state exams.
Stokes said the district’s July 10 pact with Proximity allowed up to 41 teachers, but officials only expect as many as 14 right now. That number could shrink before the start of school, she said. She also said the district was working with teachers with emergency permits to beef up their skills.
Both sides agree an in-person teacher in the classroom is the best scenario.
Dunham continued to criticize the administration for failing to work with the union.
“My take on the whole thing is a vote of no confidence to this board and this administration,” she said.
Teachers distributed a list of board members and administrators, urging audience members to contact them about the use of online teachers and to attend the Aug 14 board meeting.
State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, sided with the union, saying online learning was detrimental to students of color and low-income students.
“Our test scores are low, I know we can do better than that, but don’t take a path that’s failing already,” he said.
Smith said he talked with an official at the Department of Education and learned it didn’t place time limits on emergency permits so Gary could still use them instead of virtual teachers.
School board member Glenn Johnson attended the meeting and said the district’s objective is to have a teacher in the classroom.
“Proximity was set up as a stop-gap,” he said.
“There’s a lot of misinformation out there. We’re steadily hiring teachers and working with teachers on emergency permits.”
Johnson was a member of the Lake Ridge School Board when it used Proximity teachers. He said they performed well for students.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
