By Dave Stafford, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer
ANDERSON, Ind. — Comments critical of the Anderson Federation of Teachers by the state’s top education official drew a public response Tuesday from the teachers union president.
AFT President Rick Muir accused Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett of “misstatements,” taking particular issue with a comment published in The Herald Bulletin last week in which Bennett said the AFT had shown “a history of the desires of adults trumping what’s best for kids.”
“That’s a hurtful statement and an insult to education in Anderson, Indiana,” Muir told the Anderson Community Schools board.
He listed several AFT-negotiated contract items that he said had directly benefited students, from class sizes to zero tolerance for discipline problems. He also took exception to Bennett’s characterization of AFT as a union that hadn’t shared in cost-cutting.
“We’ve given concessions for I don’t know how many years,” he told the board, and predicted more to come. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Hang on. It’s sad.”
Muir said the public education budget situation under Bennett and Gov. Mitch Daniels “isn’t hurting adults half as much as it’s hurting kids,” and he urged board members and administrators to “speak up to people that are trying to put an end to public education.”
In other action Tuesday, board members Irma Hampton Stewart and Tobi Jones discussed their views of how ACS should go about selling school buildings that are no longer in use. After consolidation at the end of the school year, there will be at least eight vacant former school buildings in the Anderson district.
Stewart said any policy or guidelines the board adopts should incorporate laws that regulate who may purchase buildings and their subsequent uses. Some consideration also needs to be given about whether ACS might have use for the buildings in the future, she said.
“We need to look at this not just now, but prospectively as well,” Stewart said. She cast doubt on the suggestion of selling the buildings at auction, a possibility that Jones said she would entertain.
“It’s costing us something, and it’s not helping the neighborhoods they’re in,” Jones said of the vacant schools.
Other action
The Anderson Community Schools board on Tuesday also:
-- Watched as 10th Street Elementary Students demonstrated a “Minds in Motion” program the school is using. The program uses a small, 15-stage obstacle course that is designed to develop students’ sensory systems and improve their ability to learn.
-- Recognized 10th Street Elementary fifth-grader Joseph Kirkpatrick, winner of The Herald Bulletin Spelling Bee last week. Kirkpatrick will represent the region at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in June.
-- Recognized two ACS students who were among three winners of the Ike Weatherly Jr. Black History Month Essay Contest — Avery Hanauer, a fourth-grader at Valley Grove Elementary, and Sara Wire, a fifth-grader at 10th Street Elementary, formerly at Liberty Christian Elementary. Both students read their essays to the board. Kiley Lewis, a fifth-grader at Liberty Christian, also was a contest winner.
Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com
