'Stand for Children' poses reform, new challenges for local teachers

Education reform in Indiana will soon have a new voice to help push legislation: Stand for Children.

Stand for Children is a nonprofit, education advocacy organization that aims to channel the power of parents and educators into transforming public schools.

The organization was initially launched in Oregon and currently has affiliates in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Washington. To fund its launch in Indiana, Stand for Children has received nearly $400,000 in grants from The Mind Trust and the Joyce Foundation, two other education reform groups based in the Midwest.

Jonah Edelman, a co-founder of Stand for Children, said he is looking forward to the reform the group will bring to education in Indiana.

“Stand for Children is excited to launch our newest affiliate in Indiana,” Edelman said. “The Indiana legislature is debating sweeping education reforms, and we look forward to working with parents, teachers and community leaders to ensure that those reforms put the needs of students first.”

First on Stand for Children’s agenda is to work with the community to build support for Senate Bill 1. If passed, the bill would establish an annual staff performance evaluation based on standardized test scores, classroom work and administrator observations.

But some local educators may not be happy with the first changes the group hopes to push.

“This bill will destroy public education as we know it,” Steven Cullingford, a teacher at Southport Middle School, said. “I am a great teacher, but basing my pay on how kids take a test is ludicrous.”

A press release from the organization said Stand for Children is in support of the bill because it will end the practice of teacher layoffs and can help schools keep their most valuable teachers.

The group’s website, www.stand.org, features a pre-drafted letter addressed to the Indiana General Assembly in support of SB 1.

As well as passing legislation in multiple states to change the ways teachers are evaluated in hopes of ensuring the quality of educators, Stand for Children claims that it has leveraged more than $3.5 billion in education funding.

Linda Erlinger, executive director of Stand for Children’s Indiana affiliate, said the group is using all tools possible to engage the community in the education debate. The group is hiring organizers to rally grass-roots support and is utilizing social media websites to mobilize supporters.

Kokomo resident Daniel Taylor said he hopes Stand for Children will help mediate the tension between educators and legislatures.

“Schools need reform,” Taylor said. “But nothing will get done when teachers feel so disrespected by their government.”