As college students, we’ve seen our public schools under attack for over a decade, courtesy of the Republican stranglehold on our state legislature. From repealing the democratic election of the state superintendent and under-funding our public schools to refusing to pay our teachers a fair salary, it’s clear that our students’ future is the last priority on the Indiana GOP’s checklist.
Time and time again, Republican partisanship trumps the rights of Indiana students.
Indiana Republicans have spent the last decade of their majority control slashing school budgets, favoring private and charter schools over public education. Parents have become desperate enough to raise taxes on themselves through local referendum, simply because Republican lawmakers refuse to fully fund public education.
With a history like that, it’s unsurprising that since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the goal of slowing the spread has been overwhelmed by unnecessary and extreme culture wars over school health measures. In recent months, many leaders have increasingly treated the pandemic as an inconvenience rather than as a health emergency. Even common-sense measures such as mask and vaccination requirements have been met with stiff resistance.
Other local leaders have thankfully set a clear precedent such rules are necessary for protecting students and staff, such as in the case of Monroe County’s health department fining a charter school that refused to follow county guidelines on wearing masks.
Despite the urgent need to protect our students, anti-mask public demonstrations have occurred at various school board meetings, courthouses and schools throughout the state.
In August, when 70 students tested positive for COVID-19 after just over a week of classes, Greater Clark County Schools implemented a mask mandate to address the outbreak. Regardless of the obvious need for restrictions, protests erupted in the general proceedings of the school district’s meetings.
The lack of leadership at the state level encourages this unacceptable behavior, while school districts are left to fend for themselves.
Republican lawmakers have made their anti-mask positions clear for public schools. Similarly, there has been direct opposition to new COVID-19 vaccine requirements in K-12 public schools and public universities by Gov. Eric Holcomb and other Republicans, despite high COVID-19 cases and low vaccination rates. It's truly disappointing to see a failure on the GOP’s part to ignore public health in favor of a so-called “personal right” to infect the sick and vulnerable.
Indiana Democrats are standing against this failure in leadership for our values of reason and safety.
Our Democratic leaders have been taking the message on how we can defeat COVID-19 across the state.
In small towns, Democrats like former Indiana Superintendent Jennifer McCormick and Sen. Shelli Yoder are addressing kitchen table issues by contextualizing the American Rescue Plan’s investments in Indiana small towns. McCormick and Yoder are highlighting how Democrats delivered more broadband, funding for public schools and higher pay for teachers because of the rescue plan. They’re also pushing back against the misinformation concerning vaccines and racist lies being spread by irresponsible officeholders such as Attorney General Todd Rokita, like when he called COVID-19 the “China Virus.”
The brighter future Democrats want to create affects us students deeply. We're ultimately susceptible to COVID-19, which can lead to severe problems even in young individuals. We also have a desire and responsibility to protect our professors, who are much older and more vulnerable, all while trying to ensure we have the best education and skills available for our next stage in life.
Students are in the midst of a life-changing pandemic all while attempting to pass classes, secure jobs, participate in extracurricular activities and be contributing members of society. People like Rokita make all of our lives infinitely harder when he spews misinformation about mask mandates and vaccines.
Public education is the cornerstone of our democracy. Perhaps it's no wonder that Republicans are trying to defund democracy.
College Democrats of Indiana
