This I Believe

From Phil: My Pitch

My entry is short and to the point—which, by the way, is a fairly good definition of an Elevator Pitch.  Below, I present the four points that I want to remember in the coming months when I am asked this question:

"Why should I support more funding for Hamilton Southeastern Schools?" 

 

• Community Values: We have a tremendous opportunity in Fishers to give our children a world-class education.  Our students, our parents, our teachers, and our community value quality education, and with our support, HSE Schools can ensure that all of our students receive the best we have to offer.
• Whether or Not You Have Students in HSE: Fishers, Indiana, is widely viewed as one of the best places in the nation to live and to raise children.  One significant reason for our growth, our high property values, and our quality of life is Hamilton Southeastern Schools.  Even if I didn’t firmly believe that support of public education and HSE Schools is my moral obligation (which I do) as a property owner in the district, having strong schools is in my financial interest as well.
• High Quality Teachers: In the past, Hamilton Southeastern Schools has been able to attract and retain high quality teachers and administrators.  More recently, however, funding cuts have taken their toll, and we have begun to lose our competitive advantage.  While HSE is still a great place to teach, our salaries have become less and less competitive, while at the same time our class sizes continue to increase.  As a teacher for over 20 years and as an administrator for almost that many, I know first hand the impact of large class sizes.  HSE has already experienced the loss of good teachers who have been attracted by more lucrative salary packages in other districts, and we can no longer assume that our first-choice candidates will in turn choose to come to HSE. 
• Nowhere Else to Cut: We have no more “fat” to cut.  With the current funding structures, HSE joins Carmel, Zionsville, and the other “northern rim” schools as the least funded schools in the state.  As a result, we have far fewer teachers and administrators than schools of similar size.  In fact, many much smaller districts in Indiana employee more teachers than HSE.    

We hope you will find these Elevator Pitches helpful in the coming months.  We encourage you to prepare yourself for questions that will inevitably come, often at unexpected times.

Have a great week, HSE.  Thanks for all you do for the children of our community. Keep fighting the good fight!

Your HSE Teaching and Learning Team

• Jan Combs, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning
• Stephanie Loane, Director of Elementary Education
• Tom Bell, Director of Special Education
• Jeff Harrison, Director of Educational Technology
• Phil Lederach, Director of Secondary Education