WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
Aaron Comforty: Senator Shelli Yoder is the State Senator for Indiana’s 40th Senate District. She’s calling for teachers to be included in the next round of the state’s Covid vaccinations. Senator Yoder, thanks for joining us on WHFB News.
Yoder: Thank you so much. First, thank you for all that you do. WFHB plays an important role in education our community. So, thank you.
Comforty: What’s inspired your call to include teachers in the next round of vaccinations? And, at this point, when is Indiana planning to actually vaccinate teachers?
Yoder: That has been a question that I’ve been wondering about, considering for the last ten months we have been scrambling to figure out how we can best protect out teachers and staff, as well as keep our children in school. I commend and thank the administrators and teachers for working so incredibly hard to do so, in a way that was thoughtful to public health concerns as well as how are we going to continue to provide the outstanding education that our public education system always provides. Our teachers are on the front lines. If that wasn’t the case then I would understand why the teachers would not be part of the conversation in terms of the economy, healthcare, and food insecurity–with so many of our children. They are on the front lines delivering exceptional care and education every single day. So I would expect that we would be talking about getting the this vaccination right away. Because we want our children back in school. We want our children to be getting the kind of education that our teachers want and that our families want. But there was no conversation. What I’m hearing now is that teachers still are not part of the roll out for vaccinations. There is no plan for teachers being part of that tiered system. And I would like teachers to be part of that conversation.
Coomforty: Governor Eric Holcomb announced last week that Indiana would prioritize vaccinating its elderly residents. The move goes against federal recommendations and the Governor’s original vaccine distribution plan. Does your district have the power to prioritize vaccinating teachers, even if the State Government chooses to go a different way?
Yoder: I know that there is a push to get those vaccinations out there, but we are not moving quickly enough. We should be propping up local governments to be able to administer the vaccine in arms as quickly as possible, and that is not happening.
Comforty: Unlike a some other states, the vast majority of schools in Indiana have remained open during this school year. What have you heard from teachers in your home district?
Yoder: I’ve heard commitment to our schools. I’ve heard fear for their own health. I’ve heard questioning whether or not they need to retire early or leave the profession. I’ve heard a real desire in our community to protect our teachers. I’ve heard a need to do all that we can so that our students are receiving the care and education that we want them to receive. So I’ve heard many different layers and complexities to this question. But when it comes down to it, the answer is that we have to make sure that our staff and teachers are vaccinated.
Comforty: You were recently elected to the State Senate. You’re one of ten Democrats, if I’m not mistaken. Is there enough political will amongst your colleagues at the Indiana State House to bring teachers to the front of the line for vaccination? What kind of conversation are you having with your colleagues both Democratic and Republican?
Yoder: First we are excited to say that we did expand our caucus. We have eleven Democratic members. I wanted to say thank you to Senator Mark Stoops, who served us so well. We also expanded our caucus, and we now have Indiana State Senator Fady Qaddoura, who represents communities in Marion county and Hamilton County. We are excited to have him. He is the first Muslim member of the entire Senate. So it’s wonderful to have him as a colleague. Yes, there is political will. I serve on the education committee and we will be working with Senator Quaddora and J.D. Ford. Senator Ford is the ranking Senator on the Education Committee, and he has penned a letter that we will be signing on to, to ask the that the Governor prioritize our teachers in this roll out plan, name when they will be receiving the vaccine, and how teachers can go about getting the vaccination. I need to add one other person; Senator Eddie Melton also serves as a Democratic member of the Education Committee.
Comforty: There are a lot of issues regarding the eradication of Covid-19. The vaccination is part of the solution. It’s not the whole picture. Other than vaccinating teachers, what other kinds of support do think our schools need right now during this pandemic?
Yoder: We are pushing for full funding for not only making sure that those schools, that had to go on virtual platforms, will receive full funding in this current budget cycle. We want to make sure that our public education system will receive full funding for the next two years. You know, we promised our teachers a raise. They certainly took a hit in 2008 and we have not made that whole since. And we promised them that specifically last legislative session, and that did not happen. We promised that we would make that happen this year, and I’m going to be pushing so that it is going to be a priority: giving our teachers the raise that they so desperately deserve. And I also think that we need to hold harmless our teachers from performance and student testing. This past year has been hard: mentally difficult, physically difficult, and health-wise
difficult, and our teachers have risen to the occasion time and time again. We need to hold them harmless from test scores and their compensation. We want to make sure that that’s a priority. One of the things that I’m pushing for is making sure that there is accountability to our charter schools; specifically prohibiting discrimination against our students and staff. We need to make sure that those protections are in place. So there’s a lot that we can be doing in terms of looking ahead, but also right now, in caring for our public education system, students and teachers alike.
Comforty: Senator Shelli Yoder is the State Senator for Indiana’s 40th Senate district. Senator Yoder, thanks again for joining us on WFHB News.
Yoder: Thank you so much and please let people know that this legislative session will look a little different, but they can reach out to me. If they are interested in testifying, it will look different, but there are ways, and I want to make sure that all the constituents know that we need them now more than ever, engaged in the process in state and local government.
