The Tippecanoe school board has cut salary and benefits for administrators and staff, slashed supply budgets, reduced administrative positions, and instituted a hiring freeze on support staff to keep an estimated $7.8 million budget shortfall from reaching its classrooms.

     But those efforts haven’t been enough, and the school board will meet again next week to consider a second round of cuts that could include laying off up to 150 teachers, or one out of every five teachers employed by the district.

     It’s a fate that could be avoided with common-sense salary and benefit concessions from the Tippecanoe teachers union. Unfortunately, the Tippecanoe Education Association has thus far been unwilling to shoulder its fair share of the financial burden, and contribute to solving the district’s financial crisis.

     About 90 percent of Tippecanoe Schools’ general fund goes to pay for salary and benefits, jconline.com reports. That means there is only one area left to cut.

     The Tippecanoe school board cannot re-open negotiations on its teachers contract or discuss possible concessions without the TEA’s cooperation. The district’s teachers, like its administrators, need to do what’s necessary to avoid teacher lay-offs that would increase class sizes, and negatively impact student learning.

     “…We’re making some real progress. But we’ve not yet found enough of a workable cost-reduction to solve the substantial shortfall,” Tippecanoe Superintendent Scott Hanback told jconline.com.

     Tippecanoe Education Association Co-president Heather Brooks acknowledged that some teachers would prefer concessions- mostly younger, eager teachers that are threatened by lay off because of the union’s tenure rules. But Brooks and Don Thompson, an Indiana State Teachers Association area Uniserv director, made it clear why concessions aren’t likely.

     “Newly hired teachers appeal to TEA to take a pay and insurance cut,” Brooks told jconline.com. “While most teachers’ e-mails I’ve personally received believe that TEA should not concede…”

     That’s not surprising, because veteran teachers have traditionally been willing to “eat their young” to preserve their union perks and top-notch benefits, then to do what is necessary to save their school, regardless of the effect it has on students.

     “We’re certainly disappointed in the immediate, almost knee-jerk reaction, which is, ‘It’s going to come out of personnel,’” Thompson said.

     The school board has cut virtually every area of the school budget not controlled by the union’s contract.

     Tippecanoe is now looking to its teachers union to do its part by coming to the bargaining table ready to accept temporary cuts for the sake of the students of the district.

     Concessions would illustrate that the district’s educators are serious about maintaining quality education and truly care about the financial health of their school system.

     Refusing salary or benefit cuts likely will equate to lay-offs, larger class sizes and less personal attention for Tippecanoe students.

     Indiana public schools will literally get a reality check this week.     

     School corporations are expected to see their first state funding payments this week since Gov. Mitch Daniels announced $300 million in cuts to the K-12 budget, and we suspect it won’t be pretty.

     Those checks will put added pressure on districts to cut millions of dollars from their budget without laying off teachers, as suggested by Gov. Mitch Daniels.

     Daniels’ suggestion can and should be followed. But state education officials fear local school boards will take the easy way out and lay off teachers, instead of demanding salary freezes or health coverage contributions from teachers unions that would keep their members working and class sizes manageable.

     Residents can help schools avoid that fate by insisting that their school boards initiate contract concession talks with their unions now.

     State education leaders informed superintendents of the impending budget crisis as early as November, and the Indiana Department of Education recently issued a checklist for local school boards with suggestions to trim their budget while keeping educators in the classroom.

     But many in Indianapolis, including state Superintendent Tony Bennett, are concerned that some items on the checklist, such as teacher salary concessions or trimming employee benefit costs, are being overlooked or ignored.

     The Richmond Community Schools board, for example, approved pay raises, one-time stipends, and expensive changes to health benefits as part of a new teachers union contract signed in December.

     Those expenses are expected to cost RCS more than $2.5 million over the next year, according to Pal-Item.com. That is only one of several examples.

     RCS and many other school corporations in the state now are bracing their communities for teacher layoffs. Despite their financial situation, most Indiana school systems seem to be ignoring the elephant in the room- concessions from their teachers union.

     “Any district can find two or three percent savings without reducing teacher staff,” Bennett said in a news release. “If everyone, including teachers themselves will pitch in, we’ll get through this recession just fine.”

     That makes a lot of sense, but we at Education Action Group Foundation (ISTAexposed.com) fear nobody is listening.

     Indiana State Teachers Association President Nate Schnellenberger simply talks around the issue of concessions with a swift “but teachers are professionals,” and everybody nods their heads.

     The ISTA, meanwhile, is diligently working to pass legislation that would allow schools to shift funds between accounts, a measure designed to preserve union perks.

     EAGF believes Indiana taxpayers deserve more from the union and their local school boards. We believe it only makes sense to ask our educators to contribute to solving the budget problem with a freeze on their automatic raises, a small salary cut, or a contribution to their health care coverage. Those measures could save millions.

     The ISTA will not contribute on its own. Local school boards must stand up and demand concessions. Otherwise, the state’s young, eager educators will be filing into the unemployment office, class sizes will swell, and students will suffer.