Northwest Indiana Discussion

A little birdie tells me, that the Hammond School City has some big problems. Hope it isn't like Chicago and closing schools. Some teachers want to leave. The informant said it will all come out at this school years end, which should be in June. Many teachers are dissatisfied with the present conditions. They would't say what those problems were. But they said it will shock many.

The SCH is a mess, and has been for years. There has been a mass exodus over the past 5 years. I was really surprised to see that Anaya is retiring. There had been rumors and speculation that he was next in line for the superintendant job. He has a lot of support from the Latino Community. I know of several administrators and teachers that are looking for employment elsewhere. The SCH is getting ready to implode. They see the writing on the wall, and are looking for greener pastures.

My youngest grandson will be attending the Hammond Schools starting this Fall. No matter what, with my hawk-eye daughter and myself, my grandson will be well-covered academically, or there will be hell to pay. My middle daughter is a chip off this old block, and even less diplomatic than me. Look out SCH !

Where do they all plan on going? Teaching positions aren't exactly in high demand right now.

Administrative jobs are, with people with the right certification. As for Teachers, depends on what they are certified to teach, what subjects and what grade level.

It will be interesting to see if these teachers are able to find equivalent employment in the real world outside the public sector. We always hear how they are underpaid and what remarkable individuals they all are. We'll learn if they are worth what they are paid as teachers, let alone more. Of course, all of this could just be hot air, as it always seems to be with county employees who whine about being underpaid but can't seem to muster the backbone to walk away from do-nothing jobs they are lucky to have in the first place.

My brother retired as a Teacher in Lake County a couple years ago. If he was working across the line in Illinois, he could have made an additional $20,000 a year in wages over and above what he got over here. He liked where he was at, and stayed for 35 years.

Teachers are very frustrated with the lack of support from all sides. They are under special stress this year with budget cuts, increased class sizes, the evaluation and added responsibilities due to the cuts.

I heard an important downtown administrative job will become vacant at the end of the school year. It is unclear to me if it is forced retirement or retirement.