Hundreds of teachers from the Hamilton Southeastern school district joined thousands of teachers from throughout the state of Indiana at the Indiana Statehouse for Red for Ed day.  The educators converged at the state Capitol building to express their views on how state lawmakers should enact changes in the way the state handles public education issues.

The president of the local teachers union, the Hamilton Southeastern Education Association (HSEA), is Janet Chandler, and she joined local teachers in downtown Indianapolis Tuesday.

“Teachers who participated indicated they had not done anything like this before,” said Chandler in an e-mail message to LarryInFishers.  “They also felt extremely inspired!  It was truly amazing to see the swell of people as we began our march around the Statehouse.”

Many teachers did not have a personal day to expend but were there in spirit, according to the HSEA president.

“We appreciate everyone’s support as we gathered to bring attention to compensation, I-Learn testing, and the 15 hour externship requirement,” added Chandler.

Externship hours are state mandated requirements for teachers to retain their teaching licences,