Legislators aren't in classrooms, so why have we allowed them to dictate the conversation?

The political conversation around the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) referendum misses the mark. The conversation has turned from what is best to support all students to what is best for my students.

I’ve been a public high school administrator in IPS at Shortridge High School and in IPS at Purdue Polytechnic High School (PPHS) Englewood, an IPS innovation school. Both are public schools serving students in Center Township.

More than 41,000 kids attend public schools located in Center Township. Students are students. Teenagers are teenagers. The kids who wear a PPHS athletic uniform are no different from kids who wear Shortridge athletic uniforms. During my time at Shortridge, our students celebrated their first conference championship, beating University High School in soccer. My PPHS students did the same, celebrating their first sectional championship, beating Cardinal Ritter High School in basketball. Those students, schools and families all celebrated their wins.

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If this co-existence works without issue on the athletic fields, we know it can work in the classroom.

Those of us who work to support Center Township’s public school kids in the classroom have allowed legislators, who may not spend any time in our classrooms, to set the terms of the conversation. We have allowed the conversation to center on dollars instead of relationships. Of course, a more equitable funding solution could help alleviate problems. Yet, as educators, we know relationships are what drive the learning that takes place in our classrooms, in our hallways and during athletic contests.

We have allowed the political conversation to undermine those relationships and pit teachers against teachers, students against students, and neighbors against neighbors. When that happens, kids lose. It is time we reclaim the conversation and do the work necessary for all kids to have safe and supportive public schools.

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When the legislature makes buying a gun easier than becoming a substitute teacher, we should not believe that its priorities are our kids. When the legislature makes it harder for IndyGo to build and maintain the very bus lines students use to attend school, we should not believe its priorities are our kids. And when the legislature continues to pass unfunded mandates about required curriculum without solutions to the teacher shortage it helped create, we should not believe its priorities are our kids.

The legislature has been transparent about this since budget debates in 2008 when it capped property taxes in response to complaints from surrounding counties about having to raise their taxes for their schools. While it provided local districts the ability to hold referenda to raise funds, this took funds directly out of those districts’ pockets, passing the buck to school districts and onto the backs of kids who attend those schools.

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Despite the legislature telling us how it feels about schools, teachers and kids, at both Shortridge and PPHS, I have worked with teachers, families and students who are championing a better Indianapolis for us all. At Shortridge, teachers and students created programming to build community during virtual learning. Earlier this legislative session, students from at least 20 schools statewide championed a bi-partisan bill to create a climate solutions task force. Our students constantly tell us what they need. Do we hear them? At Shortridge, after the Parkland school shooting, students led a 17-minute silent walkout against gun violence. At PPHS, last year, students testified against House Bill 1134, which they argued would limit their ability to learn. Again, are we listening to what kids are telling us about the school experiences they want?

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At both Shortridge and PPHS, I have worked with teachers who help kids think more deeply about problems that need solutions. The schools might have different names, funding models, or curricular approaches, but teachers all build relationships, meet students where they are and encourage them to pursue their passions. We have much more in common than recent conversations would lead us to believe.

Our teenagers have families who care and teachers who care. These kids — who will be tomorrow’s voters and civic leaders — need us to stop fighting over crumbs.

They need us all to care.

Jacob Pactor is the high school principal at Purdue Polytechnic High School – Englewood.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: We're focused on school funding when we should be focused on students