Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015

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THURSDAY, OCT. 29, 2015

Bagel shop hit by car

IDS INDIANA DAILY STUDENT | IDSNEWS.COM

Annie Garau agarau@indiana.edu | @agarau6

KATELYN ROWE | IDS

Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer picks out a book to read with her son, Mateo, before bed. Fuentes-Rohwer said it upsets her when the time she spends advocating for public education cuts into time she could be spending with Mateo.

VACANCIES Parents, teachers and advocates testify at statehouse about teacher shortage By Alexa Chryssovergis aachryss@indiana.edu | @achryssovergis

INDIANAPOLIS — Cathy Fuentes-Rohwer is in mama bear mode. She fumes from her bench in the Indiana Statehouse where she’s been sitting for nearly eight hours waiting to testify. The meeting, called so legislators and advocates could speak about the teacher shortage in Indiana, began at 1 p.m. She’s here to share her testimony as both a parent and the chairperson for the Monroe County Coalition for Public Education — to make the committee think about her kids and her kids’ teachers, even though she said she believes many legislators don’t listen. By 8:20 p.m., Fuentes-Rohwer, a 47-year-old Bloomington resident, still has not gotten to speak, and her anger is compounded by what she calls “mommy guilt.” She’d told Mateo, her youngest son, that she’d be home in time to break in their new fire pit and make s’mores. She stares at her phone. Her husband just sent her a picture of the fire. Finally, the meeting’s chair, Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, calls her to speak. It’s about 8:30 p.m. “Cathy Fuentes Roar-wher?” he says and mispronounces her last name. “Rohwer,” she says. “Thank you.” She turns to face the room. It was full before, but now, nearly everyone has left. There are maybe four legislators and six or seven people still sitting in the audience. Her anger gives her bravery and resolve as she speaks to a nearly empty room. * * * Indiana is facing a crisis — a shortage of teachers in classrooms. SEE SHORTAGE, PAGE 6

There are barely enough fresh faces to fill vacated spots. The Indiana Department of Education issued 3,802 teacher licenses in the 2014-15 school year — 21 percent fewer than last year and 33 percent fewer than in 2009-10. Fuentes-Rohwer said the bad news began at a national level when a narrative began to form that American public schools were falling behind. Then, Fuentes-Rohwer said, the issue was exacerbated with the implementation of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. The former, a congressional act, required states to develop standardized tests of basic skills. The latter, a federal competitive grant, distributed $4.35 billion among states that proposed reforms. But those reforms, critics say, led to more high-stakes testing, undercut teachers’ autonomy and diverted resources away from struggling students and into charter schools. In Indiana, Fuentes-Rohwer said, the turning point was when then-Gov. Mitch Daniels and

conservative legislators cut $300 million from the state budget for public education. Fuentes-Rohwer has noticed a change in schools just from watching her own kids pass through the system. When her oldest son, Tomas, was in third grade, he learned to read at his own pace. When Mateo was in third grade, FuentesRohwer said he worried about whether or not he’d get to move with his friends to fourth grade. He first had to pass the IREAD-3 — a state-mandated reading test for third-graders. Fuentes-Rohwer graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a master’s degree in social foundations of education. Although she taught preschool while studying, she never made it into the classroom after that because she and her husband had Tomas while they were still students. She spent her years after college being a mom until she was called upon to be a leader. In 2010, about 15 years after Fuentes-Rohwer got her master’s,

Indiana teacher shortage Check out part two of this series on the teacher shortage in tomorrow’s paper. At the teacher shortage meeting, Suzanne Ehst, a professor from Goshen College, shared the results of a survey she’d conducted with students, which questioned what factors dissuaded them from wanting to continue in a teaching career. Here are the top five deterrents they listed:

1 2 3 4 5

Heavy emphasis placed on standardized testing General lack of respect for educators and teachers The way in which teachers and schools are evaluated The overcrowded classrooms Teacher salary

Indiana median salaries These salaries were taken from the May 2014 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. Pharmacists Lawyers Education administrators (K-12) Elevator installers and repairers Veterinarians Power plant operators Dental hygienists Funeral service managers Computer programmers Technical writers Crane and tower operators Accountants and auditors Electricians Computer network support specialists Plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters Credit analysts Middle school teachers Secondary school teachers Elementary school teachers Plasterers and stucco masons Librarians Firefighters Athletic trainers Graphic designers

$118,030 $88,680 $81,710 $79,300 $77,920 $74,960 $67,130 $63,280 $62,310 $62,180 $60,420 $60,190 $58,820 $56,310 $56,020 $55,530 $51,180 $50,190 $49,310 $49,180 $47,620 $46,860 $42,220 GRAPHIC BY ALEXA CHRYSSOVERGIS | IDS $37,720 SOURCE BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS

Before a night of baking, Bloomington Bagel Company employee Tyler Brown likes to sit outside the restaurant and smoke a cigarette. He said he was doing just that at around 8:50 p.m. Wednesday, when a car barreled over the curb of Dunn Street and smashed into the restaurant’s wall. The air bags were deployed, and Brown said he heard the passengers screaming. As he rushed to open the side door, someone ran from People’s Park to open the driver’s side. Brown said he was shocked to pull out a baby’s car seat that wasn’t strapped into the car. He guessed the little girl in his arms was around 1 1/2 years old. Capt. Rob Sears of the Bloomington Fire Department said the woman had been driving with four young children. While Brown moved away from the gray Ford sedan to make sure the child was all right the other passengers exited the vehicle, all seemingly fine, he said. Brown said he believed the passengers were all uninjured, aside from a rumor that one of the children had lost a few teeth. The woman and the children SEE BAGEL, PAGE 3

WOMEN’S SOCCER

IU loses to Purdue on senior night, 2-0 By Danny White danswhit@indiana.edu

IU had one final test before the end of the 2015 season. On Wednesday, IU played for the Golden Boot on its senior night against Purdue and was shut out 2-0. “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” IU Coach Amy Berbary said. “But we’re not going to stop because there is a lot of potential in these young ones.” IU (3-9-6, 0-6-4) did not win a game on Jerry Yeagley Field this season, posting a 0-2-6 home record. IU not only had to face finishing last in the Big Ten, but that its seniors had lost to Purdue for the first time in their careers. Purdue struck first in the eighth minute when sophomore forward Erika Arkans settled a bouncing cross in the penalty box and ripped a shot that senior goalkeeper Sarah Stone got her hand on but couldn’t stop from going into the lower left corner of the net. Purdue was efficient in the first half, converting after only having two shots on goal. Despite the Hoosiers moving the ball well at times in the first half, they didn’t have their first shot until the 33rd minute that dribbled straight to the goalkeeper. The BoilSEE SOCCER, PAGE 6

Twyla Tharp company celebrates 50th anniversary with tour By Maia Rabenold mrabenol@indiana.edu | @maialyra

Thirteen dancers — seven men in neutral beige and six women in jewel-toned dresses — stepped onto the auditorium stage Wednesday night. They took the stage in pairs or solo to dissonant and frenzied trumpets. These dancers make up the dance company whose performances are choreographed by Indiana native Twyla Tharp. This performance marked one of the stops on the company’s 50th anniversary tour. Since 1963, Tharp has choreographed more than 129 dances, as well as movies, Broadway shows and other productions. The performance was divided into two parts. Company manager Alex Brady said Twyla describes the first part, “Preludes and Fugues,” as the world as it ought to be, and the second part, “Yowzie,” as the world as it is. There’s no particular style,” Brady said. “It’s dance. It encompasses every form of movement. You’ve got ballet, jazz, modern, yoga and then Twyla’s wiggles. And she’s assembled it in her own unique, creative, sometimes humorous way.”

As well as the traditional balletic leaps and twirls, there was swing dancing, robotic moves, a dancer who ran across the stage with his partner on piggyback while jumping up and down, and even some head banging and arm thrashing. “This is one of the more professional dance recitals that I’ve seen,” IU freshman Simone Swanson said. “I like that it wasn’t all serious, there was some comedy.” The first piece utilized classical piano and orchestral music, and the second was centered around a backdrop of New Orleans jazz. These musical choices highlighted the differences between the acts. “They are each a different slice of life,” Brady said. “The first piece is so well-crafted, it really shows her knowledge and amazing genius. It’s very weighty from a dance perspective, and the second piece is lighter and more fun, just a complete contrast of the earlier piece. They’re both well-balanced.” On Tuesday, Tharp was awarded the IU President’s Medal, which is the highest honor President Michael McRobbie can give, according to an IU press release. The granting of the medal expressed not only recognition of her talent for the

ADAM KIEFER | IDS

Alex Brady, the company manager for Twyla Tharpe’s dancing company, leads a group of IU dance students in a dance lesson Tuesday at the Musical Arts Center. Twyla Tharp Dance will perform Friday night in the IU Auditorium.

arts, but also the time Tharp and members of her company spent prior to the performance with students in the Department of Theatre, Drama and Contemporary Dance. Daniel Baker, a company member, and Brady spent this time teaching two classes for both contemporary and ballet dance students. On Tuesday, Brady taught a master class for ballet majors.

“Twyla developed these classes because when you stage a ballet, you’re only focusing on where the dancers are going, what count they’re dancing it on and getting to know the choreography,” Brady said. “You give them the ‘what’ but they don’t get too much time to explore the ‘how.’ Having a class gives them an idea of how to approach her movement rather than just giving

them the steps.” Brady said he danced in the company for 15 years before taking on the job of company manager. He was involved in the development of the two pieces in the show. “I joined the company because I had the chance,” Brady said. “It was just the right time in my life, and it turned out to be the best time of my life.”


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