Holcomb repeatedly ignored requests from teachers across the state for access to a vaccine
Don’t Forget: Frustrated teachers lose access to vaccine waitlists as Indiana cracks down
Since Biden took office, Indiana Democrats consistently called for Holcomb to prioritize teachers for vaccines
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Democratic Party, the organization that advocates for the future of Indiana and its families, today called on Governor Eric Holcomb to follow President Joe Biden’s direction by opening up vaccination opportunities for Indiana’s educators. President Biden yesterday issued the directive during an announcement where Biden claimed all of the country’s adult population could have access to a vaccine by the end of May. If Holcomb doesn’t follow suit, he would once again show Hoosiers how the Indiana Republican Party does not value Indiana’s teachers and public school system.
According to a recent poll, about 76-percent of Americans supported the idea of giving teachers priority for a COVID-19 vaccine. The public’s overwhelming support for this idea is why the Indiana Democratic Party consistently called on Governor Holcomb to prioritize teachers for a vaccine at the start of the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris Administration.
“President Biden affirmed yesterday what so many Hoosiers knew: it is absolutely necessary to vaccine Indiana’s teachers, because not only are they some of our essential workers, but doing so would reopen our classrooms and get our kids back on the pathway to better futures,” said John Zody, Chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party. “The Indiana Democratic Party has repeatedly called for teachers to be a priority for a vaccine, and the Indiana Republican Party has repeatedly disrespected our educators. The contrast couldn’t be more stark, and moving forward, Hoosiers have zero reason to trust Holcomb and the Republican Party to look after the future of our education system.”
Eric Holcomb has made sure Indiana’s teachers could not have access to a COVID-19 vaccine. Earlier this year, the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) and teacher unions in Allen, Hamilton, Tippecanoe, and Vigo Counties (just to name a few) all called on Holcomb to prioritize teachers for a vaccine. Holcomb refused. The governor even went out of his way to deny vaccines to teachers who patiently waited on clinic standby lists.
Governor Holcomb’s failure to prioritize Indiana’s teachers reiterated a permanent disrespect both the governor and the Indiana Republican Party have shown educators. The Governor announced his biennial budget earlier this year, which failed to provide any salary increase for public school teachers. It was a promise broken from last year when Governor Holcomb used his 2020 State of the State Address to promise a pay raise for Indiana’s public school teachers in 2021. Further, the Indiana House of Representatives passed a budget last month which would allocate nearly a third of the state’s education funding for a private and unaccountable system.
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