Teach Plus began in January 2009 when CEO and Founder Dr. Celine Coggins was awarded a prestigious Mind Trust Fellowship to bring the organization to Indianapolis. 

The first cohort of Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellows is turning teacher voice into policy impact in Indianapolis by engaging teachers in driving policy changes that improve the retention of effective teachers and, ultimately, achievement for urban students. 

Indianapolis Teaching Policy Fellows acted as a catalyst to initiate a joint union-district committee that enacted changes to the Indianapolis Public Schools layoff policy. They incorporated effectiveness measures, discipline measures, and attendance into the decisions around which teachers go and which stay.   These modifications shift the weight of the decisions from seniority to performance.  On April 5, 2010, the Indianapolis Education Association ratified a contract amendment that reduces the role of seniority when reductions in force occur, adding performance measures into the equation for the first time.

The Indianapolis Teaching Policy Fellows also released a report on the inequitable distribution of teachers in Marion County. The Cost of Loyalty found that salaries in Indianapolis Public Schools have remained relatively flat as salary and benefit packages have grown in surrounding Marion County districts.  The Fellows discovered this pay gap contributed to an alarming turnover rate—as high as 65% in some of the poorest performing schools—robbing the district of many talented teachers, and causing an inequitable distribution of effective teachers in Marion County.  The report received local and national recognition.

In Indianapolis, teachers can take advantage of:

This highly selective program is for teachers who are interested in learning how to advocate for policies that will better serve students and retain excellent teachers. Our current cohort of Teach Plus Policy Fellows is engaged in national forums such as NBC’s ‘Education Nation,’ and in advocating for teacher quality policy reforms they think would modernize the teaching profession. The Indianapolis Teaching Policy Fellows 2009-2011 cohort is made up of fourteen top teacher leaders from urban schools in the Indianapolis area, including larger districts such as Indianapolis Public Schools, the Metropolitan School Districts of Decatur and Washington Townships, as well as four area charter schools.  Read their bios here and read more about their accomplishments here.

The T+ Network is a rapidly growing national movement of teachers who want to: connect with highly motivated peers and national and local policy leaders, learn about innovative policies to empower effective teachers, and be a voice for change within the teaching profession. Through the online T+ Network Forum, Indianapolis teachers shared opinions and poignant personal experiences with Indianapolis Star columnist Matt Tully as they argued for elimination of “last in, first out” layoff policies.  Please see a summary of teachers’ views on seniority-based layoffs, and Indianapolis Teaching Policy Fellows’testimony before the Indiana Legislature on the same topic.