Teachers across Indiana huddled outside the statehouse Tuesday to protest for improved school funding, increased teacher pay and changes to standardized testing. 

The rally, championing the Red for Ed movement, came soon after Chicago teachers successfully striked for smaller class sizes and better funding.

A total of 36 teachers at Perry Meridian High School were absent, with only 19 substitutes to fill the void.

While 147 districts across Indiana closed in response to the Red for Ed Action Day, Perry Township Schools remained open.

And aside from guidance director Brad Miller touring classrooms with a box of Long’s Donuts for teachers and substitutes, the day began normally enough, with only minor hiccups. .

For instance, because of a recent policy change, substitutes can no longer access announcements, and a good number of students were not able to watch. 

Other bumps were more glaring.

Senior Tyler Hull, who had substitutes every period, led one of his classes when a substitute never showed up.

“[It was] not productive,” he stated.

A lack of coverage was one of the biggest administrative problems Tuesday posed. Administrators, master teachers and other non-teachers had to fulfill substitute roles.

“Why are we here?” was a common refrain in the hallways.

This reporter experienced firsthand the bureaucratic slog when searching for assistant principal Sarah Brewer to gather statistics. It took around 30 minutes of walking and questioning to finally find her in 2-12A.

And an atmosphere of confusion choked much activity during the 89-minute Blu period. Many students wandered the halls, and administrators hustled to and fro fulfilling their duties the best they could while stretched so thin.

Although the day was rough in some ways, everything ran relatively smoothly, and the teachers had not left the school in a state of semi-chaos for no reason, as they had students’ interests in mind when they took the day off to head downtown.

“Today has been the most productive day of the week,” a student sarcastically quipped.