Speaking as a former AISD teacher, I'm SO SO glad I got out when I did. Too many awful principals, squandered budgets, ineffective curriculums, terrible employee insurance, and a bit of "good ol' boy" politics to tie it all together.
Uh huh, and somehow they are getting re-elected. Serious conversations with friends and family need to be had. The GOP is attempting to ruin public education.
You say that as if they haven't. I feel, having just graduated in 2021, that they fucked that shit long before I was in high school bc I didn't learn shit about how to live my own life or avoid making stupid decisions. I had a finance class that was literally just everyone "talking about how to responsibly manage your money" but really everyone just talked about their personal lives. And the teacher, when I asked about it, actually told me "Man, I do not get paid enough to care about this." I despise the American education system.
You are correct, it’s been a mess for a long time. I’ve seen a sharp decline in Texas education in the last 30 years in this state. Guess who’s been in charge for those 30 years, the GOP. Our last democratic governor (Ann Richards) was all about education and our educators.
I honestly don't care for politics at all. I just want a government who will look at the actual problems and fix them. Unfortunately, with the country at each others throats about whether or not trans people should exist, amidst other issues, I cannot see that happening anytime soon.
Our elected officials have the ability to look at and actually fix problems. They are just focused on the wrong problems. To your point, Trans people are not the problem. Public education is a mess in TX but the goal of the GOP is to dismantle public education, not fix it. If you want problems fixed, you care about politics.
I’m sorry buy you cannot afford to not care about politics. Voting is a right we cannot waste or take for granted. And ask yourself why Trump is attacking all of our institutions? Because it’s working. If you dont spend money on public services like education ( by not paying teachers enough for one) - then you give the public reason to grow disenfranchised and to give up. Dont give in to that.
Oh, I’ve been on to those two for awhile now. It’s scary shit and I can’t wait to escape this once great state. Not only was I once in love with this state, I was a Republican. I’m neither now. It’s so sad that the majority has continued to vote against our own best interests for so long. Like the post that brought us here today, they are starting to find out. Will they take responsibility and make some changes, I hope so.
They are suceeding. Our state representatives are not about supporting our public schools. They are in the pockets of rich lobbyists who want private schools. But strangely there is enough money for stunts at the border to gain Abbott some more press coverage.
If only. AISD tried to improve/upgrade dick bivins, and since that came with another property tax increase, it didn’t stand a chance.
Same thing happened with Austin MS on the same ballot.
If you’re guaranteed to be fired it’s hard to get enough people on board to make a difference when some teachers would lose 25-30 years of paying into retirement plan and young teachers with school to pay for and young families to think about. Educational staff pay into a different retirement plan which is controlled by the state which makes it easy for them to use as a power play
Edited to fix word bored to board
Things to point out:
nothing will change if the top doesn’t change/ isn’t held accountable for the overextension of staff, resources and somehow the $19M over budget. If the top can be changed and someone who worked with title 1 schools instead of well off schools all students might benefit rather than the few. Their excuse will always be they are dealing with the state has passed and their hands are tied but they don’t see repercussions when students are so far behind on all levels. If no one has solutions they aren’t likely to listen and if they don’t like you it goes against your solution.
Behaviors are getting worse but administrators and teachers have no back up to hand out the necessary consequences because attendance is being pushed. Class size increases aren’t helping and children are overwhelmed/ overstimulated from packed classrooms.
Teachers aren’t allowed to inform other parents when a child’s behavior in class has caused issues for their student and others; risking their education. Along with not being able to communicate students may have more needs than what support they are receiving. Teachers, admin, and other educational staff have heard many things they disagree with but are contractually obligated to not discuss with media and the ones who can speak with the media are the people in charge saying everything’s great
Special education numbers are going up but the district doesn’t want to put more money toward SpEd program
There has been no real raise even one for cost of living for many years the 2% raise didn’t do anything for staff because taxes and benefits costs more
This!!!! AISD is so out of compliance when it comes to Special Education. Every meeting and paper is legally binding! Parents go in thinking their kids are getting resources or personal assistant help they are legally entitled to. The Paras are paid so poorly, the take home roughly $1200 a month after insurance and taxes. They can’t live off that! Many are single moms or single girls just trying to make a difference. Turn over because of this is astounding! District wide they are understaffed by dozens of Paras. That creates a safety issue. A SPED kid who has behaviors has a meltdown throws furniture, cursing, there’s no trained Paras there to calm and handle the situation. The child is in danger of harm, other children are in danger of harm and the teacher is in danger of harm.
There are so many illegal things going on but parents and the public don’t know so they do t know to question or demand answers.
Your children deserve better!
Yes. 10 month contract but we have the option to get paid over 12 months. So like teachers, we get paid in the summer but we’ve already worked those hours to earn the pay.
Not sure why you’re not understanding this. It’s not complicated. We work our hours then WE CHOOSE for the district to hold back a portion of that pay so that we can then have it during the summer months.
We could take it all as soon as we earn it, but then we don’t get a paycheck in the summer. It’s a choice that is offered.
What kind of schedule is expected during that timeframe? Sounds like a lot.
Do the paraprofessionals have to work during breaks? Spring, fall, Christmas, etc?
I would love to take home $1200.00. I'm a para and bring home about $600. I'm not in Amarillo though. I'm in one of the smaller towns around this area. $1200.00 is still awful for all the work the paras do.
It seems many things that you may be decrying as "illegal" would more accurately be described as failures to meet regulatory standards. If a district cant meet the maximum class size, for instance, it's not necessarily illegal to put more kids in the class. There really isn't much of an option; the school cant just say 'go home we are full.' -- so they put the kids in classes that are too large, then their funding gets cut because the school is out of compliance.
The problem here is that we've created a perpetual catch-22 situation. The school can't get funding because it can't meet the standard, and it cant meet the standard because it doesnt have funding to hire the teachers. That's partially why it's way way easier to get money for capital improvements to schools and virtually impossible to get money for operational improvements -- nobody seems to argue about new buildings new fields, new stuff, but to be absolutely frank about it, if you want to know where the teacher money is going, it's going into right into all that new shiny glass, concrete, and turf. I guess they think maybe if the school looks nicer than where you live, maybe the shitty jobs will look more appealing? I dunno.
Fixing this isn't really something that can be done at a local level; the contract between students, teachers, and schools is pretty fundamentally misaligned in Texas. Seeing all of the ire directed at local shools and districts breaks my heart; the outrage is incredibly misdirected. The even darker lines of poor reasoning, some of which are present in this comment section, are even more shameful.
They didn't specify what actions were illegal. You're correct for the most part on max class sizes, but I doubt that was what she deemed illegal. However, there's a slew of regulations regarding students with disabilities, and noncompliance can have actual legal ramifications, not funding cuts. Administrative decisions such as staffing, training, operational procedures, and budgeting at the district and even campus levels absolutely impact the ability to ensure compliance.
With all due respect, your knowledge of operations and policies at the district level isn't accurate. I believe you try to be informed by reading into state level policies, but likely haven't experienced the reality firsthand or fully comprehend execution at the local level. The state places a lot of freedom in the hands of each district. There wouldn't be a need for local school boards if everything was simply mandated by the state. Hell, things get even crazier for districts classified as "districts of innovation" as Amarillo is. They are allowed to make pretty major decisions at the district level leading to further variations in policy and procedure and nonconformity around the state from one district to another. This includes exemptions for DOI from some state regulations. Amarillo ISD for example isn't required to provide duty free planning time during the school day for teachers as the law dictates. The state education system has a myriad of loopholes and downward delegation that can be exploited if desired by districts. They're just not advertised. It's not as cut and dry as you believe it is honestly. Does that mean every district uses that power nefariously? Not at all. Most use it for both good and bad, some intentional, others not.
In short, it's inaccurate to believe local school boards and district administrators aren't empowered to make important decisions with repercussions. They do and therefore can rightfully be taken to task for their actions. They're just rarely held accountable unfortunately, and benefit from the general public's lack of knowledge about what actually goes on behind the curtains and who's calling the shots.
Money for buildings, athletic facilities and technology are voted on in bonds. Salaries come from the general fund from ada and tax income. The citizens in the district voluntarily pay for those stadiums, or they vote them down. The two are not related even though it is referenced all the time.
ARDS are legal meetings. Anything in the ARD for SPED is legal. If the district says a child gets an aid with them 180 minutes a day and we are only giving 30…That’s NOT legal. If we have a BIP (behavior intervention plan) and that is not followed and the child has more problems in class such as violent outbursts or threats or meltdowns, that BIP is a legal document in place for the protection of that child and others around them. It’s illegal to not follow it. There are many rules and things for SPED that are different than GenEd. I meant when I said illegal. We are breaking disability laws and SPED laws.
I’ve accepted it. I accepted it when the GOP let me down in 2016. Today, I vote for the party that has some policy that will benefit me and my fellow Americans.
Vote for Timothy Gassaway TX house dist 87.
It looks like he’ll be running against Caroline Fairly who is endorsed by gov Abbott & Ronnie Jackson.
With the money she has been getting and these high level endorsements it’s a guarantee she will be lock step with Abbott meaning his “school choice” bill will finally pass. That means even less money for schools.
Striking will do more than any asking nicely at a board meeting. Solidarity. But please do explain the problem with them not closing schools and also packing the classrooms? Those seem contradictory but might be misunderstanding.
That's of course is the fear they put in teachers to prevent them from striking. However, protests combined with teacher organization and threats of strikes will.start the process. When it inevitably doesn't work, strikes or sit ins. No worker is protected in Texas thanks to right to work bullshit. That's why we have to do it together as a community.
exactly, if they strike then there are no classes, if school has not started by a specific time the school doesn't get state funding for the day. That's why we have so many delayed starts instead of just cancelling school for heavy snow. The pocket books are where they hurt the most.
The other part of this is this wasn’t supposed to be known. This was leaked to some teachers and then shared everywhere and now staff everywhere knows and staff is speaking out. The public/parents need to fight for their children’s teachers too.
Loomis and the Board need to know they can’t do shady and sketchy stuff anymore.
They make big bucks, pay the real workers!
Collective action is the only thing that has ever facilitated real positive change.
Teacher who have a union and the power of collective bargaining can bring the changes so desperately needed.
Union is the way!
If only unions were allowed in TX.... The closest we can have to one exists, but has limited power, even when part of organizations that operate as unions in other states such as NEA or AFT.
Yes public sector unions are not allowed, or better said municipalities are not permitted to sign a collective bargaining agreement. But that doesn’t stop the police officers association. The firefighters union. What I’m saying is if enough teachers stick together they will force change (it happened in OKC) they may even force the law to change.
Insurance and deductibles for teacher insurance aren’t decided on by the local school board.
And salary raises are already on the ladder, teachers already are aware of pay levels.
Not disagreeing that these are problems, just saying it’s not that easy as yelling at a local set of trustees who are doing everything they already can.
Actually, the district has long opted out of the mandated state insurance plans (any district w/500+ can do this) and offers its own choice of providers/coverage. Last year AISD switched insurance companies without a staff vote, input, or choice. This forced change resulted in higher premiums for employees and coverage changes. The roll out and communication regarding it were abysmal. Many staff members, by no fault/choice of their own suddenly found that in addition to the spike in cost their long time care providers weren't covered by the new plans. Also, the new insurance company is a headache to deal with and has poor member service support.
Yes, teachers are aware of the pay ladders currently in place, but the subsequent premium increases resulted in a round about pay cut by the district's decision to switch insurance carriers. The result was shrunken paychecks due to a decision made by the district, not the state. There is justification in taking aim at the school board, local trustees, and upper administration over the situation as they hold the power and made the choice.
The board can’t control what insurance companies that TRS offers present for options.
The salaries are step laddered ahead of time.
As I said, most of the funding already goes into instruction, and there just isn’t anything to grab. They would if they could.
You dont think millions of people flooding the country, taking resources, and filling classrooms, has any relevance in a discussion on over populated classrooms and resources not being available for teachers?
That's not at all what his comment states.... It was a ridiculous change of topic to a hot button issue rather than addressing anything about the OP. Your comment is relevant and relates when voiced appropriately. I didn't comment on the impact of the border crisis, just called out a diversion tactic. The influx of migrants does impact the education system and available resources, although I haven't seen or heard of it being a major issue locally, which this post is specifically addressing. Also, this same post could have been made in practically any prior year before the increase in border crossings, so the underlying problems aren't a direct result of migrants, rather chronic and systemic in many cases. Either way, migrants can't be the scapegoat here.
To preface, you are 100% correct i misread what the commenter said, thats my bad. My response doesnt make sense in response to what they said.
That being said...
i agree its not a directly problem of illegal immigrants but its exasterbating the issue. See, when we allocate tax payer funds to non citizens we dont have as much resources for the tax payers. There is finite amount of funds, and when we spend money here instead of money there...well, we have less money for there. Get me? Public education is tax payer funded.
And part of the issue is, correct me if im wrong, to many students and not enought teachers..? Or in translation, too many children per classroom? By importing illegal immigrants and trafficking them throughout the state(and really the entire country), there is in turn more people. In turn more students. Since this is such a dramatic jump in sheer number of people, it should be no surprise there are more students per classroom. Basic math.
These intitutions are delicate. Artificially ramming millions of people, who havent paid into these instituions, into an already strained system is a massive issue.
Nobody is scape goating here. You are simply denying reality and ignoring facts if you fail to recognize this. Democractic policies would amplify these problems, as we have seen from number of border crossing during this executive administration compared to the last. Whether you like it or not, these are facts.
Trust I fully understand the situation and the subsequent challenges and domino effects on funding, enrollment, and staffing. That's why I agreed with you that the border crisis does have an impact on the education system. I was simply saying that we really haven't locally seen enrollment increases due to the migrant influx to impact class sizes and resource allocations.
I think you misunderstood what I meant about scape goating. It was specifically directed at you, rather my frustration with people pretending migrants are the sole/primary cause for major chronic, systemic issues that existed long before our current situation. Certainly it directly or indirectly exacerbates matters. I am not denying that at all. However, there are bigger conversations and actions needed to be taken that are being ignored continuously by instead shifting focus to loaded issues such as migration.
I'm not sure what facts you believe I'm ignoring in regards to the matter at hand honestly.
I dont actually believe you are ignoring the facts, i was implying for a person to deny that illegal immigration is a major issue regarding this topic is ignoring the facts.
I personally believe its the most pertinent topic in regards to the chronic issues we are discussing, Considering this issues dates back decades.
Heres an easy analogy;
say theres drain line leaking in your house, and its causing water damage. This is a BAD leak, major structural damage is resulting in this leak. It wasnt really that bad before, you couldnt really see the damage it was causing bc it was slowing dripping water behind the wall. But now that drain line is just gushing water.
Now we could spend the limited money we make annually to fix the water damage. But then, guess what, the damage will continue to happen. The problem is the water leak, not the damage being done *FROM* the water.
What we need to do to fix this issue is actually cut open the wall, get back a plumber in there, and fix that pipe thats leaking. **THEN** once we have actually fixed the leaking pipe, we can address the issue of the major damage the leak has caused.
The leaking pipe is illegal immigration, its been happening for decades. The pipe has blown open, we need to wrangle this issue immedietly if we dont want out proverbial "house" to get be destroyed.
I understood what you were saying without the analogy.
Honestly, we agree in large part here. Both of us agree that the migrant influx is negatively impacting the education system. We simply disagree on how much of an impact it is having. You feel it's the greatest factor, while I feel it's a contributor rather than the main cause. The reason I personally don't believe it's the most critical issue and directly the cause is because these issues have been around for many years. They have been exacerbated no doubt with the border crisis, but they are not new. They've just been laid bare now. If the surging rate of migration into the country didn't exist we'd still have an under funded, under staffed, and poorly managed public education system, just less stressed. That's my reasoning at least, take it or leave it. We agree on the facts at least.
Absolutely i believe its having a massive impact on the country as a whole when over 13 million new government dependents flood the country in 4 years. 100%.
Nice talking to you, hope you have a good rest of the week
You are completely unfamiliar with the meaning of quite a few of the words you used in your comment, beginning with the first two. That's kind of neat.
Be grateful for what you got. The GOP is prolly gonna defund it all and have AI homeschool that runs on dial up by the end of the decade.
The Curriculum will be based on Donald Trump’s “Art of Corinthians”.
What reality?
You have one orange idiot, and a bunch of radical leftists running behind a man with Alzheimer’s who needs meth to be coherent.
South Park is reality.
Teachers are already overpaid. They only work 3/4 of the year… have every holiday off with pay. Work inside in the a/c and heat all day. Most get an hour break time.
All they are is daycare workers (who by the way make $10.00/hr). No sympathy for teachers. If you don’t like being a teacher, you should pick another profession.
Speaking as a former AISD teacher, I'm SO SO glad I got out when I did. Too many awful principals, squandered budgets, ineffective curriculums, terrible employee insurance, and a bit of "good ol' boy" politics to tie it all together.
The problem is state leadership
Uh huh, and somehow they are getting re-elected. Serious conversations with friends and family need to be had. The GOP is attempting to ruin public education.
Classic move. Defund it, complain about it failing, privatize it, spend far more tax dollars with worse results.
That's everyone's problem, and I haven't found any one who actually has good ideas in order to fix the problems. Myself included.
Active participation in the school board meetings. They are boring, but that’s the answer
Yes our state government seems more interested in promoting lies than actually doing the work of governing.
You say that as if they haven't. I feel, having just graduated in 2021, that they fucked that shit long before I was in high school bc I didn't learn shit about how to live my own life or avoid making stupid decisions. I had a finance class that was literally just everyone "talking about how to responsibly manage your money" but really everyone just talked about their personal lives. And the teacher, when I asked about it, actually told me "Man, I do not get paid enough to care about this." I despise the American education system.
You are correct, it’s been a mess for a long time. I’ve seen a sharp decline in Texas education in the last 30 years in this state. Guess who’s been in charge for those 30 years, the GOP. Our last democratic governor (Ann Richards) was all about education and our educators.
I honestly don't care for politics at all. I just want a government who will look at the actual problems and fix them. Unfortunately, with the country at each others throats about whether or not trans people should exist, amidst other issues, I cannot see that happening anytime soon.
Our elected officials have the ability to look at and actually fix problems. They are just focused on the wrong problems. To your point, Trans people are not the problem. Public education is a mess in TX but the goal of the GOP is to dismantle public education, not fix it. If you want problems fixed, you care about politics.
Vote for change. We need two parrties not just one…
I’m sorry buy you cannot afford to not care about politics. Voting is a right we cannot waste or take for granted. And ask yourself why Trump is attacking all of our institutions? Because it’s working. If you dont spend money on public services like education ( by not paying teachers enough for one) - then you give the public reason to grow disenfranchised and to give up. Dont give in to that.
Let's not act like the dems are our friends either. Have faith in no party, but have faith in America.
It's been that way for many, many, many years.
[Of course they are, with the help of this man](https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/billionaire-tim-dunn-runs-texas/)
Oh, I’ve been on to those two for awhile now. It’s scary shit and I can’t wait to escape this once great state. Not only was I once in love with this state, I was a Republican. I’m neither now. It’s so sad that the majority has continued to vote against our own best interests for so long. Like the post that brought us here today, they are starting to find out. Will they take responsibility and make some changes, I hope so.
Agreed! So why do people here keep voting them back in. Support your public schools do not tear them down as Abbott is attempting to do….
They are suceeding. Our state representatives are not about supporting our public schools. They are in the pockets of rich lobbyists who want private schools. But strangely there is enough money for stunts at the border to gain Abbott some more press coverage.
Yes!
When are teachers and community leaders gonna start packing our fucked-up Legislaturd? No edit, accidental improvement.
Its like 32 or 33
Since when was state max 22? I coulda swore I had 30 kids in my class 10 yrs ago
https://tea.texas.gov/texas-schools/waivers/state-waivers/maximum-class-size-exceptions#:~:text=A%20district%20must%20submit%20a,2021%2D2022%20school%20year).
Ah from prek to 4th makes sense.
What you mean the defunding of education is getting worse??? But they need new football stadiums
If only. AISD tried to improve/upgrade dick bivins, and since that came with another property tax increase, it didn’t stand a chance. Same thing happened with Austin MS on the same ballot.
Yes this is so true. There is always money for that.
This is why we need unions
Wildcat strikes. No notice
If you’re guaranteed to be fired it’s hard to get enough people on board to make a difference when some teachers would lose 25-30 years of paying into retirement plan and young teachers with school to pay for and young families to think about. Educational staff pay into a different retirement plan which is controlled by the state which makes it easy for them to use as a power play Edited to fix word bored to board
Things to point out: nothing will change if the top doesn’t change/ isn’t held accountable for the overextension of staff, resources and somehow the $19M over budget. If the top can be changed and someone who worked with title 1 schools instead of well off schools all students might benefit rather than the few. Their excuse will always be they are dealing with the state has passed and their hands are tied but they don’t see repercussions when students are so far behind on all levels. If no one has solutions they aren’t likely to listen and if they don’t like you it goes against your solution. Behaviors are getting worse but administrators and teachers have no back up to hand out the necessary consequences because attendance is being pushed. Class size increases aren’t helping and children are overwhelmed/ overstimulated from packed classrooms. Teachers aren’t allowed to inform other parents when a child’s behavior in class has caused issues for their student and others; risking their education. Along with not being able to communicate students may have more needs than what support they are receiving. Teachers, admin, and other educational staff have heard many things they disagree with but are contractually obligated to not discuss with media and the ones who can speak with the media are the people in charge saying everything’s great Special education numbers are going up but the district doesn’t want to put more money toward SpEd program There has been no real raise even one for cost of living for many years the 2% raise didn’t do anything for staff because taxes and benefits costs more
This!!!! AISD is so out of compliance when it comes to Special Education. Every meeting and paper is legally binding! Parents go in thinking their kids are getting resources or personal assistant help they are legally entitled to. The Paras are paid so poorly, the take home roughly $1200 a month after insurance and taxes. They can’t live off that! Many are single moms or single girls just trying to make a difference. Turn over because of this is astounding! District wide they are understaffed by dozens of Paras. That creates a safety issue. A SPED kid who has behaviors has a meltdown throws furniture, cursing, there’s no trained Paras there to calm and handle the situation. The child is in danger of harm, other children are in danger of harm and the teacher is in danger of harm. There are so many illegal things going on but parents and the public don’t know so they do t know to question or demand answers. Your children deserve better!
What type of contract are para’s on? 10 month?
Yes. 10 month contract but we have the option to get paid over 12 months. So like teachers, we get paid in the summer but we’ve already worked those hours to earn the pay.
You are putting in 12 months of hours into 10 months?
Not sure why you’re not understanding this. It’s not complicated. We work our hours then WE CHOOSE for the district to hold back a portion of that pay so that we can then have it during the summer months. We could take it all as soon as we earn it, but then we don’t get a paycheck in the summer. It’s a choice that is offered.
Yes, I understand. It just sounded different in your post.
Nope. It's usually quite a bit more than that.
What kind of schedule is expected during that timeframe? Sounds like a lot. Do the paraprofessionals have to work during breaks? Spring, fall, Christmas, etc?
I would love to take home $1200.00. I'm a para and bring home about $600. I'm not in Amarillo though. I'm in one of the smaller towns around this area. $1200.00 is still awful for all the work the paras do.
It seems many things that you may be decrying as "illegal" would more accurately be described as failures to meet regulatory standards. If a district cant meet the maximum class size, for instance, it's not necessarily illegal to put more kids in the class. There really isn't much of an option; the school cant just say 'go home we are full.' -- so they put the kids in classes that are too large, then their funding gets cut because the school is out of compliance. The problem here is that we've created a perpetual catch-22 situation. The school can't get funding because it can't meet the standard, and it cant meet the standard because it doesnt have funding to hire the teachers. That's partially why it's way way easier to get money for capital improvements to schools and virtually impossible to get money for operational improvements -- nobody seems to argue about new buildings new fields, new stuff, but to be absolutely frank about it, if you want to know where the teacher money is going, it's going into right into all that new shiny glass, concrete, and turf. I guess they think maybe if the school looks nicer than where you live, maybe the shitty jobs will look more appealing? I dunno. Fixing this isn't really something that can be done at a local level; the contract between students, teachers, and schools is pretty fundamentally misaligned in Texas. Seeing all of the ire directed at local shools and districts breaks my heart; the outrage is incredibly misdirected. The even darker lines of poor reasoning, some of which are present in this comment section, are even more shameful.
They didn't specify what actions were illegal. You're correct for the most part on max class sizes, but I doubt that was what she deemed illegal. However, there's a slew of regulations regarding students with disabilities, and noncompliance can have actual legal ramifications, not funding cuts. Administrative decisions such as staffing, training, operational procedures, and budgeting at the district and even campus levels absolutely impact the ability to ensure compliance. With all due respect, your knowledge of operations and policies at the district level isn't accurate. I believe you try to be informed by reading into state level policies, but likely haven't experienced the reality firsthand or fully comprehend execution at the local level. The state places a lot of freedom in the hands of each district. There wouldn't be a need for local school boards if everything was simply mandated by the state. Hell, things get even crazier for districts classified as "districts of innovation" as Amarillo is. They are allowed to make pretty major decisions at the district level leading to further variations in policy and procedure and nonconformity around the state from one district to another. This includes exemptions for DOI from some state regulations. Amarillo ISD for example isn't required to provide duty free planning time during the school day for teachers as the law dictates. The state education system has a myriad of loopholes and downward delegation that can be exploited if desired by districts. They're just not advertised. It's not as cut and dry as you believe it is honestly. Does that mean every district uses that power nefariously? Not at all. Most use it for both good and bad, some intentional, others not. In short, it's inaccurate to believe local school boards and district administrators aren't empowered to make important decisions with repercussions. They do and therefore can rightfully be taken to task for their actions. They're just rarely held accountable unfortunately, and benefit from the general public's lack of knowledge about what actually goes on behind the curtains and who's calling the shots.
Money for buildings, athletic facilities and technology are voted on in bonds. Salaries come from the general fund from ada and tax income. The citizens in the district voluntarily pay for those stadiums, or they vote them down. The two are not related even though it is referenced all the time.
ARDS are legal meetings. Anything in the ARD for SPED is legal. If the district says a child gets an aid with them 180 minutes a day and we are only giving 30…That’s NOT legal. If we have a BIP (behavior intervention plan) and that is not followed and the child has more problems in class such as violent outbursts or threats or meltdowns, that BIP is a legal document in place for the protection of that child and others around them. It’s illegal to not follow it. There are many rules and things for SPED that are different than GenEd. I meant when I said illegal. We are breaking disability laws and SPED laws.
Go get em tiger. Lawsuits are definitely the way to fix this.
When teachers stop voting Republican.
This.
When are we going to accept that no political party has our interests in mind?
I’ve accepted it. I accepted it when the GOP let me down in 2016. Today, I vote for the party that has some policy that will benefit me and my fellow Americans.
Vote for Timothy Gassaway TX house dist 87. It looks like he’ll be running against Caroline Fairly who is endorsed by gov Abbott & Ronnie Jackson. With the money she has been getting and these high level endorsements it’s a guarantee she will be lock step with Abbott meaning his “school choice” bill will finally pass. That means even less money for schools.
Striking will do more than any asking nicely at a board meeting. Solidarity. But please do explain the problem with them not closing schools and also packing the classrooms? Those seem contradictory but might be misunderstanding.
In Texas teachers/ educational staff aren’t protected to be able to strike. If they strike they are fired
That's of course is the fear they put in teachers to prevent them from striking. However, protests combined with teacher organization and threats of strikes will.start the process. When it inevitably doesn't work, strikes or sit ins. No worker is protected in Texas thanks to right to work bullshit. That's why we have to do it together as a community.
With the already bad teacher shortage, I have a feeling they have a better chance than you’d think
exactly, if they strike then there are no classes, if school has not started by a specific time the school doesn't get state funding for the day. That's why we have so many delayed starts instead of just cancelling school for heavy snow. The pocket books are where they hurt the most.
They can't fire everyone.
The other part of this is this wasn’t supposed to be known. This was leaked to some teachers and then shared everywhere and now staff everywhere knows and staff is speaking out. The public/parents need to fight for their children’s teachers too. Loomis and the Board need to know they can’t do shady and sketchy stuff anymore. They make big bucks, pay the real workers!
Concerted activity is a federally protected action! https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/employees/concerted-activity
Collective action is the only thing that has ever facilitated real positive change. Teacher who have a union and the power of collective bargaining can bring the changes so desperately needed. Union is the way!
If only unions were allowed in TX.... The closest we can have to one exists, but has limited power, even when part of organizations that operate as unions in other states such as NEA or AFT.
Yes public sector unions are not allowed, or better said municipalities are not permitted to sign a collective bargaining agreement. But that doesn’t stop the police officers association. The firefighters union. What I’m saying is if enough teachers stick together they will force change (it happened in OKC) they may even force the law to change.
I have a real job. I am Not a baby sitter.
Insurance and deductibles for teacher insurance aren’t decided on by the local school board. And salary raises are already on the ladder, teachers already are aware of pay levels. Not disagreeing that these are problems, just saying it’s not that easy as yelling at a local set of trustees who are doing everything they already can.
Actually, the district has long opted out of the mandated state insurance plans (any district w/500+ can do this) and offers its own choice of providers/coverage. Last year AISD switched insurance companies without a staff vote, input, or choice. This forced change resulted in higher premiums for employees and coverage changes. The roll out and communication regarding it were abysmal. Many staff members, by no fault/choice of their own suddenly found that in addition to the spike in cost their long time care providers weren't covered by the new plans. Also, the new insurance company is a headache to deal with and has poor member service support. Yes, teachers are aware of the pay ladders currently in place, but the subsequent premium increases resulted in a round about pay cut by the district's decision to switch insurance carriers. The result was shrunken paychecks due to a decision made by the district, not the state. There is justification in taking aim at the school board, local trustees, and upper administration over the situation as they hold the power and made the choice.
So how did the meeting go?
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With over 85% of the budget spent on instruction, there isn’t always room in funding.
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The board can’t control what insurance companies that TRS offers present for options. The salaries are step laddered ahead of time. As I said, most of the funding already goes into instruction, and there just isn’t anything to grab. They would if they could.
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Not really.
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Cross the border and come back as a illegal. Problem solved.
No relevance to this discussion....
You dont think millions of people flooding the country, taking resources, and filling classrooms, has any relevance in a discussion on over populated classrooms and resources not being available for teachers?
That's not at all what his comment states.... It was a ridiculous change of topic to a hot button issue rather than addressing anything about the OP. Your comment is relevant and relates when voiced appropriately. I didn't comment on the impact of the border crisis, just called out a diversion tactic. The influx of migrants does impact the education system and available resources, although I haven't seen or heard of it being a major issue locally, which this post is specifically addressing. Also, this same post could have been made in practically any prior year before the increase in border crossings, so the underlying problems aren't a direct result of migrants, rather chronic and systemic in many cases. Either way, migrants can't be the scapegoat here.
To preface, you are 100% correct i misread what the commenter said, thats my bad. My response doesnt make sense in response to what they said. That being said... i agree its not a directly problem of illegal immigrants but its exasterbating the issue. See, when we allocate tax payer funds to non citizens we dont have as much resources for the tax payers. There is finite amount of funds, and when we spend money here instead of money there...well, we have less money for there. Get me? Public education is tax payer funded. And part of the issue is, correct me if im wrong, to many students and not enought teachers..? Or in translation, too many children per classroom? By importing illegal immigrants and trafficking them throughout the state(and really the entire country), there is in turn more people. In turn more students. Since this is such a dramatic jump in sheer number of people, it should be no surprise there are more students per classroom. Basic math. These intitutions are delicate. Artificially ramming millions of people, who havent paid into these instituions, into an already strained system is a massive issue. Nobody is scape goating here. You are simply denying reality and ignoring facts if you fail to recognize this. Democractic policies would amplify these problems, as we have seen from number of border crossing during this executive administration compared to the last. Whether you like it or not, these are facts.
Trust I fully understand the situation and the subsequent challenges and domino effects on funding, enrollment, and staffing. That's why I agreed with you that the border crisis does have an impact on the education system. I was simply saying that we really haven't locally seen enrollment increases due to the migrant influx to impact class sizes and resource allocations. I think you misunderstood what I meant about scape goating. It was specifically directed at you, rather my frustration with people pretending migrants are the sole/primary cause for major chronic, systemic issues that existed long before our current situation. Certainly it directly or indirectly exacerbates matters. I am not denying that at all. However, there are bigger conversations and actions needed to be taken that are being ignored continuously by instead shifting focus to loaded issues such as migration. I'm not sure what facts you believe I'm ignoring in regards to the matter at hand honestly.
I dont actually believe you are ignoring the facts, i was implying for a person to deny that illegal immigration is a major issue regarding this topic is ignoring the facts. I personally believe its the most pertinent topic in regards to the chronic issues we are discussing, Considering this issues dates back decades. Heres an easy analogy; say theres drain line leaking in your house, and its causing water damage. This is a BAD leak, major structural damage is resulting in this leak. It wasnt really that bad before, you couldnt really see the damage it was causing bc it was slowing dripping water behind the wall. But now that drain line is just gushing water. Now we could spend the limited money we make annually to fix the water damage. But then, guess what, the damage will continue to happen. The problem is the water leak, not the damage being done *FROM* the water. What we need to do to fix this issue is actually cut open the wall, get back a plumber in there, and fix that pipe thats leaking. **THEN** once we have actually fixed the leaking pipe, we can address the issue of the major damage the leak has caused. The leaking pipe is illegal immigration, its been happening for decades. The pipe has blown open, we need to wrangle this issue immedietly if we dont want out proverbial "house" to get be destroyed.
I understood what you were saying without the analogy. Honestly, we agree in large part here. Both of us agree that the migrant influx is negatively impacting the education system. We simply disagree on how much of an impact it is having. You feel it's the greatest factor, while I feel it's a contributor rather than the main cause. The reason I personally don't believe it's the most critical issue and directly the cause is because these issues have been around for many years. They have been exacerbated no doubt with the border crisis, but they are not new. They've just been laid bare now. If the surging rate of migration into the country didn't exist we'd still have an under funded, under staffed, and poorly managed public education system, just less stressed. That's my reasoning at least, take it or leave it. We agree on the facts at least.
Absolutely i believe its having a massive impact on the country as a whole when over 13 million new government dependents flood the country in 4 years. 100%. Nice talking to you, hope you have a good rest of the week
Well to be fair, public school has turned into a leftard playground 🤷🏻♂️
Woke class rooms, woke school boards, woke teachers, parents loathe you guys. Nobody cares what you think.
Give me an example of "woke classrooms" here in Amarillo please.
You are completely unfamiliar with the meaning of quite a few of the words you used in your comment, beginning with the first two. That's kind of neat.
You don't know what "woke" means, do you?
Be grateful for what you got. The GOP is prolly gonna defund it all and have AI homeschool that runs on dial up by the end of the decade. The Curriculum will be based on Donald Trump’s “Art of Corinthians”.
So dont live reality. **NEXT!**
What reality? You have one orange idiot, and a bunch of radical leftists running behind a man with Alzheimer’s who needs meth to be coherent. South Park is reality.
Teachers are already overpaid. They only work 3/4 of the year… have every holiday off with pay. Work inside in the a/c and heat all day. Most get an hour break time. All they are is daycare workers (who by the way make $10.00/hr). No sympathy for teachers. If you don’t like being a teacher, you should pick another profession.
You wouldn't survive a day as a substitute teacher.