mbperrin
mbperrin's JournalThe taxpayers ARE getting more than they're paying for in Texas right now.
As you mentioned, better academic results, yet:
25,000 teaching positions eliminated by the Legislature two years ago, so class sizes jumped.
No raise or step increase in two years for teachers since the last time the Legislature met.
An increase from 4 tests needed to PASS to graduate to 15 needed to PASS since the last time they met.
So fewer teachers are working harder with less money, more pressure, and they've been making up the difference in supplies and other needs from their own pockets, waiting for the Legislature to meet THIS time with a huge budget surplus. When even more is demanded with no raise for their families (yes, the cost of living in Texas is up), thousands more will leave, and we will see how many will continue to damage their own and their families' finances in order to keep teaching.
Right on the edge of a cliff right now.
Our district had a 25% turnover last year when 500 teachers resigned or retired. Got an email the other day wanting to know who is going to quit or retire so they can begin recruiting in February for replacements for next August. Kinda thin out there. You know, basic economics says you get what you pay for.
Texas has stopped paying for as much education as they're getting. That can't last.
Absolutely wonderful. Here in Texas, our education "leaders" have become convinced that
robotic, identical, scripted instruction where every teacher of US History is on page 231 of the text on the 80th day of class and is administering the identical 20 multiple choice questions in exactly 25 minutes.
This nightmare, which ignores differentiation, learning styles, child development, and all other factors related to instruction, is called CSCOPE, and is a "guaranteed and viable curriculum" in which every child receives the exact same classroom experience, no matter whose classroom, no matter which child.
25% of our district teachers left last year over this issue, which resulted in a new bonus structure this year - you get a thousand dollars each semester you don't quit. Nicely, positive, eh? And they're asking now in February for teachers to tell them if they are quitting so they can begin recruiting now.
The state lege is questioning it a bit now, mainly because the head of the House Education Committee was told that she could not see any of the CSCOPE curriculum at all, just shut up and keep paying millions for it.
So perhaps progress is in sight.
I noticed the same thing Kurt did, although I teach in high school - the kids ARE the same kids each year!
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