GARLAND EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
AFFILIATED WITH TSTA /NEA
KEEP LEARNING!
TELL CONGRESS TO PASS THE AMERICAN JOBS ACT – TO PUT AMERICANS BACK TO WORK AND KEEP STUDENTS LEARNING!
The fight continues to pass President Obama’s American Jobs Act, which would invest billions of dollars to save educator jobs and repair and modernize school facilities. This week, several NEA members who have lost their jobs traveled to Washington, DC to share their stories with Congress and urge passage of the President’s bill. Read about their visits. The need is great and the stories from these members and others across the country about the impact on our students are heartbreaking. The following excerpts submitted by NEA activists through our Education Votes website are only a small sampling of the struggles taking place in every community:
Wisconsin -- Our school district was forced to reduce graduation requirements and cap the number of credits students can take in high school. We used to require four credits of all core academic subjects at the high school level. Now all have been cut to three except English. Every student was forced to cut one class out of their schedule and in place we have created huge study halls with hundreds of students or given them releases to leave school instead of staying in classes.
New Mexico -- The classroom I was assigned to was a total disaster. The small office’s ceiling was missing most of its ceiling tiles. The floor was flooded out into the main classroom. There was mold and mildew climbing up the few pieces of furniture remaining in the office, the desk’s chair was coated with similar damage and so was the wooden office door. I had a hard time breathing in that room. How can I be expected to teach five science classes, while providing relevant lab work, if I cannot even give my students a healthy classroom to learn in? How can I ensure an equitable and rigorous education for all of my students if I have to fight for every piece of equipment and supplies?
Washington -- I work at a Title I school where close to 100% of our students qualify for free and reduced lunches. Both art and music have been cut from our school, technology assistance has been cut from our district in a major way, and now our counselor is only with us two days a week. Most of our students could use a counselor/psychologist session daily with all that they are dealing with at home, but now that support is not there. This makes it incredibly difficult for them to learn and stay focused. Please fund education, it is our future!
Oregon -- Our school district had to cut our custodial staff down to the point that my classroom's trash cans are emptied only every other day. When my students come into my classroom on the second day, the trash is already full and smelly (our air conditioner is also broken, and the temperature last week hit 95 degrees). This sends a clear message to students: they aren't valued enough….When we have the support staff we need in our building and school district, kids come into a room that is welcoming and inviting rather than unpleasant and stinky. Kids don't learn as well as they could when they are distracted by bad smells and temperatures that are too high.
Saving educator jobs and modernizing schools are investments in our children and our future. When educators are hired, students win -- they receive more individual attention, more help from counselors, more after-school help, and more opportunities to succeed. America’s students shouldn’t bear the brunt of our country’s economic crisis. They deserve manageable class-sizes and modernized and energy-efficient school buildings.
Take Action Today:
Tell Congress to put Americans back to work and ensure our children the education they deserve by supporting the President’s American Jobs Act.
TSTA TESTIFIES AGAINST PAY CUTS
TSTA Public Affairs Director Richard Kouri on Thursday testified (link to testimony here) before the Senate Education Committee against Senate Bill 8, legislation that would allow school districts to cut teacher pay in two ways. One provision would let districts order teacher furloughs for as many as six non-instructional days a year and reduce their pay accordingly. The other would eliminate the salary floor enacted in 2009.
The committee delayed action on the bill, but the fight isn’t over. So, please keep calling your state senators, demanding votes AGAINST Senate Bill 8.
The bill also would change the notification date for contract non-renewals from 45 days before the end of instruction to 10 days before the end of instruction. It would impose a similar change on termination notices for probationary contracts. And, the measure would eliminate seniority as a factor in determining layoffs during reductions in force.
The Senate Finance Committee and the House Appropriations Committee held separate hearings Thursday on legislation (Senate Bill 1 in the Senate and House Bill 1 in the House), which would make a number of fiscal changes necessary to balance the new state budget passed during the recent regular session.
TSTA filed written testimony before both committees, urging legislators to find additional revenue for the public schools, including spending more money from the Rainy Day Fund. The governor and the Legislature left $6 billion of that emergency fund unspent at the end of the regular session.
The Senate Finance Committee approved Senate Bill 1 Thursday afternoon. The House Appropriations Committee plans to act on House Bill 1 on Saturday.
The House Public Education Committee will meet on Friday to consider several bills, including HB18 by Chairman Rob Eissler, which would raise the 22-1 class size limit in grades K-4. The committee also will hear bills dealing with teacher contracts and school district reductions in force.
Also pending before the House Public Education Committee is House Bill 8, which includes the same anti-teacher provisions as Senate Bill 8 plus the 22-1 revisions.
The Senate Education Committee also heard Senate Bill 6, an instructional materials allotment bill, on Thursday and approved that measure.
VOUCHERS, HB 400 COULD LAND ON SB 1581 ON MONDAY
SB1581, which already includes a provision distributing the pain of $4 billion in budget cuts among school districts, is the next ship on which Republican House members will try to attach amendments creating voucher and virtual voucher programs and resurrecting the increased class sizes and other anti-teacher provisions of House Bill 400.
Meeting Saturday, the Calendars Committee set SB1581 for House floor debate on Monday. So, please urge your members to keep calling their representatives to demand votes AGAINST amendments promoting vouchers, virtual vouchers and HB 400 provisions, including an increase in the 22-1 class size cap for K-4 and other proposals making it easier for school districts to fire teachers or cut their pay.
They also set SB 4, which would tie teacher evaluations to test scores, for Tuesday.
SENATE PASSES FELONY TERMINATION BILL
The Senate on Saturday passed the following bills:
THE SENATE AND HOUSE HAVE ADJOURNED UNTIL MONDAY
When they return on Monday there will be eight days left in 82nd session of the legislature. The next big deadline is midnight Tuesday. All Senate bills must be passed on second reading by then or they are dead.
SENATE CONFEREES ON SB 1811
The Senate announced that the conferees on SB 1811 are Senators Duncan (Chair), Williams, West, Patrick, and Duell.
MULTIPLE RED ALERTS!
Several items are already buzzing around tomorrow’s two fiscal matters bills scheduled for debate on the House floor. An attempt to resurrect HB 400 by adding all of its anti-teacher provisions to one of the bills already has been confirmed. There also will be an attempt to attach a voucher bill to one of the bills as well. We are still waiting for all the amendments so we can sort through what other mischief they might contain. And, there may be more trouble because this will be one of the last chances to pass new legislation on the House floor. Please have your members use the 1-800-260-5444 number and tell their representatives to vote NO on the HB 400 amendment and NO on the voucher amendment. We will send out additional alerts as more information becomes available.
Remember, the provisions of HB 400, which died in the form of a separate bill last week, would raise the 22-1 class size cap in K-4, eliminate the minimum salary schedule, allow districts to cut teacher pay and order furloughs and weaken teachers’ employment rights.
The voucher amendment is being promoted by groups that want to shrink state government and divert tax dollars from public to private schools. This is a particularly outrageous attempt at a time when legislative budget-writers already plan to cut billions of dollars from public education. According to some estimates, these voucher grants would be worth $2,500 to $5,000 apiece and cost the public schools another $1 billion to $2 billion in lost revenue each year.
PHYSICAL ED, OTHER BILLS APPROVED BY SENATE ED
The Senate Education Committee on Tuesday approved the following bills:
SENATE APPROVES TRAVEL SERVICES FOR CHARTERS
The Senate on Tuesday passed the following bills:
House Bill 1550 by Rep. Aycock, including charter school employees and officers as part of the contract for travel services procured by the state.
House Bill 1130 by Rep. Huberty, relating to information provided by the Texas Education Agency to school districts regarding placement of students receiving special education services
HB400 MISSES HOUSE DEADLINE, DIES BUT...
House Bill 400, the bill that would have increased class sizes, cut teachers salaries and weakened teacher employment rights, failed to win House approval before a midnight Thursday deadline. Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, the sponsor, was recognized for a motion on the bill at mid-afternoon. He moved to postpone it to 6 p.m. and never was recognized to bring it up again.
Thanks to all our TSTA members and other friends for all your calls to your state representatives urging votes against the bill. Your calls obviously were a factor in stopping the bill.
But there are 18 more days in the legislative session, and all or most of the features of HB400 could be resurrected as amendments to other legislation in the Senate. We will keep you posted on future developments, and you may soon need to start calling the Capitol again.
POINT OF ORDER LEAVES HOUSE BILL 400 IN LIMBO
The House debated House Bill 400, a major attack on teacher salaries and employment rights, for more than two hours on Friday night before a point of order ended debate for the evening with the bill still pending.
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio alleged the technicality, claiming that the committee substitute for the bill violated the House’s germaneness rule. After deliberating off the floor for about 45 minutes, Speaker Joe Straus returned to the podium about 11:30 p.m. to announce that he was going to consider the point overnight.
The House then adjourned and left the bill pending until Saturday.
Since we don’t know how the speaker will rule, TSTA urges its members to continue to call their House members this evening or on Saturday, urging them to vote against House Bill 400.
Before the point of order was raised, the House had debated 26 amendments to the bill, rejecting most of them. In the first major vote on the measure, an amendment by Rep. Larry Phillips, which would have softened some of the changes to the bill, was tabled, or defeated, 74-51.
The House accepted an amendment by Rep. Diane Patrick to change the date for notice of non-renewal of a contract from the current 45th before the end of instruction to the 30th day before the end of instruction. As approved by the Public Education Committee, HB400 would have given districts until the last day of instruction to notify teachers of non-renewal.
HB400, sponsored by House Public Education Chairman Rob Eissler, also makes the following permanent changes in teacher employment and classroom standards:
THE WEEK AHEAD
With 28 days left in the session the days and weeks will get longer from here on out. The House has already indicated that we will begin working Saturdays this week as the action begins to move away from committees and to the floor. Next Monday is the last day for House Committees to hear House bills. With the calendar already becoming congested and the May 12 being last day for the House to vote out House bills on second reading, the time for getting House bills out of committee is very short.
As things speed up in the legislature so does our timeframe to respond to what is occurring. Soon we will be tracking lots of bills and most likely lots of conference committees. Please make sure that you have the capacity to contact your members quickly.
COMMITTEE MEEETINGS
House Public Ed has a short agenda scheduled for Tuesday morning. Senate Ed has posted for Thursday. More and more often meetings will be called during session and occur on the floor at a members desk to vote out bills that have already had a hearing.
House Public Ed Agenda
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/schedules/pdf/C4002011050308001.PDF
Senate Ed
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/schedules/pdf/C5302011050508301.PDF
ODDS AND ENDS
Budget still in senate limbo
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-taxes/budget/senators-still-searching-for-budget-support/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Tribune+Feed%3A+Main+Feed
HB 400 and SB 12 not on the calendar yet
50 things about the senate budget
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/firstreading/entries/2011/05/02/_happy_birthday_to_sen_6.html
KEEP CALLING ABOUT HB 400
For technical reasons, House Bill 400, which would increase class sizes and make it easier for districts to fire teachers and cut their pay, returned to the House Public Education Committee this week – where they approved it once again. It likely will be set for floor debate next week. Please keep calling your state representatives to urge them to vote against House Bill 400, a full-scale assault on teachers. www.tsta.org/news/current#Bill
SENATE EDUCATION APPROVES TEACHER APPRAISAL BILL
The Senate Committee on Education today approved a committee substitute for Senate Bill 4 by Sen. Shapiro that links at least part of a teacher’s appraisal to student test scores. TSTA opposed the original version of the bill but is still evaluating the changes made in the committee substitute.
The committee substitute for SB4 links at least 35 percent of an appraisal to student test scores with no ceiling on the percentage. It also would allow school districts to design their own teacher appraisal plans, subject to approval by the state education commissioner.
The bill also adds a provisional license for teachers in years one through three; strengthens certification requirements for EC-4 teachers; provides that a standard license would be granted only after year three and evidence of teacher effectiveness; requires all teachers to be appraised at least twice a year; provides that teachers would receive an individualized professional development (IPD) plan and must be afforded an opportunity to achieve the goals of the IPD; requires the Commissioner to review and make rules regarding the minimum qualifications of teacher appraisers; and requires the Commissioner to establish mid-management teacher leadership programs. Sen. Shapiro amended the bill to delay implementation of the teacher appraisal portion of the bill for two years.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, appeared alongside Commissioner Robert Scott to testify on SB4 as an invited guest. Texas AFT Secretary/Treasurer Louis Malfaro also appeared on SB 4, praising Sen. Shapiro for bringing the bill forward.
The bill was passed to the full Senate on a 5-1 vote, with Sen. Gallegos voting “no”.
The committee also heard the following bills:
HOUSE GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO END-OF-COURSE BILL
The House on Thursday gave final passage to HB 500 by Chairman Rob Eissler, easing end-of-course exam requirements for high school students. TSTA supported this bill.
The House also gave final passage to:
SENATE ED COMMITTEE APPROVES SUPERINTENDENT BILL
The Senate Education Committee today approved several bills, including Senate Bill 208, designed to make the process of selecting a school superintendent more public.
SB208 by Sen. Gallegos would require a school board to give public notice of the name of each finalist the board is considering for the position of superintendent of the district. A board also may hold at least two limited public forums at which each finalist may speak and parents, teachers, and other community members may offer relevant information and opinions and ask questions of the finalists.
The committee also approved:
SENATE PASSES INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS BILL
The Senate today passed Senate Bill 6, a committee substitute by Sen. Shapiro establishing the instructional materials allotment for the public schools. The measure, which covers textbooks and technological equipment, now goes to the House, where a similar bill is pending. TSTA supports this bill.
The Senate also passed:
SENATE PANEL SEEKS COUNSELING INFORMATION
The Senate Finance Subcommittee on Education, meeting today, adopted one rider to House Bill 1, the budget bill, dealing with school counseling and discussed several others. The adopted rider by Sen. Lucio deals with collecting information on the amount of time school counselors and teachers spend on various activities, such as counseling on higher education, ARDs, and parent conferences. The subcommittee put a cap on the rider at $250,000.
The subcommittee also discussed:
HB 400 DECLARES WARE ON TEXAS TEACHERS
CSHB 400 was voted out of committee tonight on a 6-4 straight party line vote (Representative Allen was absent due to the death of her husband last week.)
CSHB 400 not only launches a full scale assault on teacher rights and benefits, but it also will do permanent, long term damage to public education in Texas.
The bill:
SENATE EDUCATION APPROVES REVISED CHARTER BILL
The Senate Education Committee on Tuesday approved a committee substitute for Senate Bill 127, a charter expansion bill by Sen. Dan Patrick. TSTA opposed the original version of the bill, but the committee substitute makes the potential expansion of charters more restrictive.
The substitute does not lift the existing cap on open-enrollment charters until the 2012-2013 school year and, beginning that same year, will cap special education charters at two per year. The bill will allow the State Board of Education to grant as many as 10 new charters for an open-enrollment charter school each fiscal year. But for a charter to be allowed to expand, all of its existing campuses must be rated acceptable or higher. Under the original bill, only 90 percent of the campuses had to be so rated. Also, the committee substitute provides that open-enrollment charter schools granted a charter after Sept. 1, 2011, may not admit a student unless the student is seeking admission to first grade or lower or was enrolled in a public school in Texas during the preceding school year.
The revised bill was passed to the full Senate on a 5-2 vote, with Sens. Gallegos and West voting “no,” and Sens. Shapiro, Patrick, Davis, Carona, and Ogden voting “yes.”
On March 22, TSTA offered testimony against SB127 because of concern over inadequate state review and oversight of charter expansion, particularly during a tight budgetary period. TSTA also believes it would be irresponsible to expand charters while budget-strapped school districts are considering closing down some traditional public schools and laying off tens of thousands of public school employees. TSTA called, instead, for an exhaustive interim study on charter schools, how they are operating, what could be made better and what might be a new, appropriate cap for charters.
The Senate Education Committee also considered the following bills on Tuesday:
SENATE PASSES CHARTER SCHOOL BONDS BILL
The full Senate on Tuesday passed and sent to the House the committee substitute for Senate Bill 597 by Sen. Shapiro, allowing the state education commissioner to grant the applications of open-enrollment charter schools for state bonds guaranteed by the Permanent School Fund. The bonds would be used to help charters finance new facilities. TSTA opposes this bill.
The Senate also passed the committee substitute for Senate Bill 27 by Sen. Zaffirini, requiring the boards of school districts and charter schools to adopt and administer policies for the care of students at risk for anaphylaxis. The policies would be based on guidelines developed by the commissioner of state health services in consultation with an ad hoc committee appointed by the commissioner of state health services.
HOUSE APPROVES HOUSE BILL 1
The Texas House of Representatives Sunday night approved House Bill 1, an appropriations bill for 2012-2013 that cuts $7.8 billion from the public education budget and billions of dollars from health care and other critical state services.
The vote was 98-49.
In two days of debate (Friday and Sunday), the House considered more than 200 amendments but made few changes in the version of House Bill 1 that had been drafted by the House Appropriations Committee.
According to the Legislative Budget Board, HB1, in its current form, would result in the loss of as many as 335,000 public and private sector jobs in Texas by 2013. Almost 10,000 of those jobs would be school district employees. The bill also would force closure of many nursing homes, cut other health care programs and sharply reduce financial aid for college students.
TSTA President Rita Haecker called House Bill 1 a “slap in the face” for Texas School children.
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, one of several Democrats who spoke against the bill, said it would “dismantle” Texas’ public education system. It would reduce funding for pre-kindergarten and other dropout prevention programs, cut funding for textbooks and other instructional materials, cram kids into overcrowded classrooms and force the closure of some neighborhood schools.
The bill was drafted within Gov. Rick Perry’s guidelines to enact a new state budget without raising taxes or spending more than $3.2 billion of the Rainy Day Fund, despite a revenue shortfall of $27 billion.
The budget focus now turns to the state Senate, where the Finance Committee is expected to soon approve a budget plan that would cut $3 billion to $4 billion from the public schools. The exact timing of the Finance Committee action is unknown because a special Senate subcommittee also is trying to find $5 billion in non-tax revenue to help pay for the Senate plan.
TSTA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 3, 2011
TSTA: House budget a “slap” at Texas children
Texas State Teachers Association President Rita Haecker today said the Texas House’s approval of House Bill 1 was a “slap across the face” of Texas school children.
“Our children deserve much better than an indefensible budget plan that would slash almost $8 billion from the public schools and billions of additional dollars from other critical state services, such as health care, important to our kids and their families,” Haecker said.
“This isn’t a realistic state budget. It is an exercise in political expediency that ignores the basic needs of a growing state,” she added.
ROLL CALL ON ADOPTION OF HB 1
AYES - 98
Aliseda (R); Anderson, Charles (R); Anderson, Rodney (R); Aycock (R); Beck (R); Berman (R); Bohac (R); Bonnen (R); Branch (R); Brown, Fred (R); Burkett (R); Button (R); Cain (R); Callegari (R); Carter (R); Chisum (R); Christian (R); Cook (R); Craddick (R); Creighton (R); Crownover (R); Darby (R); Davis, John (R); Davis, Sarah (R); Driver (R); Eissler (R); Elkins (R); Fletcher (R); Flynn (R); Frullo (R); Garza (R); Geren (R); Gonzales, Larry (R); Gooden (R); Hamilton (R); Hancock (R); Hardcastle (R); Harless (R); Harper-Brown (R); Hartnett (R); Hilderbran (R); Hopson (R); Howard, Charlie (R); Huberty (R); Hughes (R); Hunter (R); Isaac (R); Jackson, Jim (R); Keffer (R); King, Phil (R); King, Susan (R); Kleinschmidt (R); Kolkhorst (R); Kuempel (R); Landtroop (R); Larson (R); Laubenberg (R); Lavender (R); Legler (R); Lewis (R); Lyne (R); Madden (R); Margo (R); Miller, Doug (R); Miller, Sid (R); Morrison (R); Murphy (R); Nash (R); Orr (R); Otto (R); Parker (R); Patrick, Diane (R); Paxton (R); Perry (R); Phillips (R); Pitts (R); Price (R); Riddle (R); Ritter (R); Schwertner (R); Scott (R); Sheets (R); Sheffield (R); Shelton (R); Smith, Todd (R); Smith, Wayne (R); Smithee (R); Solomons (R); Taylor, Larry (R); Taylor, Van (R); Torres (R); Truitt (R); Weber (R); White (R); Woolley (R); Workman (R); Zedler (R); Zerwas (R)
NAYS - 49
Alonzo (D); Alvarado (D); Anchia (D); Burnam (D); Castro (D); Coleman (D); Davis, Yvonne (D); Deshotel (D); Dukes (D); Dutton (D); Eiland (D); Farias (D); Farrar (D); Gallego (D); Giddings (D); Gonzales, Veronica (D); Gonzalez, Naomi (D); Guillen (D); Gutierrez (D); Hernandez Luna (D); Hochberg (D); Howard, Donna (D); Johnson (D); King, Tracy (D); Lozano (D); Lucio III (D); Mallory Caraway (D); Marquez (D); Martinez (D); Martinez Fischer (D); McClendon (D); Menendez (D); Miles (D); Munoz (D); Naishtat (D); Oliveira (D); Pena (R); Pickett (D); Quintanilla (D); Raymond (D); Reynolds (D); Rodriguez (D); Simpson (R); Strama (D); Thompson (D); Veasey (D); Villarreal (D); Vo (D); Walle (D)
PRESENT-NOT-VOTING - 2
Straus (R); Turner, Sylvester (D)
ABSENT - 1
Allen (D)
STOP THE ASSAULT ON EDUCATION!!
In the coming days, the Texas House will consider a budget that is an assault on educators and public education. NOW is the time for educators to make their voices heard, loudly and clearly.
The current House budget plan would cut almost $10 billion from public education – cuts that could cause almost 100,000 school district employees to lose their jobs. The reductions also could result in furloughs, pay cuts, larger classes and closure of some neighborhood schools.
NOW is the time to call your legislator and let him or her know what these budget cuts will mean in your classroom, your school and your community. Your call is critical to saving public education in Texas!
To contact your state representative, call 800-260-5444, and we will connect you. You can call any time, day or night. Leaving a voice message with your representative’s office is just as good as talking to a staff member.
It is important to include the following points in your conversation or message:
Perry’s Budget Solution: Cut, Cut, Cut
Gov. Rick Perry delivered his traditional State of the State speech to the Legislature on Tuesday and, as anticipated, offered no solutions – except deep budget cuts – to a revenue shortfall estimated as high as $27 billion.
The governor announced that cutting the state’s dropout rate was a key priority, but his budget proposal would give the Texas Education Agency $5 billion less than the agency requested for all educational programs.
Perry insisted that his re-election and the election of a strong Republican legislative majority in November mean that most Texans want government “to be even leaner and more efficient, and they want us to balance the budget without raising taxes.”
He also once again expressed opposition to spending from the $9.4 billion Rainy Day Fund, which TSTA believes was intended by Texans to be used during financial emergencies such as the current budgetary crisis.
Budget proposals already submitted to legislators, which would bridge the huge revenue gap with spending cuts alone, as advocated by Perry, would cost as many as 100,000 public school jobs, school finance experts have estimated.
Democrats Rip Proposed Perry Cuts
Houston Chronical (02/08/2011)
Texas Democrats quickly attacked Gov. Rick Perry's budget proposals, reports the Austin Bureau's Gary Scharrer:
"While I still believe in Santa Claus, I don't believe in Perry-tales," said Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, who slammed the Governor for not addressing the budget crisis in any detail in his State of the State address.
"2011 is Rick Perry's Madoff moment," Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said. "The governor, years ago, established a system that really is a Ponzi scheme. And we have a message for the governor, 'Governor, your Ponzi scheme is up, and the people of Texas are ready to hold you accountable."
The governor's action will result a short-changing of Texas children by cutting nearly $10 billion from public education, Castro and other Democrats said.
They displayed a poster of a young girl holding a "Will work 4 Pre K" sign.
"The budget is the emergency issue of this session," Castro and other Democrats emphasized.
Sen. Leticia van DePutte, D-San Antonio, said Senate Finance Committee hearings have taken the look of a funeral parlor with Kleenex tissue boxes placed for folks to use after hearing stories from distressed parents responding to budget cuts and their impact on children with disabilities.
"Governor Perry has been waking up in a very different reality than most citizens of Texas," Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, said.
TSTA President Rita Haecker Issued A Strongly Worded Statement In Reaction To The Governor’s Speech.
“The governor may live in a political fantasy world, but the people he was elected to represent are facing the hard realities of closed schools, educator pink slips and a future work force that will be less-prepared to fuel Texas’ economy,” Haecker said.
“The governor spent a lot of time reliving his favorite campaign themes,” she added. “But not once did he propose a realistic solution to one of the worst threats ever to loom over our state’s future. Texans expect leadership from their governor, not merely political rhetoric.”
TSTA believes the responsible, balanced approach to digging Texas out of its deep budgetary hole is to spend all of the $9.4 billion projected for the Rainy Day Fund, use every federal dollar available and enact an equitable revenue stream that adequately meets the state’s growing public needs. This approach would enable legislators to avoid the deep cuts that would shove Texas backwards.
On the higher education front, Perry proposed a process called “Outcomes-Based Funding,” in which a significant amount of undergraduate funding from the state would be based on the number of degrees a university awarded.
He also called for a four-year freeze on university tuition for entering freshmen and challenged state-supported universities to develop bachelor degree programs that cost no more than $10,000, including textbooks.
“Let’s leverage web-based instruction, innovative teaching techniques and aggressive efficiency measures to reach that goal,” he said.
Mary Aldridge Dean, Executive Director Of The Texas Faculty Association:
Said the “Outcomes-Based Funding” scheme may increase the number of college graduates but would not increase the number of graduates sufficiently educated to fill the technical jobs needed in the 21st Century.
“It will force Higher Education systems to coerce their faculty to pass students in order to receive funding, regardless of student performance in the courses they take,” she said. “This will not create an educated citizenry necessary to compete in the global workforce.”
Dean said the governor’s proposal for a $10,000 bachelor’s degree doesn’t add up to quality education, thanks to increased student populations and cuts in state higher education funding.
She predicted the cuts encouraged by Perry would cost staff and faculty jobs, forcing class sizes to increase and further diluting the impact of higher education.
On Other Education-Related Topics, Perry:
DISTRICTS SEEK PAY CUTS, FURLOUGHS
As anticipated, school district administrators testifying Tuesday at the session’s first hearing of the Senate Education Committee asked for more “flexibility” from the state to allow them to deal with budgetary shortfalls by increasing class sizes, cutting teacher pay and ordering educators to take furloughs.
And, they found a receptive ear in Education Chairwoman Florence Shapiro.
TSTA and other educator groups oppose dilution of the state standards.
The 22-1 class size limit in grades K-4, now under attack, has been credited with improving student achievement since it became law in 1984. Polls indicate it also is very popular with Texans. If the 22-1 cap poses a financial hardship for a district, the district under existing law can seek a waiver from the state, and waivers normally are approved.
Richard Kouri, TSTA’s assistant executive director for public affairs, said inadequate state funding, not mandates, was the problem. The main question, he said, is whether “we are going to have resources to perform our mission.”
“You do not have the resources committed to accomplish the mission (of educational improvements and student achievement) you have laid out in the time permitted,” he said, referring to existing goals enacted last session in House Bill 3.
Karen Ellis of the Richardson School Board, who was testifying on behalf of the Texas Association of School Boards, urged the Legislature to, among other things, change state law to allow districts to reduce teacher salaries below the current, 2010-11 levels. She said lower salaries may be necessary to avoid staff layoffs.
Amarillo ISD Superintendent Rod Schroder said administrators’, as well as teachers’, jobs were on the line. He said his district could reduce employment by several dozen positions if the 22-1 class size limit in grades K-4 were lifted. He said the district hoped to cut the jobs through attrition, not layoffs.
Speaking for the Texas Association of School Administrators, Richard Middleton, superintendent of San Antonio’s Northeast ISD, said some mandate relief could be temporary and sunsetted after two years. For now, he said, “I am trying to save teachers.”
Shapiro, R-Plano, announced that she has filed a bill to allow districts the “flexibility” they are seeking. The measure, Senate Bill 468, so far is a place-holding shell for which details will be written later.
Shapiro admitted that teacher furloughs and pay cuts weren’t good but said they were better than permanent job losses.
Shapiro and Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, also noted that some superintendents have been lobbying legislators to lift the 22-1 cap for several years, well before the current budget crisis.
“We did not make up the 22-1 change,” Shapiro said. “This has been brought to us by superintendents for the past four years….Let’s be transparent. I think it’s important that we be honest with each other.”
West added, “We’ve been hearing for several years that superintendents need relief from 22-1.”
TASB’s Karen Ellis warned that furloughs and pay cuts won’t be enough to compensate for the huge cuts in the public education budget outlined in House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1, the starting budget plans in each chamber. Those cuts, she said, put education in jeopardy. HB1 would cut $9.8 billion from the amount needed to maintain current school programs and meet anticipated enrollment growth of 170,000 new students over the next budget period. SB1 would cut $9.3 billion.
Both budget plans were written under Gov. Rick Perry’s parameters to bridge the revenue shortfall with spending cuts alone and without spending any of the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which is expected to have a record balance of $9.4 billion by the end of the next budget cycle.
Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, who also supports lifting the 22-1 cap and repealing or easing other mandated standards, indicated legislators, despite the governor’s stance, will consider spending at least some of the Rainy Day Fund. But he said school districts similarly will have to consider spending some of their cash balances. Schroder said Amarillo ISD has $75 million in reserve.