This blog on Texas education contains posts on higher education, as well as preK-12 policy accountability, testing, bilingual education, immigration, school finance, race, class, and gender issues at both the state and national level. It also represents my digital footprint, of life and career, as a community-engaged scholar in Texas.
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Friends,
Please fill out the appropriate survey that pertains to you. We absolutely know what is happening in our communities across the state of Texas. Check out NBC journalist Suzanne Gamboa's news coverage that shows just how decimated we are right now as a community:
Nearly a third of Texas teachers work a second job during the school year “to support themselves and their families,” according to a survey by the Texas State Teachers Association.
The
teachers group, an affiliate of the National Education Association, had
commissioned a survey of 837 of about 60,000 of its total teacher
membership over the summer and released the results Thursday.
The
survey found that in addition to moonlighting, teachers spend an average
of 17 hours per week outside of the classtime grading papers, preparing
lessons and performing other teacher-related duties.
“Although
the weekend gives students a break from their classes and time to relax
with their families, for many teachers Saturdays and Sundays are spent
working at extra jobs and preparing for next week’s teaching duties,”
said the group’s president Noel Candelaria.
Texas ranks 26th in
teacher pay, according to 2015-2016 data from the National Education
Association. Texas teachers receive an average salary of $51,758, $6,306
below the national average. State education funding is $2,700 per
student below the national average.
Second grade teacher Helen Brough was one of four
teachers at Palm elementary in southeast Austin that was surprised by
Google ... read more
Teachers
who responded to the survey added that they spent an average $656 per
year of their own money for classroom supplies and an average $326 per
month on health insurance premiums.
The state teacher’s group
noted that lawmakers haven’t increased the $75 monthly contribution the
state makes to teacher insurance premiums in almost 15 years.
The survey also found that:
86
percent of moonlighting teachers said they wanted to quit their extra
jobs but would need a pay raise of about $9,000 to do so.
49 percent of teachers work jobs over the summer
53 percent were seriously considering leaving the teaching profession
95
percent opposed using a single test to determine whether students
should move on to the next grade. Fifth and eighth graders in Texas must
pass state standardized tests for grade promotion
A significant no confidence vote against NCLB. -Angela
May 31, 2007 Most Americans want 'No Child' law left behind
President Bush has touted education law as a major achievement, but survey shows parents disagree.
A survey of 1,010 American adults reveals that nearly two-thirds of them want Congress to rewrite or outright abolish the landmark No Child Left Behind Act that mandates nationwide testing of elementary students to determine whether public schools are performing adequately.
Controversy about the law has grown in recent months as Congress begins the debate on whether to reauthorize the measure that President Bush has touted as one of the most important achievements of his administration.
Dissent against reauthorization has developed within Bush's own party. Fifty-two Republican House members and five GOP senators are calling for a repeal of the law in favor of a more flexible system of achievement standards.
"This expensive and largely unsuccessful legislation has broadened the scope of the federal government's role in education," Mich. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, said in introducing his bill.
Only about a third of those queried in the Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University poll said they think the law has had a positive influence on public education, while slightly less than half said it has had a negative impact and a fifth were undecided.
Twenty-three percent said they want the law renewed in its current form, 14 percent want it abolished and 49 percent want it amended. Fourteen percent were undecided. Taken together, 63 percent want the law abolished or amended.
