Things have to get better with a new President, right?

I certainly hope so. I'm exhausted from the number of volunteers hours I clocked in after work and on the weekends. It was the most exciting Presidential election I have ever voted or participated in. I was truly inspired by the number of citizens voting in this past election. Hopefully we keep it up!

Now that the election is over with, what's next? Repeal the NCLB? Fix it? Either way, we will need to be INVOLVED in the process as much as we were in the campaign. How about starting with a face to face meeting with our local congressional representatives? Anyone interested in coming with me? I am sure that our local congressional delegation needs to be reminded of our experiences with performance pay, --since that is an area that our new President is open to..

Looks like our local political position has improved, but there are some issue that even our traditional friends aren't the best votes on...such as school safety. I read parent responses from a local newpaper blog regarding school choice. It seems many magnet parents transfer their kids for the same reason so many put them in private school-- Bullying, Gangs and perceived lack of safety. It is imperative that we get it right on that issue and taking away the teacher's right to remove a chronically disruptive or violent student is a step in the wrong direction. There will be an important forum on the topic in December that all teachers should attend. Details to follow.

Way to go Wretha! National Recognition for Relief at the Gas Pump.

HESP President Wretha Thomas has been receiving interview requests to talk about a plan the AFT local representing custodian, food-service and transportation workers proposed and subsequently got passed through the school board that gives a $250.00 bonus intended to offset gas prices.

Employees in the district making $30,000.00 and below will receive the additional money. The HFT also supported this plan to help defray gas costs for our paraprofessional unit. Teacher assistants, clerks and other members of the HFT unit meeting the guidelines will also be eligible for this assistance. Check out the article below....

Houston Affiliate Secures $250 in Gas Money for School Workers
The AFT local representing school support workers in Houston is leading the country in obtaining relief from spiking gas prices. Houston's school board on June 26 approved a plan to give employees who make less than $30,000 a year a one-time stipend of $250 to help pay for gas. The relief will cost $2.85 million and cover 10,000 of the district's 30,000 employees. The lowest salary for teachers in Houston is $42,000, so they won't be eligible for the bonus.
The plan is the brainchild of Wretha Thomas, president of the Houston Educational Support Personnel, who originally approached the superintendent proposing a $500 supplement that could cover gas costs for much of the fall. A $250 bonus still may be able to cover a few fill-ups in September and part of October, she says, until the district can implement a vanpool program to get employees to work.
"The way I look at it, if gas gets so high, they're not going to be able to drive to work," Thomas says. "It's something we've got to face up front."
With gas apparently headed for $5 or $6 per gallon and the typical bus driver or food service worker earning $8 or $9 an hour, Thomas is concerned that school operations could grind to a halt. Nationwide, gas prices are averaging about $4 a gallon this week, and the cost already is eating up a third of many workers' paychecks.
Thomas can't see Houston idling its 2,000 buses and having children walk to school as a viable alternative. AFT research director Jewell Gould adds that while this is true for schools almost everywhere, it's particularly true in Houston, where there is no zoning and children would have to cross large distances, industrial areas and busy highways to walk to school.
"It's going to be a crisis," Thomas says. "The school districts are going to hit rock bottom if they don't put something in place. But we can all jump in on this because we've got to keep America moving." [Annette Licitra, Associated Press]
July 2, 2008

Board Vote Today...Hope Erika is Right!

If you caught Erika Mellon's article on the budget (http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2008_4589610), then you noticed the positive response we have received from at least four of our trustees. We should all recognize the quality leadership exemplified by board members that prove priorty one is to attract and retain high quality tachers: Carol Mims Galloway, Paula Harris, Larry Marshall, and Greg Meyers (Manuel Rodriguez has been supportive of the raise during board workshops).

If you live in their district, please make sure you watch the vote today and send them a big thank you for being LEADERS on this issue.

It looks like Natasha Kamrani, Diane Johnson, and Harvin Moore are moving to vote against the budget. Does that give you a clear picture of where you stand on the priority list? Keep those contacts coming if you live in those districts. I know that I will be watching from a far to see what vote my board trustee takes.

Last and best chance to reach them would be to send a note to sharris12@houstonisd.org. Ask her to forward to your chosen board member.

If you aren't working today it might be a good idea to witness the discussion in the board auditorium today.

Budget Vote Begins to Heat Up...

The superintendent is standing by his position to bring to the table a 3% raise plus a step for the teacher salary schedule. This Thursday the board will vote to approve the budget, vote it down, or make changes at the table.

Several of the board members have been discussing the need to add more money to the school budget for items other than salary by increasing the PUA (per unit/student allocation), possibly at the expense of a step for every teacher. That sounds like a good use for the money upon first glance, however I am still skeptical for a few reasons.

First, stuff doesn't teach children people do. Nothing has more of an impact on the education of our students than being taught by a high-quality teacher.

Second, HISD is putting a large amount of money (tens of millions) into non-salaried items such as library improvements, stadium upgrades, and other improvements to campuses which should help with improvements to areas identified as in the most need.

Third, our decision-making system is too dysfunctional to increase the amount of money spent by campuses without appropriate oversight.

I could be wrong, but I would venture to guess that only about half of our campuses actually have a functioning SDMC (shared decision-making committee) . You and I know that ultimately one person decides how funds are spent. Where you have a good leader things are fine, but we also know that cronyism is alive and well. That is when dictatorial leadership styles begin to manifest themselves in the worst way.

Spending our money to keep and attract great teachers is the best use of funds. I would agree that we could work on the PUA, but only after we have worked on how schools are run. Only when REAL SDMC's that include teachers, school employees, parents and community members are actually allowed to see the budget and have meaningful input into how those funds are spent should we make increases in campus spending.

Tell your board member to take a stand for attracting and retaining highly-qualified teachers by voting for the 3% plus step and to fix the SDMC before increasing the PUA.

Not so fast with that 3% plus step raise...

Yeah, that's right! Hold on just a minute if you thought that the HISD Salary for 08-09 was a done deal. Despite the fact that the budget recommendation submitted by the superintendent included the raise and step, several board members asked the administration to bring other "options" to the table.

The official report published in the Houston Chronicle was that some wanted to see more "creativity" in the salary budget.

I attended the board workshop where those options were presented. I saw proposals that left 2% in the salary schedule freeing approximately six million dollars to be used elsewhere. Melinda Garrett, Chief Financial Officer, stated that amount of money could be used to increase the maximum performance award to about 9k.

It could also be used to increase the PUA (per unit allocation) that determines how much funding a campus has available to fund everything other than salaries. That seemed like priority one for Diane Johnson, pos. 5 board member.

Larry Marshall, pos. 9 board member was the most supportive of passing the superintendent's proposed budget and therefore the 3% plus a step for the teacher schedule. Manny Rodriguez, pos. 3 board member was also very supportive of the recommended budget. He stated to other board members that the last two years they have concentrated on performance pay and now it was time to concentrate on the base pay for all teachers.

It was clear they both understood that keeping a competitive salary schedule was necessary to keeping qualified teachers in the district's classrooms.

My board member's contribution, Natasha Kamrani (pos. 1), was to ask when we would start a discussion about how salaries, in whatever form, impact student achievement. She stated to me in a clarification e-mail that she would be willing to support much higher salary schedules if it could be proved that they impact student achievement.

Well, we are on a mission to do just that. Research states that the teacher is the most important factor when considering student achievement. Further, research has proven that fully qualified, experienced teachers are most effective in the classroom and best able to impact student achievement. A study of teacher turnover rates for the past several years is under way. Be sure to look for that report on the HFT web page some time in the future. If the facts fall out where we think, then be ready to help us hold my board member to her word!

Here is another piece of anecdotal data that suburban districts have found out-- let HISD spend the money on training the new teaching force and let the new teachers cut their teeth in HISD schools. Put the money we saved into the base salary for teachers in the 6-8 year.

Hey, you can't blame them. Why wouldn't you let someone else absorb the learning curve and the price tag for training, especially if HISD isn't going to make the salary attractive enough to keep them once they actually learn how to teach!

The one thing that we know and HISD hasn't figured out is that they are going to have to pay a premium to keep the teachers at those step levels. They depend on the emotional commitment our teachers have to their schools to keep them in the classrooms. (Though a good principal is just as important a factor to keeping teachers in schools)

The "heartstrings factor" is being strained to the point of breaking by the grocery bill, gas bill, and their own child care bill. Let's see- more money to teach in an easier assignment that is closer to home and their own kids??? Hmm- I wonder what the exodus levels will be by August?