November 6, 2008 Consultation

HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Please include the following to the November 6, 2008 Instructional Consultation agenda:

1. Violations of laws, policies, & regulations

This is the third time, since the start of the school year, that we have brought this item into consultation:

· Classes should be balanced early and class sizes should adhere to legal limits where a law applies and reasonable limits where there is no legal mandate.
· Lesson plans exist to facilitate instruction. They are not a vehicle to document that every imaginable rule or regulation is being followed. The law requires plans to be “brief and general”. Let’s follow the law.
· All teacher’s are entitled to 30 minutes of duty-free lunch periods.
· All teacher’s are entitled to 450 minutes planning time during a 10 day period. That planning time belongs to the teacher and there can be no assigned duty during that time.
· The teacher contract specifies a 187 day work year. Those days are approved by the Board of Education when the calendar is adopted. There can be no required duty beyond the contract year.
· The length of the teacher workday is 7 hours and 45 minutes.
· All employees are entitled to all supplies necessary to do their jobs.
· There must be an elected Shared Decision Making Committee in place and actually functioning.

We have probably left some important issues off of the list, but the point is that these laws and policies exist to facilitate and improve instruction. Employees who demand that these policies be followed have the best interests of the students, the school, and HISD at heart. They certainly should never be subject to administrative retaliation or made to feel that they are not team players. Common decency is still a core value of HISD.

Whatever the central administration is doing to communicated these concerns to the regions, feeder patterns, and schools is ineffective. Whatever the central administration is doing to enforce laws and policies governing the above issues is ineffective. The Federation constantly receives complaints regarding these issues. It is not one region, one feeder patter, or one school. They pop-up all over. The Federation looks at consultation as a problem solving process. These problems have not been solved. Nearly all of these issues are grievable. We can tie up the grievance process and file each time there is a violation but that seems to be a waste of everyone’s time and resources. What will the central administration do to force the regional, feeder pattern , a school based administration to comply with laws and policies?

2. Excessive Paperwork

This must be added to our above list because it has once again become a widespread problem and not just confined to excessive lesson plan requirements. We have attached a copy of TEC § 11.164. RESTRICTING WRITTEN INFORMATION to be included in the minutes.

3. Administrative retaliation against employees who demand the district follow laws, policies, & procedures.

We will give a specific example of this retaliation at the meeting

4. Using school employees to direct traffic

This problem continues. It is dangerous and is a violation of city ordinance and is an activity that the school district/employees have no immunity (anything involving a motor vehicle). The latest complaint we have received comes from Field Elementary where employees are required to stand in the street directing traffic.

5. School Improvement Facilitators

What is the status of these employees? Are they administrators? Some schools use them almost as assistant principals including the assessment of teachers. Others use them to support instruction. Are they all paid on the teacher salary schedule?

6. ASPIRE

What is the purpose of the series of tests employees are being required to take regarding ASPIRE? Will failure to take or pass these tests affect the ASPIRE award? Why are professionals being tested in the first place? These are very time consuming, take away from lesson preparation, and don’t appear to enhance instruction and student learning in any way.

7. Food in the classroom

We have an old problem appearing again. It seems that schools are once again requiring students to eat breakfast and lunch in teachers classrooms. This is unsanitary and unhealthy. It also requires the classroom teacher to clean up messes. This is time consuming and takes away from instruction. The specific complaint came from Helms Elementary.

8. Funeral Leave

Current Policy:

Regular employees eligible for the comprehensive leave program
may receive funeral leave and be absent without loss of pay and
without deduction from their accrued leave in the case of death of a
spouse, child, parent, current parent-in-law, or any person residing
in the employee’s home at the time of death, for a period not to exceed
three days per occurrence.

The Federation requests that sibling be included in the above list.


§ 11.164. RESTRICTING WRITTEN INFORMATION.

(a) The board of trustees of each school district shall limit redundant requests for information and the number and length of written
reports that a classroom teacher is required to prepare. A classroom teacher may not be required to prepare any written information other than:
(1) any report concerning the health, safety, or welfare of a student;
(2) a report of a student's grade on an assignment or examination;
(3) a report of a student's academic progress in a class or course;
(4) a report of a student's grades at the end of each grade reporting period;
(5) a textbook report;
(6) a unit or weekly lesson plan that outlines, in a brief and general manner, the information to be presented during each period at the secondary level or in each subject or topic at the elementary level;
(7) an attendance report;
(8) any report required for accreditation review;
(9) any information required by a school district that relates to a complaint, grievance, or actual or potential litigation and that requires the classroom teacher's involvement; or
(10) any information specifically required by law, rule, or regulation.

(b) The board of trustees shall review paperwork requirements imposed on classroom teachers and shall transfer to existing noninstructional staff a reporting task that can reasonably be accomplished by that staff.
(c) This section does not preclude a school district from collecting essential information, in addition to information specified under Subsection (a), from a classroom teacher on agreement between the classroom teacher and the district.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1320, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 201, § 6, eff. Sept. 1,
2003.