HOUSTON FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
Please include the following to the October 6, 2010 Instructional Consultation agenda:
1. Displaced Special Education Teachers
• Reduced services for students
We recently received this communication from a teacher at Stevenson Middle School describing the effect the special education cuts have had on student services:
Four years ago those of us who teach regular classes were forced to accept special ed students along with our other students because of an "inclusion" law. This law eliminated all resource classes on the middle school level. Each cluster was assigned a special ed teacher who was to travel with the "inclusion" class through every academic class and assist with the teaching and monitoring of the special ed students in that class. Since the two teachers were let go we no longer have a teacher for each of the classes as needed. Three weeks into the first six weeks and I have yet to see the special ed teacher assigned to our cluster. The reason this concerns me is because the test scores for these students are included with all the other test scores of my students. They are not getting the services they need. This is not the fault of the special ed people themselves, but they and we are going to be held responsible for the academic performance of these students.
• Placement of Teachers
Have the remaining displace special Ed. Teachers been directed to apply for all jobs for which they are qualified? Were new teachers hired into positions that could have been filled by these teachers; if so, how many? It seems an awful waste of talent and resources to allow these teachers to be used as glorified tutors when the needs of special education children are being left unmet.
2. Professional Development
Elementary schools have received a new reading program called Reading Street. The company seems to have come in and given a very basic sales pitch.(And were told they will not come back to train unless they are paid) The teachers need intensive training because there are so many components to the program. There are workshops on E-Train, however, they are filled and wait-listed. The first question is- because of IPDP almost all workshops (including the Reading Street) are full and wait-listed. Can IPDP's be revised in the event that the wait lists never clear and members cannot attend the workshops they listed originally? Also, can additional workshops be added, particularly, for the new elementary reading, math, and bilingual/ESL texts? It is essential that they are able to understand how to use their materials.
For all teachers, because E-train is over-booked, teachers are wondering if they will be required to do PD using money from their own pockets and on their own time to accommodate the IPDP (or growth plans)? Also, how should teachers handle being told by principal that they must do PD after school or weekends because there is no money for subs?
3. Benchmark Testing
Benchmark testing is now truly out of control. Tests every three weeks will tell us nothing about student progress while taking away valuable instructional time. How can anyone believe that this constant testing is a benefit to children?
Also, at an elementary school (Garden Oaks) we were told that Kindergarten kids are being asked to take benchmark tests every three weeks. The benchmarks look and function the same way that the test does for the other kids. For several reasons this is a problem. Kinders are not ready to read and they do not know how to bubble. Teachers are having to figure out ways to get the kids to take the test and then having to bubble the sheets for the kids. They feel this is unnecessary-considering Kinder has its own assessments and it causes undo hardship. They are also worried that these benchmark scores for children who are not ready to take standardized tests-will be used against them.
4. Employee Benefits
• Worker’s Comp.
What is the status of the Worker's Comp network developed by HISD's head of Worker's Comp, Tom Dolan, and approved by the State of Texas for HISD? We have received no answers to our questions at meetings of the Benefits Committee and were told to take to take this issue to instructional consultation, despite our protests that it was the business of the Benefits Committee. Why is this being kept a secret? Our understanding is that the plan by Tom Dolan is ready to go, requires no additional, outside administrative cost, and no contracts with the network doctors. Yet HISD has sent out an RFP for the same service, with attending cost to develop the RFP and outside administration of a network by responding vendors.
• Unnecessary administrative cost s
Why is HISD Benefits paying for services that can be and sometimes are performed by HISD employees? For example, HISD is about to bring in two more infonet employees with 6 figure salaries, when the HISD Benefits Coordinators do this job. Possibly a reasonable stipend paid to the coordinators would accomplish the same goal at a much lower cost. Is this why the HISD administrative cost of health benefits has increased out of line with the economy?
• Benefits RFP
Why was the RFP for Benefits sent out with the plan design already specified instead of seeing what providers could design for HISD?
• Medical Coverage
It is insulting that HISD has chosen to advertise the changes in the medical coverage by claiming costs will be “reduced or the same for many employees”. Why not tell the whole story? We all know that the only people seeing reduced costs will be those forced out of open access by the exorbitant rate increases and the only people seeing no rate increases will be getting significantly less insurance coverage. Why not try some truth in advertising such as “Lousy insurance for all with no rate increase for some.”
5. Illegal faculty, department, & PLC meetings
A question from Sam Houston Math, Science & Technology Center:
“I have a question regarding faculty meetings & department meetings. In the past my school has had early release on Wednesdays and that is when meetings & professional development were held. We have been informed that this year all faculty & departmental meetings will be held after school. Are we required to stay past our official sign out time? “
In response to numerous complaints, an HFT Staff Representative wrote the following to principals in her assigned schools:
Dear Principals,
I have gotten several phone calls with complaints from Teachers on several campuses. They say that they are being made to participate in PLC, IPDP Conversations, Department meetings, Professional Development and Cluster meetings during their planning time.
They are being told by the Principal or the Principal's designee that, the aforementioned are mandatory and will be held during a teacher's planning time. This is a violation of TEC 21.404; which states plainly that during planning and Preparation time, a teacher may not be required to participate in any other activity. Further, in decisions spanning more than 20 Years, the Commissioner of Education has held that the statute provides the individual teacher with complete discretion over how to use this time.
Clearly the memo sent last month was ignored by many building level administrators. What effective steps will the district do to ensure that the law is followed? Remember, we are now in a no excuses accepted culture.
6. Disciplinary memos
This is a wide spread issue that has been going on for year:
Administrators can write up teachers and place memos in their files with impunity. HISD has said for a few years that, even if the allegations in the memo are proved false, it cannot be removed from the teacher's file, but the teacher has the right to respond and have that response attached. TEC also says responses should be attached to documents. However, when teacher's files are presented at hearings, to the teacher, or in file review, and when teachers go to see their files, their responses are not attached and not in their file, even when their response explicitly stated “Attach this to all copies of your memorandum, wherever sent or situated”. The latest concerns a teacher who has moved to SHS but the memos were generated at Westbury.
7. Nurses & Chancery
Immunization non-compliance reports are still not correct and this has been ongoing since Chancery was implemented—5 years ago? This was taken to consultation monthly for at least two years and followed up with meeting after meeting. It is our understanding that Chancery does not, and cannot ever, follow the state immunization requirements and nurses should always expect a 2-5% error rate.
• Will Chancery reports ever be correct with no errors?
• Are these delinquencies being reported to the state and city health departments as delinquencies, even though they are really errors due to the report?
• Are nurses now being held accountable for immunization errors on these reports?
• Have principals been notified that these reports are not correct and that there is an acknowledged 2-5% error rate?
• Nurses are reporting to HFT that they are required to compare the reports with the immunization data entered on Chancery for each individual student in order to correct the reports. This takes hours of time, especially on campuses with large numbers of students.
• Who interprets and corrects this data on campuses without a nurse or full time nurse?
• Teachers do not use Chancery for grades—they use Gradespeed. Why are nurses still being required to use Chancery for health data after 5 years of documented errors and hours of time? Other districts that started with Chancery for their health data gave up on it and now utilize a different system in order to preserve the integrity of their health data and respect for their nurse’s time. Why can’t HISD?
8. Field Trips
Apparently this year, teachers have to fill out a 15 page request to take students on a field trip, turn it in to HISD three weeks ahead of time, and wait for approval. Problems:
• Teachers often do not have over a month of notice of special program offers from local museums and venues for student field trips.
• This long lead time does not leave them adequate time to them plan, get parental approval, and collect admission/bus fare, some of which has to be sent ahead of time.
• The request included their having to list all activities and attach copies of things when often, the museum does that and teachers do not have access to all this information three weeks ahead of time, they just get the broad outline and the venue is in charge and plans activities.
• Why has this been centralized? Was there some concern that principals were approving inappropriate field trips? Field trips are extremely important for students, especially those from title one schools where students do not otherwise have exposure to the experiences of a fine arts performance or the science museum.
9. School staff cuts due to under-enrollment.
HFT is getting calls from teachers who have been told that the school is under-enrolled and their position is being cut. Many if not most are being sent work in HISD charter schools. They are told that they will work extra days due to the school's extended year and some Saturdays. However, they are not being told that they will be paid for this extra time. These teachers signed a contract with HISD for a certain number of days. If they are being told they have to work extra days, this needs to be at their regular rate of pay. In addition, teachers who cannot work the extra day and would not have applied to these jobs due to family obligations, should not be told they cannot turn down the job.
Another issue is the signing bonus that some of these teachers were promised for coming to work for HISD. These bonuses need to be honored or this may constitute a breech of contract by HISD. That also begs the question of why HISD promised "critical shortage" bonuses to teachers, and now say they have too many!
