Post by darthvader20 on Mar 5, 2014 15:01:35 GMT -5
I receive emailed updates daily from the Texas American Federation of Teachers Hotline. I couldn't give a rats azz about what political party you favor. That isn't an issue to me, especially in state and local races. I've seen many things that scare me about what some of these snake legislators have been doing behind the scenes. I can't simply read this stuff anymore so I'm going to start posting some of it. If you are a teacher, coach or a fan of Texas High School extra-curricular activities, you need to read this. The attack is real and you need to be aware. If we don't stay hyper vigilant, we will look up in 10 years and our beloved high school football will have a very different look to it....IF it still exists. Just thinking of the MANY traditions/programs that these guys are attempting to invade makes me want to fight...right now!
Before you say the "sky isn't falling" yet....this is just the first step they're after.
TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014
Something Ugly This Way Comes—Proposed “Home Rule” Takeover of Dallas ISD
While we await the results of Tuesday’s primary elections (which we will cover in upcoming Hotlines), we have troubling news to report out of Dallas. For today, we will let this March 3 press statement from Rena Honea, president of our big Alliance-AFT affiliate in Dallas ISD, tell the story, which is one of statewide importance:
Push for home-rule charter is power grab that threatens public school quality and parental rights
The Dallas ISD School Board will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. to discuss a petition drive aiming to establish a home-rule charter for the district, a move that would endanger many of the quality safeguards and parental rights currently provided by state law.
The petition drive—being funded and pushed by John Arnold, a former Enron trader and hedge fund manager—would seek a November ballot initiative for a home-rule charter, a status allowed under a 1995 state law that never has been implemented in Texas.
“The proponents of this horrible idea are trying to say it will provide flexibility, which in reality means that corporate interests will seek to turn our neighborhood schools into privately operated charter schools with no accountability to the public,” said Rena Honea, president of Alliance-AFT, which represents Dallas ISD school employees.
Honea noted that districts under home rule can kill off class-size limits for most K-4 classrooms, eliminate teachers’ contracts, wipe out parents’ and students’ and teachers’ rights to due process in student discipline, and much more. In fact, she said, the entire parental-rights chapter of the Education Code would no longer apply, including parents’ rights to see what their kids are being taught. Accountability to the community through an elected board also could be eliminated.
“This is a power grab, pure and simple,” Honea said. “The home-rule charter is part of a plan to underfund our schools, declare them a failure, and contract out to private operators the control of our neighborhood schools, disenfranchising parents and community stakeholders and deprofessionalizing teaching. This initiative ultimately is for profit, not for kids.”
Honea said that if the real goal is sensible flexibility to achieve campus improvement, there’s a better way to do it. In contrast to the false “home rule” version of parental and community empowerment, there is an authentic version elsewhere in the Texas Education Code’s chapter on charters.
Under Section 12.052, a majority of parents and a majority of teachers at a campus acting together are empowered to petition their school board for an in-district charter campus, without having to forgo any of the educational quality standards and safeguards in the Education Code. The local school board may not unreasonably deny the petition under Section 12.052.
“This model has worked well in San Antonio ISD in more than a dozen schools and also in Austin ISD, where it has fostered collaboration with community partners to support school innovation and improvement,” Honea said. “It provides real parental empowerment and retains local, democratic control of public schools.”
Honea said parents shouldn’t be fooled by the name of the organization sponsoring the petition drive—Support our Public Schools. “We will be educating the public on the true intent behind this petition, and how stripping away public control and quality safeguards like class-size limits will harm our schoolchildren,” she said.
Before you say the "sky isn't falling" yet....this is just the first step they're after.
TEXAS AFT LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014
Something Ugly This Way Comes—Proposed “Home Rule” Takeover of Dallas ISD
While we await the results of Tuesday’s primary elections (which we will cover in upcoming Hotlines), we have troubling news to report out of Dallas. For today, we will let this March 3 press statement from Rena Honea, president of our big Alliance-AFT affiliate in Dallas ISD, tell the story, which is one of statewide importance:
Push for home-rule charter is power grab that threatens public school quality and parental rights
The Dallas ISD School Board will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. to discuss a petition drive aiming to establish a home-rule charter for the district, a move that would endanger many of the quality safeguards and parental rights currently provided by state law.
The petition drive—being funded and pushed by John Arnold, a former Enron trader and hedge fund manager—would seek a November ballot initiative for a home-rule charter, a status allowed under a 1995 state law that never has been implemented in Texas.
“The proponents of this horrible idea are trying to say it will provide flexibility, which in reality means that corporate interests will seek to turn our neighborhood schools into privately operated charter schools with no accountability to the public,” said Rena Honea, president of Alliance-AFT, which represents Dallas ISD school employees.
Honea noted that districts under home rule can kill off class-size limits for most K-4 classrooms, eliminate teachers’ contracts, wipe out parents’ and students’ and teachers’ rights to due process in student discipline, and much more. In fact, she said, the entire parental-rights chapter of the Education Code would no longer apply, including parents’ rights to see what their kids are being taught. Accountability to the community through an elected board also could be eliminated.
“This is a power grab, pure and simple,” Honea said. “The home-rule charter is part of a plan to underfund our schools, declare them a failure, and contract out to private operators the control of our neighborhood schools, disenfranchising parents and community stakeholders and deprofessionalizing teaching. This initiative ultimately is for profit, not for kids.”
Honea said that if the real goal is sensible flexibility to achieve campus improvement, there’s a better way to do it. In contrast to the false “home rule” version of parental and community empowerment, there is an authentic version elsewhere in the Texas Education Code’s chapter on charters.
Under Section 12.052, a majority of parents and a majority of teachers at a campus acting together are empowered to petition their school board for an in-district charter campus, without having to forgo any of the educational quality standards and safeguards in the Education Code. The local school board may not unreasonably deny the petition under Section 12.052.
“This model has worked well in San Antonio ISD in more than a dozen schools and also in Austin ISD, where it has fostered collaboration with community partners to support school innovation and improvement,” Honea said. “It provides real parental empowerment and retains local, democratic control of public schools.”
Honea said parents shouldn’t be fooled by the name of the organization sponsoring the petition drive—Support our Public Schools. “We will be educating the public on the true intent behind this petition, and how stripping away public control and quality safeguards like class-size limits will harm our schoolchildren,” she said.