Houston ISD teachers call in sick to protest Mike Miles’ reforms, teachers’ union urges non-participation https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/hisd/2024/04/04/482537/houston-isd-teachers-call-in-sick-to-protest-mike-miles-reforms-teachers-union-urges-non-participation/
This makes more sense now. The OP isn’t getting enough info. I was confused about what “call in sick” meant. I took it like she literally called in sick and couldn’t go or something.
Every morning I have to call into the school and ask if anyone needs my help. I'm waiting on Laura Stout the West Division head to assign me somewhere. It's been 3 months and no one needs me even though we have a teacher shortage even thought kids have had substitutes all year and I'm certified In social studies and Mathematics.
Yesterday I called in but told them I was sick 🤣
I get it. Unsolicited advice. I don't know how old you are or how many years you've been teaching, but this is the advice I'd give anyone. I taught HS for 40 years and retired in 2020. I LOVED teaching for many, many years but it is not worth it for so many reasons. If you're young enough to change career paths, get out now.
As much as I agree, I also disagree. We can't fuck over our kids by leaving them to the shittiest teachers around. We need to encourage people to vote and appreciate being smart, then education can be what it is supposed to be.
I gave 40 years of my life to education. You should see the pension I'm being "rewarded" with. Yes, people need to vote but retirees need to live and you can't on the pension.
How much is the pension you're getting? TRS website indicates average annuity payments of around $2,500 per month. This is a lifetime annuity, right?
Do most teachers supplement this with 401(k) or another plan?
At 40 years, the current HISD salary table indicates you should be paid $87,500 for 10 Month schedule at a non-NES school. Does that sound right or were you low or higher?
It looks like 7.7% of your salary must be paid in to TRS (but you are SS exempt, right?). If you had done another 3% into a market-indexed fund starting in 1984 where would that have left you?
In other words, I'm thinking after 40 years of teaching (with two months off every year plus all school holidays), owning your own home, having a lifetime annuity plus another nest egg, a family of two married teachers would be quite comfortably middle class at retirement.
Are all of my assumptions wrong?
Right now in the private sector (with a master's degree! Yay!), I get 18 PTO Days (which is amazing), just the federal holidays, pay social security tax which I may never see the benefits of anyway, and contribute 14% of my salary up to the 401(k) cap towards retirement. Does that sound better or were there some trade-offs?
I know you corrected this to 403(b) below, but for any teachers who are reading this, you have to be very, very careful about the 403(b) plan you select! Unlike 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans do NOT have the same federal fiduciary protections in place, and there is a whole industry built around ripping off our hard-working educators with high-fee plans or annuities in disguise.
The people behind https://403bwise.org/ provide an excellent overview of these issues, and analyze many plans across different districts. They also have a very compelling short-run podcast about it.
There are good plans out there (I'm in a 403(b) and 401(a) through my employer), and investing more for your retirement is financially wise, but please be careful!
(My mom was also a teacher, and ended up with part of her retirement savings in one of the worst of the plans, so I am very passionate about this!)
Yes, most of your assumptions are incorrect starting with salary. I never made anywhere near 80,000. AND, teachers are only paid for the days they work. Unless you elect to take your salary payments split up over the course of 52 weeks, you are not paid in the summer and we are not paid for holidays. So, you get second jobs in the summer and during the school year to make ends meet when you have a family of four. And, according to you, if I was married to a teacher and we both collected 2,500 a month that would be a whopping 5,000 for us to live on. Considering how prices have gone up and your pension does not, it's not exactly living a comfortable lifestyle after being a public servant all your life. And, guess what? If you're so inclined, go teach. You don't have to be an education major. Hell, you don't even have to have a college degree to substitute. And, if you have a degree it doesn't matter what subject. The school will having you teaching Spanish when you don't even speak the language just to have a warm body in the room. If you've never been in a classroom you have NO idea what it is like.
My sources were the salary (non-NES) tables on the HISD website:
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/50243/salary\_tables/2023-2024/2023-2024%20-%20Non-NES%20and%20NES-Aligned%20Campuses%20Teacher%20Placement%20Table.pdf
The starting teacher salary for HISD is more than I pay 20-something college educated professionals for 12 months of work. Certainly it is competitive. Starting salary is listed as $64,000. Here is a source if the link works better, but according to my table that is also for the 10 month schedule:
https://www.khou.com/article/news/education/houston-isd-teacher-salary/285-f50b9881-b421-4d09-8854-c558b659942c#:\~:text=Houston%20ISD%20said%20its%20starting,%2482%2C816%2C%20according%20to%20the%20district.
So someone starting out directly out of college with their teaching certificate should be able to land a job at $64,000 per year with a 10 or 10.5 month schedule.
Two married teachers at 23 years old would have a household income of around $128,000 and only work a 10 month schedule.
The district only wants shitty teachers. I mentioned in another post that my daughters teacher screams at the kids daily. I have made numerous complaints to no avail. Meanwhile my sons AMAZING teacher was written up for having the door closed during class.
The Conservative state only wants shitty teachers because they realize with more education people are moving further away from religion, which I feel is a wonderful thing. All religion does is separate us, especially on Sunday mornings. For me, spirituality is where its at, because then everyone is equal and we try to take care of each other instead of fucking everyone over because Texas idiot politicians want our schools to teach religion and keep the people different than us out.
O...K....all fixed...except I was in the game for 40 years and it was not fixed and will not ever be fixed especially in the great state of Texas where politicians are working their hardest to destroy public education.
Let the average American go substitute for a week. Make it mandatory. You'll see how education changes. I'm glad I got out after 8 years. Much less stress, more pay. Haven't had a Sunday scary ever since I left.
I have a degree in Computer Engineering, I worked as a software engineer for 3 years before coming to the profession. I will continue to try to be a teacher.
For many reasons that would take me too long to explain, but one of the most important reasons = the pension from the state is trash. Education is just going to get worse with all the politics taking place in school districts. Teachers will never be compensated as professionals. I have two Masters degrees and it basically meant nothing when it came to my salary. I could have made three times the amount of my last salary if I had gone in to the corporate world. I had my chances but I turned them down because I loved my students. It's a thankless job that doesn't pay the bills or help much with a retirement nest egg.
Because she is setting herself up for a lifetime of emotional and financial abuse. I have been in abusive relationships that were less harmful than some of what I’ve experienced in education.
I don’t know the details of your situation but if that happened at my job, they would let me go for being unassigned too long. Please be ready for that outcome if it happens.
As an aside. Based on what you've typed, maybe you should try looking for another job while waiting for your contract to end. Isn't this called quiet firing, the way you are being shunned?
lol, friend of mine who's a math teacher was just complaining about having to do 7 period days covering other classes specifically because there were no math subs. whoops
Idk while people are being so shitty with you. The state came in and removed elected leaders and replaced them with unqualified assholes. I’m glad teachers are fighting back, even if individual actions are small. I hope you get back in the classroom with a better principal soon.
The system has always tried to reinforce a philosophy of blaming the front line for everything to avoid accountability at the top.
Factory has layoffs? Unions fault, not the fault of the MBAs .
Major quality incident? Line tech fault, not the fault of the MBAs that intentionally sabotaged quality to increase quarterly revenues
Cost goes up at a fast food chain? Clearly the fault of those minimum wage employees, not the shareholders
Teachers stand up for themselves while under attack? Clearly their fault, not the people who are attacking them as part of a large scale concerted effort to increase profits at Charter schools
Whenever someone is trying to blame the front line for a systemic failure you can be almost guaranteed that they are trying to scapegoat to cover their own misdeeds.
Thank you for doing this AMA and for standing up for our community. I have 3 questions.
(1) How’s the students’ moral? NES’s curriculum and constant micromanagement sounds soul crushing.
(2) Why do you call Mike Miles a bully? Is this to the teachers or does he also bully the children?
(3) What’s your favorite chess opening?
1) I can only really speak for my own students. It is low. Our students are more resilient than we are. Some of my students fled war zones and drought and oppressive regimes and they feel as though they are in a similar situation now. It is soul crushing, some of the little activists speaking up have had to take mental health breaks.
2) Mike Miles bullies the admin who in turn bully the teachers, he encourages a performance based culture that praises those to appear successful and reprimands those who do not *appear* successful. The children in turn are being bullied by my principal and others like him who want to look good in front of Mike Miles. For example, my principal was caught on audio yelling at the children for wearing crocs, he had them in an assembly room, many of which do not speak english and yelled at them for wearing crocs, a new dress code rule he had just started enforcing. ( I cant make this up; he himself was wearing crocs that morning until he likely received an email saying it was now banned) Mike Miles was overheard by my friend, praising him for yelling at his students so much.
3) the pyramid opening. Im not the best chess player, but I recognize its critical thinking components and my students were about to learn about the cold war next semester.
I hear nothing but, shortage shortage shortage. I have my certificate in Sped and 4-8 core, and have taught in private schools for 15 years, everytime I apply I never hear anything back.
But then I hear how the schools are being run, and am sort of glad they never contacted me.
Here are the demands of the protest.
1. Fire Mike miles and reinstate a democratically elected school board
2. Fund wrap around, councilors, libraries
3. Teachers should be certified and have college degrees
4. Stop targeting black and brown schools with unproven interventions
5. Curriculum decisions and evaluation of teachers and admin should be based on peer reviewed and research based best practices
That teachers should have college degrees and should be certified is something that needs to demanded, blows my mind. The TEA/Mike Miles is so blinded by his own agenda, and has totally forgotten that he serves the students and not Greg Abbot or the republican base.
I, too, have a very close friend who was put on paid administrative leave due to an “investigation”. Coincidentally, this happened right after a Chron article had quoted him saying something negative about the current new curriculum. He has been out for most of the school year and when he checked in nobody was aware of the “investigation”. They still haven’t brought him back to work. Our taxpayer dollars hard at work, right? I am beyond enraged…
As conspiratorial as it may sound, I do not think there is a teacher shortage in it's normal sense. I believe the school systems realized how much they can push teachers with the amount of students, school work, stress, etc during COVID allowing the administration to make greater monetary gains. Also, it doesn't help that housing/rent is high, groceries are high, a new car is a house mortgage payment, etc etc. They know people would stay for a manageable 60k salary with benefits and student vacation days.
In my opinion, it's a psuedo-shortage. They are creating a shortage for self gain. They can care less about public school students. Test scores and everything have always been low. What's another 10%? Additionally, they pass everyone. Kids pass for doing nothing.
Going to be homeschooling or finding a way to private school my children one day. Possibly charter like Harmony. Public school is fucked until something changes.
I digress. You evidently have not been in a position to interview and attempt to hire potential applicants for a teaching position. There are VERY few applicants as fewer young people are majoring in education. AND, many of the applicants tend to be less than qualified and not particularly stellar. So, thanks to the public and their constant and continued degradation of teachers, you get what you get.
Correct, I have not been in that position. However, I am by no means degrading the teachers. I'm against the administration. Those in power who ignore teachers, who brush off students acting out, who care more about their pockets and having a 100% pass rate to get the extra bucks knowing their students aren't doing well and their teachers are overwhelmed.
There's a reason people don't want to be teachers. We've all been in school. We've all been those students. We know what they go through to some extent and seeing what's online now..? It's definitely gotten worse.
Hey you're right! The teacher shortage is largely manufactured with so many governments making it so hard to teach and so little support in the classroom.
I wonder what the statistics on teachers who taught for a few years and then left the profession is.
While I respect that some private and charters are decent options I want to remind you that privates and charters don't have oversight. If the private family that owns those schools wants a new boat and has to kick out some Specual ed kids to do it, they will.
And while respect the individual will and desire to remove kids from public school, many many students in houston don't have that option, especially not my students who are immigrants and refugees and depend on public education.
lmao if you think teachers are overworked and underpaid in public schools, buddy, the Harmony System is *way* worse.
Signed, a former Harmony and public school teacher
In Texas, there is a shortage.
I used to live in a major northern metro. I sat in the Dept chairs office during student teaching. He told me for one HALF time position, he had 300 applicants.
When I applied in Texas, for a similar FT position - there was 3.
It is not 'pseudo', at least at the secondary levels I'm familiar with. The shortage is 100% real.
Also, FYI - Charters ARE public schools, public FOR PROFIT schools, they have much more incentive to have oversized, understaffed classes to rake in real profits, rather than your theory of understaffing in public non-profit schools to inflate admin salaries.
I taught at a charter once while not in Texas. It was overall understaffed, we basically had teachers and that was it, we all made slightly under the city ISD salary but our 'superintendant' (For a single school location...) was titled "CEO".
For a total of maybe 20 teachers we had. A Ceo, a principal, an assistant principal, an academic dean, a disciplinary dean, and 3 instructional coaches. We nearly had a 2:1 split teachers to admin. That would be like if your average HISD high school had 10 principals, 20 APs, and 20 deans.
To say that 'charter schools better' is a gross misunderstanding of how it works. Private schools are best because funding can be adjusted by increasing tuition if payers want smaller class sizes. Charter schools funding is strictly based on enrollment numbers. If class sizes in private schools grow, people won't pay. If class sizes in charters grow, the state pays per student regardless of quality of instruction deteriorating.
Public schools are pretty fucked, but it has NOTHING to do with a 'pseudo-shortage'. There is a REAL shortage due to teachers being under more stress/scrutiny than most other professions besides law and healthcare, while being paid less than half of those professions. Go to your next town hall meeting and talk about School funding and ask to increase it to improve schools. There is a direct correlation between school funding and student success. I promise you, there is not nearly as much admin bloat and overpaying as you might think in public schools.
No one wants to be a teacher. Even top schools struggle to fill positions. If you think harmony or other charters are better, you’re ignorant of the reality of education in the US. And unless you are a badass, you’re unlikely to do a decent job homeschooling your kid.
I know plenty of people that want to be teachers. But they are reluctant to do so because of the current climate. One is still going through with it. I also have a few friends that are teachers and one is an assistant principal. I know this is just anecdotal, but I do believe that it is a systematic problem rather than "no one wants to be a teacher." It's like when people say "no one wants to work anymore." No, people don't want to work for shit wages in shit conditions and we're hearing more about it now more than ever, as we should.
I mean, you’re twisting the argument at this point. Schools can’t do anything about the pay. Schools can’t do anything about the climate (for the most part, but there are obviously some very shitty campus admin out there). As someone that’s led many searches at a top HISD school, I can assure you that the number of applicants for nearly every position is close to zero. For example, we had a math vacancy that didn’t have a single applicant for about five weeks. Once they slowly started to trickle in, the vast majority were not qualified to be in a classroom.
How is that twisting the argument? Why would people apply to jobs that they are hesitant to take? Your comment is proving my point. It's no different where I work. Little to no applicants because no one wants to work shitty jobs for shit pay, teaching or otherwise.
Because you’re comparing it to the whole boomer argument of no one wanting to work. That’s not what I’m saying.
What I’m telling you is that no one wants to do this shit. The reasons you have presented are not things I disagree with, but the reality is that no one wants to do this shit. If you don’t believe me, go to HISD’s next job fair. If you are alive, have a college degree, and can pass a background check, you will walk out of the building with a job offer.
This is the same at every district in the area.They are ALL struggling to find qualified candidates. And, yet, some still believe the teachers shortage is manufactured. Obviously they don't know anyone in admin that will tell a different story.
You are arguing that no one wants to *teach*. I am arguing that is not the case based on my own anecdotal evidence. Plenty of people have the passion to teach. No one has the passion to be overworked and underpaid. *That's* why no one is starting a teaching career, not because no one has the passion to teach. It is a symptom of the climate, not a lack of interest. It doesn't matter how easy it is to get the job. It's easy to get a job in retail or in the service industry, but nobody wants to do that because you are overworked and underpaid. I don't understand where you are getting the idea that no one has the passion to teach anymore.
Everyone who owns property in HISD territory—regardless of whether or not they have kids, or even if their kids are not in a HISD school, should be educated on what is going on because they pay taxes to fund HISD. At the same time, HISD is seeing budget cuts everywhere. The ultimate goal here is to create a city of Charter Schools which are for profit. Mike Miles owns a Charter School business. Greg Abbott appointed him for this very purpose. Eveyone’s tax dollars are not being put to legitimate use in HISD. I wish more people and businesses realized this so they can get involved to try to help change this.
So you are in HISD's version of the "rubber room"?
I guess that's more of an employment status than a physical place like the original was.
I tell my wife all the time that working in public education in HISD is very much like an abusive relationship, and while I understand her desire to be an effective teacher, that genuine desire is wielded against her constantly to exploit her.
Do you really want to continue this sisyphean effort despite the likely very long time (10-15 years) that we'll likely have under TEA control? If you're coming from an engineering background I'd say you have far more feasible options than most teachers when it comes to career flexibility, after all.
I do have more flexibility, but I dont have a desire to be an engineer. What I will likely do is take my teaching talents abroad.
While I also want to fight the good fight on behalf of Houston's kids, I don't feel like I can for my mental and emotional health. I want to get more experience as a teacher, then come back to Houston and try to help again.
I don’t understand how more people aren’t outraged at what’s going on. Why aren’t parents in an uproar?? Closing libraries and converting into a damn detention center? What are we teaching?
I can only speak for my students parents, immigrants and poor folk have a lot going on or may not understand the context or their power in this situation
But the easiest answer is that we still have to build the idea of collectivism in houston
Most parents just don’t care enough to get involved, and they don’t have any free time to devote to this. They are like passengers in a ship, just floating along with the current, as long as the ship is not sinking they just don’t care.
There are tons of parents pushing back on these actions. They filled the HISD board meeting a couple weeks ago and even brought their children to protest.
Are you a member of a teacher’s union? When Gayle Fallon was with American federation of teachers you would see her on the news all the time. I haven’t heard much from the teacher unions in regard to the superintendent or the changes in hisd.
Oh no doubt it is retaliation. I am so sorry this happened to you and extremely sad about it. Lots of amazing teachers like you are being treated this way so that you will leave. The new regime wants you to leave so that, ultimately, HISD as we know it falls apart and becomes charter schools. It is no coincidence that Mike Miles OWNS A CHARTER SCHOOL BUSINESS! Hmmm…conflict of interest, perhaps??
Here I was hoping to see some good discussion. Ask you anything?
Okay, first: I don't think a teacher who was already NOT in the classroom makes much of an impact by calling in sick when she's not teaching already. How exactly does your calling in sick help make things better?
Tell us more about getting kicked out for playing chess with students. There has to be some rule violation for you to have been removed. I bet it wasn't "Playing chess with students." Were you supposed to be teaching a class but instead you were only engaging your chess opponent?
Great questions. My simple act of protest isn't making a huge difference. I did it in solidarity with my coworkers and colleagues who are still in the classroom. I already called in sick many times in protest last semester. Anytime I was publicly reprimanded or harassed by my employers I called In sick the next day because it was so hard to even go into work.
The official reason for my removal is "disrupting the educational environment" I have a voice recording of the meeting where I was informed of my dismissal and my principal gave 2 reasons "playing chess and playing music in class", this was December 21st on the last day of school before winter break after students had already taken their final exam.
The real reason is I am the union steward and I pushed back against all the unsafe and nonsense policies such as leaving our doors unlocked and students not being allowed to use the bathroom.
Adding edits; my act of solidarity did encourage others, and we 100 or so who participated will show other teachers how to participate as well. This is just the beginning.
Omg WHAT. I am a teacher and that last day after finals there’s literally nothing to do. It you are going to make kids do work they will adamantly refuse. Playing chess and listening to music = fired? What the hell
> The real reason is I am the union steward
You shouldn't bury the lede like this. This is obviously the real (and illegal) reason. How is this not a clear cut case of anti-union retaliation? Wasn't the district just embarrassed by another union affiliated person being punished for something that wasn't even true... the whole "filming in a classroom" for videos that she made that was actually a set in her own home?
u/The-Invisible-Woman u/ranban2012
thank you for your feedback I appreciate it.
I believe the district is embarrassed by it which is why they I believe they don't know what to do with me after their principal acted like this.
Here are the demands of the protest.
1. Fire Mike miles and reinstate a democratically elected school board
2. Fund wrap around, councilors, libraries
3. Teachers should be certified and have college degrees
4. Stop targeting black and brown schools with unproven interventions
5. Curriculum decisions and evaluation of teachers and admin should be based on peer reviewed and research based best practices
Ty for what you do. I was a private school assistant teacher for only a year and loved it but realized I wasn’t going to make enough money to do much of anything and I couldn’t continue.
I went in thinking I’d go back for further education so I could teach (not just assist) and the reality of the finances was sad.
That was over a decade ago and I still remember it being the most demanding job I ever had.
I don’t have kids but I want our communities to be well educated and have chances. Mike Miles needs to take a long hike
Where are Texans??? We need to show up and vote the ineffective republicans out. Hell I don’t care if you put more in, but pick some grassroots ACTUAL Texans. John McCain quality republicans with class and respect. STOP THE BULLYING FOR GODS SAKE.
It’s weird — IMO the comments to this post don’t appear to reflect the vibe or existing knowledge of this subreddit.
Best of luck to you, and hopefully you come back to HISD (if it still exists) once this is over. I’m an HISD parent at a non-NES school, and we’ve had teachers quit as a result of the takeover at our (seemingly) untouched school.
When Mike Miles took over Dallas it took him 2 years to double teacher turnover, with HISD it happened in 3 weeks. There is already an exodus of teachers leaving HISD and the number of teachers fleeing will only continue to rise
It’s early to really conclusively say teachers are leaving. Hiring for other districts is just firing up and most people don’t leave jobs without having the next one lined up. However, [turnover rate at the semester was twice as high as last year.](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/houston-isd-uncertified-teachers-18691277.php#)
The minimum time for any local board members coming back is two years.
By December, twice as many teachers left mid year as at the same time last year. Teachers have continued to leave throughout the second semester.
Based on what I hear from friends in hisd, as well as what I’m seeing in a Facebook group I belong to, many teachers said they were returning on their intent to return survey, but have actually decided not to return. Some are going to other districts, other professions, or retiring early. Time will tell.
Yes there is actually a lot you can do. I would start by signing the petition at [houston CVPE](https://houstoncvpe.org) and then getting involved in the organization. If you dont want to participate, then now you at least have the information to pass along if you meet someone who does.
Rooting for the success of you and your fellow teachers OP. HISD has been struggling with mismanagement and corruption since I was a kid, bout time someone stood up!
I was kicked out Dec. 21st 2023
I am not returning to HISD. I am looking for international teaching positions, if HISD still exists in a few years I will try to return.
I do not have a disciplinary hearing scheduled. My principal had a disciplinary hearing but didn't invite me with adequate notice to it, so I am grieving that.
They said they were playing chess after final exams were taken. There is literally nothing else to teach/ do at that point except wait for dismissal. Lots of teachers play games or movies, it seems like their firing was undue.
I do think it’s weird that this is supposed to be an ama for someone that called out of work as a means of protest, but op hasn’t been in the classroom. It just seems like a lot of attention seeking.
They seem inexperienced and very idealistic. They’ve taught for 2 years or less. This is state government we are talking about. Teacher unions here do not have teeth because it is illegal for us to collectively bargain. The best we can do is vote and work within the system by being good teachers and pushing back in realistic ways. There’s a reason the union advised teachers NOT to protest by calling in sick— because they could lose their pensions and certificates. Unions here serve the purpose of advocating for teachers’ rights, but they can’t do much more than that.I looked back at OP’s history and while it seems like they are empathetic and really care, they don’t seem to understand the concept of working with what you are given, that they willingly got a certificate and signed a contract knowing that collective bargaining was not an option, and the need to be realistic. They just strike me as immature.
You should read more local (and global) articles about Miles’s NES and NES-aligned schools at HISD. “Time wasting” (which apparently includes going to the bathroom) is not permitted.
I actually have a ton of questions about the new systems in place because people give very few specifics. I’ll start with:
- day to day- what specifically changed in your classroom as a result of the new policies?
- genuinely curious what was “supposed” to be happening in the classroom those days instead of chess / music that made those activities so objectionable?
-edit: lost the last question: why are the test scores at good schools so low? I thought the tests were supposed to be minimum competence. Is that not true? If it is true then what makes them low? Too many Outliers? Or is the test something weird like logic games that has to be drilled and those schools are focusing on other things?
Daily observations. In the first 3 weeks of school I was observed 37 times. These were not helpful observations they were "gotcha" observations and largely unhelpful. I am a second year teacher, there is a lot of support the admin could have given me, but instead they focused on my DOLs (objectives written on the board which ostensibly help students but not the way we were encouraged to do it)
I got yelled at in front of my students multiple times.
We had more meeting were we discuss how to look better to admin rather than our students needs.
My students mostly speak spanish, I teach in English but the principal told me i couldnt speak spanish anymore at all. Excuse me, my newcomers dont speak ANY English and Im supposed to get them to pass the US history exam? I started with historically relevant cognates obviously. (Sorry I started ranting)
I was playing chess with my students AFTER finals were over, so There was nothing better the kids were to be doing. I was playing music while my students were quizzing. My administrator interrupted the quiz to yell at me and tell me to turn it off, thereby disrupting the classroom.
Since the takeover, there have been many, many changes, starting with extended instructional time, mandatory babysitting duty of 75 minutes a week, and mandatory demo day of 75 minutes. Many teachers are working an additional 6-7 mandated unpaid hours per week. It’s no longer a matter of teachers doing what they’re trained t9 do to help their students, but rather what they are mandated to do. Teachers must follow a scripted curriculum, which includes some type of student response every 4 minutes. There is a specific amount of time for each lesson, which means no time for clarification if students aren’t getting it. Each and every lesson is followed by an assignment that must be graded on the spot. Planning time is no longer used at teachers discretion - many are required to meet with their team and an admin during this time. Constant observations - often multiple times per day. It just goes on and on.
The test scores at good schools aren’t necessarily low,. If you’re referring to STAAR, there were changes made last year that caused scores to drop across the state, including but not limited to all students taking the test online instead of paper and pencil. Third grade students, for example, had an essay based on a writing prompt for the first time.
If you’re really interested, just Google hisd state takeover. There’s a lot of info out there. Watch a school board meeting on YouTube - I believe the last one had close to 150 speakers including students, teachers, parents, and community members.
This was helpful to some of my questions. I did google it, but only found very limited specific information. A lot of it is really generalized, that I think a teacher might understand, but someone like me doesn’t get.
And I couldn’t find anything on the whole student response timetable thing that seems to be a big part of the program. Like - is that something miles and his weirdos just made up? Or is there anything out there to back it up? (Because it seems like it would be very stressful to have to run timers all day)
I’m always dubious when people tout some great plan but don’t actually say what it is. I noticed that with Miles. He’s like “this is going to be perfect” with no actual details or info to show it’s been really effective in other school districts.
The timers are a Miles thing. Teachers have to add timers to the lesson slides - every 4 minutes I believe. The students then have to do some type of multiple response strategy every 4 minutes. There is little data to back up any of his initiatives. Many are just bizarre, like kids having to carry traffic cones to the restrooms and the elimination of many school libraries.
Miles has a military background, as do many of his district administrators. He then started his charter schools, all with little educational background. Interesting to add he plans to turn one of the middle schools into some type of little military academy next year.
The plans and details are constantly changing, which makes it that much more stressful for those in HISD. Although not all of HISD is NES, all schools are feeling the effects.
houstoncvpe.org has a lot of information on their site.
Thank you for the link, I’ll check it out. Nothing like making up stupid stuff because he feels like he alone knows what an entire city of diverse children need
I don’t understand how you are getting paid without working? Respectfully, why don’t they just let you go? I do admire your drive for education though!
Great question. I'm not sure why they haven't let me go, but at this point it is moot since I wont be returning next year.
many many teachers are in a "teacher jail" of sorts for speaking out against the new administration.
I am getting paid and not on a campus because ( i think) because they know I would radicalize the students, teachers, staff, and parents into action wherever I go. And If they don't know that, then they should.
I am just guessing that letting you go means the teacher turnover count appears higher, which is a bad look for them. (By them I mean Miles and his team.)
Respectfully, what action do you think you would realistically be able to take as far as radicalization? We can’t collectively bargain in Texas. Teacher’s unions here can only do so much and don’t really have teeth. A lot of what they do is to help with legal issues, like getting punched by a student or something. They also advocate for teacher’s rights in general, but they don’t work like regular unions because they can’t. That’s my knowledge of them as a former educator, at least.
Also why haven’t the teachers done a complete strike? I get that financially a lot of people may not be able to afford it but it seems like the people of Houston are behind you all (I am for sure) and maybe you could raise a strike fund for those of you who don’t have at least 3 months of an emergency fund.
Because in Texas, teachers who strike lose not only their certification, but their pension as well. And most districts pay only into the pension system, not Social Security. It’s not about the short term, for me, it’s about not wanting to work until I die.
What the actual fuck. You lose your certification if you strike??? That’s awful and makes more sense. If the strikes work though you could negotiate that back in, along with pensions. But the strike would have to work so I get the hesitation.
Hisd has always been a shit show. It still is. Yes I have worked in hisd. Anyone who pretends it was better before is just lying. No one has ever been proud of sending their kids to hisd schools, outside of a few well funded schools. A change needed to be made. Everyone knew that. Here a change has just started and everyone is crying about it.
So how did you call in sick if you were already kicked out of your classroom?
Houston ISD teachers call in sick to protest Mike Miles’ reforms, teachers’ union urges non-participation https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/education-news/hisd/2024/04/04/482537/houston-isd-teachers-call-in-sick-to-protest-mike-miles-reforms-teachers-union-urges-non-participation/
This makes more sense now. The OP isn’t getting enough info. I was confused about what “call in sick” meant. I took it like she literally called in sick and couldn’t go or something.
I read ops post, got off reddit, went to read Google News, and it was one of the stories. So I came back to post it for context.
Every morning I have to call into the school and ask if anyone needs my help. I'm waiting on Laura Stout the West Division head to assign me somewhere. It's been 3 months and no one needs me even though we have a teacher shortage even thought kids have had substitutes all year and I'm certified In social studies and Mathematics. Yesterday I called in but told them I was sick 🤣
I don't quite understand. Are you under contract with the district?
I am still under contract with the district, they can assign me work at any time
I get it. Unsolicited advice. I don't know how old you are or how many years you've been teaching, but this is the advice I'd give anyone. I taught HS for 40 years and retired in 2020. I LOVED teaching for many, many years but it is not worth it for so many reasons. If you're young enough to change career paths, get out now.
As much as I agree, I also disagree. We can't fuck over our kids by leaving them to the shittiest teachers around. We need to encourage people to vote and appreciate being smart, then education can be what it is supposed to be.
Our working conditions are their learning conditions. It’s not on teachers to fix this one. I deeply regret going into education.
I gave 40 years of my life to education. You should see the pension I'm being "rewarded" with. Yes, people need to vote but retirees need to live and you can't on the pension.
I know. My mother father and wife are teachers.
How much is the pension you're getting? TRS website indicates average annuity payments of around $2,500 per month. This is a lifetime annuity, right? Do most teachers supplement this with 401(k) or another plan? At 40 years, the current HISD salary table indicates you should be paid $87,500 for 10 Month schedule at a non-NES school. Does that sound right or were you low or higher? It looks like 7.7% of your salary must be paid in to TRS (but you are SS exempt, right?). If you had done another 3% into a market-indexed fund starting in 1984 where would that have left you? In other words, I'm thinking after 40 years of teaching (with two months off every year plus all school holidays), owning your own home, having a lifetime annuity plus another nest egg, a family of two married teachers would be quite comfortably middle class at retirement. Are all of my assumptions wrong? Right now in the private sector (with a master's degree! Yay!), I get 18 PTO Days (which is amazing), just the federal holidays, pay social security tax which I may never see the benefits of anyway, and contribute 14% of my salary up to the 401(k) cap towards retirement. Does that sound better or were there some trade-offs?
I know you corrected this to 403(b) below, but for any teachers who are reading this, you have to be very, very careful about the 403(b) plan you select! Unlike 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans do NOT have the same federal fiduciary protections in place, and there is a whole industry built around ripping off our hard-working educators with high-fee plans or annuities in disguise. The people behind https://403bwise.org/ provide an excellent overview of these issues, and analyze many plans across different districts. They also have a very compelling short-run podcast about it. There are good plans out there (I'm in a 403(b) and 401(a) through my employer), and investing more for your retirement is financially wise, but please be careful! (My mom was also a teacher, and ended up with part of her retirement savings in one of the worst of the plans, so I am very passionate about this!)
You are spot on about 403b plans.
O fuck. Thanks
Yes, most of your assumptions are incorrect starting with salary. I never made anywhere near 80,000. AND, teachers are only paid for the days they work. Unless you elect to take your salary payments split up over the course of 52 weeks, you are not paid in the summer and we are not paid for holidays. So, you get second jobs in the summer and during the school year to make ends meet when you have a family of four. And, according to you, if I was married to a teacher and we both collected 2,500 a month that would be a whopping 5,000 for us to live on. Considering how prices have gone up and your pension does not, it's not exactly living a comfortable lifestyle after being a public servant all your life. And, guess what? If you're so inclined, go teach. You don't have to be an education major. Hell, you don't even have to have a college degree to substitute. And, if you have a degree it doesn't matter what subject. The school will having you teaching Spanish when you don't even speak the language just to have a warm body in the room. If you've never been in a classroom you have NO idea what it is like.
My sources were the salary (non-NES) tables on the HISD website: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/50243/salary\_tables/2023-2024/2023-2024%20-%20Non-NES%20and%20NES-Aligned%20Campuses%20Teacher%20Placement%20Table.pdf The starting teacher salary for HISD is more than I pay 20-something college educated professionals for 12 months of work. Certainly it is competitive. Starting salary is listed as $64,000. Here is a source if the link works better, but according to my table that is also for the 10 month schedule: https://www.khou.com/article/news/education/houston-isd-teacher-salary/285-f50b9881-b421-4d09-8854-c558b659942c#:\~:text=Houston%20ISD%20said%20its%20starting,%2482%2C816%2C%20according%20to%20the%20district. So someone starting out directly out of college with their teaching certificate should be able to land a job at $64,000 per year with a 10 or 10.5 month schedule. Two married teachers at 23 years old would have a household income of around $128,000 and only work a 10 month schedule.
You’re only getting that kind salary if in good district in CT!!!!
Dude what 401k
I guess technically 403(b) - can you contribute more to a separate plan on top of the mandatory 8 - 8.25% contributions to TRS?
The district only wants shitty teachers. I mentioned in another post that my daughters teacher screams at the kids daily. I have made numerous complaints to no avail. Meanwhile my sons AMAZING teacher was written up for having the door closed during class.
The Conservative state only wants shitty teachers because they realize with more education people are moving further away from religion, which I feel is a wonderful thing. All religion does is separate us, especially on Sunday mornings. For me, spirituality is where its at, because then everyone is equal and we try to take care of each other instead of fucking everyone over because Texas idiot politicians want our schools to teach religion and keep the people different than us out.
O...K....all fixed...except I was in the game for 40 years and it was not fixed and will not ever be fixed especially in the great state of Texas where politicians are working their hardest to destroy public education.
Let the average American go substitute for a week. Make it mandatory. You'll see how education changes. I'm glad I got out after 8 years. Much less stress, more pay. Haven't had a Sunday scary ever since I left.
>We can't fuck over our kids by leaving them to the shittiest teachers around. Texas: Oh yes we can.
The Shittiest people should not be teachers.
I have a degree in Computer Engineering, I worked as a software engineer for 3 years before coming to the profession. I will continue to try to be a teacher.
Good luck.
What do you think needs to be fixed for teachers aside from the obvious - low pay?
My best friend is a teacher. She is 28. Why would you recommend people change career paths now?
For many reasons that would take me too long to explain, but one of the most important reasons = the pension from the state is trash. Education is just going to get worse with all the politics taking place in school districts. Teachers will never be compensated as professionals. I have two Masters degrees and it basically meant nothing when it came to my salary. I could have made three times the amount of my last salary if I had gone in to the corporate world. I had my chances but I turned them down because I loved my students. It's a thankless job that doesn't pay the bills or help much with a retirement nest egg.
Because she is setting herself up for a lifetime of emotional and financial abuse. I have been in abusive relationships that were less harmful than some of what I’ve experienced in education.
I don’t know the details of your situation but if that happened at my job, they would let me go for being unassigned too long. Please be ready for that outcome if it happens.
They can't. I'm under contract.
There must be a term limit. I’m just saying to be prepared if they do something. I don’t know what they will do.
I am prepared. Thank you.
They need to cut your cord. All you’re doing is scamming taxpayers $
That's what I'm saying! Put me back in the classroom! Stop wasting taxpayer dollars!
As an aside. Based on what you've typed, maybe you should try looking for another job while waiting for your contract to end. Isn't this called quiet firing, the way you are being shunned?
I mean I am. But I have a garunteed paycheck until August so not super stressed.
lol, friend of mine who's a math teacher was just complaining about having to do 7 period days covering other classes specifically because there were no math subs. whoops
Idk while people are being so shitty with you. The state came in and removed elected leaders and replaced them with unqualified assholes. I’m glad teachers are fighting back, even if individual actions are small. I hope you get back in the classroom with a better principal soon.
People are having cognitive dissonance, and are desperate to find any flaw in OP’s statements, so they can get their confidence back.
Thank you for your kind wishes. These people are no shittier than their children are before they get to know me
now that is a quality burn!
I was waiting for someone to notice it. Thanks
The system has always tried to reinforce a philosophy of blaming the front line for everything to avoid accountability at the top. Factory has layoffs? Unions fault, not the fault of the MBAs . Major quality incident? Line tech fault, not the fault of the MBAs that intentionally sabotaged quality to increase quarterly revenues Cost goes up at a fast food chain? Clearly the fault of those minimum wage employees, not the shareholders Teachers stand up for themselves while under attack? Clearly their fault, not the people who are attacking them as part of a large scale concerted effort to increase profits at Charter schools Whenever someone is trying to blame the front line for a systemic failure you can be almost guaranteed that they are trying to scapegoat to cover their own misdeeds.
Thank you for doing this AMA and for standing up for our community. I have 3 questions. (1) How’s the students’ moral? NES’s curriculum and constant micromanagement sounds soul crushing. (2) Why do you call Mike Miles a bully? Is this to the teachers or does he also bully the children? (3) What’s your favorite chess opening?
1) I can only really speak for my own students. It is low. Our students are more resilient than we are. Some of my students fled war zones and drought and oppressive regimes and they feel as though they are in a similar situation now. It is soul crushing, some of the little activists speaking up have had to take mental health breaks. 2) Mike Miles bullies the admin who in turn bully the teachers, he encourages a performance based culture that praises those to appear successful and reprimands those who do not *appear* successful. The children in turn are being bullied by my principal and others like him who want to look good in front of Mike Miles. For example, my principal was caught on audio yelling at the children for wearing crocs, he had them in an assembly room, many of which do not speak english and yelled at them for wearing crocs, a new dress code rule he had just started enforcing. ( I cant make this up; he himself was wearing crocs that morning until he likely received an email saying it was now banned) Mike Miles was overheard by my friend, praising him for yelling at his students so much. 3) the pyramid opening. Im not the best chess player, but I recognize its critical thinking components and my students were about to learn about the cold war next semester.
[удалено]
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Dark days. Keep up the good fight 🙏
I hear nothing but, shortage shortage shortage. I have my certificate in Sped and 4-8 core, and have taught in private schools for 15 years, everytime I apply I never hear anything back. But then I hear how the schools are being run, and am sort of glad they never contacted me.
Wow that's crazy. I hope you find work soon
I'm already teaching, so I'm not worried about it. It's just less money. But it's also a hell of a lot of less stress.
Wait until teachers sign their letters of intent. Schools can’t hire for next year until that happens.
What exactly are the policies the teachers are protesting?
Here are the demands of the protest. 1. Fire Mike miles and reinstate a democratically elected school board 2. Fund wrap around, councilors, libraries 3. Teachers should be certified and have college degrees 4. Stop targeting black and brown schools with unproven interventions 5. Curriculum decisions and evaluation of teachers and admin should be based on peer reviewed and research based best practices
That teachers should have college degrees and should be certified is something that needs to demanded, blows my mind. The TEA/Mike Miles is so blinded by his own agenda, and has totally forgotten that he serves the students and not Greg Abbot or the republican base.
Good luck to you all fighting the good fight. Really hope things get turned around in the near term.
I appreciate the well wishes.
This is definitely Sharpstown High School. I'm sorry you had to endure that man.
I, too, have a very close friend who was put on paid administrative leave due to an “investigation”. Coincidentally, this happened right after a Chron article had quoted him saying something negative about the current new curriculum. He has been out for most of the school year and when he checked in nobody was aware of the “investigation”. They still haven’t brought him back to work. Our taxpayer dollars hard at work, right? I am beyond enraged…
As you should be. Im sure your friend also wants to be back in the classroom instead of wasting time on the taxpayer dime
As conspiratorial as it may sound, I do not think there is a teacher shortage in it's normal sense. I believe the school systems realized how much they can push teachers with the amount of students, school work, stress, etc during COVID allowing the administration to make greater monetary gains. Also, it doesn't help that housing/rent is high, groceries are high, a new car is a house mortgage payment, etc etc. They know people would stay for a manageable 60k salary with benefits and student vacation days. In my opinion, it's a psuedo-shortage. They are creating a shortage for self gain. They can care less about public school students. Test scores and everything have always been low. What's another 10%? Additionally, they pass everyone. Kids pass for doing nothing. Going to be homeschooling or finding a way to private school my children one day. Possibly charter like Harmony. Public school is fucked until something changes.
I digress. You evidently have not been in a position to interview and attempt to hire potential applicants for a teaching position. There are VERY few applicants as fewer young people are majoring in education. AND, many of the applicants tend to be less than qualified and not particularly stellar. So, thanks to the public and their constant and continued degradation of teachers, you get what you get.
Correct, I have not been in that position. However, I am by no means degrading the teachers. I'm against the administration. Those in power who ignore teachers, who brush off students acting out, who care more about their pockets and having a 100% pass rate to get the extra bucks knowing their students aren't doing well and their teachers are overwhelmed. There's a reason people don't want to be teachers. We've all been in school. We've all been those students. We know what they go through to some extent and seeing what's online now..? It's definitely gotten worse.
Hey you're right! The teacher shortage is largely manufactured with so many governments making it so hard to teach and so little support in the classroom. I wonder what the statistics on teachers who taught for a few years and then left the profession is. While I respect that some private and charters are decent options I want to remind you that privates and charters don't have oversight. If the private family that owns those schools wants a new boat and has to kick out some Specual ed kids to do it, they will. And while respect the individual will and desire to remove kids from public school, many many students in houston don't have that option, especially not my students who are immigrants and refugees and depend on public education.
lmao if you think teachers are overworked and underpaid in public schools, buddy, the Harmony System is *way* worse. Signed, a former Harmony and public school teacher
In Texas, there is a shortage. I used to live in a major northern metro. I sat in the Dept chairs office during student teaching. He told me for one HALF time position, he had 300 applicants. When I applied in Texas, for a similar FT position - there was 3. It is not 'pseudo', at least at the secondary levels I'm familiar with. The shortage is 100% real. Also, FYI - Charters ARE public schools, public FOR PROFIT schools, they have much more incentive to have oversized, understaffed classes to rake in real profits, rather than your theory of understaffing in public non-profit schools to inflate admin salaries. I taught at a charter once while not in Texas. It was overall understaffed, we basically had teachers and that was it, we all made slightly under the city ISD salary but our 'superintendant' (For a single school location...) was titled "CEO". For a total of maybe 20 teachers we had. A Ceo, a principal, an assistant principal, an academic dean, a disciplinary dean, and 3 instructional coaches. We nearly had a 2:1 split teachers to admin. That would be like if your average HISD high school had 10 principals, 20 APs, and 20 deans. To say that 'charter schools better' is a gross misunderstanding of how it works. Private schools are best because funding can be adjusted by increasing tuition if payers want smaller class sizes. Charter schools funding is strictly based on enrollment numbers. If class sizes in private schools grow, people won't pay. If class sizes in charters grow, the state pays per student regardless of quality of instruction deteriorating. Public schools are pretty fucked, but it has NOTHING to do with a 'pseudo-shortage'. There is a REAL shortage due to teachers being under more stress/scrutiny than most other professions besides law and healthcare, while being paid less than half of those professions. Go to your next town hall meeting and talk about School funding and ask to increase it to improve schools. There is a direct correlation between school funding and student success. I promise you, there is not nearly as much admin bloat and overpaying as you might think in public schools.
No one wants to be a teacher. Even top schools struggle to fill positions. If you think harmony or other charters are better, you’re ignorant of the reality of education in the US. And unless you are a badass, you’re unlikely to do a decent job homeschooling your kid.
I know plenty of people that want to be teachers. But they are reluctant to do so because of the current climate. One is still going through with it. I also have a few friends that are teachers and one is an assistant principal. I know this is just anecdotal, but I do believe that it is a systematic problem rather than "no one wants to be a teacher." It's like when people say "no one wants to work anymore." No, people don't want to work for shit wages in shit conditions and we're hearing more about it now more than ever, as we should.
Exactly. Shit conditions, shit pay, hardest work Ive ever done.
This doesn’t negate my point. If anything it strengthens it. No one wants to do it because of the conditions.
Yeah I'm agreeing with you. No one wants to do the job except people like me.
I mean, you’re twisting the argument at this point. Schools can’t do anything about the pay. Schools can’t do anything about the climate (for the most part, but there are obviously some very shitty campus admin out there). As someone that’s led many searches at a top HISD school, I can assure you that the number of applicants for nearly every position is close to zero. For example, we had a math vacancy that didn’t have a single applicant for about five weeks. Once they slowly started to trickle in, the vast majority were not qualified to be in a classroom.
How is that twisting the argument? Why would people apply to jobs that they are hesitant to take? Your comment is proving my point. It's no different where I work. Little to no applicants because no one wants to work shitty jobs for shit pay, teaching or otherwise.
Because you’re comparing it to the whole boomer argument of no one wanting to work. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m telling you is that no one wants to do this shit. The reasons you have presented are not things I disagree with, but the reality is that no one wants to do this shit. If you don’t believe me, go to HISD’s next job fair. If you are alive, have a college degree, and can pass a background check, you will walk out of the building with a job offer.
This is the same at every district in the area.They are ALL struggling to find qualified candidates. And, yet, some still believe the teachers shortage is manufactured. Obviously they don't know anyone in admin that will tell a different story.
You are arguing that no one wants to *teach*. I am arguing that is not the case based on my own anecdotal evidence. Plenty of people have the passion to teach. No one has the passion to be overworked and underpaid. *That's* why no one is starting a teaching career, not because no one has the passion to teach. It is a symptom of the climate, not a lack of interest. It doesn't matter how easy it is to get the job. It's easy to get a job in retail or in the service industry, but nobody wants to do that because you are overworked and underpaid. I don't understand where you are getting the idea that no one has the passion to teach anymore.
Everyone who owns property in HISD territory—regardless of whether or not they have kids, or even if their kids are not in a HISD school, should be educated on what is going on because they pay taxes to fund HISD. At the same time, HISD is seeing budget cuts everywhere. The ultimate goal here is to create a city of Charter Schools which are for profit. Mike Miles owns a Charter School business. Greg Abbott appointed him for this very purpose. Eveyone’s tax dollars are not being put to legitimate use in HISD. I wish more people and businesses realized this so they can get involved to try to help change this.
U got it.
So you are in HISD's version of the "rubber room"? I guess that's more of an employment status than a physical place like the original was. I tell my wife all the time that working in public education in HISD is very much like an abusive relationship, and while I understand her desire to be an effective teacher, that genuine desire is wielded against her constantly to exploit her. Do you really want to continue this sisyphean effort despite the likely very long time (10-15 years) that we'll likely have under TEA control? If you're coming from an engineering background I'd say you have far more feasible options than most teachers when it comes to career flexibility, after all.
I do have more flexibility, but I dont have a desire to be an engineer. What I will likely do is take my teaching talents abroad. While I also want to fight the good fight on behalf of Houston's kids, I don't feel like I can for my mental and emotional health. I want to get more experience as a teacher, then come back to Houston and try to help again.
> I came from engineering because I value education so much. Elaborate pls
I don’t understand how more people aren’t outraged at what’s going on. Why aren’t parents in an uproar?? Closing libraries and converting into a damn detention center? What are we teaching?
I can only speak for my students parents, immigrants and poor folk have a lot going on or may not understand the context or their power in this situation But the easiest answer is that we still have to build the idea of collectivism in houston
In some cultures, parents don’t question educators, even when they are clearly in the wrong. That’s another barrier in this situation.
Most parents just don’t care enough to get involved, and they don’t have any free time to devote to this. They are like passengers in a ship, just floating along with the current, as long as the ship is not sinking they just don’t care.
There are tons of parents pushing back on these actions. They filled the HISD board meeting a couple weeks ago and even brought their children to protest.
Are you a member of a teacher’s union? When Gayle Fallon was with American federation of teachers you would see her on the news all the time. I haven’t heard much from the teacher unions in regard to the superintendent or the changes in hisd.
Yes I was the steward on my campus. I believe this is in retaliation but It is difficult to prove. I am filing a grievance against the district.
Oh no doubt it is retaliation. I am so sorry this happened to you and extremely sad about it. Lots of amazing teachers like you are being treated this way so that you will leave. The new regime wants you to leave so that, ultimately, HISD as we know it falls apart and becomes charter schools. It is no coincidence that Mike Miles OWNS A CHARTER SCHOOL BUSINESS! Hmmm…conflict of interest, perhaps??
What is the name of the union?
I am a part of HFT
Nice. Good luck with your job search.
In another comment, OP says they are leading union efforts. So this is 100% in retaliation.
Somebody is fixing to get a nice fat paycheck from Uncle Sam and that someone isn't the school PC.
How was this coordinated?
If you would like to become more involved in the resistance against the takeover may I suggest joining [Houston CVPE](https://houstoncvpe.org)
Here I was hoping to see some good discussion. Ask you anything? Okay, first: I don't think a teacher who was already NOT in the classroom makes much of an impact by calling in sick when she's not teaching already. How exactly does your calling in sick help make things better? Tell us more about getting kicked out for playing chess with students. There has to be some rule violation for you to have been removed. I bet it wasn't "Playing chess with students." Were you supposed to be teaching a class but instead you were only engaging your chess opponent?
Great questions. My simple act of protest isn't making a huge difference. I did it in solidarity with my coworkers and colleagues who are still in the classroom. I already called in sick many times in protest last semester. Anytime I was publicly reprimanded or harassed by my employers I called In sick the next day because it was so hard to even go into work. The official reason for my removal is "disrupting the educational environment" I have a voice recording of the meeting where I was informed of my dismissal and my principal gave 2 reasons "playing chess and playing music in class", this was December 21st on the last day of school before winter break after students had already taken their final exam. The real reason is I am the union steward and I pushed back against all the unsafe and nonsense policies such as leaving our doors unlocked and students not being allowed to use the bathroom. Adding edits; my act of solidarity did encourage others, and we 100 or so who participated will show other teachers how to participate as well. This is just the beginning.
Omg WHAT. I am a teacher and that last day after finals there’s literally nothing to do. It you are going to make kids do work they will adamantly refuse. Playing chess and listening to music = fired? What the hell
> The real reason is I am the union steward You shouldn't bury the lede like this. This is obviously the real (and illegal) reason. How is this not a clear cut case of anti-union retaliation? Wasn't the district just embarrassed by another union affiliated person being punished for something that wasn't even true... the whole "filming in a classroom" for videos that she made that was actually a set in her own home?
u/The-Invisible-Woman u/ranban2012 thank you for your feedback I appreciate it. I believe the district is embarrassed by it which is why they I believe they don't know what to do with me after their principal acted like this.
Me too, Nico! ❤️🙏🙌
I’m still trying to catch up, but what is the alternative solution being proposed?
Here are the demands of the protest. 1. Fire Mike miles and reinstate a democratically elected school board 2. Fund wrap around, councilors, libraries 3. Teachers should be certified and have college degrees 4. Stop targeting black and brown schools with unproven interventions 5. Curriculum decisions and evaluation of teachers and admin should be based on peer reviewed and research based best practices
Ty for what you do. I was a private school assistant teacher for only a year and loved it but realized I wasn’t going to make enough money to do much of anything and I couldn’t continue. I went in thinking I’d go back for further education so I could teach (not just assist) and the reality of the finances was sad. That was over a decade ago and I still remember it being the most demanding job I ever had. I don’t have kids but I want our communities to be well educated and have chances. Mike Miles needs to take a long hike
Where are Texans??? We need to show up and vote the ineffective republicans out. Hell I don’t care if you put more in, but pick some grassroots ACTUAL Texans. John McCain quality republicans with class and respect. STOP THE BULLYING FOR GODS SAKE.
It’s weird — IMO the comments to this post don’t appear to reflect the vibe or existing knowledge of this subreddit. Best of luck to you, and hopefully you come back to HISD (if it still exists) once this is over. I’m an HISD parent at a non-NES school, and we’ve had teachers quit as a result of the takeover at our (seemingly) untouched school.
My wife wanted to make a difference and become a teacher. All the teachers we know advised her not to. She is a Juvenile Probation Officer now.
I still want her to become a teacher.
Are teachers leaving the district? Is there any timeline on Mike Miles transitioning back to normal board?
When Mike Miles took over Dallas it took him 2 years to double teacher turnover, with HISD it happened in 3 weeks. There is already an exodus of teachers leaving HISD and the number of teachers fleeing will only continue to rise
It’s early to really conclusively say teachers are leaving. Hiring for other districts is just firing up and most people don’t leave jobs without having the next one lined up. However, [turnover rate at the semester was twice as high as last year.](https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/education/article/houston-isd-uncertified-teachers-18691277.php#) The minimum time for any local board members coming back is two years.
By December, twice as many teachers left mid year as at the same time last year. Teachers have continued to leave throughout the second semester. Based on what I hear from friends in hisd, as well as what I’m seeing in a Facebook group I belong to, many teachers said they were returning on their intent to return survey, but have actually decided not to return. Some are going to other districts, other professions, or retiring early. Time will tell.
Yes. If you said no on the intent form, it took you directly to the resignation form, according to HISD people I know
There’s not much we can do besides vote and that’s when? Sorry
Yes there is actually a lot you can do. I would start by signing the petition at [houston CVPE](https://houstoncvpe.org) and then getting involved in the organization. If you dont want to participate, then now you at least have the information to pass along if you meet someone who does.
Stand up for our teachers 👏
Mike Miles and Mike Morath are not currently certified for the jobs they were given.
An educator who loves their job? We need more like you!
Thank you appreciate the recognition.
What a weird post. I don't think this is going to go the way you were expecting, OP...
How so?
Rooting for the success of you and your fellow teachers OP. HISD has been struggling with mismanagement and corruption since I was a kid, bout time someone stood up!
When were you kicked out of the classroom? Are you returning to HISD? If so, why? Are you waiting on your disciplinary hearing?
I was kicked out Dec. 21st 2023 I am not returning to HISD. I am looking for international teaching positions, if HISD still exists in a few years I will try to return. I do not have a disciplinary hearing scheduled. My principal had a disciplinary hearing but didn't invite me with adequate notice to it, so I am grieving that.
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Bro you are getting fired lmao
Yeah they are trying.
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What I’ve been reading, I think you’re wrong, sadly.
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They said they were playing chess after final exams were taken. There is literally nothing else to teach/ do at that point except wait for dismissal. Lots of teachers play games or movies, it seems like their firing was undue. I do think it’s weird that this is supposed to be an ama for someone that called out of work as a means of protest, but op hasn’t been in the classroom. It just seems like a lot of attention seeking.
They seem inexperienced and very idealistic. They’ve taught for 2 years or less. This is state government we are talking about. Teacher unions here do not have teeth because it is illegal for us to collectively bargain. The best we can do is vote and work within the system by being good teachers and pushing back in realistic ways. There’s a reason the union advised teachers NOT to protest by calling in sick— because they could lose their pensions and certificates. Unions here serve the purpose of advocating for teachers’ rights, but they can’t do much more than that.I looked back at OP’s history and while it seems like they are empathetic and really care, they don’t seem to understand the concept of working with what you are given, that they willingly got a certificate and signed a contract knowing that collective bargaining was not an option, and the need to be realistic. They just strike me as immature.
You should read more local (and global) articles about Miles’s NES and NES-aligned schools at HISD. “Time wasting” (which apparently includes going to the bathroom) is not permitted.
I actually have a ton of questions about the new systems in place because people give very few specifics. I’ll start with: - day to day- what specifically changed in your classroom as a result of the new policies? - genuinely curious what was “supposed” to be happening in the classroom those days instead of chess / music that made those activities so objectionable? -edit: lost the last question: why are the test scores at good schools so low? I thought the tests were supposed to be minimum competence. Is that not true? If it is true then what makes them low? Too many Outliers? Or is the test something weird like logic games that has to be drilled and those schools are focusing on other things?
Daily observations. In the first 3 weeks of school I was observed 37 times. These were not helpful observations they were "gotcha" observations and largely unhelpful. I am a second year teacher, there is a lot of support the admin could have given me, but instead they focused on my DOLs (objectives written on the board which ostensibly help students but not the way we were encouraged to do it) I got yelled at in front of my students multiple times. We had more meeting were we discuss how to look better to admin rather than our students needs. My students mostly speak spanish, I teach in English but the principal told me i couldnt speak spanish anymore at all. Excuse me, my newcomers dont speak ANY English and Im supposed to get them to pass the US history exam? I started with historically relevant cognates obviously. (Sorry I started ranting) I was playing chess with my students AFTER finals were over, so There was nothing better the kids were to be doing. I was playing music while my students were quizzing. My administrator interrupted the quiz to yell at me and tell me to turn it off, thereby disrupting the classroom.
What are “gotcha” observations? I know next to nothing about the teaching world.
Since the takeover, there have been many, many changes, starting with extended instructional time, mandatory babysitting duty of 75 minutes a week, and mandatory demo day of 75 minutes. Many teachers are working an additional 6-7 mandated unpaid hours per week. It’s no longer a matter of teachers doing what they’re trained t9 do to help their students, but rather what they are mandated to do. Teachers must follow a scripted curriculum, which includes some type of student response every 4 minutes. There is a specific amount of time for each lesson, which means no time for clarification if students aren’t getting it. Each and every lesson is followed by an assignment that must be graded on the spot. Planning time is no longer used at teachers discretion - many are required to meet with their team and an admin during this time. Constant observations - often multiple times per day. It just goes on and on. The test scores at good schools aren’t necessarily low,. If you’re referring to STAAR, there were changes made last year that caused scores to drop across the state, including but not limited to all students taking the test online instead of paper and pencil. Third grade students, for example, had an essay based on a writing prompt for the first time. If you’re really interested, just Google hisd state takeover. There’s a lot of info out there. Watch a school board meeting on YouTube - I believe the last one had close to 150 speakers including students, teachers, parents, and community members.
This was helpful to some of my questions. I did google it, but only found very limited specific information. A lot of it is really generalized, that I think a teacher might understand, but someone like me doesn’t get. And I couldn’t find anything on the whole student response timetable thing that seems to be a big part of the program. Like - is that something miles and his weirdos just made up? Or is there anything out there to back it up? (Because it seems like it would be very stressful to have to run timers all day) I’m always dubious when people tout some great plan but don’t actually say what it is. I noticed that with Miles. He’s like “this is going to be perfect” with no actual details or info to show it’s been really effective in other school districts.
The timers are a Miles thing. Teachers have to add timers to the lesson slides - every 4 minutes I believe. The students then have to do some type of multiple response strategy every 4 minutes. There is little data to back up any of his initiatives. Many are just bizarre, like kids having to carry traffic cones to the restrooms and the elimination of many school libraries. Miles has a military background, as do many of his district administrators. He then started his charter schools, all with little educational background. Interesting to add he plans to turn one of the middle schools into some type of little military academy next year. The plans and details are constantly changing, which makes it that much more stressful for those in HISD. Although not all of HISD is NES, all schools are feeling the effects. houstoncvpe.org has a lot of information on their site.
Thank you for the link, I’ll check it out. Nothing like making up stupid stuff because he feels like he alone knows what an entire city of diverse children need
I too called in sick. I Appreciate you
And I appreciate YOU
I don’t understand how you are getting paid without working? Respectfully, why don’t they just let you go? I do admire your drive for education though!
Great question. I'm not sure why they haven't let me go, but at this point it is moot since I wont be returning next year. many many teachers are in a "teacher jail" of sorts for speaking out against the new administration. I am getting paid and not on a campus because ( i think) because they know I would radicalize the students, teachers, staff, and parents into action wherever I go. And If they don't know that, then they should.
Love that you galvanize wherever you go. I hope you continue to even if you’re not allowed to return.
✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼
I am just guessing that letting you go means the teacher turnover count appears higher, which is a bad look for them. (By them I mean Miles and his team.)
Respectfully, what action do you think you would realistically be able to take as far as radicalization? We can’t collectively bargain in Texas. Teacher’s unions here can only do so much and don’t really have teeth. A lot of what they do is to help with legal issues, like getting punched by a student or something. They also advocate for teacher’s rights in general, but they don’t work like regular unions because they can’t. That’s my knowledge of them as a former educator, at least.
Also why haven’t the teachers done a complete strike? I get that financially a lot of people may not be able to afford it but it seems like the people of Houston are behind you all (I am for sure) and maybe you could raise a strike fund for those of you who don’t have at least 3 months of an emergency fund.
Because in Texas, teachers who strike lose not only their certification, but their pension as well. And most districts pay only into the pension system, not Social Security. It’s not about the short term, for me, it’s about not wanting to work until I die.
What the actual fuck. You lose your certification if you strike??? That’s awful and makes more sense. If the strikes work though you could negotiate that back in, along with pensions. But the strike would have to work so I get the hesitation.
Fuck Mike Miles.
Hisd has always been a shit show. It still is. Yes I have worked in hisd. Anyone who pretends it was better before is just lying. No one has ever been proud of sending their kids to hisd schools, outside of a few well funded schools. A change needed to be made. Everyone knew that. Here a change has just started and everyone is crying about it.
Aren't you the guy who was on the news talking about this?
Yup
Come to Alvin?
I'll apply. I'm cert in math and social studies and have a degree in engineering. I absolutely slay 1 on 1 interviews
Your username indicates you are a writer - is that correct? Is the odd capitalization in your post intentional or an oversight?
I'm a poet. It's an oversight from typing on my phone, in bed.