Texas Teacher Law

Around the State

I sometimes envy the people who think they have boring, predictable lives, the ones who know exactly what is coming and exactly how to handle it and never have any excitement thrown their way. I sometimes envy them because my own life has so many unpredictable elements in it that are constantly shooting off like fireworks that I no longer even have a "routine" to vary from.

But it's not just people that have those issues - school districts can also, and this week a number of districts around the state are dealing with crises that have caused them to think fast and on their feet.

First up, Galveston ISD. As everyone around here knows, the island of Galveston was devastated two weeks by Hurricane Ike, and with the island the school district was also thrown into turmoil. Not only dealing with physical damage to it's facilities, but also with the complete closure of the island for a number of days and the dispersal of its staff and students to other places for an unknown period of time, the district also faces some financial issues as a result of severe shortages in its average daily attendance while students are unable to return to Galveston schools.

As a result, the district has secured an agreement from TEA that they will receive enough funds to pay all teachers for their full contracts, which is a great relief to those who work in a district that will need weeks and months to return to anything close to normal. There is no law that covers such a situation so thanks go out to all the on-the-ball administrators and TEA officials that went off-book to do what was right and needed.

Elsewhere, Dallas ISD is facing a different sort of financial crisis. A shortfall in the projected budget has led to a proposal to lay off over a thousand employees, including 675 teachers. While the school board has so far delayed making the final decision, it looks certain that at least some lay-offs will occur. For teachers, who work under contract, this means the district will have to select those to be laid off according to their previously adopted policy. While the teachers selected do have the right to a hearing, the only real defense they can make is that they were not selected in accordance with the policy. So if Dallas does everything correctly, teachers will lose their jobs.

And in Wichita Falls ISD, discussion in the community has begun over a four day school week. No district in Texas has yet tried this, although a number of districts in other states are on such a schedule. For teachers, contracts could be an issue, as the protections provided in law are largely based on five-day, full time status. so any waiver issued by TEA should include a plan to continue teacher contract rights as they are. If energy prices turn out to be a long-term issue, I suspect a lot of Texas school districts will begin considering this option, especially since a small buy growing number of employers are beginning to go to four day work weeks.

Crowded Classrooms

We have a state law that restricts the number of students that can be placed in a K - 4th grade classroom. Unfortunately, there is no law limiting the number of portables that can be placed on a campus. I know there's no real choice sometimes, but some of the schools I drive by here in Austin seem to have no playground left at all. It's a shame.

Anyway, there is a limit of 22 students per classroom for core subjects in grades K-4. Districts have until Sept 11 to let enrollment settle down, but if there are classes larger than 22 after that date, the district must either find a solution or apply for a waiver from TEA by Oct. 10. In most cases, the waivers will be granted, but the district must meet some fairly tough guidelines (tough, at least, compared to the days when waivers were routinely granted for years at a time).

Straight from Commissioner of Education Robert Scott, here are the guidelines for class size waivers:

• 
  Unanticipated enrollment growth may be cited as the reason for the waiver request only if no more than one section per grade level at a campus has more than 22 students. If two or more sections at a grade level at a campus have more than 22 students, then the reason for the waiver request must be shortage of teachers, shortage of facilities, or shortages of both teachers and facilities.
  
• Updated compliance plans must delineate the specific actions that will be taken to bring the district into compliance along with a specific timeline for each action. In all instances, the plan must address the reason(s) the waiver is needed. For instance, for shortage of facilities, the district should state the number of classrooms/campuses added during the previous year (if any), the number of classrooms/campuses scheduled for completion during the period covered by the waiver, and the specific progress made since the last compliance plan was submitted (if the district submitted a waiver request for the previous semester).
  
• All campuses covered by the waiver are expected to have a student performance rating that is at least acceptable, if the waiver request is due to shortages of facilities and/or teachers.
  
• For districts requesting a class size waiver for more than two consecutive semesters, the district must initiate a public notification (approved as a part of the waiver) to ensure that the community is aware of the waiver request and of the actions the district is taking to reduce the need for continued class size waivers.
  
• For districts requesting a class size waiver for a campus for the third or subsequent consecutive semester, staff will be required to hold a meeting for parents and community members at each campus covered by the waiver request to discuss the continued need for the waiver, the specific steps that will be taken to bring the district into compliance, and the specific timeline for eliminating the need for future waivers. The action plan must be included in the campus and district improvement plans.
  
• Student performance will be considered for districts that request class size waivers for more than four consecutive semesters.
  
• For districts requesting a waiver for the fifth or subsequent consecutive semester, all campuses covered by the waiver are expected to show annual gains in performance for all students and for each student group on each state assessment administered.
  
• Notice of Class Size, TEC §25.113. A campus or district that is granted an exception under TEC §25.112(d) from class size limits will provide written notice of the exception to the parent of (or person standing in parental relation to) each student affected by the exception. The notice must be characterized by the following four elements. It must (a) indicate the particular class for which a class size waiver was granted, (b) state the number of students in that class, (c) be delivered in a regular mailing or other means of communication from the campus or district, such as information sent home with students, and (d) not be delivered any later than the 31st day of the school year or the 31st day from the date the waiver was granted, if it was granted after the beginning of the school year.
  
• For districts requesting a class size waiver for the seventhor subsequent semester at any campus, the local board of trustees must hold a public hearing regarding the continued need for a class size waiver at one or more campuses, the specific steps taken to date to bring the district into compliance, and the future actions and timeline for eliminating the need for a waiver for each campus covered by the request. The action plan must be included in the campus and district improvement plans.