Texas Teacher Law

Preparing for Your Teacher Appraisal

Teacher appraisal season is in full swing. and if the thought of someone watching your every move while you try your best to keep a roomful of students under control and learning causes you to get the shakes and sit up nights worrying, just know that you are not alone.   Here are some tips on how you can regain some control over the process. 

1. Be sure you understand how appraisals are done at your school.  While most aspects of the process are mandated by the state and are the same in every school, some things are not.  Find out who will do your observation, if you will get advance notice, and if you can refuse certain times. 

2. Ask for a pre-conference with your assigned evaluator.  This gives you a chance to prepare the evaluator for what he/she will see. Talk about your teaching style and any peculiarities of your classes. 

3. Immediately after your observation, write up notes on how you think it went, noting anything unusual that happened or anything you think the evaluator may not have fully understood. 

4. Write a follow-up note to the evaluator summarizing the class and adding any information you think might be helpful (such as that the student who didn't answer you and you didn't correct wears a hearing aid that doesn't always work).

5. If you're happy with the appraisal report, celebrate with a piece of chocolate or a bouquet of flowers for yourself. 

6. If you're not happy with the appraisal report, ask for a conference and outline your concerns.  If you are still not happy after the conference, write a response for the file and consider whether you should file an appeal.  

You can get help from your teacher association, or me!

Too Dedicated to the Job?

I came across a commissioner's decision from a few years ago about a term contract non-renewal in Bryan ISD.  The district had non-renewed an assistant principal, who appealed to the commissioner and lost, mostly on procedural issues, but who very likely would have lost anyway. But I was very interested in what the assistant principal had done that led to the non-renewal. 

One of the primary duties of an assistant principal is taking care of discipline. And apparently, this AP took her job very seriously.  So seriously, in fact, that in another incarnation of this story she might have been the subject of an inspiring movie.  But in real life, it is possible to take your job too seriously and to lose sight of the very legitimate limitations that we all must work within. 

The school district said that the AP was not following district policy, and that she had been warned several times.  Two of the district's concerns were these:

•       Excessive numbers of citations made by law enforcement authorities at [AP's] request and student suspensions for disciplinary reasons that were out of compliance with board policy
•       Having twice as many disciplinary actions than any other assistant principal and more than all of the other principals combined.

I actually think a good case could have been made that these reasons are not, by themselves, an indicator that she was not acting appropriately.  Presumably the citations were properly made by the law enforcement officers.  The fact that she made use of this resource more than other principals might mean a number of different things.  it could mean that she was making use of a resource other principals were ignoring (which would make want to question how well other principals were handling discipline).  It might also mean that her campus simply had more disciplinary problems than others.  of course, it could also mean that there were more disciplinary problems because she was unable to get control of the problem, or it could mean that she was skipping less severe disciplinary techniques in favor of skipping right to the police.  Without a good inquiry into the facts, it's impossible to know whether the number of disciplinary actions she had under her watch were an indicator of incompetence or not. 

But the reason the board non-renewed her that really go me was this one:

•       Suspending students for more than the three days permitted by board policy. 
  
•       Violating federal special education laws and regulations by changing the placement of a student with disabilities for more than the permitted ten day period.  
  

Although it's stated as two problems, it's really the same thing: she was suspending students for longer than allowed by law and district policy.  Some may say this is a "get tough" stance that is sorely needed in difficult schools.  Even if there were some evidence that her methods were effective (and I'm not saying they were, there's no information about that in the case), it's not up to an individual to change policies that have already been set by a higher authority.  Actually, let me rephrase that - not only is it not up to an individual to unilaterally change the policies, it can also be illegal, as well as insubordinate and likely to get you fired.  

Tax Benefits for the Disabled

Philadelphia's delightful Tax Girl writes today about tax benefits for the disabled.  Read through her post and make note of anything that might apply to your situation.  If you use a tax preparer, make sure you mention what you find.  Although professionals - like lawyers, doctors, and tax preparers - usually know what kinds of questions to ask when someone comes to them for help, it's also your responsibility to make sure you pass on any information you think might be relevant.  The advice you get from any of your advisors is only as good as the information you give them about yourself. 

Check out Tax Girl's post. 

You're Not Under Contract Until the Board Says You Are

If you are hired to teach in a Texas school district during the school year, there's a good chance you may wind up working for a few days before the school board meets to vote on your contract.  It happens this way: a position comes open, and the principal needs to fill it ASAP.  A few interviews are held, the principal makes an offer, and the new teacher goes to work the next day because she needs the money and the school needs a teacher.  

A couple of weeks later the school board meeting occurs and the proposed teaching contract comes before the board for a vote.  If the board votes to hire the candidate, everyone is happy and things go on without anyone even noticing.  But in the small number of cases where the board votes not to hire the teacher who is already working in the classroom, what rights does the teacher have?

The teacher does have a right to be paid for the time spent working for the district, but the pay and employment rights will be those of a substitute teacher.  A contract cannot be formed between a teacher and district simply by putting the teacher to work.  Without the affirmative action of the board, there is not contract.  This was clearly stated by the Commissioner of Education in Olivarez v. La Villa ISD.  

Internet Filters At School

We Trust You WIth The Children But Not the Internet, writes the blog Dangerously Irrelevant today.

Are filters now a help or a hindrance to teachers.  Certainly many schools filter out material that could be useful in the classroom, but they also filter out troublespots that the students might step into.  I am personally in favor of more access rather than less, BUT I know that when a student acts inappropriately on the internet at school, it is all too likely that the teacher in the classroom will become the scapegoat for the administration, because "someone" has to be at fault when the kids act like heathens.

What are your thoughts?

The Flu

Seasonal flu hits every year, but this year the concern over the H1N1 flu virus is prompting stronger than usual calls for people to stay home when they are sick, and to stay there until they are all the way well.  Schools, of course, are particularly vulnerable to flu outbreaks, and in fact I've had my own two kids at home this week because they were lucky enough to come down with the flu already.  Lucky me.  I'm sure I'll be in bed next week.

If you're a teacher and you get the flu, and everyone is telling you to stay home, can you do that without losing money or your job?

All public school teachers in Texas receive five days of paid leave each school year to be used for sickness or any other personal reason.  Unused days carry over to the following year, and if you change districts, your unused days go with you. 

Individual school districts can give additional sick or personal days to their teachers each year.  How many days and how they can be used is entirely up to the individual district.  Local days do not follow teachers to different districts, and whether they accumulate from year to year is also up to the local district.

TIP: check with your personnel department to find out exactly how many sick or personal days you have available this year.  If you have a low number of days, also ask for the district policy on taking unpaid sick leave.

And we thought copy machines were a problem

Okay, copy machines are a problem because they are apparently manufactured with built-in paper jamming software.  My reference, though, was to the rampant illegal copyright infringement that occurred when copy machines made it cheap and simple to make copies of articles to distribute to school students instead of purchasing originals.  Textbook publishers, journal and magazine publishers cried foul and went on a public education campaign to teach people that the ability to make copies did not equal the right to make copies. 

Much the same story ensued after the invention of videocassette recorders and their progeny.

And once again the story was revised in the wake of the digital age and the mp3 music format.  We are still writing that story.

We are also still writing the social networking story.  The admonitions to be careful what you put in your district-provided email, and to be careful what you say and post on Facebook or other sites, are being well-distributed and heard by most, if not yet heeded by all.  But the newest concern is the casual way teens and adults are using digital cameras and videos to send provocative pictures of themselves to their significant others. 

On the one hand, taking private pictures to be shared privately with an appropriate person should not be a big deal.  The problem, however, is that keeping such pictures private is extremely difficult, and unlike days past when a disgruntled ex might pass around polaroids to his or her friends, now the pictures can be instantly copied and shared with the world via the internet.  Retrieving images after they've been widely disseminated is almost impossible. 

An extra twist is that when teens engage in this activity (sometimes called "sexting"),there are potential criminal consequences falling under the child pornography laws.  These laws are extremely tough and carry severe penalties, and they do not distinguish between teens "having fun" amongst themselves and the hard-core exploitive form of child pornography, the potential for relatively minor actions to cause a young persons life to derail is huge.

Elementary Class Size Waivers

State law limits the size of all public k-4 classrooms to no more than 22 students per teacher.  So how come so many of these classrooms are larger than that? 

State law also allows the Texas Education Agency to grant waivers to districts so that they can have more than 22 students per classroom.  While there are strict rules about notifying parents, it's actually pretty easy to get a waiver.  You can take a look at the requirements and procedure for getting a waiver here - Class Size Waivers

Health Insurance

Teachers in Texas are veterans at fighting for good health insurance.  See what is going on at the federal level right now, in plain language as reported by the Washington Post.  8 Questions About Health Care Reform

Minimum Wage Rises at end of Month

The final increase in the minimum wage, passed into law two years ago, occurs on July 24. The federal minimum wage is set to increase from $6.55 per hour to $7.25 per hour.  Hourly school employees currently making less than $7.25 will be getting a raise on July 25.