Volume 1, Issue 11
August, 2011
MCALLEN AFT NEWS
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
COMPLETION RATES FOR 2011
McAllen ISD jumped nearly 3.5 percent in High School Com-pletion Rate based on State Accountability Ratings which became official July 29, 2011.
The Exemplary Schools are Achieve Early College High School, Jackson, Milam, Rayburn, Gonzalez, Castaneda, and McAuliffe.
The Recognized Schools are Cathey, Fossum, Alvarez, Bonham, Crockett, Escandon, Garza, Hendricks, Sam Houston, Navarro, Perez, Roosevelt, Sanchez, Seguin, Thigpen-Zavala, and Wilson. The rest were Acceptable with Travis being Unacceptable. Intense work will now be done on Science. STAAR and end of course will be the new tests. There will be no new campus ratings in 2011-12.
TEXAS COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
The changes in ratings from 2010 to 2011 were released by Robert Scott, Texas Com-missioner of Education. Exemplary schools dropped from 19.5% of all districts to 5%.
Recognized dropped from 49.1% to 34.4%. Acceptable rose from 27.6% to 53.3%.
Unacceptable rose from 3% to 7.2%.
MATT DAMON
So, the next time you’re feeling down, or exhausted, or unappreciated, or at the end of your rope; the next time you turn on the TV and see yourself being called ‘overpaid’; the next time you encounter some simple-minded, punitive policy that’s been driven into your life by some corporate reformer who has literally never taught anyone anything, please, please, please know that there are millions of us behind you. You have an army of regular people standing right behind you and our appreciation for what you do is so deeply felt. We love you, we thank you and we will always have your back.”
(Matt’s mother is a public school teacher.)
MORE ON SENATE BILL 8
If let go from your job in 2012, you must be told 10 (used to be 45) days prior to the last day of instruction.
If McAllen declares a financial exigency, it will be easier to terminate teacher contracts mid-year.
For teachers in a district with more than 5,000 students, the district can choose to hold hearings before an attorney hired by the district.
School boards can change a determination by the hearing officer regarding a good cause to terminate.
A teacher facing potential termination for good cause can be suspended without pay while the termination is pending.