McAllen AFT News - September, 2008

GOVERNOR WANTS YOUR PENSION

The governor and top legislative leaders are teaming up in an effort to tap the Texas Teacher Retirement System pension fund to finance new roads. The Austin American-Statesman reports that they want to create a Transportation Finance Corporation in which funds held by state retirement systems, of which TRS is by far the largest with assets exceeding $100 billion, would be invested.

Gov. Perry has been eyeing the TRS pension fund for some time as a pot of money he would like to use for favored investment vehicles. Previously his office encouraged the TRS board of trustees to consider investing your pension dollars in firms already targeted for investment by the Emerging Technology Fund that the governor controls directly. Now the presiding officers of the Texas Senate and Texas House, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker Tom Craddick, have joined Perry in a public statement of intent to collaborate on the plan for a new road fund using your pension dollars.

Senate Finance Committee chair Sen. Steve Ogden, Republican of College Station, has been talking up this same idea since last spring.

Under this scenario, those who depend on TRS for their retirement benefits have reason to be concerned that TRS investments could be guided by goals other than maximum return for TRS members. When Ogden floated this idea of investing TRS dollars earlier this year, the chief investment officer at TRS noted that the pension fund’s "ultimate loyalty is to the members" and gently suggested that potential investments in Texas infrastructure would have to compete on an equal footing with other potential investment vehicles.

However, that principle of sound pension-fund management evidently is coming under renewed pressure. Increased vigilance is in order as the 2009 legislative session approaches.

MCALLEN AFT BENEFITS

Beginning September 2, the McAllen AFT MSS (Member Services Specialists) begins. You can come to our office at 1500 Dove in McAllen and be helped from 5-7:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

If you have a concern, the MSS (Torchie Champion and Robert Greenwood) staff will assist you with whatever you need help with—bring an application, an issue, a parental concern, and anything else.

Ask for Help!!

HURRICANE RELIEF

In 2005 the American Federation of Teachers established a Disaster Relief Fund for members who were adversely affected by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region.

The fund pays up to $500 to members who have suffered damage or loss of their home and/or personal property. A significant number of Texas AFT members received grants from this fund to help them get back on the road to recovery after hurricanes struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. Now the fund is helping those affected by Hurricane Dolly in South Texas last month. Scores of Texas AFT members already have applied for assistance, and applications are still being accepted.

If you are a Texas AFT member in the McAllen AFT, La Joya Federation of Teachers, or in the Texas AFT Professional Educators Group and have suffered a loss due to Hurricane Dolly, you may qualify for disaster relief from AFT. If you think you qualify, you will need to fill out an application.

A copy of the application guidelines and the application form can be obtained by contacting info@texasaft.org online. The application form is a two-page document that asks members to describe the damages and losses to their home, vehicle, or personal possessions. You can also pick up a application at our office at 1500 Dove.

TESTING

Today, testing and accountability, instead of curriculum and instruction, have taken center stage in schools and classrooms across the country. As more accountability provisions are piled on schools, staff and students, attention has shifted away from what kids should be learning, and moved toward test scores and their implications.

However, what seems to have been forgotten is that student achievement and test scores are a reflection of what is taught in the classroom.

The AFT has long been an advocate for common, coherent content standards, which ensure that all children, regardless of neighborhood, are exposed to rich, well-sequenced content and skills, starting in kindergarten or before.

We know that shallow, overly broad standards fail to address students’ basic skills, but it is also clear that increased assessment requirements have squeezed music, the arts, history and other non-tested subjects out of the curriculum. Now, more than ever, states must develop common, coherent, grade-by-grade standards.

Common, coherent standards:

Allow teachers and parents to get a good sense of what students are expected to know and be able to do at any specific grade level.

Help teachers identify which students are having difficulty and need extra help.

Allow teachers to develop, share and refine best practices with their colleagues, and ensure that professional development is based on what teachers actually
teach, not pedagogical fads.

Ensure that transient students won’t suffer from a new curriculum every time they switch schools.

Guarantee that all students are exposed systematically to the knowledge and skills they need, without risking unproductive repetition or lack of exposure to
key topics.

Enable teachers to prepare their students for state assessments without drill and kill.

Common, coherent, grade-by-grade standards promote effective professional development opportunities.

Plus, a shared understanding of what students should know and be able to do enables the best kind of professional development.