SEA follows the same endorsement procedure used by the NEA and TSTA for candidate endorsements. This year, the filing deadline for office was March 10th. SEA mailed candidate questionnaires, (certified-mail, return receipt requested), to all candidates on March 11. SEA asked the candidates to return the questionnaires by March 21. We received responses from four of the eight candidates, Mr. Sarabia, Mr. Ayub, Mr. Guerra, and Mr. Goodman.

Members of our Legislative and Political Action Team reviewed the returned questionnaires and set interview appointments with the candidates for March 29. Once all candidates who responded to our questionnaire were interviewed, the LPAT committee made their recommendation for endorsement.

It is imperative that you become active in the political process. We will be actively involved with the School Board election this year. If you would like to volunteer to help our endorsed candidates, please contact Glenda Hawthorne: 490-5305.

Also, we have ordered a new purple T-shirt! If you would like to have one, please stop by our office! They are FREE to our members! See picture below:

Much unrest plagues our district at this time. After much thought and careful consideration of potential consequences, I have chosen to post the following message on another forum. I am posting it here so you will be aware of what I have said:

Mr. Patton speaks out

I have known Mr. Patton for several years. During this time, he and I have had many "discussions", some were friendly and some not so friendly. However, I do know he takes his duties as a Board member very seriously, and as a Board member, he knows he has a fiduciary responsibility to the district to do what is best for the district as a whole.

In executive session, Board members can fuss and fume at each other, they can cuss and discuss with each other, but once they come out of that session and take a vote on an issue, all members must support the decision. That is their responsibility as Board members, and that is the training they receive when they become Board members. All votes are recorded and published in the Board Meeting minutes. Those minutes are posted on the SISD website for the public to view. It would behoove all of us to read them and make a record of how the members of the Board voted on important issues. Once this has been done, it is up to the public to hold them accountable on election day.

I believe Mr. Patton was doing his job as a member of the Board in supporting the bond election because the Board voted put it out there. However, at that particular Board meeting, he did express concern over the amount of the bond and the possibility of it failing.

As to the current situation in SISD, I believe Mr. Patton, as well as other Board members, have received many "anonymous" complaints. This does no good. They will not respond to these types of complaints. People need to be willing to give their names and explain their issues to them or they will not act. On the other hand, I know many people HAVE spoken out and presented factual information to some of them. Herein lies the frustration of the people. Those Board members must be held accountable for their refusal to take action. I believe it takes a great deal of courage on the part of Mr. Patton to come out public and break ranks with the other members of the Board, and we should support his decision to do so.

I also believe the comments from the Superintendent in yesterday's paper about Mr. Patton are shameful. In my opinion, this was an attempt to begin a smear campaign against him...more "scorched earth" political moves on her part. With that statement, she gave the PUBLIC a glimpse of how she deals with ANYONE who challenges her. She turns on them, smears them, shuns them, marginalizes them, and then forces them out. This is what happened to Esther, Barry, Dr. Gabaldon and many others who left the district. Some left because they knew it was coming.

No matter what some Board members might say, the bond election WAS a referendum on the current leadership of the district. Yes, there were some who voted no because they thought their taxes would go up, and some voted no because they thought it was too much, but the overwhelming majority of those 5028 who voted NO were people dissatisfied and downright angry about what they have seen happening in our district for the last 10 months.

Some people have wondered what the Association has been doing during this time.

1) We have been doing our best to work with the current leadership in a professional manner in order to solve problems/issues;
2) When that has failed, we have taken the necessary steps provided to us under state law and policy DGBA, (grievances, more this year than ever before);
3) We took a position of "no position" on the bond which was seen by many to be a strong statement in itself;
4) We have done our own investigating of issues and individuals, and
5) We have presented our findings to individual Board members with the hope that they, too, would "see the light". Unfortunately, this effort has obviously failed.

It is, therefore, imperative for the employees and taxpayers of this district to become more politically involved in order to hold Board members who refuse to listen accountable on election day. Attend the Board meetings, (next Wednesday would be a good time to start), read the minutes of those meetings, become informed, become involved, become ACTIVE, and above all VOTE!!!

I realize that my posting on this forum may cost the Association a few members, but that can't be helped. The time is now to speak out and, THANK GOD FOR THE 1ST AMENDMENT!

Is it important that you are covered by a good health insurance plan? Do you want to make sure that when you retire you will be able to live on your retirement benefits? If these things are important to you, then you will want to become a Continuing Contributor.

Elected officials make many of the decisions that affect your profession, especially the level of salary and benefits you receive. TSTA recognizes how important these elected officials are to your future and that is why we are involved in the political arena and have created the TSTA Continuing Contributor Program. The Program is under TSTA’s Political Action Committee.

Our Continuing Contributor Program serves as a vehicle for members who want to be involved in the political process. Through the Continuing Contributor Program they contribute money to help TSTA elect public officials who are supportive of educators and public education and will vote for salary and benefit increases. They become Continuing Contributors by contributing money either through bank draft or payroll deduction. They may also make a one-time contribution to the fund.

Because TSTA dues money cannot be used to elect public officials, we must count on our members making contributions to our Continuing Contributor Program fund. We need every TSTA member to do his or her part and give to our Continuing Contributor fund. Click here to download a new Continuing Contributor form. Fill it out, attach a voided check and send it to TSTA-PAC, 316 W. 12th St., Austin, TX 78701. Please do it today!

If you would like to support TSTA’s efforts to increase your salary and benefits, become a Continuing Contributor or give a one-time contribution. Write to Continuing Contributor Program, TSTA-PAC, 316 W. 12th St., Austin, TX 78701; call 877-ASK-TSTA, ext. 1257; or send an email to Adriana Montoya.

We filed a grievance on October 17, 2005 in which we stated that SISD was in violation of Section 11.164 of the Texas Education Code. This section of the code addresses paperwork reduction for teachers. Our grievance contained 174 pages of document which we said constituted excessive paperwork in violation of the statute. Due to the nature of the grievance, it was heard at Level II on November 10, 2005. The parties agreed to narrow the scope of the grievance to four significant issues:

• Pre-Kinder Progress Reports
• Team Learning Logs
• At-Risk Documents
• Personal Graduation Plans

SISD committed to form a task force or other mechanism to address overall paperwork reduction issues and also to submit its formal response by December 1, 2006. In addition, the school district proposed that the parties meet on December 8, 2005 to review the response and to determine if a resolution could be reached. Due to scheduling problems, the meeting could not take place. A subsequent meeting was held on January 24, 2006, but no resolution was reached. Because of this, we requested that a Level III hearing be scheduled. Our Level III hearing occurred on March 23, 2006. The following is the district's proposed resolution:

• A. Pre-Kinder Progress Reports - These documents will be made teacher optional. A progress report is required to be sent to parents only when a student is struggling and/or not progressing. All principals will be advised that progress reports are not required for all pre-kinder students. A progress report will be required only for pre-kindergarten students for the same reasons that progress reports are required for other students.

• B. Team Learning Logs - The school district believes Team Learning Logs have become an important part of the instructional focus at the campuses. It is a tool which teachers use to conduct a focused meeting in an effort to increase student learning. However, in order to reduce paperwork and abide by applicable law, principals will be required to provide a scribe who will complete the Team Learning Log for the teachers. The teachers will not be required to prepare the Team Learning Log, will be required to attend the meetings at which the Team Learning Logs are developed. The scribe will be an administrator, staff member who is not assigned to students, or a department head who is paid a stipend. To carry out this plan in an effective and concise manner, the following will be done:

• Principals will be directed to designate a scribe for each team
• Teachers will not be required to compile Team Learning Logs
• The scribe will be the only person who can record the Team Learning Log items
• A memorandum will be sent via email to all school district teachers to clarify these expectations

• C. At-Risk Documents - Teachers will continue to be required to prepare and submit the necessary documents with respect to students who are "at-risk". This information and documentation is required by law and regulation to be compiled. As such, these requirements are an exception to the provisions of the paperwork reduction law. In order to reduce the amount of paperwork and to assist teachers, the district will continue to address and develop ways to create flexibility for teachers. At-risk paperwork will soon be available to teachers on their computers in a "pre-populated" format. Teachers will be able to access these documents from home and school. Additionally, the district will strive to continue to fund a second conference period at the high school level designated to specifically address at-risk issues.

• D. Personal Graduation Plans - Although personal graduation plans are required by law and regulation, the district will take steps to reduce the time for completion and develop ways to create flexibility for teachers. The district will proceed with making the formats for personal graduation plans available to teachers on their computers in a "pre-populated" format. Teachers can access these documents from home and school.

• E. District-wide Review of Paperwork Reduction Measures - The district commits to create a task force or otherwise conduct a review of paperwork reduction measures for the school district as a whole to assure that teachers are not unduly burdened with unnecessary paperwork.

In addition, if you have been doing individual and block/grade-level lesson plans, it will now be an either - or situation. You will no longer do both.