Texas Education Crisis Deepens: Funding Shortfalls and Teacher Shortages Undermine SAISD’s Stability
Dear SAISD Parents and San Antonio Community Community,
Recently, there have been reports of several school districts having to reduce their funding due to insufficient funds. Additionally, some teachers leave due to the state’s strict regulations, making obtaining necessary classroom resources or teaching specific subjects challenging. Our districts will have to hire substitute teachers, which could cause more issues. Governor Greg Abbott is causing all this ruckus because he refuses to give our districts the money they need to function.
Looking to fix the teacher shortage, TEA (Texas Education Agency) wants to provide a teacher residency program, which would take co-teachers and partner them with a teacher who will mentor them for a year. We already have co-teachers helping in our classrooms, but they would be given an enhanced standard certificate after a year of being under a teacher mentor. The state believes this will help our schools and ensure that our children get the education they need to succeed. Now this plan sounds great but truthfully we need Gov. Abbott to just fund our public schools already! After all, the state funds our charter schools and a couple of them are under investigation for misuse of funds. We already have read on this page our issue with charter schools gaining our students which closes down schools and leads us to read these very articles. We certainly cannot afford, in SAISD, to have our SAISD D2 trustee absent or not 100% focused in every way in order to navigate this new education disaster in Texas. Read the full story HERE.
Can A Parent Opt Out of STAAR Testing?
I wanted to answer the question: can a parent “opt out” of state testing? Unfortunately, the answer is no because our state’s education laws don’t allow parents to opt out of STAAR testing. To read this law, look up texas education code chapter 26.010, which will explain everything. Also, if your child is a senior, ensure they have all their credits and end-of-course exams because the last day of school is May 30th. Please ensure your child has everything in place for graduation by contacting their school counselors.
Fiesta
Lastly, this weekend is the Fiesta day and night parade so let’s make sure that we cheer on for the pride of the Eastside our Sam Houston Hurricane Band.
If anyone has any questions or concerns please email me at lena.lopez@saobserver.com.
Have a blessed week,
Lena Lopez
[…] this designation, the teachers will receive stipends ranging from $3,900 to $25,100, based on their designation level and their school’s allotment from the TEA, which is […]