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Texas Schools - A crisis is looming!!

By
Real Estate Agent with Results Realty

School children in TexasI recently went to a meeting of the Spring Klein Chamber of Commerce where Dr. Cain the superintendent of Klein ISD spoke to us.  I was amazed to find out that there is a law on the books in the state of Texas that does not allow a school district to give a teacher any pay reductions & they also cannot be furloughed. Schools are going through a rough time right now and according to Dr. Cain if they can't ask the teachers to take a small decrease in pay then LOTS of teachers are going to be laid off.

My husband has been with a major airline for almost 25 years and two times in his employment we have had to take 10% pay cuts.  It was not easy but the alternative was to be without a job.  Unless something is done quickly according to Dr. Cain they are going to have to be sending out pink slip notices in April and this story is going to be repeated statewide.  I’m hoping that a bill is making its way through the Texas House to address this as I write this.  I can’t imagine that our Texas teachers would mind taking a small cut if it meant there would not be layoffs.   The rest of us are having to buckle our belts and I can't imagine that they would not like that opportunity also. The other thing that could be done is some of the teacher work days could be furloughed without pay and that according to Dr. Cain would have a huge impact on their bottom line.


The other thing that I found out at this meeting was the law that the state of Texas has on the books only allowing a 22 child class size in grades kindergarten through the 4th grade.  He told us that if a certain grade was full at 22 students per class and a new student entered that put that total over 22 per class  they immediately had to hire a new teacher and make a new class.  That is NUTS!!  When my children were small we lived in another state where the schools were very liberal and so I had my children in private Christian schools and I’m telling you the private school class size was huge.  I think there was something like 35 in each class but they did have a teacher and an aide.  Our children got an incredible education from that school.

We moved here when our children were in the 5th grade and 9th grade and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Klein ISD was still teaching reading, writing & arithmetic.  My children got a great education from Klein ISD.  My daughter ended up getting a degree in Communication Design at UNT and our son is now a sophomore at Texas A&M in Ocean Engineering.  He took the longer route as he was an Intelligence Analyst in the Army for almost 5 years.  The reason he joined the Army was because he scored so high on their entrance exam.


Like I said I hope a bill is already in the works as the public schools have to make key decisions in April and pink slips will be going out.  I am writing this as I want to see other people’s children have those same options that were available to my children and from what I can see something needs to happen quick or that is going to be in jeopardy.

I’m a real estate broker serving the  districts of Klein ISD, Spring ISD,  Tomball ISD, Magnolia ISD, Montgomery ISD and Cypress ISD.  All of these districts have done nothing but grow in the last few years.  Even though times are hard we are still in a big growth stage.  The boys and girls of Texas are the future and we need to protect our future.

Please consider writing your local Texas legislatures right away about this problem.  You can find ways to contact them at texas legislatures online.  Representative Rob Eissler is the public education chair.  I found that I could not email him through the website as I am not in his constituency but I called his office at 512-463-0797 and they were happy to give me his email address.  I don't think I should put that address on the web but if you want to contact his office you can either call that number or email me and I will be glad to personally give it to you.

 

Copyright © 2011 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *Texas Schools - A crisis is looming!!*

 

Comments (24)

Gary Woltal
Keller Williams Realty - Flower Mound, TX
Assoc. Broker Realtor SFR Dallas Ft. Worth

A lot of inflexible older rules there Marchel. I hope with your assistance and others like you more common sense approaches can be taken. Once something is law it is very hard to change it sometimes.

Mar 03, 2011 11:15 AM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Marchel school systems are struggling everywhere.  Here in Connecticut we have seen many teacher being let go.  It does not look like it will be getting better soon, and the kids are the ones that will feel the impact of this most.

Mar 03, 2011 11:44 AM
Judith Parker
ProStead Realty - Charlotte, NC
CRS, GRI, CMRS, Charlotte, NC

Hi Marchel, it is amazing to me the things that get passed that we are not aware of until we get into a crisis mode.  I sure hope that gets resolved.

Mar 03, 2011 11:52 AM
Myrl Jeffcoat
Sacramento, CA
Greater Sacramento Realtor - Retired

Marchel - I am sorry to hear that Texas is also facing some of the financial woes that other areas of the country are experiencing.  While it may seem that the front people in schools are teachers, there is a lot which often goes on that makes up the total scene.  For example, check out how much of the budget goes to administration.  Here in California, we have a schoold district in the next county, which actually let go of ,amu teachers, and cut teacher pay.  Then the administrators managed to get a hefty raise.  It seems that those at the top rung of any institution, often put the squeeze on everyone else, and then reward themselves in the process.  I'm not saying that's what is happening where you are. . .BUT just check it out!

Mar 03, 2011 01:31 PM
Karl Hess
Keller Williams Shore Properties - Barnegat, NJ
on The Jersey Shore

How did we ever get to the point where raising taxes on the top 2% of the wealthiest individuals on God's green earth is less palatable then paying for the very best education our children can possibly receive.  Baffling how teachers are now scorned across America....I don't know what this says about our priorities, but it ain't good!

Mar 03, 2011 01:48 PM
Sondra Meyer:
EXP Realty, LLC - Corpus Christi, TX
See It. Experience It. Live It.

Marchel, as an Aggie myself, I'm glad to see you son chose Texas A&M.   My understanding that intelligence analysts are required to have very high scores on the Army's entrance exam.  So, you made your point very well that small class size isn't necessarily the best.  I saw Bill Gates saying the same thing on the news earlier this evening.  His foundation is spending a lot of effort focusing on the educational system it sounds like. 

In my opinion, education is going to have to be a priorty when States and communities are trying struggle with their budget issues. 

 

Mar 03, 2011 01:48 PM
'The Diamond Group' 'A Cut Above The Rest'
The Diamond Group @ Keller Williams - Lubbock, TX
Lubbock Texas Real Estate

our superintendent of schools didn't take her 10% pay raise this week and I find that unusual and commendable.

Mar 03, 2011 03:12 PM
Mike Frazier
Carousel Realty of Dyer County - Dyersburg, TN
Northwest Tennessee Realtor

Marchel, I fear that Wisconsin is just the tip of the iceberg. Wonder how California is able to pay their teachers?

Mar 03, 2011 04:40 PM
Kevin Robinson
Twin Falls, ID
Fractional Developer

Marchel - We have much of the same going on here in Idaho. The teachers are complaining about their rights, but they forget that we the taxpayers have a few as well. For one we are sick of getting overtaxed for a bad product.

Mar 04, 2011 01:11 AM
Ricki Eichler McCallum
CastNet Realty - Corpus Christi, TX
Broker,GRI,ABR, e-Pro, TAHS

Great blog Marchel,   Stupid laws like this that dont use common sense frustrate me. I hope everyone lets their representatives know this needs changing NOW!

Mar 04, 2011 01:24 AM
Amy Law
Alliance Properties - Crosby, TX

They already started cutting teaching and administrative staff. They started about 5 years ago. They actually wrote the current special education laws to make it easier for schools to do without special education programs and therefore staff. They have done this with other programs as well. Both my husband and I who were special education teachers were laid off. They did this in anticipation of this budget crisis, which they forsaw many years ago. The thing is, although they tried to prepare for it by laying off teachers and staff over the past 5 years, the money problems are much deeper than they anicipated because they didn't ever dream that property values would drop like they have. The property value drops due to the Hurricane Ike began the crisis, and then the mortgage/job crisis hit and rubbed salt into the wounds. It is just sad for the kids. They were already having problems reaching students before, and now...

It doesn't help us either, as Real Estate professionals. The money problems of one trickle down and around and affect us all.

Mar 04, 2011 07:07 AM
Karen Kruschka
RE/MAX Executives - Woodbridge, VA
- "My Experience Isn't Expensive - It's PRICELESS"

Marchel  The chickens are coming home to roost - many states have  representatives that have spent taxpayer money on many meaningless and wasteful  escapades.  However, our Virginia budget and state and county employees are in great shape.  As a right to work state our representatives are not beholding to unions and giving them the keys to the cash box

Mar 06, 2011 05:41 AM
Marchel Peterson
Results Realty - Spring, TX
Spring TX Real Estate E-Pro

PAT, This is a huge problem across the county in most states.

DALE, In our school district this cut would be across the board.  The superintendent would take a bigger cut than anyone else because he makes more and so on.

SHIRLEY, It is scary!  I think the scary part is that no one seems to know about it.

CARL & CEIL, We have been there done that and it beats being out of a job!!

GARY WOLTAL, I hope some common sense prevails.

Mar 09, 2011 02:13 PM
Marchel Peterson
Results Realty - Spring, TX
Spring TX Real Estate E-Pro

GEORGE, This is very sad and you are right it is happening across our nation.

JUDITH, It is amazing all those little rules that we DON'T know about!

MYRL, In our school district everyone will take the cut.  The superintendent will take the largest cut as he makes the most. It just makes so much sense to me for everyone to take a small cut rather than big lay offs but who knows what will happen.

KARL, I'll be honest; I don't understand your comment.  In this case Texas schools are out of money (we can't print money like the government) so either everyone takes a small cut or we have big lay offs that is bottom line.  I am trying to help save teachers jobs; I don't see how that would be scorning teachers.

SONDRA, Yes our son had to score very high on that test to become an Intelligence Analyst.  He had a good education background and I'm hoping that will continue to be the case for our Texas schools.  I always wanted him to become an Aggie so YES I'm thrilled.  At this point he is just there for the education but when he gets out that AGGIE will open doors.

 

Mar 09, 2011 02:24 PM
Marchel Peterson
Results Realty - Spring, TX
Spring TX Real Estate E-Pro

ELIZABETH, This superintendent told us he would be taking this cut along with everyone else.  His cut would of course be a bigger cut.

MIKE, I have wondered about California also!

KEVIN, In Texas we have so far had fairly conservative schools.  I hope it stays that way.  Since the election we now have a VERY conservative Texas house which gives me hope.

AMY, I wish that Karl from above would read your comment.  I wrote this to try and stop more teacher layoffs and that is what is coming if this law is not changed.

KAREN, We do not have state income tax so our schools are based on property values and with property values not going up it is causing this problem. This antiquated law needs to change!!

Mar 09, 2011 02:30 PM
Susan Haughton
Long and Foster REALTORS (703) 470-4545 - Alexandria, VA
Susan & Mindy Team...Honesty. Integrity. Results.

Karen said what I was going to say about Virginia.  It is a sad state of affairs and I could not agree with you more!

Mar 09, 2011 11:15 PM
Emily Medvec
eXp Realty LLC - Santa Fe, NM
Broker | Realtor | Serving Santa Fe & Northern NM

Marchel, the fact that there is such universal budget crisis in the states only a few years after the collapse of the private financial sector continues to be both challenging and disturbing. The issues are complex but not insurmountable. It just seems no cares until it affects them. Hopefully, the story will get some focus on what is happening and why and allow some change to take place next.

Mar 10, 2011 02:31 PM
The Scott Loper Team Bux-Mont Premier Properties
Keller Williams Real Estate - Montgomeryville - Lansdale, PA

Hi Marchel,

The budget crises throughout our country are scary.  Teachers cannot expect to stay protected against what everyone else is facing, especially the bad ones that we can't get rid of because they are tenured.

Lisa

Mar 11, 2011 12:31 AM
Elizabeth Byrne
Keller Williams Realty - Arlington, VA
Arlington Virginia Real Estate

Marchel, great post. It sounds like some changes in Texas school system should be made. The sooner the better. Have a great day.

Mar 14, 2011 12:27 AM
Chris Olsen
Olsen Ziegler Realty - Cleveland, OH
Broker Owner Cleveland Ohio Real Estate

Hi Marchel -- In Ohio, it's been rules that the way our school systems are funded is largely unconstitutional and has been for a long time. Local communities are forced to propose levies, which sometimes voters reject, especially in these economic times.  It's sad that in this day and age, we can't figure out how to properly fund a world-class education for our youth, from birth to age 18 in a fair, equitable and comprehensive manner, before we turn kids out into higher education and/or the workforce.  We can pay now, or we can pay a whole lot more later.

Mar 21, 2011 04:14 AM