BISD's BOARD PASSES DOI, AN EDUCATIONAL TROJAN HORSE

By Jennifer Watson-Ochoa
Special to El Rrun-Rrun

On December 12, 2017, the school board voted to adopt a District of Innovation plan.

They say that it is only for flexibility of the school calendar so that school can start before the last Monday in August. Supposedly, this will attract more students to come back to public school from charter schools.

Let’s be honest, parents are not moving their students to charter schools because they start earlier in the year. They are moving their children to charter schools because charter schools do not have to deal with the discipline problems, or special needs students. Public schools have to teach to all populations.

The fear about the District of Innovation is not only that our summer will be cut short, but that our rights will be taken away from us. 

Under DOI, the school board can make new policies without informing the public. 

Rights that are guaranteed to us by the state, such as 30 minutes duty free lunch, can be taken away from us. Student/teacher ratio, which is already increasing because the district is removing teachers from schools and making them “Support teachers”, will become even higher. 

Another fear is that teachers become “at will” employees, which means that if the administration wants to fire a teacher, due process does not have to be followed. These things may not come into play for the 2018-2019 school year, but for the next four years, the district will have the right to make some of these changes. It is not just about the calendar.

At the board meeting, we got to see the true colors of the board members who were elected to their positions. 

Let me go through and tell you about these people. First of all, there is Philip Cowen. Mr. Cowen had the audacity to call one of the teacher’s organizations, BEST (Brownsville Educators Stand Together) which is affiliated with AFT, “Brownsville Educators Stop Teaching”!

He attacked this group because they have been very active in trying to stop the District of Innovation. 

They have been texting, calling, and emailing board members to let them know that if they vote for DOI, the organization will not vote for them in the next school board election. This organization has not been disrespectful, nor has it called anyone names. They have only made their feelings on the subject of DOI known. 

Mr. Cowen has stated that we will not lose our rights, and he said that the student/teacher ratio of 22:1 will not increase. I have news for you, Mr. Cowan, the ratio has started increasing before DOI. What do you think will happen now?

Next we have Laura Perez-Reyes. This very young lady clearly does not know anything about education. She was comparing school districts and students to grocery stores and produce. She made the argument that if Wal-Mart opened its doors at 8:00 a.m. and HEB opened at 9:00, the store that opens earlier will be the one that gets the business. 

Parents do not send their children to a particular school because it opens up earlier. We send our children to a particular school because of proximity to where we live and where we work. Come to think of it, it is like the grocery store comparison. We choose the store we shop at based on convenience. 

However, a huge difference is that we also consider what the schools have to offer. 

For example, I choose to send my kids to BISD because of the Fine Arts programs, and the CTE classes that charter schools don’t have. I did try a charter school for two years, but brought my kids back to BISD because I knew that BISD offered a more rounded education. Another thing that Ms. Perez-Reyes stated was that the teachers only complain, and don’t want to do anything like pay for insurance. 

All I can say to that, Ms. Perez-Reyes, is become a teacher. When you have to make ends meet on the meager salary that we get, along with the disrespect from the government, the community, and the school board, then you can talk about teachers complaining.

Mr. Joe Rodriguez, Mr. Cesar Lopez, and Mr. Carlos Elizondo have no spine. The only thing that they could say was that they agreed with Mr. Cowen. At least Mr. Cowen said something, even if it was a direct attack on an organization. Those three men will do whatever our overpaid superintendent wants to do.

Finally, I will come to the positive points of the meeting. During the public audience portion of the meeting, a high school senior addressed the board with his concerns about how starting the school year earlier will affect the music programs in the district. Mr. Hammes spoke about how the teachers are afraid of the changes to come. The only two board members who addressed these concerns were Dr. Sylvia Atkinson and Ms. Minerva Pena.

Dr. Atkinson wanted to table the issue to see if there were other options. She wanted the district to take a survey to see how the teachers feel about DOI. Ms. Pena gave a very passionate speech about how this is not the way to address the problem of charter schools.
She listened to the speakers, and she has listened to parents. She made the comment that the “reason why parents are taking children out of BISD and putting them into charter schools is not because of the calendar, it is because of public service”. 

Ms. Pena, you hit the nail on the head, and I cannot thank you enough for consistently supporting teachers and students.

School board elections will be coming up soon, and we need to remember who voted which way, and their comments. Based on what I heard last night, it is clear that the school board does not want to listen to the teacher, nor do they want to address their fears. 

Personally, I feel like the school board has ulterior motives for getting the District of Innovation passed. It is not just about the calendar, and it’s not about the children.