BFTSP

Maj Tahal….

or whatever….

The continual use of this description of Lake Jackson Intermediate is so trite and overused.   The cost of this school would have been no more or no less per square foot with or without the façade.  The school is situated in the heart of Lake Jackson and it would have been a great disservice to our community to replace a 50 year-old box with a new box.  The design of the school does not have to detract from the environment it is in placed in to be economical or effective.  A new school that is part of the focus of the community should convey beauty especially in a community that has pride.  We don’t have to build unattractive, boxlike schools in order to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s money.  The other schools built at the same times,  i.e. Velasco Elementary, Clute Intermediate,  Brazosport High School, have attractive facades too and are comparable in every way to Lake Jackson Intermediate.  The continual criticism of LJI is mean-spirited and as my mother would say, “It’s tacky”. 

Are you tired of this “Taj Mahal” description, too.  Add your $.02 below.

Questions continue…

One of the questions about the Bond Election that I have received is, Will we use the same architect and construction companies this time?  It seems that some were not happy with the process or the results.  I was employed at Brazosport High School during the building/rebuilding of that campus.  My experience was not good.  It seemed that every day instruction was disrupted by construction issues, such as no water, no electricity, no a/c, don’t go here, move there….it was continual.  Instruction was disrupted and probably to the detriment of the school and its accountability ratings.

Here is the answer.  The archectural firm that was used last time was PBK.  The construction firm was Drymalla.  PBK has conducted the master plan process, voluntarily and free to the district.  When the bond is passed, the BISD administration will interview firms and proposals and make a recommendation to the Board about an architect and subsequently a construction firm.

Please post your questions.

Patriotic Grace…

The Executive Committee and the COPE/Advocacy Committee met last night and after a long conversation decided to support the BISD bond election.  Now is the time to become educated on the facts and the pros/cons for the proposal so that as BISD’s education experts we can facilitate an informed discussion of the issues.  We cannot reject our responsibility to disseminate accurate information or our responsibility to vote on Tuesday, November 3.

This morning I considered the challenges we face in presenting the facts and a vision of education for the future.  I also considered the challenge of fulfilling our obligation to our community and our children and I read this clipping from today’s Dallas Morning News,

In her new book, former White House speechwriter Peggy Noonan notes the toxic trend in our recent public discourse: “What we need most right now, at this moment, is a kind of patriotic grace … a grace that takes the long view, apprehends the moment we’re in, comes up with ways of dealing with it, and eschews the politically cheap and manipulative.”

If not this, what?  If not now, when?

Please send me your questions about the proposal and I will use this forum to answer your questions.

Ballot power….

The BISD board called for a bond election in November.  The Master Plan committee’s recommendation on the needs of the district were accepted.  I served on this committee and made every meeting save one (during the musical).  It was a well thought-out plan which addressed needs of the district. 

The next step for BFT is to have a general meeting of the entire membership.  At this meeting the entire membership will hear information about the proposal.  The membership will then vote to support the bond issue, or to not support the bond issue or to remain neutral on the proposal. 

Please leave your comments below.

My plea on Friday….

 The plea was made to the president of the AFT, Randi Weingarten and Congressman Al Green.  The Social Security Fairness affects only certain public servants in 12 states.  It is important to the Texas AFT that this issue be brought to the forefront so that it can become a higher priorty for the AFT.  As I introduced myself before this plea, I mentioned that I have paid Social Security taxes since I was fifteen years old and that I am continuing to pay these taxes. 

Below is what I told them and I hope that you will use this information to continue to get out the word to all about the effect on those covered by TRS.

-Texas school employees and retirees in districts like mine in Brazosport–and school employees in a dozen other states–need the Social Security Fairness Act.

-Right now the Government Pension Offset of spousal benefits and the Windfall Elimination Provision severely cut earned benefits of Texas school employees under Social Security.

-These penalties apply if they retire from a school district that chose not to participate in Social Security back in the 1980s.

-It has nothing to do with any choice the employee made. In fact, the employees affected have chosen to work in other jobs covered by Social Security, in addition to their school district jobs.

-It comes as a shock for many of them to find out when they retire that their spousal benefit from Social Security is cut (sometimes to zero, if two-thirds of their state TRS pension is more than their spousal benefit entitlement) or that their own individual benefit is cut by $372 a month because of the WEP.

-They have no automatic COLA and have seen a 20-percent drop in the real value of their pensions over the eight years since their last20cost-of-living raise from the legislature.

-They need the stable foundation of retirement income that is provided by inflation-adjusted Social Security benefits, and many of them have earned it–but they don’t get what they earned because of the WEP and GPO.

-Congress should be looking for ways to improve retirement security for all Americans, not singling out some of them for benefit reductions that make their retirement financially insecure or even push them into poverty.

-How can we move this issue forward on the congressional agenda and deal with this unfairness in this current session of Congress?

The passing of an AFT member…

In a statement from the AFT President, Randi Weingarten she says this, ” The AFT mourns the passing of one of our own, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who was sometimes nicknamed “the senator from AFT.” AFT president Randi Weingarten says Kennedy earned that playful moniker by virtue of our substantive and long-lasting partnership.”  Senator Kennedy was a friend of education and of teachers.

As I watch the services this morning, I am reminded of all of educators and supporters of education that are no longer with us fighting the good fight. 

I am sure you have known many, too.  The ones that come to my mind this morning are Carol Cravens, Victor Platt, “Mr. Marcum”, Cecelia Blackstock…who comes to your mind?  Please share those who come to your mind in the comments below.

What an exciting day…

I was invited, as the BFT President to sit down at an informal meeting with Randi Weingarten, president of AFT and Al Green, Congressman from Houston’s 5th ward.  There were about 20 of us from the Houston area.  I was appointed to talk to them about Social Security Fairness and how important it is to Texas school employees.  There are only 12 states that  are affected by this unfair reduction of Social Security benefits and all of those affected are in public service careers….what a slap in the face. 

This visit was a part of AFT’s Back to School Tour.  Check the website  http://www.aft.org/tour/  There were many pictures taken today and I hope that some will show up on this website, soon.

More on this inspirational day later.  I am just in from Houston and I need a break and a chance to collect my thoughts into words.

Come back for more on the event and more on the upcoming school board meeting, Tuesday.

You are awesome…

To all of you who have expressed your gratitude and thanks to me on  the salary scale issue, I thank you.  Your support through email and calls has been very uplifting.  The support has come from BFT members and others, as well.  I was reminded by the comment in The Facts today of the many times in our history that promises have been made to take care of issues “in the future”.   ”It’s just not the right time” shouldn’t work anymore, either.  I hope that everyone in BISD will “Join the Movement for Change“.

Here is the story…

As I expressed earlier, I was concerned that the salary schedule was compressed and that the yearly steps were skewed, see entry  for August 23^rd below.

I made a motion to adopt the “optional” salary schedule (which would have improved it)  and it died for a lack of second.  The motion was then made to adopt the “recommended” salary schedule by a vote of 6 to 1. 

I did my best to make the case that the time was right for correcting the schedule and that in light of the improved test scores on many campuses, the improvement in the attendance rate by the staff, the concessions made to sick leave and to health insurance, and the savings accrued there , that it was time to make a change.  It was not a cure but it was a start.

The next meeting will be on September 1^st.  I hope to see you there.

I hope that you will express yourself in comments below.

Wish you had been there…

I wish you had been at the BISD board meeting last night.  Those who were there learned  a lot.  My thanks and appreciation to those who were at the meeting.  I will report in a later post the results of the meeting.  Next Tuesday is the next BISD board meeting and the “master plan” (a.k.a plan for bond issue) will be discussed and if the board approves it, an election will be called for November.  So clear your calendar and be there.  Don’t miss this opportunity for an enlightening educational experience.