Playoffs
This is a first for sure. Commentary has been closely following Texas legislative sessions since 1973, and this is the first one where we really don’t know who the Texas House Speaker will be the day before the session starts. Stay tuned.
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We are a year and a half into the takeover of HISD by the TEA and here is the latest from the Chron:
A Houston teachers union is advocating against a possible overhaul to the pay scale that could base salaries for some teachers entirely on evaluations, rather than tenure.
The Houston Education Association, representing about 200 members, is launching a “Fair Pay Campaign” to urge community members to advocate against linking teacher pay to evaluations and to tell the Board of Managers to vote no on any pay-for-performance policy.
The concern comes as HISD leaders are testing and collecting feedback at 18 campuses for components of a new teacher evaluation system. HISD has also administered at least one district-wide survey, garnering more than 8,000 teacher respondents, according to the district. However, regardless of what evaluation system the district ultimately implements, HISD plans to move toward pay-for-performance, Deputy Chief of Academics Alyssa Murray said in an explainer video for the proposed system.
An HISD spokesperson said that the development of a new evaluation system and the move to pay-for-performance are separate initiatives.
“HISD will move to a pay-for-performance model for teachers at non-NES campuses in the school year 2026-2027. Performance will be measured by the teacher evaluation system in place at that time, whether that is the proposed TES (Teacher Excellence) System, if passed by the board, or the current T-TESS (state standard) system,” the spokesperson commented.
Compensation will be tied to “teacher effectiveness,” not years of service, according to a January video presentation for shared decision-making committees by Teacher Excellence System cross-functional team member Abigail Carroll.
A major downfall of that system is that teachers could earn vastly different salaries from year to year, said union president Michelle Williams. It could also stoke competition rather than collaboration between teachers and disproportionately affect teachers of historically under-served populations.
Here is the entire read: HISD union launches campaign against tying pay to performance.
I am not going to weigh in on this other than to say I hope we are making the type of progress we need to get out from under the takeover. I respect those who continue to protest the takeover. I respect those who have stepped forward to work with HISD to help get us through this takeover.
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I went to the Texans-Chargers game at NRG with my best friend Saturday afternoon and what a game. I knew we had a shot, but I wasn’t thinking blowout. This is the first time in the history of the NFL that there was a 32-12 final score. Wow! This was the first time I had ever seen in person a team block an extra point attempt and run it back for two points. The featured photo is from the game.
We take on the Chiefs next Saturday afternoon at Arrowhead. It is expected to be around 30 degrees at kickoff.
It’s playoff time in H-Town.
