'Lot of substitutes': 13 Investigates HISD's unmet promise on teachers

Kids come to school uncivilized. Expecting teachers to parent is unreasonable. Listen how these children speak to their mothers. Respect is a learned value.

The big question is-why is it so hard to get teachers? Many have left due to toxic environments. Students get violent and scream obscenities in the classroom now more than ever. It’s truly bizarre. My advice to the higher ups-find a way to RETAIN your teachers! Treat them well, recognize that they have a life outside of school, and HELP them (rather than punishing them) if they are struggling!

HISD pay is far less than the pay in surrounding districts. Job duties in HISD have tripled for teachers, but pay has not increased. HISD doesn't pay Teachers for masters degrees unlike surrounding districts. HISD teachers are being assaulted by students, but the DA won't help, so teachers are quitting for safety reasons, not just because of increased duties & lack of pay. Teachers are also quitting HISD because they have been defeated by the system, students, and parents. And the HISD retention stipend is only $500.

How about Campus Administration, (Principals & Asst. Principals), stop bullying their educators and start telling them that they appreciate their hard work. Stop adding endless tasks to teachers plates without taking anything away. Treat teachers with respect, and maybe the shortage might take care of itself.

As someone who spent their first year teaching in HISD...😒 I and my partner teacher were both removed from our classrooms and replaced with administrators and put on "growth" plans. My partner teacher was told they needed a lot of coaching to improve and set a date to meet and draw up a plan to improve. The day of their meeting that administrator was "absent. " It was clear they weren't going to get the support they needed from the campus to improve, though they were ready, willing, and able. They resigned mid-year. I was not as fortunate and did as asked. Surprisingly every one of my evaluations under the growth plan stated that I was making growth...and the plan ended just after standardized testing. I LATER FOUND OUT that an administrator had had to replace the teacher or record every year for that group of students since 2nd grade. There was also a student in that 5th grade group that could not add double digit numbers without drawing pictures mid year. I believe they were promoted to middle school. Rather than support teachers they seemingly gave up on us and decided we were not going to make the cut. I moved on after that year to another district where the students began more or less on grade level and met all of my test scoring goals for the year without ever having a single negative evaluation..... Moral of the story is these are the types of practices that push teachers out of the district and profession. It's no surprise they have 800 vacancies. 😐

It don’t matter teachers certified or not. Kids can pass their classes with doing one assignment the entire school year. Some just only need to just show up, doing absolutely nothing and still pass. If not parents challenges the teacher and school. Is that what you call learning? I don’t think so. My friend a HS teacher has senior kids that can’t even add 1.0+ 2.0 = 3.0, but will be graduating because the parents complains to the principal. And the principal is only worried about graduation rates. Does schools really care that kids are learning? No. So does it matter if theres certified teachers, honestly?

Nobody wants to teach these bad kids.

One of my nephews had a former cafeteria lady who had an associate’s degree from 1990–in dental assisting! She had 32 fourth graders in an inclusion class and no TA. His little sister in grade two had a certified teacher, unfortunately, her certification is for high school English. Neither was capable of controlling the class much less teaching anything. As a result, I’m homeschooling them along with five other neighborhood children. I enjoyed a year’s worth of retirement from teaching before Covid hit, and thought I’d never return to a classroom again. Now I have a one-room schoolhouse in my guest bedroom and I’m loving it! (Yes, I’m certified to teach all seven of them.)

If they're not certified they should at least have a BA. In some school districts in Texas they let people with associates degrees teach. These problems don't even begin to address critical structural issues, like socio-economic background of parents or the verbal intelligence of teachers. The funny part is most private education isn't any better.

schools in general don't pay jack squat, but especially in TX. I dont understand why they pay so little over there. COVID definitely doesn't help.

The superintendent was so good, they sent him to Alaska.

Hisd is the worst school district. I was in the classroom by myself with nine behavior kids for more than six weeks and the principal refused to call the substitute or hire someone to help me. I have a story to tell and lots of evidence. They treated you like a slave and no respect for their teachers and some principal will be threatening you with your certification

THEY HAVE TO REPLACE ALL THE ADMINISTRATORS IN THOSE SCHOOLS

If the discipline were better and schools were well organized they probably could get some retired teachers

No one wants to deal with unruly kids, uneducated rouge parents, and an admin staff that rules with an iron fist. I forgot to mentioned bad pay and safety issues. Public school is in danger.

🤔 Passing a test for certification does not mean teachers can teach 👌

One possible way to resolve this situation is having more educators run for elected office at the state level. Once in office, these teachers can begin crafting laws that can enhance the school environment.

I applied and I never heard back. I have all the requirements.

Teachers resigned and are done …now parents have to….treat us better…

Most districts have a policy that says that press releases are only made by the district's press officer. Admin isn't supposed to speak to the press because this can result in conflicting messages.