Jenney continues to receive raises as FBISD lays off teachers, closes schools, cuts vacations.

When Dr. Tim Jenney of Fort Bend ISD was hired in 2006, his starting pay was $240,000. He has had a three percent increase in salary at least twice.  Once was in 2009 when his salary went to over a quarter of a million dollars.  Some board members cite undocumented increases in academic advances and continue to claim that Dr. Jenney points FBISD in the "right direction".  According to a January 2009 Chronicle article, Dr. Jenney claims to be in a "very supportive" environment - and that he is - at least on Lexington Avenue in the administration building.  Elsewhere his support runs thin.

Those teachers who did not lose their jobs in Fort Bend suffered other losses.  The calendar year has changed significantly over the past three years.  Teacher vacations continue to get cut shorter and shorter, and not because of T.E.A.'s new official public school start date.  One of the oldest traditions in Fort Bend, Fort Bend County Fair Day, was lost to district employees.  Not that employees couldn't attend Fair Day, they just didn't get the day off to take their students or families to the event.  Dr. Jenney, being from Virginia, couldn't understand the backlash from the community and teachers when this tradition was gone.  Now the day is being offered back on one of the calendar options this year.  But nothing comes without a price, and if teachers opt to keep Fort Bend County Fair day, they lose at least two more. The days before Thanksgiving is one of them.  Either way, FBISD employees will lose more vacation time and, as usual get little or no say in the matter (other than choosing when they will lose their vacation time).  Either way, Dr. Jenney and the board of directors will be in a position to claim that whichever calendar is chosen, was chosen by the employees.

Future layoffs and perhaps the loss of one of the district's oldest high schools, Willowridge, loom in Fort Bend's uncertain future.  But one thing is for sure.  The board will grant Dr. Jenny another three percent raise.  And three percent of a quarter million, ain't too bad, even in this economy.

Speaker Says How to Improve Education: Help Teachers Improve

Saying "teachers can't do it alone," AFT president Randi Weingarten urged Congress to view the pending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as an opportunity to provide more support for teachers and students.
ESEA should "help ensure that teachers have the tools, time and trust they need to succeed, including offering teachers and students an environment that sets everyone up for success," Weingarten said in April 15 testimony before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Weingarten's testimony described a comprehensive approach to high-quality teaching that includes better education programs for teacher candidates, stronger induction programs for new teachers and ongoing professional development for all teachers. She also repeated her call for more rigorous teacher evaluations and urged Congress to include in ESEA a pilot program to help school districts develop collaborative, transparent and fair teacher development and evaluation systems.
"Instead of relying on inadequate measures like a single student test score, the goal must be to develop systems to help promising teachers improve, enable good teachers to become great, and identify those teachers who shouldn't be in the classroom at all," Weingarten said.
Weingarten also called on Congress to restore a class-size reduction program with targeted funds for high-poverty schools. The program, Weingarten said, helps teachers differentiate instruction for students and better meet their needs.


Watch the speech here:
http://www.aft.org/getinvolved/futurestogether/
Read the speech here:
http://www.aft.org/pdfs/press/sp_weingarten011210.pdf

Possible Closure: Either Marshall Or Willowridge

If schools are shut down in Fort Bend it will mean many more jobs lost by teachers and staff.  Putting schools beyond max capacity and massively increasing student teacher ratios will only further serve to degrade and harm our children's educations. 

Supporters and staff of Willowridge High School packed the Fort Bend Independent School District’s Administration Building Monday night, the crowd even spilling through the doors outside.
The crowd showed up to the FBISD Board of Trustee’s fourth zoning workshop after hearing that there is a possibility the district could close Willowridge.
Trustees appear likely to make major changes in the structure of several schools on the east side of the district, which could include shutting down either Marshall High School or Willowridge High School.
Staff at either school would be “reabsorbed” within the district.
Which campus would be “repurposed” into a technical education center is still up in the air, as the board has asked staff to present a cost analysis for each campus at the next zoning workshop.
The proposal would change Missouri City Middle School and McAuliffe Middle School into 7^th, 8^th and 9^th grade campuses. Previous zoning options suggested shutting down McAuliffe and zoning the students to Missouri City Middle School and Quail Valley Middle School...
See the entire article here:

http://www.fortbendnow.com/2010/12/14/49454