Katy ISD Students Make Their Voices Heard All The Way To Austin

Walk outs, demonstrations, You Tube videos, all are becoming part of a growing public protest to Texas budget cuts and overall lack of funding to education that has recently devastated classrooms with massive layoffs and cuts in programs across Texas.  

Katy ISD students are making a valiant effort now to make their voices heard.  Teachers are often hesitant to stand against their own administrations or school boards when their jobs could be on the line.  So they depend on others to do it for them.  In this case, it's the people who are the most affected by public school teachers, their students.   

According to sources from Katy ISD, students who protest are being threatened with disciplinary measures if they continue to do so.  Administration is reportedly threatening to take away student protesters' right to attend PROM, and their right to walk across the stage at graduation.  The students have a motto, "FFT" or "Fight For Teachers".  Katy administration is telling the students that they cannot wear those letters either. 

Their community effort has been dubbed "No Teacher Left Behind" and is accessible on  Facebook.

This letter written by a few determined Katy ISD students was sent out to legislators and senators at the state level.  Their point is clear and their initiative couldn't be more timely.  What follows is KHOU Channel 11's report on the student activists.  

On behalf of my fellow students at Cinco Ranch High School, I want to express my utmost frustration with the recent cuts to state education funding that robbed us of many of our most beloved, dedicated teachers and mentors.

Last Thursday, we exercised our 1^st Amendment rights by joining other Katy ISD high school students in a student walkout of a magnitude unprecedented in school and district history. Hundreds of students gathered in the halls and outside buildings, chanting and waving signs to save our teachers’ jobs. Furthermore, on Friday, students organized and participated in a sit in to support our educators. We were united by the fear that with the departure of so many talented, selfless educators, the quality of our education will decline.

I...believe this concern is legitimate.

The bond between teacher and student is not to be underestimated. The teachers laid off due to the budget cuts are loved and respected by their students. Many of us have established mentor-pupil relationships with the laid-off teachers that enhance our learning experience. Teachers provide invaluable resources, instruction, and guidance that empower students to realize their personal and professional goals, to become responsible, active citizens, and to pursue the American Dream. The imprudent, shortsighted cut to education budgets threatens these relationships.

Student, parents and teachers alike will feel the repercussions of this dangerous budget cut well into the future. Optimal learning environments will be fanciful dreams next year, as most classrooms will be crowded beyond reasonable teacher-student ratios. The teachers who remain will be forced to work even harder to deal with extra students, extra planning, and extra grading to compensate for the absence of their former colleagues. There are only a limited number of hours a teacher can spend grading and working with students. As increasing class sizes lead to an unmanageable workload, teachers will be forced to give fewer assessments and devote significantly less time per student. This adversely affects our education, and I find it deplorable that we have compromised so much on a quality education for Texan children. Present and future students, who must become the leaders and innovators of the future, are falling behind in an increasingly competitive global economy. If education is sacrificed on the altar of budget cuts, then our generation will go on to live in a Texas with fewer jobs, lesser innovation, and a lower quality of life.

As a citizen of the great state of Texas, I recognize that sacrifices must be made by the state, school districts and communities to ensure our future fiscal stability. However, for the reasons listed above, I firmly believe that teachers’ jobs do not belong on the chopping block. Teachers are the lifeblood of the educational system, and perpetuating a fiscal climate that prompted these severe layoffs portrays a lack of commitment to this essential area.

There is a wide range of options to deal with the state’s financial crisis that does not involve cutting education funding. It is my sincere plea that you, my elected representative, channel the dissatisfaction of Texas students, parents, and educators and to strive harder than ever to explore these options fully to remedy this situation.