The purpose of this E-Mail is to share with you the results of the EPAFT Trajectory Survey.
This snippet in The Supe’s bio caught my eye, “she has El Paso ISD on an upward trajectory…”. That does not jive with the employee exodus or discussions with members.
So EPAFT ran a spot survey to gauge member agreement or disagreement.
Short Version: The Supe or her biographer need to ‘put a little distance between fact and fantasy’, as the late great Jimmy Buffet would say.
Longer Version:
Strongly Agree – 1.63%; Agree - 0.54%; No Opinion – 4.35%;
Disagree – 38.04%; Strongly Disagree – 55.43%.
Sadly, I am sure this will be rationalized as union thuggery and skullduggery. That would be a major error.
Member Comments. The below are a sample dozen from members with regards to the ‘trajectory’ EPISD is on. These thoughtful comments hopefully will send a strong message to the Trustees, Administration and the EPISD Community that the District is on the wrong course heading for the rocks.
Here are some of the well-rounded comments:
- Had hopes of a less top heavy central office. Had hopes of a district that people wanted to be part of. Had hopes that she would allow teachers to teach. A calling that I once took pride in now I count the days for the next day off.
- Failure to provide adequate support and resources, lack of transparency, decisions are made with other interests in mind, not the quality of instruction that students deserve. Struggle to attract and retain teachers speaks volumes.
- I feel that we are actually going backwards when we look at our neighboring districts. I feel that we are constantly being looked at under a microscope instead of letting us do our job.
- Teachers not treated like professionals. Amplify & Carnegie horrible for SPED students. Wasteful PLC’s. I have resigned effective 2/5/24.
- Low morale. Horrible curriculum. Not enough teachers. Teachers feel unsupported. Everything is a publicity stunt. No respect for people at the campus level. Everything is planned last minute. Lack of communication between departments.
- Lack of preparation from district leadership is apparently acceptable but the expectations are not the same across the board. We get "in trouble" for their mistakes and we are left to clean their mess with little to no support.
- Morale is awful. Teachers are not considered. More time is spent on looking at data vs the actual child.
Teaching is no longer differentiated or child centered. It is depressing to work in a school when you are not allowed to teach.
- Our teachers have lost the freedom to teach. All these new programs aren't aligned to the STAAR test and are just a method to get anyone (like a sub) to "teach"..
- Although she has brought good initiatives to the district, a lot of them have not been implemented correctly.
- Too much focus on administrative changes and not advancement in student achievement, decline in morale, and mismanagement of resources.
- Increasing class sizes, less teacher autonomy, many teachers seeking employment elsewhere, families leaving district, general greed and corruption at district level. Utterly ridiculous to say things are getting better.
- Her clear statement was less testing; her true actions are more test and frequently. Our students are burned out!
- She looks out for HER not US.
I hope the Superintendent heeds this reality check.
In Solidarity,
Ross Moore
President, EPAFT