AdvocateTexas State Teachers Association/National Education Association WINTER 2009

SPRING SEMESTER HAZARDS • ESP CONFERENCES • HOW TO HANDLE CONFLICT

The Freedom Writers way

Teaching hope

Oscars of teachingMILKEN HONORS AUSTIN TEACHER

Attention, please!HOW TO KEEP KIDS ENGAGED IN CLASS

2 TSTA Advocate

TSTA Advocate is an official quarterlypublication of the Texas State TeachersAssociation, affiliate of the National Educa-tion Association.

How to Contact Us: Call (877) ASK-TSTA, visit www.tsta.org, or write to TSTA,316 West 12th Street, Austin, Texas78701. Please send address changes to theattention of Membership Records ormembershiprecords@tsta.org.

Advertising: If you would like to advertise,contact Claire Moore at (512) 476-5355,ext. 1292.

TSTA makes no representations regardingadvertised products or services that are notendorsed.

Postmaster: Send address changes toTSTA Membership Records, 316 West12th Street, Austin, Texas 78701.

PRESIDENTRita Haecker

VICE PRESIDENTJason Hillman

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORE.C. Walker

ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Richard Kouri

EDITORDebbie Mohondro

PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALISTJoe Bean

PRODUCTION TECHNICIANSusan Martin

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGERLeann Kloesel

ADMINISTRATIVE SECRETARYClaire Moore

SECRETARY/ADVERTISINGVacancy

Copyright 2009 by

TEXAS STATE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

316 West 12th St., Austin, Texas 78701www.tsta.org • (877) ASK-TSTA

Winter 2009 3

My travels across the state

have proven how our lead-

ers lead by example. I found

one such leader in Clear

Creek Educators Association.

It is hard to believe that it

was barely a year ago that

our members in Clear Creek

and many other locals along

the Gulf Coast were affected

by the devastation of Hurri-

cane Ike.

TSTA immediately stepped

up to the plate and started to

plan how we could help so

many members in need of

assistance. We established the

TSTA Hurricane Ike Assis-

tance Fund and received do-

nations from NEA and more

than 25 local and state affili-

ates. With their donations,

we were able to help more

than 300 TSTA members

who applied for assistance.

In a visit this year to Clear

Creek ISD, I met one of those

300 members who were

helped by our relief fund.

Denise Graham immediately

came up to me, gave me a big

hug and said, “Thanks for the

help TSTA gave me.”

She told me how she had

been living in a tent in her

back yard in Galveston for

several weeks when our Clear

Creek local president and his

wife, Tim and Yvonne Tibai,

opened up their home and

hearts to her and her family.

She was so touched that tears

came to her eyes as she told

me the story. She said she

would never forget how our

TSTA leaders cared.

Another great example of

leaders supporting one an-

other occurred in October

when 23 of our TSTA local

presidents came together for

a Local Presidents Council

Meeting. At these meetings,

our local leaders share the

critical issues they are facing

on behalf of their members.

Sharing issues prepares us to

act quickly and organize col-

lectively because it’s often just

a matter of time before an

issue in one area of the state

becomes an issue elsewhere.

So in October, our local

presidents created a cam-

paign to help two of our lo-

cals in El Paso County advo-

cate for their education

support professional mem-

bers and teachers on the ris-

ing cost of health care there.

Our members had not been

allowed input, and premi-

ums had skyrocketed—by

more than 100%. Our presi-

dents brought their best

ideas forward, strategized

and formulated a plan that

would have the impact

needed to bring change for

our members in El Paso.

Stories like these remind us

that we lead by example—by

showing that we care and that

we advocate for what mat-

ters to us as public school

employees. We must look to

our members’ individual

stories to teach us what mo-

tivates them and what will

lead them to action.

Individual meetings with

members help us identify

their interests and those is-

sues that will help us build

infrastructures to strengthen

our association at all levels.

Member to member is

where the strength and good

will of TSTA truly exists. I

am proud of all the good

work that all of you do on

behalf of TSTA. Keep it up!

Wishing you much success

in the New Year.

Advocate

FEATURES

6 How to keep kids engagedTen ideas for keeping students’ attention.

10 Teaching hopeA Laredo teacher finds success using “Freedow Writer” methods.

14 Shining a national spotlight Milken honors Austin ISD’s Maricruz Aguayo-Tabor.

COLUMNS

4 Upfront NEA testifies on new Children of Poverty report in Congress; U.S. Education Secretary meetswith NEA Board; information on upcoming meetings and elections; more.

16 Ask Legal Three hazards of spring: TAKS, appraisals and contract nonrenewals.

18 In the Classroom Pros and cons of five conflict resolution strategies.

20 Acting Locally News from Socorro, Garland, Waco, Maverick County, Linden-Kildare, Donna and Austin.

24 Student and Retired TSTA-Student Program and TSTA-Retired share news and upcoming events.

26 Governance Details of the TSTA Convention, which features NEA President Dennis Van Roekel as a keynotespeaker, and a form to nominate TSTA Board of Directors at-large members.

30 Personal Finance Take the focus off spending this season by trying some new traditions.

Great local leaders show they careMember to member is where the strength of TSTA truly exists By Rita Haecker, TSTA President

Editorial Table of Contents

Vol. 29, No. 2 Winter 2009

4 14 16

Winter 2009 54 TSTA Advocate

Upfront

4NEA PRESIDENTTESTIFIES INCONGRESSIONAL

HEARING: “Our nationhas the capacity to makesure every child in everyhigh-needs school has great

2EDUCATION SECRETARY MEETSWITH NEA BOARD: Watch video ex-cerpts of U.S. Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan’s visit to the fall NEA Board of Di-rectors meeting on YouTube. www.youtube.com/user/NEAABS#p/u/0/tRbAacU4yq8

3NATIONAL ESPCONFERENCE IN LASVEGAS: The 2010 NEA

Education Support ProfessionalsConference is March 12-14,2010, at the Flamingo Hotel andCasino in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s a great opportunity for ESPsto develop new skills and learn more about important issuesfacing education support staff. Additional information aboutthe conference and registration will be posted on the NEAESP website, www.nea.org/home/ns/31430.htm.

5PUSHING FOR ALIVING WAGE:Through its nation-

wide salary initiative, NEA isworking for an appropriateliving wage as starting payfor all education supportprofessionals. “ESPs playcritical roles in educatingour children and in encour-aging the parental involve-ment that is necessary forstudent success,” TSTAPresident Rita Haecker said.“If teachers are the back-bone of our Texas publicschools, then educationsupport professionals are themuscles that keep the back-bone in place. Schoolswould both literally and fig-uratively fall apart withoutESPs.” www.nea.org/home/ns/29173.htm

6WANT TO BE ADELEGATE TO THENEA RA? Ballots for

electing TSTA state delegatesto the NEA RepresentativeAssembly will be printed inthe spring issue of the Advo-cate. The deadline formarked ballots to be re-ceived at TSTA Headquar-ters is 5:00 p.m. CDT, Fri-day, April 23, 2010.

10 things you should know

1LEADERS VISIT RIO GRANDE VALLEY: “Too many young Texans in the Rio Grande Valley are dropping out of school,”TSTA President Rita Haecker said at a September news conference. “We’ve come to Donna ISD to underscore TSTA/NEA’scommitment to do all we can to keep our minority children in school and ensure that they succeed.” Haecker was joined

by NEA Vice President Lily Eskelsen, an elementary school teacher from Utah. “The face of America is changing, but one thingwill not change. Public education will continue to be the key—la llave a la puerta de la oportunidad,” Eskelsen said. 8TWO CANDIDATES FOR NEA DIRECTOR HAVE

FILED: The TSTA filing deadline for NEA Director, Place1, was Sept. 15, 2009. Candidates for this position are:

Rhonda Schell of Beaumont Teachers Association and FrancesH. Smith of Cypress Fairbanks TSTA/NEA. Elections will beheld at the state House of Delegates in San Marcos on April 17,2010. Candidate statements and biographical information will appear in the spring 2010 Advocate.

teachers,” NEA PresidentDennis Van Roekel testifiedbefore the U.S. House Edu-cation and Labor Commit-tee at the end of September.A recent NEA report, “Chil-dren of Poverty,” docu-ments proven strategies tohelp recruit, prepare, sup-port and retain teachers inhigh-needs schools, andNEA has pledged to invest$1 million per year for sixyears to pursue strategies toincrease teacher effective-ness in these schools.www.nea.org/assets/docs/children_of_poverty_09.pdf

7WESTERN REGION TO MEET INARIZONA: NEA annually hosts re-gional conferences throughout the

United States to enhance the knowledge ofK-12 educators, support professionals,higher education, student and retired mem-

bers about their association. The 2010Western Region Leadership Conference will be held at the Phoenix Marriott Mesain Mesa, Arizona Jan. 15-17. The room rate is $149 plus taxes. Register online atwww.nea.org/members/wrlc.html.

9PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS: Have you heard TSTA President Rita Haecker’spublic service announcements in your area? Five PSAs, including one in Spanish, weredistributed to radio stations around Texas for their use this fall. www.tsta.org/news/

current/09psa.shtml

10DO YOU KNOW HOW EASY IT IS TO GETPUBLICITY FOR YOUR LOCAL? Just sendan email to debbiem@tsta.org telling us what

your local association has been doing and attach a fewhigh-resolution photos if you’ve got them. We’ll run yourstory in the Advocate. You can also post your photos onTSTA’s flickr site, www.flickr.com/photos/tstapublicaf-fairs; your local president received instructions on how todo that in the October TSTA PR Messenger newsletter.

Winter 2009 76 TSTA Advocate

Student Involvement

Have you ever plunked yourself down in a staff meetingwhere some of your colleagues were, for lack of a betterphrase, not paying attention? Grading homework? Havingprivate conversations? Texting?

As we know all too well, kids aren’t a whole lot different thanadults: If they aren’t absorbed by what’s going on, they’ll findsomething else that interests them.

Getting all your students focused, eager and on task at thebeginning of class is challenging enough. Equally problem-atic, once you have them locked in to the lesson, is watchingthem zone out. There’s nothing unusual about that. After all,

anyone who has to sit through a long routine—including ateacher’s presentation—is bound to drift off at some point.

Still, unless you manage to capture and keep students’ focus,whether at the beginning of or midway through class, the en-gine of student learning that you are trying to drive simplyisn’t even in gear.

FROM DEAD TIME TO ACTIVE LEARNINGI call this lack of engagement dead time. Dead time interfereswith students’ learning, and it is contagious. It lures thosewho are on task into wondering, “Why should I pay attentionif others aren’t?”

10 ways to increase classroom participationKids aren’t a whole lot different than adults: If they aren’t absorbed by what’s goingon, they’ll find something else that interests them By Tristan de Frondeville

I have come to feel that dead time is sopernicious that I will do everything I canto prevent even the hint of an outbreak.If you strive for maximum learning forall your students, then allowing kids tobe stuck in dead time feels like a smallbetrayal—to yourself and to them.

Active learning and active listening—inwhich students are thoroughly andthoughtfully engaged with each otheror the teacher—represents the oppositeof dead time. In their book “InspiringActive Learning,” Merrill Harmon andMelanie Toth present a ladder that de-scribes four levels of student motivation.

They call students at level four, thelowest level, the work avoiders, and onlevel three are the halfhearted workers.Near the top are responsible students,and, finally, come the fully activelearners.

As a teacher and a project-learningconsultant, I’ve always paid close atten-tion to these levels of student engage-ment. I’ve discovered that it’s difficultto keep students focused when thelesson comes from the teacher. But itcan be equally difficult when they areengaged as project-learning teams,especially when the independence demanded by project learning is newto them.

Sometimes it’s an individual on theteam who can’t seem to get involved;other times it’s the entire group. Overthe years, I’ve come up with a range ofstrategies to eliminate dead time andmove students up the active-learningladder.

BUILDING YOUR ARSENALEliminating dead time starts with creat-ing an arsenal of routines and activities.They can be general-purpose activitiesthat apply to various subject areas orstyles of teaching, or specific content-oriented activities that allow your stu-

dents to learn by tapping into multipleintelligences beyond the usual listeningand recalling.

Some are physical activities that helpkids unleash pent-up energy, whileothers create private thinking time thatencourages reflection. Or they can bewell-managed student-to-student com-munication to guarantee that they areall thinking about the work.

Developing these activities initiallytakes time, but the payoff—in terms ofclassroom management and overalllearning—is more than worth the ef-fort. By building a storehouse of activi-ties to draw on, I’m rarely at a loss toimplement one of them to get kidsback on track.

Not surprisingly, too, students get toknow these strategies and look forwardto them. I find they work at the begin-ning of class to calm kids down or anytime they need an energizing way to refocus.

10 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

1Start class with a mind warm-up A classic warm-up is to ask stu-dents to find the mistakes planted

in material written on the board. (Youcan use this idea in any subject area.)But instead of asking them to worksilently and alone, and then debrief ina classic question-and-answer sessionwith one student at a time (while many sit inattentively), use a mix ofcollaboration and competition to elimi-nate what could potentially becomedead time.

Here’s how: Organize teams of threestudents and ask them to work to-gether (quietly) and raise their handswhen they think they have found allthe mistakes. After the first team sig-nals it’s done, give a bit more time andthen have teams indicate with their fin-gers—together on the count of three—

the number of mistakes they found inthe work. The team that found themost describes its answers until an-other team disagrees politely or untilthey are finished.

2Use movement to get kids focusedAsk all students to stand behind

their desks and join in simple choreo-graphed physical movement. Becausemost kids find it invigorating and it’seasy to monitor full participation, it maybecome one of your favorite ways to getkids focused and kill dead time.

Here’s how, for the primary grades:Teach hand-clapping patterns to ac-company a chanted verse or a set ofmath facts. Add foot stomping or handclapping with a partner to create variety.

Here’s how, for the middle grades:Create a rhythm with finger snappingand hand clapping, which you modeland they echo back. Vary the rhythmand pattern in intervals of 15-20 sec-onds to challenge them to pay atten-tion and join in.

Here’s how, for any grade, includinghigh school: Offer a seventh-inningstretch, or the cross crawl. To do thecross crawl, stand up and begin march-ing in place, raising the knees reallyhigh. As you raise the left knee, reachacross your body with your right handand touch the left knee, then do thesame for the left hand on the rightknee. Continue this pattern for aminute or more. (You can also vary itby, say, having kids clap their handsover their heads between each set ofknee touches.)

3Teach students how to collab-orate before expecting success Doing project learning and

other team-based work without priortraining can lead to lots of dead time.You can nip much of it in the bud by

Winter 2009 98 TSTA Advocate

teaching collaboration skills before pro-jects get started. You don’t need to use an activity related to your subjectarea to teach teamwork.

Here’s how: One way is to give teams ofstudents a pair of scissors, two sheetsof paper, 10 paper clips and a 10-inchpiece of tape, and ask them to build thetallest free-standing tower in 20 minutes.

Prior to the activity, create a teamworkrubric with students, which reviewsdescriptions of desired norms and be-haviors. While half of the teams arebuilding the towers, have the other halfof the students stand around them in acircular “fishbowl” as silent observers.

Debrief afterward, and train the ob-servers to give a positive comment be-fore a critical one: “I liked that they

[blank], and I wonder if they couldhave also [blank].” Switch the ob-servers with the tower builders and seeif they can do better, then debrief again.

4Use quickwrites when youwant quiet time and studentreflection

When interest is waning in your pre-sentations, or you want to settle stu-dents down after a noisy teamwork ac-tivity, ask them to do a quickwrite, orshort journal-writing assignment.

Here’s how, for primary-grade students:Ask, “What was most interesting about[blank]?” “What was confusing about[blank]?” “What was the clearest thingyou understood?” “What was boringabout [blank]?” “What did [blank]make you think of in your life?”

Here’s how, for intermediate-gradestudents and above: Try prompts suchas the following, or develop your own:“Summarize what you have heard.”“Predict an exam or quiz question Icould ask based on this material.” “De-fend one of the positions taken duringthe prior discussion.”

Teachers often avoid giving this type ofassignment because assessing themregularly can be overwhelming. Man-age this load by having students use agreen (or other color) pen to circle oneentry from the week you guarantee you will read.

Occasionally, have them write a fewsentences next to their entry explainingwhy they want you to read that partic-ular one. Let them know that you willread the passages marked in green andthat, time permitting, you might readthe rest if you have time.

5Run a tight ship when givinginstructions Preventing dead time is espe-

cially important when giving instruc-tions. There are a lot of great ways toask for your students’ attention, butmany succeed or fail based on how de-manding you are of the final outcome.

Whichever method you use, before youbegin speaking, it is critical to require(1) total silence, (2) complete attentionand (3) all five eyeballs on you (twoeyes on their face, two eyes on theirknees and the eyeball on their heart).I’ve done this approach with everyclass I’ve ever taught, and it makes abig difference.

Here’s how: When you introduce thisroutine to students, do it five times in arow: Announce that in a moment, youwill briefly let them talk among them-selves, and then you’ll give them asignal (you can count out loud fromone to three, ring a bell and so on) andwait until they are perfectly ready foryou to speak.

In the first two weeks after starting this

routine, remind students often what’sexpected. To hold everyone account-able for listening the entire time, makeit clear that you will never repeat yourinstructions after you have finishedgoing over them.

6Use a fairness cup to keepstudents thinkingThe more you can manage your

classroom to be a supportive environ-ment, where students are encouragedto take risks without fear of being putdown or teased, the easier it will be touse your fairness cup regularly, withoutfeeling that you are setting students upfor failure.

Here’s how: Write each student’s nameon a Popsicle stick and put the sticks ina cup. To keep students on their toes,pull a random stick to choose someoneto speak or answer a question. Impor-tant: When you begin using your fair-ness cup, prepare a range of questions,some of which all your students cansuccessfully answer. This strategy al-lows the bottom third of your class toget involved and answer questionswithout being put on the spot.

7Use signaling to allow every-one to answer your question To help ensure that all students

are actively thinking, regularly askquestions to which everyone mustprepare at least one answer—lettingthem know you expect an answer.Then wait for all students to signal theyare ready.

Here’s how: For example, in math, youcould ask, “How many ways can youcan figure out 54-17 in your head?(Subtract 10 and then 7, subtract 20and then add 3, and so on.) Or, to re-view a presentation, ask, “How manykey points of this presentation are youprepared to describe?”

By asking questions that allow formultiple answers or explanations, youare differentiating instruction; every-one is expected to come up with at

least one answer, but some may comeup with more.

To convey the number of answers, stu-dents can use sign language, such asholding a hand to the chest (so theirhands aren’t visible to their neighbors)and displaying one or more fingers torepresent how many answers theyhave. This technique precludes stu-dents from bragging about how manyideas they thought of or how quicklythey are ready. You can then call onvolunteers who want to share their an-swers with the rest of the class.

8Use minimal-supervisiontasks to squeeze dead timeout of regular routines

Tasks that require minimal supervisionadd purposeful activity during mo-ments that might normally revert todead time. They come in handy whenpassing out papers, working with asmall group of students, handling anunforeseen interruption, addressingstudents who didn’t do their home-work, or providing work to those whohave finished an assignment beforeothers.

Here’s how: While you pass out pa-pers, ask students to do a quickwrite(see #4) or to pair up and quiz eachother on vocabulary words. Also, trainstudents to fess up if they didn’t dotheir homework. That way, during classhomework review, these students won’tautomatically be in dead time. Instead,they’ll immediately move to these pre-arranged minimal supervision tasks.

For example, you can ask them tostudy a review sheet, summarize areading passage, read the day’s assign-ment ahead of time, or create andstudy vocabulary words or other con-tent. You might find students suddenlydoing their homework more oftenrather than face this extra work.

9Mix up your teaching styles To keep students involved andon their toes, try to move from

teacher-centered learning to student-centered active learning, and viceversa.

Here’s how: Introduce a presentationby having students pair up, talk to eachother about their prior knowledge ofthe presentation, and generate a list offour questions for which they’ll want toknow the answers. Make quick roundsto remind all students to stay on task.

To encourage active listening, providestudents with a list of important ques-tions in advance. Interrupt the presen-tation with a quickwrite (see #4), andthen have students “pair-share” by ask-ing them to compare their entries witha neighbor. Pull sticks from your fair-ness cup (see #6) to choose pairs ofstudents to present their thoughts tothe class.

10Create teamwork tacticsthat emphasize account-ability

By insisting that students “ask three be-fore me,” you make it clear that theyare expected to seek assistance from allmembers of their team before they turnto you.

Here’s how: To reinforce this rule,when a student on a team wants to askyou a question, you, the teacher, al-ways ask another person on the teamwhether she knows what the questionis. If she doesn’t, politely walk away,and the team will quickly understandwhat you expect.

Another way to emphasize accountabil-ity might be to say, “When you thinkyour team is done with the task, findme within 30 seconds and tell me.”This strategy shifts the accountabilityto the team for being on task.

Tristan de Frondeville, a former teacher,heads PBL Associates, a consulting com-pany dedicated to project learning andschool redesign. This article,which origi-nally was published in the September issueof Edutopia magazine, is reprinted withpermission.

Winter 2009 11

August 22, 2005, was my first day as ahigh school teacher, and I was fright-ened. To make things worse, I had hallduty the first day of class during myconference period, which was firstblock. Even though I held the hall dutyinstructions on my hand and wasconstantly asking students, “Where’syour hall pass?” and “Sir, please tuck inyour shirt,” I knew I looked like one ofthe freshmen.

Several times during my first semester Iasked one of the assistant principals togo to my fourth block class and talk tomy students about how to behave. Butfive minutes after he left, the class be-came a reality show again. Throughoutthat semester, my fourth block classbecame my Karma; every day wasatonement day. I had my own class-room and my own students, and I didnot know what to do.

During my second year of teaching, Icontinued my quest for the “secret for-mula” to teach “at-risk” students whowere forced to attend school by statelaw. I came home each day feeling to-tally helpless and frustrated.

Then I stumbled onto Erin Gruwell’sFreedom Writers Foundation website,www.freedomwriters.com. I applied tothe Freedom Writers Institute, and inAugust 2007, attended the five-dayseminar. I came back home completelytransformed and eager to try the Free-dom Writers method with my students.

Doing the Freedom Writers “LineGame” (see sidebar) in the classroomwas fun because my students had theopportunity to do something besidesreading and answering questions about

the stories we read in class. Besides,standing up and huddling togetherprovided them the perfect opportunityto be close to their friends and gossipabout the latest school news.

Most of them stood on the line when Iasked them who had lost one, two orthree friends or relatives due to drugcartels’ wars; there were no signs ofsurprise when I asked them if theyknew someone who used drugs; andmost of them knew someone—a friend

or a relative—who had been kidnappedor disappeared.

When we began reading “The FreedomWriters Diary” in class, I let my stu-dents choose the entries, we turned thelights off, and they took turns readingthe text projected on the sliding screenin front of the board. We shared themagic experience of someone else’s dis-tant reality reflected in our own lives.One voice in the classroom’s penumbradiffused our individual personalitiesand mingled them into a collective

spirit. We were like a fetus, feeling verysensitive and defensive by instinct,waiting for the light to be revealed butavoiding the pain of birth.

Slowly, some of my students walkedout from the darkness of masked fearsand hopelessness. Slowly they beganwriting one or two sentences, then oneparagraph, and later a complete journalentry. And, with that, they started de-veloping their own voice.

Six weeks into the fall semester, mystudents and I participated in a writingworkshop sponsored by our local uni-versity. The students happily attendedand even invited their parents to thereadings of their journal entries.

Gabriela shared with the audience herfeelings of alienation during her firstdays in school—the cultural shock sheexperienced as a recent arrival fromMexico and her sense of urgency tolearn English. Her voice reverberatedin the room when she revealed thefamily secret about her parents’ divorceand the mixed and painful memoriesshe underwent in the process. Shelooked proud and tall, very self-as-sertive and at ease, like a swift shipcoming out from rough waters.

Three other students shared similar ex-periences about being in a new countryand struggling to learn the language.They described in detail all their par-ents’ efforts and sacrifices to furthertheir education.

Back in class we continued reading “The Freedom Writers Diary” withoutany misgivings at all—or so I thoughtuntil three weeks later I got a call

Freedom Writers

In 1994, Erin Gruwell’s first year as a teacher, she learned she could help troubled students

turn their lives around with communication. The book she and her students wrote, “The

Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves

and the World Around Them,” became a New York Times bestseller and major motion picture.

Gruwell later established the Freedom Writers Institute, a five-day program to share her

techniques. She has trained more than 150 secondary school language arts teachers to date.

As part of the training, Freedom Writer teachers write about the anticipation, challenges,

engagement, disillusionment, rejuvenation and empowerment of teaching; a compilation of

the teachers’ stories, called “Teaching Hope,” was published in August.

One of the Freedom Writer teachers is Marco Franco, a teacher in Laredo ISD and a TSTA

member. “My story is No. 29, ‘Loss of Innocence,’” Franco said. “It’s in the ‘Challenges’

section of our ‘Teaching Hope’ book and, like all the 150 stories in the book, it is a true story.

“When I began reading the ‘Teaching Hope’ stories, I felt some of them were incomplete and

needed an ending, but later I came to realize that, as in life, every day is just a continuation

of days in sequence, like beads in the rosary of life,” he said. “Some of our days are still

open. We have open issues; some of our stories are still inconclusive. I saw myself reflected

in more than one of the teachers’ stories.”

Following is an article Franco wrote for the Advocate about his first years in the classroom.

On becoming a teacherIt’s not a generation gap but a trust gap that keeps adults and young peopleapart By Marco Franco

12 TSTA Advocate

from Gabriela’s mother. She soundeddisappointed.

“Why are you teaching ‘El Diario de losEscritores de la Libertad,’ Maestro?” shesorrowfully questioned me in Spanish.“I don’t agree with that because thoseEscritores were classified as ‘remedial’and ‘below average,’ and my daughterhas nothing in common with them.”

“Almost all recent arrivals are labeled‘at risk’ or ‘Limited English Proficient’by the system,” I explained. “Gabriela’sgroup average was 44.42 the first twoweeks of class and now is 57 points.We’re making progress.”

“Well, I think that book’s themes aretoo strong for my daughter, and I don’twant her to be influenced by them,”

she responded. “Are there any otherparents calling you expressing theirobjections?”

“No, just you,” I told her. “I invite youto reconsider your decision and trustyour mother’s heart and your intuition.”

I felt puzzled after we hung up. It tookme months to realize “The FreedomWriters Diary” is the key to opening thesecret chambers of thoughts and feel-ings never shared before, and it tookme even longer to discover that it’s nota generation gap but a trust gap thatkeeps adults and young people apart.

While some people believe that bykeeping the secret they may keep painat bay, others cannot assimilate the factof their children transcending their

own limitations and outgrowing theirown fears and family environments.

By reading and reflecting on “The Free-dom Writers Diary” entries, my stu-dents have been empowered. They arelearning to express their feelings andtheir own voices.

As human beings we all share manysimilar life experiences at different timesand with different levels of intensity. Weall have a story to tell, and we all are on“The Line Game.” We all are continu-ally fighting our demons and strugglingto lead a normal, happy life. In the end,we all are survivors in some way.

TSTA suggests you discuss the Line Gamewith your principal first. Visit www.freedom-writersfoundation.org for more information.

OBJECTIVEThe Line Game is a great opportu-nity to become more familiar withyour class and for your students tolearn about each other in a non-threatening and interactive way.This activity enables you to solicitinformation from your studentsthat they may not feel comfortablesharing with a teacher. Knowledgeabout your students’ lives will en-able you to craft relevant lessonplans that effectively engage themin the learning process. Sharinginformation about each other willalso build a sense of communitywithin the classroom that involveseveryone’s participation. Some-times it is difficult for students toopen up in front of their peers, butthe Line Game gives students anopportunity to speak volumes,without ever saying a word.

DESCRIPTIONStudents will split into two lines,facing each other. You will askthem a set of questions rangingfrom general to specific, from popculture to family to personal beliefsand experiences. If a student’s re-sponse is “yes” to any question,they must step on the line.

MATERIALS• An empty area large enough to

accommodate the whole class

• Something to divide the areainto two equal sides (i.e. abright-colored tape, such aspainter’s tape)

PROCESSBefore you begin, it is important toestablish expectations. Studentsshould not talk, high-five each otheror share details about their experi-ences between questions. Also,everyone must stand, everyonemust participate and everyonemust walk on the line when it isrelevant. In order for the studentsto expose their vulnerabilities, it iscrucial that the parameters areenforced clearly and specifically atthe beginning of the game.

Step 1: Have your students moveall their chairs against the wall sothey have a large enough space tomove in. If you move outside ofthe classroom, move far awayfrom other classes, so your stu-dents know no outsiders are lis-tening.

Step 2: Place the tape or ribbon

down the center of the area, creat-ing two equal sides.

Step 3: Establish ground rulesthat the students must adhere toduring the activity, including thefollowing:

• Absolutely no talking, laughingor joking.

• If their answer to the question is“yes,” then they should moveforward and step on the line.

• If their answer to the question is“no,” then no movement isnecessary.

Step 4: Use a random method toseparate the class into two groups.For example, have everyone sayeither “one” or “two” as you pointto them, then separate the “ones”and “twos” to form two parallellines of students.

Step 5: Begin by asking questionsthat are simple, silly and obviouslypertain to the majority of the stu-dents. To make the students fa-miliar with the exercise, the ques-tions should be easy. Keep thegame at a brisk pace because asense of urgency allows morequestions to be covered. (Seewww.freedomwriters.com for moresample questions.)

A. These questions should beeasy, generally pertaining to

everyday activities (i.e. ridingthe bus) or pop culture. Sam-ple question: Do you own thenew CD by (insert name of apopular artist)?

B. Judging by the students’ levelof comfort, these questionsshould become more specific.Possible topics include school,family and community. Samplequestion: Do you live with yourmom and your dad?

C. The last set of questions, al-though sensitive in nature,may be the most enlighteningfor you and your students. Toavoid precarious situations,begin this set of questions with“Do you know someonewho....” When you feel that thestudents are participating fullyand are truly engaged, youmay start to ask more personalquestions. Sample question:Do you know someone who isin a gang?

SStteepp 66:: Tell the students that theycan also ask questions. Volunteerswill most likely ask questions thatpertain to them, which is an excel-lent way to learn something thatyou may have missed, or promptadditional questions from otherstudents. Remind them to asktheir questions by saying, “Do youknow someone who….”

PPLLAAYYIINNGG TTHHEE LLIINNEE GGAAMMEEfrom the resources area of www.freedomwriters.com

Get started online! If you are a certified teacher and would like to become a principal or central office administrator, go with the leader in Texas: Region 4 Principal Certification Online. Visit www.Region4ACP.net to find out more.

Fast, Flexible, and Affordable.Internships must be conducted in Texas.

© 2009 Region 4 Education Service Center

Teachers, are you ready for the next level in your career?

Winter 2009 1514

Milken Award

Maricruz Aguayo-Tabor is a busy woman. In addition to teaching

world and European history classes, she’s a mentor for new teachers,

the sponsor of the math club and the social studies department chair

at Austin’s Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy High School (LASA).

Shining a national spotlightMilken honors Austin member Maricruz Aguayo-Tabor

“It’s such an amazing honorfor me,” Aguayo-Tabor said.“I work with so many won-derful teachers who inspireme every day, and to be rec-ognized like this is just com-pletely unexpected and ex-citing. Wow.”

Aguayo-Tabor comes from a family of teachers. “Mymother, Elvira LedesmaAguayo, is an English teacherat Weslaco East High Schoolin my hometown of Wes-laco, and my sister, MartaAguayo, is an Englishteacher with Progreso ISD’sEarly College program, soyou could say that teachingis in the genes, at least in myfamily,” she said.

Her husband, Charles Tabor,teaches AP government atVista Ridge High School inLeander ISD.

Aguayo-Tabor is humbledby the Milken award. “I needto share my award with myfamily, with all the teachersI’ve ever had who inspiredme and with those I workwith now, who do the same,”she said. “It’s safe to say weremain teachers because welove what we do, and it’s al-ways nice to be recognizedfor doing something thatyou just love to do.”

It’s her passion and excite-ment that brought her to theattention of the state ofTexas and the Milken Foun-dation. At LASA, a magnetschool, she sets up herworld history class like agraduate class: students studyspecific topics in-depth, re-searching large global issuessuch as world hunger anddisease. In her advancedplacement European history

class, students turn their re-search into a film.

Aguayo-Tabor, who holdsNational Board Certification,is a recognized leaderthroughout her school,serving on many campuscommittees. Although shedoes not teach math, shesponsors LASA’s math cluband was named one of thetop 25 math teachers in thecountry by the NationalConsortium for SpecializedSecondary Schools ofMathematics, Science andTechnology because of hertireless sponsorship andsupport of the math team.

According to the AustinAmerican-Statesman, 100percent of her students passthe state’s social studies high school exit exam andall consistently pass the

Advanced Placement WorldHistory exam.

The Milken awards, whichalternate each year betweenelementary and secondaryeducators, were first pre-sented in 1987 to 12 exem-plary California teachers.Milken is now the nation’slargest teacher recognitionprogram, having honoredmore than 2,400 educatorsfrom coast to coast with over $60 million. FortyTexas educators have re-ceived the award since thestate began participating in2000; collectively, they haveearned a total of $1 millionin prize money.

In May, Aguayo-Tabor willtake an all-expense-paid tripto Los Angeles to attend theMilken Educator Forum,where she will receive heraward and $25,000 to spendon anything she wants.

FIND OUT:• About the Milken Awards

www.mff.org/mea

• About Austin’s Liberal Arts and Sciences Acad-emy High Schoolwww.lasaonline.org

When her normal schedulewas interrupted by an as-sembly in the gym on themorning of Oct. 22, she hadso much on her mind that atfirst she didn’t realize it washer name they were callingfrom the stage. Students andstaff were cheering and ap-plauding —for her?

“I was shocked!” Aguayo-Tabor said later that day.“My mind went completelyblank and all I could thinkwas, ‘What? What?’”

She is one of 50 educators inthe United States to receivethe 2009 Milken EducatorAward, often referred to as“the Oscars of teaching.”Honorees never know in ad-vance that they are underconsideration.

The awards were conceivedby Lowell Milken, chairmanof the Milken Family Foun-dation, to recognize the im-portance of outstanding edu-cators and encouragetalented young people toenter the teaching profession.

“By shining a national spot-light on these exceptionalpeople,” Milken said, “theMilken Educator Awardssend a powerful message ofthe critical role that talentedteachers play in preparingyoung people for a brightfuture.”

PH

OTO

: JO

E B

EAN

Winter 2009 17

TAKS MADNESSIt seems that when the TAKS testingseason rolls around in some districts,everything else is pushed to the way-side—including some of the protectionsafforded to teachers under the Texas Ed-ucation Code. It is not uncommon forTSTA to hear about districts that elimi-nate teachers’ planning periods andduty-free lunch during TAKS testing pe-riods. The Texas Education Code doesnot allow districts to disregard thesestatutory protections.

All classroom teachers and full-timelibrarians are entitled to a 30-minute,duty-free lunch. “Duty-free” means justthat—a teacher cannot even be re-quired to remain on campus duringthat 30-minute period. In certain ex-treme circumstances, a district mayrecapture a teacher’s duty-free lunch,but only one day a week. These excep-tions to duty-free lunch, which aredefined by legal regulations, do notapply to TAKS testing, though. Simplyput, a school district may not legallyrequire a classroom teacher or full-timelibrarian to give up his or her duty-free lunch just because TAKS testing isoccurring.

Similarly, classroom teachers are enti-tled to 450 minutes of planning andpreparation time within each two-weekperiod. During testing periods, districtsmay be able to rearrange schedules sothat teachers do not receive their nor-mally scheduled planning period ontesting days. If that happens, however,the teachers must still receive 450 min-utes of planning time in the two-weekperiod. If you do not receive 450 min-utes of planning time in the two-weekperiod surrounding the testing days,the district has violated state law.

If either of these violations has oc-curred at your district in the past andare likely to occur this year, you shouldcontact your local association.

The TSTA Help Center is also availablefor guidance and support.

APPRAISALSIf your district follows the ProfessionalDevelopment and Appraisal System(PDAS), your summative annual ap-praisal must be conducted no later than15 working days before the last day ofinstruction. Prior to the summative an-nual appraisal, the teacher is entitled toa classroom observation that lasts atleast 45 minutes. A teacher must beprovided with a written copy of thesummative annual report not less than

five working days before the summa-tive annual conference.

Any documentation that an appraiserintends to use to support the appraisalmust be provided in writing to theteacher no more than 10 working daysfrom the date the appraiser knew of theinformation. If the information comesfrom a third party, it must be verifiedand documented. If the appraiser is notthe teacher’s principal, the informationmust also be shared with the principalwithin the same time frame. If a districtfails to comply with these proceduralrequirements, the remedy is normallyto declare the appraisal null and void.

CONTRACT NONRENEWALSIn the spring semester, school districts

begin to decide whether to reemployprobationary and term contract teach-ers for another school year. If the dis-trict chooses not to reemploy theteacher at the end of the contract, theteacher is nonrenewed.

Districts must follow very specificprocedural rules in the process. If a dis-trict fails to follow proper procedures,the nonrenewal will not be effective,and the district will be obligated toreemploy the teacher for another year.

Districts must provide teachers with awritten notice of nonrenewal not laterthan 45 days before the last day ofinstruction. Unfortunately, probationaryteachers must simply be informed inwriting that the board of trustees hasnonrenewed their contract; the onlyrecourse a probationary teacher has is tofile a grievance against the board. In thesame time frame, term contract teachersmust be given written notice of the dis-trict’s intention to nonrenew their con-tract. At that point, the term contractteacher is given the opportunity to re-quest a nonrenewal hearing. This re-quest must be made within 15 calendardays. Once the request is made, theteacher will receive a hearing onwhether nonrenewal is appropriate.

Some administrators will use high pres-sure tactics against contract employeesto secure a resignation, such as tellingthe teacher he or she will never find an-other teaching job if the teacher doesnot resign. You should never resignyour contract without first contactingan attorney in the TSTA Help Center at(877) ASK-TSTA to be informed ofyour options. In some situations, a res-ignation might be the best alternative,but that needs to be the employee’schoice. Resignations should never bethe result of high pressure tactics.

Joey Moore is TSTA’s General Counsel andDirector of Legal Services.

Spring semester hazardsAs the spring semester approaches, there arethree issues that consistently plague educationprofessionals throughout the state. No, we aren’ttalking about spring showers, Texas allergies andtax day. We’re talking about TAKS testing, ap-praisals and contract nonrenewals. TSTA is here tohelp you with these issues. By Joey Moore

Ask Legal

Winter 2009 1918

How to manage conflictKnowing your options for resolving conflict will make you more effective, both inside and outside of the classroom By Dr. Paul Henley

In the Classroom

Any time two or more people work together, there will beconflict. We all hope conflicts are minor, but we all know thatconflict is everywhere. Those who learn to manage it most ef-fectively have a crucial skill in life success.

There is value to conflict. Conflict can move people to actionwhen action is needed. Actual conflicts may require straight-forward communication to get resolved. When this happens,conflict may increase your relationships with others. One ofthe best benefits of conflict is this: you get to see just how im-portant specific issues are to a person.

The first thing is to understand conflict resolutions that peo-ple use. You also should know when they are the best, andworst, strategies in a situation. There are really only five con-flict resolution strategies: avoiding, accommodating, compro-mising, competing, and collaboration. Each one has its ad-vantages and disadvantages.

Avoiding: Avoiding behavior means that at least one person

opts out of the situation, leaving their needs unmet or theirthoughts unshared. This mode usually indicates the personwho is avoiding is less inclined to be assertive and/or co-operative. The avoider has no buy-in to whatever decision is made.

It can be good to avoid, though. If the issue isn’t important toyou, or if you have no chance of “winning” the “battle,”avoiding may be the best option for you. Avoiding also givesyou the opportunity to cool down, get more information on atopic or let others resolve the issue more effectively.

Accommodating: Those who accommodate have even less ofa stake in the final decision. This can be called the, “What-ever…” strategy. You accommodate when you give in. You doenter into a conflict, but you resolve it without any of yourneeds met. When this happens, you may be prone to sabo-tage the result. It is also possible to lose influence if you defertoo much. When running a classroom, accommodation can

be an enemy of classroommanagement.

Of course, accommodatingmakes sense, sometimes.There will be times when re-lationships are more impor-tant than whatever issue is athand. In that case, accom-modating is a smart thing todo. There also can be timeswhen you are just flat-outwrong, and you realize it.Accommodate then, as well.

Compromising: When peo-ple think of conflict resolu-tion, they usually think ofcompromise. This “split thedifference” strategy is usuallythe first choice. If two, evenly-matched people (or groups)consider the issue moder-ately important, compromiseusually works. This strategyis also one of the quickestways to resolve a conflict.

Of course, if you compro-mise, you cannot be fullysatisfied with the result. Thiscan lead to bitterness everytime you experience or real-ize what you gave up toreach the compromise.While this is a quick solu-tion to problems, it is also astrategy that can comequickly undone.

Competing: Competing in-volves an assertive and oftenuncooperative person whowill push to get what he orshe wants. This is the “mefirst” strategy, and it doesn’teven seem like a resolutionstrategy but think aboutthis: when the competitionis over, the conflict is re-solved. It may not be the

most pleasant way to resolvea conflict, but it does the job.Competition can be fasterthan compromise when de-cisions need to be made.You should compete whenan issue is very important toyou or when somebodyneeds to make an unpopulardecision. With some issues,there is a right and a wrongto you, and competition isthe only solution.

It is said, “It doesn’t matter if you win or if you lose…until you lose.” That is thecase in competitions. Rela-tionships are damaged andcommunication is cut. Un-less the winner keeps powerover the issue, the conflictcan pop up again and again.Even if the situation remainsthe same, “yes men” are allthat you have to work with.You should compete onlywhen necessary.

Collaborating: Collabora-tion can be called the“Happy Together” strategy. Itis the preferred method ofconflict resolution. Althoughmany people see union-management bargaining as aset of compromises, thesemeetings are usually de-signed as a collaboration.Each person or party putstheir needs on the table, andall sides work together tocreate a solution that giveseach what they want andneed. Sometimes a little cre-ativity is needed; sometimesthe answer is obvious. Inmost cases, however, thisresolution is the hardest oneto achieve.

When collaboration fails,the result often falls to com-promise. At times, conflictresolution can dissolve intoa competition or an accom-modation. Nevertheless, atrue collaboration is the bestscenario with every conflict.

Of course, you can’t actuallyresolve a conflict until youfind the actual conflict. Lackof communication is oftenthe cause of conflict. It mayaccount for most of it. Toproactively resolve conflict,full communication can solveconflicts before they arise.

The story is told of twochefs who need an orangefor their recipes. Aftercompeting for the orangeand hurting each other, theydecide to consider theother’s point of view. Indoing so, they realize thatone chef needed the orangejuice for a sorbet, while theother needed the rind toflavor a wine. If the rightquestions had been asked,the conflict never wouldhave arisen.

There will always be conflictbut knowing what the con-flicts are and knowing youroptions for resolving themwill make you more effec-tive, both inside and outsideof the classroom.

How do you like to handleconflict? Go to www.tsta.org/teaching/current/index.shtml to take the Conflict Inven-tory and learn your naturalconflict management style.

Dr. Paul Henley is TSTA’s Teach-ing and Learning Specialist

Experience convinces me that the number of conflicts in groups is not at all indicative of how healthythey are. The true index is whether the conflicts get resolved and by what method they get resolved.—Thomas Gordon, Leadership

Effectiveness Training

Winter 2009 2120

NEA brings teachers from five states to train

Acting Locally

NEA cadre trainers instructed the entire

teaching faculty of Linden-Kildare ISD

on “Sexual Harassment, Bullying and

Cyberbullying” at the end of September.

Students were dismissed at noon so the

staff could be trained from 1:30-6 p.m.

in two groups, divided into elementary

and secondary levels.

“Trainers covered federal legal consid-

erations; state laws, paying particular

attention to Texas' anti-bullying legisla-

tion; and district policies,” Linden-

Kildare Education Association Presi-

dent Becky Cerliano said. “Specific

information about what does and does

not work in preventing bullying and

sexual harassment was provided, and

there was time for personal planning

to address the problems caused by

bullying.”

NEA members serving as cadre trainers

for the event were Debra Schoonover of

New Mexico, Nita Jones of Tennessee,

Joann Sebastian Morris of Virginia

(who is on NEA staff), Lynette Henleyof California and Meredith Montevilleof Pennsylvania.

Photos: Joann Morris of NEA's Humanand Civil Rights Division addresses thegroup; below, the NEA cadre trainers posewith local president Becky Cerliano (farright).

TSTA HOLDS THREE ESP CONFERENCESTSTA held two ESP (Educa-tion Support Professional)conferences this fall, one inSocorro on Oct. 10, shownin bottom three photos, andthe other in Donna in the Rio Grande Valley on Sept.19. (A third ESP Conferencewas to be held in Austin onNov. 7.) Irma Valdespino,2001 NEA ESP of the Year,was the speaker, and work-shops were held on employ-ee rights, professionalism,member benefits, safeschools and a variety of othertopics.

GARLAND AIDES:PASS THE TEST ORLOSE YOUR JOBIn April, some Garland middle

schools became Title I. Instruc-

tional aides at these schools were

told they had to pass a test before

the beginning of school to keep

their jobs and be considered

“Highly Qualified.”

“This brought back memories of

the TECAT,” Evelina Loya, Garland

Education Association president,

said. “Texas teachers in the 80’s

had to take a test to keep their

jobs. We had to prove that we

could teach, despite a college de-

gree and certification. TSTA pro-

vided workshops to teachers

across the state, and teachers

passed the TECAT.”

Hearing the instructional aides’

concerns, GEA offered members

test preparation workshops at

three locations before the sched-

uled tests. “We had a great

turnout,” Loya said. “ESP mem-

bers reviewed areas that would be

tested, such as English, reading

and mathematics. GEA members

volunteered their time and exper-

tise to make sure our ESPs felt re-

laxed, confident and comfortable

with the subject matter. Test taking

strategies were also given.”

After the first test administration,

two ESP members who passed the

test were invited to attend a work-

shop and speak to those who were

preparing to take their test in July.

“Lisa Phinesse and Jessie Cordova

not only gave their testimonials

and put the instructional aides at

ease, but they stayed and helped

tutor the others,” Loya said.

“Our goal was to assist our mem-

bers at a time when their livelihood

was on the line. They were scared.

During a time of financial hard-

ships, we had to help them,” she

said. “To some, it may not have

been a big deal but to our instruc-

tional aides, it was everything. It

took GISD, administrators and

GEA members, working together,

to make sure that our ESP’s were

prepared and at ease. No other or-

ganization provided workshops to

help their members.

“We are proud to say that all the

members who attended our work-

shops passed their exam. Once

again, our Association was at work

helping members,” Loya said.

GEA wants to thank Victor Leos,

Jim Ross and Teena Johnson, for

clarifying the test procedures and

information; the administrators who

allowed GEA to use their schools

(Michelle Bounds, LaKeisha Rider,

Steve Hammerle and Dr. Kim

Davis); and member volunteers

who assisted in training at the

workshops (Christopher Reza,

Carlos Reza, Norma Waters,

Evelina Loya and Eula Axe, as well

as TSTA staff member Janna

Connolly).

MAVERICK COUNTYMEETS WITH TSTAPRESIDENTTSTA President Rita Haecker met

with Maverick County Local

TSTA/NEA leaders to discuss the

upcoming year and local events.

Sitting: President Jorge Rodriguez,

TSTA President Rita Haecker and

Norma Lopez. Standing: Juan

Moreno, Gilberto Hernandez, Trea-

surer Sylvia Perez, Sergio Perez,

Vice President Dalia Vasquez,

Membership Chair Sergio Angulo

and Roberto Ruiz.

22 TSTA Advocate

Acting Locally

Socorro president representsteachers at Capitol Hill eventSocorro ISD in El Paso won $250,000in Broad Prize college scholarships as afinalist for the nation’s most improvedurban school district. The $2 millionannual award honors the five large urbanschool districts that demonstrate thestrongest student achievement and im-provement while narrowing achievementgaps between income and ethnic groups.

On Sept. 16, U.S. Education SecretaryArne Duncan, Speaker of the HouseNancy Pelosi and members of Congress

joined philanthropist Eli Broad onCapitol Hill in Washington, D.C., toannounce the awards. As president ofthe Socorro Education Association,Glenda Hawthorne was invited to at-tend the function by the Broad Foun-dation; she represented Socorro ISDemployees.

“Socorro students, teachers, parents,administrators and the community de-serve to celebrate today,” said EliBroad, founder of The Eli and Edythe

Broad Foundation. “To be among thetop five urban school districts in thenation is no easy feat. It’s the result ofsmart student-focused strategies andhard work on the part of the entirecommunity.”

FIND OUT:• About the Broad Prize http://broad-

education.org

• Why Socorro was among the top fivehttp://www.sisd.net/index.php?op-tion=content&task=view&id=623

BROAD PRIZE FINALIST: Socorro ISD Board President Karen Blaine, Mr. and Mrs. Eli Broad, SEA President Glenda Hawthorne and Superintendent Dr. XavierDe La Torre attended the ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Waco TSTA/NEA is onceagain proving to be a strongadvocate for employees inWaco ISD. In the spring, thelocal conducted an onlineteacher survey using thepopular—and free—SurveyMonkey service. They got anoverwhelming response,with more than half theteachers in the district tak-ing the survey.

Results were presented tothe board, and the local as-sociation leadership hasbeen meeting with the ad-

ministration to tackle the is-sues that emerged.

This school year the local iscampaigning for stipends forteachers who hold a master’sdegree or doctorate.

“Providing such a stipend willmake the district more com-petitive and provide an incen-tive for our teachers to pursuehigher education, as well asreward those who have al-ready obtained a master’s de-gree or doctorate,” PresidentMaggie Uzzell said.

Waco TSTA/NEA is circulat-ing a petition calling for thedistrict to introduce a$2,000 stipend for teacherswho have earned a master’sdegree and a $3,000 stipendfor those who have earned adoctoral degree.

FIND OUT:• If Survey Monkey can

work for your localwww.surveymonkey.com

• What else Waco TSTA/NEA’s survey revealedwww.wacotstanea.org

What do members want?Waco TSTA/NEA uses Survey Monkey to ask

Survey Monkey also revealed…Almost 30 percent of those sur-veyed in Waco ISD said they spendmore than eight hours per weekcompleting lesson plans and grad-ing papers outside of duty hours.

“I’m looking for employment else-where because I spend 55 or morehours each week at school and 15+hours on schoolwork at home, yet Ireceived only a one percent raisebecause I’m at the top of the salaryladder,” one respondent said.

“If I were younger, I probably wouldseek employment other than teach-ing,” another said. “The paperworkrequired and the stress of the jobare too much. We are very under-paid for the amount of time we putin each week. The classroomteacher is bearing more and moreof the burden and getting less andless respect and appreciation.”

Winter 2009 23

Winter 2009 2524

Student & Retired

Executive Committee meets: TSTA-Student Program’s executive committeemet with TSTA Vice President JasonHillman in October at TSTA’s AustinHeadquarters to plan their year. Stateofficers include President ChrisPadron, University of Houston-ClearLake; Vice President Angela Ham-monds, Sam Houston State University(Houston); Secretary Nicole Smith,Texas A&M University (College Sta-tion); District I President Patty Apresa,University of Texas at Brownsville; Dis-trict II President Sandy Huddleston,Texas A&M University (College Sta-tion); District III President Brian Smith,San Jacinto College (Deer Park); Dis-trict V President Paige Lynn Shaw,Texas Tech University (Lubbock ); andDistrict VI President Irene Becerra,University of Texas at El Paso. The Leg-islative and Political Advocacy Com-mittee Representative/Political Advo-

cacy Subcommittee Chair is AngelaHammonds, and the Communicationsand Instructional Advocacy CommitteeRepresentative is LouAnn Thurman,University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Still ahead at press time: A group ofTSTA-SP members were planning toattend the NEA-Student ProgramConnections Conference in Seattle,Washington, in November. The groupincludes Angela Hammonds and JennyHuang (Sam Houston State University);Araceli Becerra and Irene Becerra (UT-El Paso); Karen Behrend and NathanBrow (Lone Star College-Kingwood);Nathaniel Escobedo (UT-Brownsville);and Kirstey Martin (Lamar University).

In local news: The TSTA-SP chapter atTexas Wesleyan University (FortWorth) sponsored a Fall Rally for allstudents in the School of Education.

More than 50 students, faculty andstaff attended the rally, which includeda fiesta and door prizes.

Mark your calendars: the TSTA-SPConvention will be March 26-28 at theOmni Austin Hotel at Southpark.

NEWS FROM TSTA-RETIRED

September Board of Directors report:The TSTA-Retired Board of Directorsheld its first meeting this school year inearly September. At the meeting, TSTA-Radopted a budget for the year, discussedrecruiting new members, heard a reporton the 82nd Legislative Session and itseffects on retirees, cancelled the Decem-ber board meeting, adopted board poli-cies, heard a presentation from a TSTAMember Benefits representative andgreeted Gerald Haschke, the newly as-signed liaison from TSTA, who was therein an advisory position.

Busy fall for TSTA-Student Program

Regional meetings: Re-gional meetings were held inSeptember. Some regionshold monthly meetings fromSeptember to May, and oth-ers hold quarterly meetingsor what suits their locale.President Johnetta Williamsattended three of those meet-ings—Region 4A in FortWorth (Jerry Watkins, presi-dent); Region 3A in Houston(JoAnn Peschel, president);and Region 4D in Dallas(Frank Colbert, Jr., presi-dent). You are encouraged toparticipate in the activities ofa region near you, which in-clude meetings with speak-ers, local tours and daytrips. If there is not an orga-nized region near you, con-tact the TSTA-R office forhelp on getting a region or-ganized.

Upcoming events: The nextRetired Board of Directorsmeeting is Feb. 4-5 at TSTAHeadquarters. Members areinvited to attend and ob-serve. For more informationcall (877) ASK-TSTA.

The TSTA-R Annual Meeting(formerly House of Delegates)is scheduled for April 14-15,2010, in San Marcos at theEmbassy Suites Hotel. Allmembers are invited to attendand participate in the busi-ness and fun parts of themeeting. You will receive moreinformation at a later date.

The NEA-Retired WesternRegion Conference is sched-uled at the same time as theTSTA House of Delegates.Texas members are encour-aged to attend the NEA-Re-

tired Eastern Region Confer-ence at The Grove Park InnResort and Spa in Asheville,North Carolina, on April 20-22, 2010. Registration infor-mation will be in an upcom-ing NEA-R “This Active Life”Magazine. Registration isonly offered online, atwww.nea.org/retired. If youneed assistance with regis-tration, call one of the offi-cers or the TSTA-R office.

NEA-R is offering a giveawayfor a newly involved TSTA-R/NEA-R member to attendthe Eastern Region Confer-ence. NEA-R will pay twonights lodging for one per-son. The reservation is for adouble room. If you feel thisroom has your name on it,submit your name and con-tact information to BiancaEspinoza at biancae@tsta.orgor Johnetta Williams attownview@swbell.net. Youmay also mail your informa-tion to TSTA-R, 316 West12th Street, Austin, Texas78701. Your informationmust reach us by Feb. 1,2010, to be considered forthe giveaway.

The NEA-Retired AnnualMeeting is scheduled forJune 27-29, 2010, in NewOrleans. All members areencouraged to attend andparticipate in the business ofthe association.

Elections: Filing forms aredue at the TSTA-R Office,316 West 12th Street, Austin,Texas 78701, by Jan. 15,2010, for the followingpositions:

• TSTA-R Secretary and TSTA-R Treasurer. The fil-ing form is below and on-line (www.tsta.org/inside/retired/09nomination-forms.pdf). Ballots will bemailed in early February.Both are two-year termsfrom July 15, 2010, to July14, 2012, with the oppor-tunity for reelection to asecond two-year term.

• TSTA/NEA Retired Dele-gates to the NEA Repre-sentative Assembly July 1-6, 2010, in New Orleans.The form was in the FallAdvocate and is online(www.tsta.org/inside/re-

tired/09nomination-forms.pdf).

• Retired At-Large Delegate tothe TSTA House of Dele-gates April 16-17, 2010, inSan Marcos. The form wasin the Fall Advocate and isonline (www.tsta.org/in-side/retired/09nomination-forms.pdf).

All elections will take placeby mail ballot between Feb.5, 2010 and March 4, 2010.Members may file for a posi-tion or may nominate an-other member. Please re-member, you must obtainwritten permission fromyour nominee. For informa-tion on duties and responsi-bilities, contact the TSTA-Roffice at (877) ASK-TSTA.

Check out the TSTA andNEA websites, www.tsta.organd www.nea.org, whereyou can find a link to the re-tired web site. While atwww.nea.org, look into thelegislative link for a glimpseof where we stand and whatyou can do.

—Johnetta Williams, TSTA-R president

Check box beside office this nomination is for: TSTA-Retired Secretary TSTA-Retired TreasurerQUALIFICATIONS: Must be an active member of TSTA-Retired and NEA-Retired

Nominee’s name _________________________________________________________________________________________

Address ____________________________________________________________City/State_______________Zip___________

Home phone_________________________________________Day phone___________________________________________

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the above information is true and correct.

Nominee’s signature ______________________________________________________________________________________

Nominator’s name ________________________________________________________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________________City/State________________________Zip___________

Home phone_________________________________________Day phone___________________________________________

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the above information is true and correct.

Nominator’s signature_____________________________________________________________________________________

Send by U.S. Mail (or FAX to 512-486-7043) by Jan. 15, 2010, to TSTA-Retired, 316 West 12th Street, Austin, TX 78701.

T S TA - R N O M I N AT I O N F O R M

Winter 2009 2726 TSTA Advocate

131st Annual TSTA ConventionNEA President Dennis Van Roekel will be the keynote speaker

for the 2010 TSTA annual convention in San Marcos, Texas,

on April 16-17. All convention events take place at the Em-

bassy Suites San Marcos, a comfortable, all-suite property in-

cluding complimentary cook-to-order breakfast and evening

manager’s reception.

BECOME A DELEGATE

The House of Delegates (HoD) serves a vital role in the gover-

nance of TSTA and helps to shape the future of our organiza-

tion. The HoD may establish goals for TSTA, amend its by-

laws and act on recommendations from the TSTA officers,

board or committees. TSTA statewide elections are held at the

HoD annual meeting.

Please contact your local president for details on how dele-

gates are elected in your local. If you do not have a local or

your local does not hold delegate elections, please contact

your regional president. Delegate allocations are based on

membership totals as of Jan. 15. Local delegate election re-

sults must be reported to TSTA by March 15.

REGISTRATIONRegistration for the convention begins at 7:00 a.m. on Friday,April 16, and continues on Saturday, April 17. All TSTAmembers and guests are welcome to attend the convention,but only delegates with proper delegate badges are allowed inthe designated delegate section and voting area. Non-dele-gates/alternates and guests are encouraged to register.

CONVENTION EVENTSOpen hearings will be held Friday morning on the proposed2010-11 TSTA budget and any proposed bylaws amendmentsor NEA Resolutions. Additional topics may be added. Profes-sional development workshops eligible for continuing educa-tion credit also will be offered on Friday.

The HoD begins Friday afternoon and continues throughoutSaturday. Voting will take place Saturday morning. Additionalinformation and convention updates will be posted on theTSTA website.

HOUSING AND TRANSPORTATIONThe Embassy Suites San Marcos is holding a room block for

TSTA convention attendees.Reserve your room directlywith the hotel by March 24,2010, to ensure your roomat the group rate of $154(plus tax). This rate includesfull breakfast and eveningreception. All rooms includea separate bedroom and liv-ing room with sofa bed, mi-crowave and refrigerator.Self parking is free. Thehotel also offers complimen-tary shuttle service betweenthe hotel and Tanger andPrime Outlet Centers.

Make your reservation bycalling 800-EMBASSY or512-392-6450. Identify your-self as a participant of the“TSTA Annual Convention”or ask for group code “TST”at the time the reservation ismade. We will also add a linkfor online reservations to theTSTA website. Please note: Afirst night room deposit se-cured with a major creditcard or check is required forall reservations. Cancella-tions must be made by 3:00p.m. the day before yourscheduled arrival to avoid acharge for the first night.

The hotel is 27 miles from

Austin-Bergstrom Interna-tional Airport. You mustmake your own arrange-ments for transportation be-tween the airport and hotel.One-way ground transporta-tion is approximately $80for taxi service or $45 for in-dividual shuttle service.Round trip shuttle discountsmay be available. Exclusivevan service is $95 for up toseven passengers or $105 forup to 10 passengers. Shuttlereservations should be madethrough SuperShuttle at800-BLUE-VAN or www.su-pershuttle.com.

SPECIAL NEEDSMembers who do not have aroommate but would like toshare accommodationsshould contact TSTA’s Cen-ter for Executive and Gover-nance (CEG) at 800-324-5355, ext. 1510 or 1514,before making their hotelreservation. We will attemptto match members whowant to share expenses,though we cannot guaranteea roommate for everyone.

Persons who are physicallychallenged or have specialneeds should contact the CEG

no later than April 9, toarrange assistance during theconvention. Payment for spe-cial needs requests such aswheelchairs or transportationis the responsibility of themember or delegate, but TSTAwill help arrange for services.

TSTA HOST COMMITTEETSTA would like to thank

Keynote Speaker Dennis Van RoekelDennis Van Roekel, a 23-yearteaching veteran and longtimeactivist and advocate for chil-dren and public education, ispresident of the 3.2 million-member National EducationAssociation. As NEA president,he leads the nation’s largestlabor union and advocate forquality public schools.

Van Roekel grew up in Iowa,where parents, teachers and the

community instilled in him a deep sense of the value of educa-tion and the understanding that education opens countlessdoors of opportunity. His future career path was sealed in theseventh grade when he decided to become a teacher. And formore than two decades he lived his dream: standing in front ofhigh school students teaching math.

Van Roekel is committed to improving student learning and en-hancing the professionalism of education employees. And he isguided by his belief in the NEA mission and vision, and inspiredto “fulfill the promise of public education” and ensure everychild in America, regardless of family income or place of resi-dence, a quality education.

Governance

Thursday, April 15

8:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advisory Committee Meeting

1:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Board of Directors Meeting

6:00 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Candidates Meeting

Friday, April 16

7:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Registration

8:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Special Interest Exhibits

8:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Open Hearings

9:15 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Professional Development Workshops(CPE Credit)

11:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Professional Development Workshops(CPE Credit)

12:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . School Bell Awards Ceremony

1:00 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parliamentary Procedures Workshop

1:45 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Caucus Meetings

2:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House of Delegates Opening Cere-mony and Meeting

Saturday, April 17

6:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Registration

7:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regional—TSTA SP—TSTA RMeetings

8:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Special Interest Exhibits

8:30 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Voting/Elections

10:00 a.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House of Delegates Meeting

12:30 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lunch and Caucus Meetings

2:00 p.m. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . House of Delegates Meeting

T E N TAT I V E S C H E D U L E

this year’s host committeefor their efforts to ensure asuccessful and fun conven-tion. The host committeemembers, appointed byPresident Haecker, are: Re-gion 1D, Gracie Oviedo; Re-gion 2D, David DeLuca,Susan Seaton, and MaggieUzzell; and Region 2E, RaeNwosu.

Winter 2009 29

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CS481109

28 TSTA Advocate

TSTA bylaws, policies, and proce-dures guarantee that specificgroups—i.e. minorities andESPs—have a meaningful voice inthe organization, while othergroups, such as administrators,are prevented from having influ-ence beyond their numbers.

As specified in our bylaws, everyJanuary 15 TSTA calculates theproportion of our membership inthese three categories to help de-termine the need for certainBoard elections. Recent TSTAmembership numbers show37.8% of our members as ethnicminorities, 20.8% as ESPs and3.5% as supervisory. Because theTSTA Board has 27 members thatcount for this purpose (President,Vice President, Regional Presi-dents, including TFA President,and NEA Directors for Texas), ifthe recent percentages hold trueon January 15, 2010, TSTAwould need at least eleven mi-norities, six ESPs and one super-visor to be on the Board.

Although it is possible that elec-tions will not be held, TSTA isseeking nominations for these po-sitions now in case elections arerequired. The determination ofwhether to hold elections is based

on both the January 15 calcula-tions and the results of regionalelections that are held at the re-gional houses of delegates. Elec-tions (if necessary) will be held atthe 2010 House of Delegates onApril 17. Individuals electedwould serve from July 15, 2010,through July 14, 2012.

TSTA currently has five (three at-large and two Regional Presi-dents) ESP Board members; allfive of these terms continuethrough July 14, 2011. Based onthese facts and if the current per-centage of ESP members remains,we will need an ESP at-large elec-tion unless another Region electsan ESP President. Presumingmembership percentages on Jan-uary 15 remain consistent withrecent levels, it is unlikely that wewill need to hold an election forminority at-large Board membersdue to the number of minorityBoard members whose terms willcontinue. We still must be pre-pared by seeking nominationsnow. For the supervisory at-largeposition, we will need to hold anelection. The current supervisoryat-large member of the Board hasa term that will expire on July 14,2010. He is eligible for re-election.

Based on all of the above, we areincluding the nomination formfor two positions. If you are inter-ested in running for either ofthese positions, in the event anelection is required, please com-plete the form and mark the ap-propriate box.

TSTA Policy EP-6 stipulates thatall nomination forms must be sub-mitted by the deadline establishedeach year in the election timelineadopted by the Board. (See below.)The form can be delivered by anymeans that provides verifiable evi-dence it was submitted by thedeadline. TSTA must issue a re-ceipt for nominations delivered inperson. Nomination forms that arereceived through the regular mailwill not be accepted and will bereturned to the sender.

TSTA will mail a packet detailingthe responsibilities of a Boardmember to each person who filesa nomination form. The packetwill also contain a form stating thatthe candidate has read the packetand will accept the responsibilitiesif elected, which the candidatemust sign and return before bal-lots are distributed and within thetimeline adopted by the Board.

The nomination form must beCOMPLETELY filled out andSIGNED by the nominee. Candi-dates must comply with theBoard-approved election timelineas follows:

March 25 (Thursday): Nomina-tion form receipt deadline

April 2 (Friday): Candidate flierreceipt deadline (for inclusion indelegate packets)

April 9 (Friday) at 4:45 p.m.CDT: Candidate statement/latenomination form receipt deadline(for candidate’s name to appearon ballot)

April 17 (Saturday): Election atthe TSTA State House of Delegates

April 17 (Saturday): RunoffElection (if necessary) at theTSTA State House of Delegates

QUALIFICATIONS:• Be actively engaged in the edu-

cation profession within thestate at the time of election

• Have held Active, ESP, or TFA,or any combination of Active,ESP, TFA or life membership inTSTA for at least three consecu-tive years preceding the election

• Be actively employed as a non-supervisory member, unlessseeking the supervisory at-largeposition

• Maintain membership statusand educational position inTSTA during term of office

• Sign and return the form ac-cepting the responsibilities of aBoard member

Submitted forms must have amethod of verifying receipt byTSTA. Deliver forms to TSTACenter for Executive and Gover-nance (CEG), 316 West 12thStreet, Austin, Texas 78701. Ifhand delivered, be sure to get ahand-written receipt from theCEG. Forms may be faxed to(512) 486-7053 or pdf copies maybe emailed to sandras@tsta.org.For questions regarding the elec-tion, call (877) ASK-TSTA, ext.1514 or 1510, or email sandras@tsta.org or carolm@tsta.org.

Election of TSTA at-large Board Of Directors members

TSTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS AT-LARGE POSITIONSI am filing for a supervisory position and certify that I am a supervisory member of TSTA.I am filing for an educational support position and certify that I am a non-supervisory member of TSTA.

(Circle One: Mr. Ms.) Name _______________________________________________________________________________

Address__________________________________________________________________________________________________

City__________________________________________________________________ State______________ Zip______________

Home Phone___________________________________ Day Phone _________________________________________________

Email _____________________________________________Last 4 Digits SSN ________________________________________

Work Site_____________________________________________________Cell Phone___________________________________

Local Association ____________________________________________________________________TSTA Region___________

Position _________________________________________________ School District____________________________________

ETHNIC GROUP: (Please Check)American Indian/Alaska Native Black Native Hawaiian/Pacific IslanderMulti-Ethnic Asian HispanicCaucasian (not of Hispanic Origin) Other__________________________________________________________

Nomination forms must be received by March 25, 2010, by TSTA’s Center for Executive and Governance. Send to: SandraSolimine, TSTA, Organizing Center for Executive and Governance, 316 West 12th Street, Austin, Texas 78701; or email tosandras@tsta.org or fax to (512) 486-7053.

Signature of Nominee ______________________________________________________________________________________

N O M I N AT I O N F O R M

Winter 2009 3130

Here come the holidays! As if you didn’t know. As if youhaven’t felt like a prisoner listening to the countdown ofshopping days or been exhausted by the quest for the hot toyof the year that is available only online for $1,100. Or maybeyour girlfriend is expecting to become engaged over the holi-days or your parents would love to have a grandchild.

Often the year-end holidays are filled with stress and anxietyrather than mistletoe and good cheer. That’s because expecta-tions run so high at these annual celebrations—expectationsfrom our kids, from our parents, from husband or wife orsweetheart. And don’t forget your own expectations—youwant to find the perfect gift for your brother who is overseas,for your parents who unselfishly put you through college,and for that new guy to show him that you care.

Financial advisors always say their toughest job is to manageclient expectations: many clients believe they will get richquick. The advisor must deliver a dose of cold reality abouthow money and the markets really work. They’re not magic.

How to “save” the holidays, avoid stress and even have a goodtime with your family? Start with your own expectations. Areyou expecting your mother, who has really never acceptedyour spouse, to embrace him? Or for your fiancé to fall inlove with your son? Start out by setting realistic expectations.Your mother will still be your mother even though it isChristmas. Plan something that you think she will enjoy anddon’t be disappointed if she acts like she doesn’t. That’s Mom!

FOR YOUNGER MEMBERS STARTING OUTIf you are young and unmarried, just getting started on yourcareer and your life, create a new holiday tradition. Do youhave a friend who comes from a different religious traditionfrom you? Ask if you could attend a religious service or ahousewarming service or other ritual with them. Or go to acandlelight service at a cathedral you’ve never attended. Gocaroling or watch a Christmas movie with a friend and thinkabout where you will be on Christmas five years from now.

Go out for a special holiday dinner with friends. Don’t fretabout gifts for your parents. Get something small and lush,something they would love but never buy for themselves be-cause they think it too indulgent.

FOR MIDCAREER MEMBERSIf you have a young family, it’s a great time to start your own family traditions. Plan with your children to buy ormake a new decoration for the tree each year. Choose some-thing that reminds you of that year’s vacation or a new familypet or new baby. Write the date on the decoration and talkwith the children about it when you put it on the tree. As thechildren get older, looking at these ornaments collected overthe years will become a favorite activity and refresh theirmemories about family outings. My children talk about eachdecoration and tell stories about that year.

Perhaps it’s time to start drawing names for gifts with your ex-tended families. If the rest of the family agrees, have eachchild draw a name and talk with them about what that auntor uncle or cousin was like growing up and what kind of giftmight be fun. This can be a good time to tell family storiesyour children may not have heard about their parents, too.

FOR PRERETIRED AND RETIRED MEMBERSIf your family is grown and you’re nearing or already into re-tirement, it’s not too late to try something new. A change canbe a boost to your holidays and the new year. If your childrenand grandchildren are busy over the holidays, invite everyoneto come for a long weekend in January when you will dosomething low key: go to a movie or ice skating or to thebeach, depending on where you live. Don’t spend the entireweekend cooking and cleaning. Decide ahead of time thatyou will order pizza or Chinese.

Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn but nevertaken the time? Give yourself a gift: an oil painting class, writ-ing workshop, Italian lessons or a classical music course.

Sometimes the holidays seem difficult because we feel like weare frozen in time, with no past—and especially with no fu-ture. December is a busy month. But if you can start reading anew novel from your favorite mystery author or sign up forski or snowboard lessons that go into the new year, it willhelp weave holiday time together with real time.

Mary Rowland is a nationally known business and finance writer,and. a former personal finance columnist for The New York Times.

‘Saving’ the holidaysTake the focus off spending by trying something new By Mary Rowland

Personal Finance

For the latest news, go to www.tsta.org.Texas State Teachers Association316 West 12th StreetAustin, Texas 78701

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