# data[].attributes.body
Hello. I teach audio video and animation at Manor Senior High School. I have the listening session for Manor on my calendar and hope to attend. I am looking for connections between my classroom and people in the community thinking out loud. @philipgoetz

# data[].attributes.body
Hi, this is Celeste. I’m blessed to work in Manor with some wonderful co-workers. I love the diversity of our district. Equity in GT is my passion.

# data[].attributes.body
I am a nanny and tutor for students that attend AISD, but have recently moved to Manor. I would like to familiarize myself with the school district climate in which I now live. Thank You! -Melissa Aellos

# data[].attributes.body
Member of Educators in Solidarity; Clinical Assistant Professor in the UTeach-Liberal Arts program at The University of Texas at Austin.

# data[].attributes.headline
Hannah Friedman- Educators in Solidarity Member

# data[].attributes.subject
Hannah Friedman- Educators in Solidarity Member

# data[].attributes.headline
Mayor Wallace- How are we bridging w/in education space? (Knowing if we do have a grade A and 100% grad rate, if kids are still not transitioning into jr college and into careers, then we are still not setting them up for success) We know that the board is focused on meeting TEA standards, but how are we implementing job success, and Higher Education Coordinating Board standards, which is important for the community? 

# data[].attributes.subject
Mayor Wallace- How are we bridging w/in education space? (Knowing if we do have a grade A and 100% grad rate, if kids are still not transitioning into jr college and into careers, then we are still not setting them up for success) We know that the board is focused on meeting TEA standards, but how are we implementing job success, and Higher Education Coordinating Board standards, which is important for the community? 

# data[].attributes.body
Everyone is doing the best they can in virtual environment, but it seems like focus is on meeting STAAR standards. Those standards can be met and still prepare kids for life beyond high school. Can still teach them critical and higher order thinking skills-- STAAR skills should be the minimum. Also, we can teach the soft skills- job skills- that students need to be successful in jobs, etc. For example, teaching them how expectations in the classroom translate to the real world, modeling what it looks like. Need to marry these skills together.

# data[].attributes.body
with regard to minimum standards and learning-- our students walk across the threshold- in one hand, they have the diploma, in the other hand, a plan. The plan is where College Career Tech Military readiness comes in. What career readiness and employability looks like, is like talking through employability and employee expectations and codes of conduct. Teaching students how to navigate employer expectations. Diploma shows that students have met standards.

# data[].attributes.body
it's super important to teach problem solving.

# data[].attributes.headline
Monique Celedon, Manor ISD trustee- As educators, what is lacking the most that I can advocate for (for you) at the local level? 

# data[].attributes.subject
Monique Celedon, Manor ISD trustee- As educators, what is lacking the most that I can advocate for (for you) at the local level? 

# data[].attributes.body
If we don’t expect our students to be successful, they won’t be. We have to set the bar high, remove the barriers, and scaffold their way up to reaching it. We are always trying to teach to the bottom, but we should be providing a view to the top and giving them a reason to reach for it. Teacher expectation, relationships, beliefs - this is what happened the best impact on student success. What are we doing to strengthen and empower teachers to do this? How often do teachers even get mentioned in conversations about students? We treat our teachers as if they are easily replaced, renewable resources rather than investing in their health, growth, and awareness. We toss platitudes and one day trainings and hope that is enough. We rarely ask them what they really need to reach kids, or why they are so exhausted, or what makes them throw in the towel. Implicit bias is a huge part of the problem, but so is teacher turnover. Let’s address that one first, and then we can grow people who can reach students.

# data[].attributes.body
Needs to be more proactivity in informing between the board, the adminstrators, schools, staff and the city on what the expectations truly are as laid out by TEA. The community doesn't know what is expected according to laws. The answers to community questions are passive-- "It's on the website". But the people and families in the community are not going to read long documents that lay out the positions and responsibilities of the board, superintendent, etc. Most people have probably not even read the mission statement of the district. One of the gross injustices is not informing the community about what we are expecting (in a clear manner)

# data[].attributes.body
Piggybacking on the previous answer- there is a sense, even within the district that noone knows what's going on. We often feel like we are being led by the blind. What we experience is not knowing what is going on.

# data[].attributes.body
“That link has changed”Teachers have even have trouble taking “human capital” bring used instead of “Human Resources”

# data[].attributes.body
If you could wave a magic wand and the district could give you what you need or what is missing?

# data[].attributes.body
Secondary Gifted and talented SERVICES , a full time GT coordinator at every campus, and authority over personnel management (hiring, evaluating, supervision) for those coordinators at central office. I’d also like to be able to partner with university partners to create and implement a research-based, culturally responsive GT secondary curriculum at every secondary campus that will raise us to Exemplary status under the new Texas State Plan, and permission to train the Board all all central office admin as required by that 2019 plan. Just want to do my job and make this place the best it can be.

# data[].attributes.body
clarity is the anecdote to anxietywe always feel anxiouswe need clarityWe don’t have have Clarity

# data[].attributes.body
Kids are just now getting devices, but we are still oving at the usual pace. That is unethical , we are doing harm.  We need to think about what matters-- does it move you forward as a person, or does it go in the gradebook?

# data[].attributes.body
We ALWAYS feel anxious in my campus. I don’t know one of us there who doesn’t feel that way. Even outside of distance learning. We never have clarity.

# data[].attributes.headline
Are we only checking boxes right now by collecting grades? What is your solution? 

# data[].attributes.subject
Are we only checking boxes right now by collecting grades? What is your solution? 

# data[].attributes.body
Don't give the kids what we did for Impact Days. Not okay.

# data[].attributes.body
Instructional and literacy coaches, depending on where you are in the grade level...

# data[].attributes.body
instructional coaches need to be at the district office;  we are over utilized for things that aren’t our jobs; we need to be taken off campuses

# data[].attributes.headline
Is there a teacher's committee?  (Mayor Wallace) 

# data[].attributes.subject
Is there a teacher's committee?  (Mayor Wallace) 

# data[].attributes.body
City council was trying to figure out what an ID number was for and found out it was a lunch number.  Sometimes, things are not clear to the end users about what things are for. Things get lost in interpretation.  I know there are committees, but are there any that can help bridge the two sides on a grassroots level.

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers know a lot about what’s going on in schools, but teacher voice isn’t valued or heard often enough.

# data[].attributes.body
Instead of creating new committees, let's put parents on the committees as well. We need to figure out how to trust the process of people being in it so we can come together to figure out the problems and solutions together.

# data[].attributes.body
I second that comment about instructional coaches.

# data[].attributes.body
There is a District Advisory Team that includes teachers, parents, and community members. It has not been well attended in the past, but I am hopeful that will change.

# data[].attributes.body
yes!! at the table in the beginning

# data[].attributes.body
Last session, we put more money into education, we need you to come out and vote because it wasn't easy to make it happen...

We'll hit the reset button after the election and may forget about social justice issues, wage equity, etc., so in a post Covid world, i twould like to be able to say we didn't forget about equality and social justice and the things we fight for in voting both.

In the classroom... what does it mean to be an anti-racist educator? (would like to start seeing incorporation of the (practices) that would make things better)

# data[].attributes.body
Great question! It means that when I get frustrated with a kid, I ask myself, am I reacting to this one differently because of a cultural difference? Is there a misunderstanding at work here? Am I losing patience, or am I giving this student a fair shake? It means that I find ways to grade “blind” so that I’m not seeing names and faces in my mind when I grade. It means learning about the culture of my students, the differences in communication patterns, and trying to identify (before it is an issue) those places where those differences may cause me to underestimate or overestimate a student’s behavior or potential.

# data[].attributes.body
Make sure the budget that comes through at the state level, financing should be designated with specific language. (vague wording causes fighting in the council) City council had to battle over budgeting CARES Act money for too long. Needed more dollar-to-dollar expectations about what to do with the money. Right now, districts have to go out to find grant money, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
on a state level, we need funding for mandatory cultural proficiency training;  the perfect world we were trained to teach in doesn't exist. we need to train our teachers to be culturally competent. Our students don't look like us, etc, so we need to be prepared to teach them.

Manor ISD has first equity officer to inspect for equity across the district;  but we should expect a wide variety of responses to equity problems from the community.  BUt when it is part of the curriculum and program, then it forces people to think about cultural relevance, etc.

District by district isn't working.

# data[].attributes.body
Once you look for equity gaps, what do you DO with that information? I spent a week making an equity report in my division at the district and campus level for my bosses and after I sent it, not even a word that it was even received. It isn’t enough to look. You have to be prepared to ACT. We move very slowly around here and things sit in the queue forever.

# data[].attributes.body
When looking at money allotted for instruction, can spend it on intentional teacher professional development;  the money utilized needs to meet standards about how it is being used, to measure the impact on student learning;

Scrutinize the curriculum used by districts; how can we support teachers to teach (from a culturally responsive lens)

# data[].attributes.body
Even teachers of color need to revisit our practices and ensure that we are not enforcing rules and behavioral guidelines that are steeped in White Supremacist frameworks. I had to unlearn so much of what I thought I knew because the White, Western gaze was such a huge part of my own experience. We have to be deliberate about liberation, and education is the primary space where it has to be engaged.

# data[].attributes.body
In social studies, we adjusted unit maps to make sure they don't just fit the standards, but to fit just those standards.

Giving the tools teachers need to become antiracist is definitely needed in Manor ISD

We just assume teachers come in with that toolkit but they do not.

# data[].attributes.body
we need teachers to be trained in  classroom management strategies that don't center around teacher dominance and control.

# data[].attributes.body
yes, the conversation in education and classroom management has to leave the idea of control behind

# data[].attributes.body
How are we going to get this type of training out to teachers when it's not allowed? (referencing the loss of federal level diversity and cultural proficiency trainings)

Celedon-  this is a political way for the President to divide us, ...and I'll do everything in my power to make sure something like this doesn't happen at the legislative level.

The fact that the governor supports the president, Precedence is set-- this opens this kind of thing up even at the local level; those decisions have now opened up the (possibility) for this to happen at all levels

# data[].attributes.body
PLEASE put some accountability in for GT funding. Right now there is nothing to make a district actually do what the TEC says. So we have to report that we spend at least $1 on GT. That’s helpful. We have some reporting, but there is no teeth. We need more GT funding. We have 8% sped and 10% gifted. You want us to raise the bar, but you give us nothing to work with. We have to do more with just a fraction of the dollars that every other program gets. You aren’t going to see Texas gaining ground in education until you FUND your gifted and talented students. They aren’t ok without it. They DO need services. It IS a necessary academic intervention. (BTW - we need help with 2e identifications and services - our weakest link).

# data[].attributes.body
we can start with land acknowledgments at board meetings. whose lands do we live on? normalize this sort of thinking and acknowledgment during morning announcements, board meetings, etc.

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers have to go renegade and take the hits--like we always do and have always done. We're never scared. Our babies are worth it.

# data[].attributes.body
There is so much work to do and so much that trustees are not allowed to do by law. What are your concerns with the principals, administrations? We could work with the new Sup. to find where the gaps are and try to address those gaps.

# data[].attributes.body
What does stated versus delivered mean to you? mrGoetz

# data[].attributes.body
“Remote Asynchronous Present” or “Absent” is that we can do for attendance. How do we feel about marking a stu

# data[].attributes.body
Speaking as a member of AFT-   brought up the issue of cell phones w/ previous superintendent and they said, "cell phones are not allowed in the classroom"... gigantic disconnect,

Reply question-- what is the issue? Is it that you have to police the policy?

# data[].attributes.body
You know what rolls downhill

# data[].attributes.body
Celedon- I'm hearing that when you have issues you take to admin, you get a blunt response (that shuts down the conversation) rather than a conversation

# data[].attributes.body
teacher- this is a moment where we can think about teacher autonomy; why are we not providing pd for teachers to learn how to use phones as a resource? If we could actually have a conversation about how well we are equiping teachers and meeting kids needs, then why are we focused on policing them?

# data[].attributes.body
Communication- internal and external- job descriptions are unclear and piled on - org chart remains a mystery... few established systems and processes for keeping internal feedback loops going. “Tell your supervisor” but there’s no indication that a message is received, or processed, or valued. Platitudes replace real listening. Superlatives indicate lack of understanding of the real work. So much is still led by gamesmanship.

# data[].attributes.body
communication-- wondering what else we can do as a school entity to give kids the tools they need for success? Social Emotional practices, etc. Parents are asking for support. Even ESL for the community, for parents, etc., and skills such as cooking classes are needed and would be appreciated by the community.

# data[].attributes.body
To Celedon - folks get tired of trying to ask, trying to warn about potential problems and getting the brush off, and being ignored. It used to be the blunt response. Now it is “follow your chain of command.” Only problem is there are broken links in there and brick walls.

# data[].attributes.body
What else we can do as a school entity to give kids the tools they need for success? Social Emotional practices, etc. Parents are asking for support. Even ESL for the community, for parents, etc.,  and skills such as cooking classes are needed and would be appreciated by the community.

# data[].attributes.body
Not sure if there are enough supports with regard to social emotional involvement available in teh community. The district used to have a social emotional coordinator. If we had one, could that person help  address the needs?  (Addressing adult learning and community outreach-- such as GED classes, etc.)

# data[].attributes.body
Title I funding can be used to educate parents in certain instances, right? We just have to position it correctly.

# data[].attributes.body
Some districts do have community outreach and community learning programs.

# data[].attributes.body
We do have some opportunities to do these things.

# data[].attributes.body
Parent liasons do a lot of work with parents and families, and help to connect families with other help, like Communities in Schools and social workers, when the need is made know. We have robust supports to offer through our Partnerships and Wellness and Federal Programs offices

# data[].attributes.body
The parent engagement committee was able to advocate for parent liaisons. We have the #ICare Initiative for at risk children. We’ve grown and developed so much over the past few years. There is so much more to do.

# data[].attributes.body
This is where district needs and city purview need to be addressed-- if it is city related, then it has a different financial structure. What is the school district supposed to be focused on vs. what the city can do? Is the school district meeting TEA's standards?

# data[].attributes.body
We have to be able to have conversations about race and culture. It has to be ok to express profound confusion in a safe place. I’m almost 50. I can’t tell you how many times appropriate language has changed, and I just found another new change I was unaware of. It is embarrassing to find you’ve been using a term that has become incorrect when you are trying, but it is equally embarrassing to tell someone that term is not ok. We have to build relationships and safety with each other, and have conversations.

# data[].attributes.body
To Celia Israel - has the money you put back into education yet surpassed what was removed in 2011 (with inflation)?