Southeast Texas P-16 Council

Four of every 10 Texas teachers moonlight during the school year to make ends meet, and 56 percent take extra jobs during the summer, according to a survey by Sam Houston State University commissioned by the Texas State Teachers Association.

Results of the survey were released July 20, 2010.

The 40.8 percent of respondents who said they held second jobs during the current school year was the highest percentage since TSTA first started sponsoring the biennial survey, “Texas Teachers, Moonlighting and Morale,” 30 years ago.

It was a significant jump from the 28 percent who reported moonlighting in 2008 and the 22 percent who reported having extra jobs when the first survey was conducted in 1980.

“It is a shame that so many of our dedicated educators have to struggle with extra jobs to support their families, but they have no choice,” said TSTA President Rita Haecker. “They are to be commended for going the extra mile each day for their students and their families. It is past time for our elected state officials to give these professionals the professional pay that they deserve.”

Almost half of the respondents (46.7 percent) said they were seriously considering leaving the profession, but the fact that 58.6 percent also were their family’s major breadwinners made that prospect difficult for many teachers.

The online survey of 907 teachers was conducted this spring by faculty members at Sam Houston State University.

MORE

Texas' TEKS recieves a high A- for English Language Arts but just a C  in mathematics in a new national study.

The study by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute "The State of State Standards -- and the Common Core in 2010," compares the various states standards with the nationally proposed Common Core.

The reports review of the Texas TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) standards can be found at : 

http://edexcellence.net/201007_state_education_standards_common_standards/Texas.pdf

Among the finds, the report says the  "Texas’s ELA standards are clearly written, well presented, and logically organized. Most are clear and specific and leave little room for interpretation."

On the downside, the report notes "While the Reading standards are clear and rigorous, the state fails to define the quality and complexity of texts that students
should be reading each year. Similarly, while the high school standards include occasional and perfunctory nods to the importance of reading important works of American literature (shown below), the state makes no reference to American literature in grades K-8."

The report concludes that "Texas’s ELA standards are more clearly written, better presented, and logically organized than the Common Core standards."

Math TEKS

On the Texas math standards the report says "The standards are well presented and easy to read, and some are clear as stated...However, many standards are far too broadly stated...These standards give little indication of what types of problems students are expected to be able to solve..."

The report concludes its Texas math roundup, "With their grade of C, Texas’s mathematics standards are mediocre, while those developed by the Common Core State Standards Initiative earn an impressive A-minus. The CCSS math standards are significantly superior to what the Lone Star State has in place today."

Texas officials point out that changes to the Math TEKS are still in the works.

Overall Findings

The web site for the report notes "The K-12 academic standards in English language arts (ELA) and math produced last month by the Common Core State Standards Initiative are clearer and more rigorous than today’s ELA standards in 37 states and today’s math standards in 39 states, according to the Fordham Institute’s newest study. In 33 of those states, the Common Core bests both ELA and math standards. Yet California, Indiana and the District of Columbia have ELA standards that are clearly superior to those of the Common Core. And nearly a dozen states have ELA or math standards in the same league as Common Core."