Subject:

Houston Federation of Teachers

  • Blogs

    February 21, 2012

    Veronica Bass's Overpaid Union Dues: Like Her, Judge Is Exasperated HISD & HFT Can't Settle Things

    When we first wrote about Veronica Bass in November 2011, the teacher's assistant had learned she'd been overpaying her union dues for years and been trying for months to get her money back from the Houston Federation of Teachers. Unable to resolve this, she filed a claim in small claims court, sayi ... More >>

  • News

    February 2, 2012

    A Little Respect

    Antonia Rivas did her job in HISD until she died. Now her children want some notice to be paid.

  • News

    November 3, 2011

    Bottom Lines

    It took years for Veronica Bass to figure out she was overpaying her union dues. Getting her money back looks like it may take just as long.

  • Blogs

    July 28, 2011

    Terry Grier: He Flips, He Dips, He Does a 180 on Test Scores

    Terry Grier on the high dive​In a startling reversal of previous statements and his own avowed philosophies, Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier today released a statement that he will recommend to the school board that teachers not be evaluated by their students' test scores this next scho ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 6, 2011

    HISD: Searches For Ways To Stanch Bleeding Budget, Mentions Taxes

    Photo by Mandy OaklanderPaula Harris helmed an emergency HISD meeting this morning.​This morning, an emergency meeting was called by HISD officials who are growing more desperate as severe budget cuts looms closer. About 10 parents sat in Pin Oak Middle School's cafeteria and listened to board ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 13, 2011

    HISD's Final Vote Closes Four Schools, Changes Teacher Evaluations

    Bad news for four schools.​ "We're here for Stevenson," said the man standing outside the Hattie Mae White building Thursday night. He and his wife had worked to save the elementary during Superintendent Abe Saavedra's reign, but they weren't feeling so lucky tonight. The hard times the Hous ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 15, 2011

    It's 'Big Girl, Big Boy Time,' HISD's Paula Harris Says

    HISDPaula Harris gets tough with fellow board members.​In a lengthy and sometimes tense board meeting that brought Houston ISD trustee Juliet Stipeche to tears, trustee Carol Mims Galloway to call for a tax increase and announce that all was not hunky dory with the board, and board President P ... More >>

  • News

    April 14, 2011

    Efficiencies

    HISD students see vocational programs discarded, along with some of their dreams.

  • Blogs

    March 8, 2011

    It's Nut-Cutting Time at HISD

    The axman cometh​There was no talk of raising taxes as Houston ISD trustees reviewed a list of proposed reductions to the district's budget next year and prepared to approve the first step in a notification process calling for fewer teachers by fall 2011. Cuts to schools alone came in at $65 m ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 14, 2011

    HISD Reinstates Asst. Principal at Wheatley High

    Will Terry Grier be sporting one of these?​In an amazing turnaround, Houston ISD has reinstated Sandra Walker as the assistant principal at Wheatley High School. HISD spokesman Jason Spencer said a letter from HISD Chief High School Officer Aaron Spence went out to Wheatley parents today sayi ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 8, 2010

    Bad Teachers Consigned to the Flames in Fiery Manifesto Signed by Terry Grier

    Terry Grier goes national ​In a story already online and due to come out in the Sunday print edition of the Washington Post, our own Terry Grier joins other superintendents in blaming teachers (well, the bad ones) for the poor state of our schools and children.He also pushes charters and endorses ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 13, 2010

    HISD Trustees Go For Guinness World Record in the Long-Winded Meetings Category

    HISD: Lots of talk, no action​If Houston ISD trustees really want to fulfill their promise of transparency, they need to start getting to the point a lot quicker in their meetings -- so that when they have something important to debate, more people are still there to hear it.Last night's meeting w ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 27, 2010

    HISD Says Get the Facts and We Did -- From HISD!

    Hair Balls has obtained copies of a power point presentation given to principals of the Houston Independent School District in June that appears to bear out earlier reports that principals were being asked to cover a shortage of $19 million in federal funds. In a slide entitled "Title 1, Part A;" i ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 9, 2010

    Long, Loud And Raw Houston School Board Meeting Leaves Few Happy

    It wasn't quite like this at last night's HISD board meeting, but it was close​In a lengthy and tumultuous school board meeting Thursday night, trustees voted 8-1 to fire Principal Mable Caleb and five other administrators and teachers from the Key/Kashmere mess, approved another 170 employe ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 7, 2010

    Unions Take to the Barricades For Old Teachers

    Photo by Margaret Downing​Both the local AFL-CIO chapter and the Houston Federation of Teachers are urging a huge turnout at Thursday night's Houston ISD board meeting to protest planned layoffs of teachers and other district employees in an attempt to stop what one union leader calls "this insane ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 17, 2010

    Teachers Will Have To Re-Apply For Their Jobs At HISD Schools Seeking Extended-Year Schedules

    Photo by Margaret Downing​Houston ISD Superintendent Terry Grier is pitching extending the school year to his principals, waiting to see who is going to sign up for the cause. Because the one thing he wants to stress to everyone, he said (taking the pre-emptive action approach) is that it will not ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 12, 2010

    Amid Boos, HISD Trustees Adopt New Way to Fire a Teacher

    ​The Boo Birds played the Houston ISD Administration Building last night and it was a standing room only crowd.The school board -- well, seven of them (trustees Manuel Rodriguez and Carol Mims Galloway weren't there) -- stood behind their earlier vote and went 7-0 in a final vote on the propos ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 21, 2010

    HISD Investigating Charges Of TAKS Cheating At Key Middle School

    The Houston ISD is investigating current and former employees at Key Middle School for alleged cheating on the TAKS test at Key. Some of those former employees ended up at Kashmere High School which the district is also investigating in regard to unathorized removal of computer equipment ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 13, 2010

    Local Teachers' Union President Calls "Bullshit" On The HISD Superintendent, The New York Times And The Washington Post

    ​ Caught on her cell phone today, Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said that many people are distorting what Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said in a Tuesday eight-page speech about overhauling teacher evaluations.The speech wa ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 12, 2010

    Fast-Tracking Ch-ch-ch-anges at HISD

    Photo by Margaret Downing​David Bowie could have been singing in the background as HISD Superintendent Terry Grier demonstrated this morning why he's gained a reputation as a top administrator who doesn't wait around long before trying to institute changes.He reiterated at a Tuesday morning media ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 8, 2009

    Dueling LULAC Press Conferences Over CEP, HISD's Alternative School For Troubled Students

    Photos by Margaret DowningMary Almendarez, first vice president for LULAC Council 402, leads off the press conference Monday, in support of terminating the Houston ISD's contract with Community Education Partners.​It was one of those great, if little noticed moments in Houston history, as separate ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 20, 2009

    HISD About To Hire Its Superintendent, And Some Critics Emerge

    ​We have word from HISD spokesman Norm Uhl that the district might officially name the new superintendent at 2 o'clock. If the choice is Terry Grier, as it's been reported, some people are already unhappy. (Update: It is.) "I'm very disappointed in the board," State Sen. Mario Gallegos, who serves ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 7, 2009

    Cleaning House at T.H. Rogers And Elsewhere In HISD

    ​Word on the street from Friends of Hair Balls is that there's a lot of pro-active housecleaning going on by the regional superintendents in advance of the new Houston ISD superintendent's arrival.  Just one case in point seems to be Cathryn White, the principal at acclaimed T.H. Rogers ... More >>

  • News

    June 11, 2009

    One-Woman Wrecking Crew

    Readers weigh in on the principal at T.H. Rogers

  • Blogs

    June 5, 2009

    We're In The Red Zone At T.H. Rogers; Meanwhile, HISD Supervisor Answers More Questions, Kinda

    The results are in from the Houston ISD survey of teachers at T.H. Rogers, the school where teachers and the local union have circulated increasingly loud complaints that their principal, Dr. Cathryn White is an intimidating, arrogant taskmaster who needs to see the error of her ways, if not just le ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 4, 2009

    HISD Regional Supervisor May Have Memory Problems About Teacher Concerns At T.H. Rogers

    T.H. Rogers is known as a pretty great school, in or out of the Houston Independent School District. But as my column this week ("Let the Record Reflect") shows, the principal there, Dr. Cathryn White, is at odds with several of her teachers.Quoted in the story is the Regional Supervisor who oversee ... More >>

  • Blogs

    December 4, 2008

    At HISD, The Human Resources Department Is Now The "Department Of Human Talent" Department

    The HISD board is having perhaps the most boring workshop ever this morning -- talking about Human Resources.Thank God Houston Chronicle education writer Ericka Mellon is there to blog it.She reports a momentous change in HISD policy: The Human Resources Department will henceforth be known as the De ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 21, 2008

    TAKS Test Made Slightly Less Non-Sensical, Teachers Say

    The HISD board is having perhaps the most boring workshop ever this morning -- talking about Human Resources.Thank God Houston Chronicle education writer Ericka Mellon is there to blog it.She reports a momentous change in HISD policy: The Human Resources Department will henceforth be known as the De ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 29, 2007

    Gayle Fallon Named to Competitiveness Council, Whatever That Means

    The HISD board is having perhaps the most boring workshop ever this morning -- talking about Human Resources.Thank God Houston Chronicle education writer Ericka Mellon is there to blog it.She reports a momentous change in HISD policy: The Human Resources Department will henceforth be known as the De ... More >>

  • News

    March 3, 2005

    Padding the School Policies?

    A lawsuit accuses HISD insurance consultants of conning the district

  • News

    February 17, 2005

    Mind Reading

    Is Yvette Lacobie really a terrorist? Did legislators really mean to kick kids out for a butter knife? Is zero tolerance really stupid? (No, maybe and yes.)

  • News

    February 26, 2004

    History for Dummies

    Neil Bush touts a school curriculum for guys like himself

  • News

    May 1, 2003

    Money to Spin

    Budget woes don't affect HISD's PR department

  • News

    October 10, 2002

    Certifiably Crazy?

    Unbending state and HISD policies are pushing away a much-praised teacher

  • News

    May 17, 2001

    HISD's $2 Million Man

    A shadowy California consultant rakes in school district cash

  • News

    February 15, 2001

    Changing of the HISD Guard

    Positions open as top Paige deputies depart on the Northbound Train

  • News

    September 28, 2000

    Going Public

    Everybody knows that HISD is supposed to be second-rate. So why are private school kids defecting back to the district that nobody wanted?

  • News

    May 4, 2000

    Letters to the Editor

    Everybody knows that HISD is supposed to be second-rate. So why are private school kids defecting back to the district that nobody wanted?

  • News

    April 20, 2000

    School's Out Forever

    "Unschoolers" like Holly Furgason don't believe in public education. They don't even believe in teachers. They believe in the ability of their children to teach themselves. Will the law catch up with them?

  • News

    May 20, 1999

    Lifting Principals, Spilling Guts

    More adventures in HISD's wacky world of staff training

  • News

    April 22, 1999

    Children, Prepare Your Desk Manuals!

    Paige DMPs on the HISD bureaucracy

  • News

    March 11, 1999

    Educational Savior Seeks New Sinner

    Paige DMPs on the HISD bureaucracy

  • News

    February 18, 1999

    Letters

    Paige DMPs on the HISD bureaucracy

  • News

    January 21, 1999

    Model-Netics Hooks City Hall

    Paige DMPs on the HISD bureaucracy

  • News

    May 21, 1998

    (Pay)checks and (Im)balances

    Fat starting salaries! Hefty raises! HISD says its administrators deserve them.

  • News

    April 2, 1998

    Power to the Principal

    At Madison High, Principal Warner Ervin's word is law. Teachers say that's the problem.

  • News

    February 27, 1997

    A Question of Competence

    State Comptroller John Sharp has suggested that HISD needs to fire more incompetent teachers. But as the case of Beverly Goodie shows, it's not that simple. Just how do you tell who's incompetent? And what happens when you try?

  • News

    December 26, 1996

    The Insider

    State Comptroller John Sharp has suggested that HISD needs to fire more incompetent teachers. But as the case of Beverly Goodie shows, it's not that simple. Just how do you tell who's incompetent? And what happens when you try?

  • News

    August 31, 1995

    Gayle Force

    A vigorous advocate for teachers and the bane of HISD administrators, confrontational union boss Gayle Fallon wields a growing power over the direction of Houston's public schools

  • News

    July 7, 1994

    Anatomy of an Intervention

    HISD has a plan for reforming problem schools. But when it reached Bastian Elementary, not everything went smoothly.

  • More >>
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