2020-21 Anti-STAAR Resolution

[scott.placek]

Recently, the Nederland ISD Board of Trustees passed a resolution calling on the TEA to suspend accountability for the upcoming school year as a result of the gaps in learning from the COVID pandemic and the need to focus on remediating those issues over the next year, The resolution was fairly weak as it did not call on the TEA to cancel STAAR or not use it against students in promotion and retention. All it really did was ask to take the school board off the hook for STAAR scores.

But do not fear, we have taken that outline and updated it to cover the waiver of STAAR, SSI and state accountability. The draft resolution is attached to this post.

Now, here is what you can do:

1. Download it and update it by filling in your school district.
2. Contact your superintendent to see if he agrees and is willing to bring it before the school board. Do this not just by email but also by phone. Consider dropping by the district office and asking for five minutes of his time.
3. Call and email the president of the board of trustees and several members and ask them to support the resolution. Get them copies. Point out that Nederland passed a similar resolution and that parents (VOTERS) overwhelmingly want to focus on learning and not STAAR.
4, Go to the next school board meeting. If the resolution is not on the agenda, speak during public comments and ask them to add it to the next board meeting agenda. If it is on the agenda, speak in favor of it. If you need help knowing what to say, ask and we can help you!
5. Contact your local paper after you have made your initial contacts with the superintendent and board and let them know what you are proposing.
6. Get as many other parents to do this with you!

When the board passes your resolution, send copies to the Governor, your local state rep and senator and for good measure, Mike Morath!

District-Resolution-1-FINAL-FILLABLE (1).docx

Fillable Resolution

(15.42 KiB) Downloaded 2915 times

[scott.placek]

Please, we welcome all follow up and how to questions here in the forum. Just post below! You can login using your Facebook ID by clicking the Facebook symbol.

Advocacy Tips:

In person contact is better than by phone. Phone contact is better than email. Email and pretty much anything else is better than signing an online petition.

Always ask for a commitment: "Can I count on you to see that this resolution is placed on the agenda for the next board meeting?"